Editorials (134)
This editorial argues that standard television has filtered out visual subtlety and degraded cultural values by forcing artists to work within its technical lim…
An early editorial argues that HDTV's superior resolution and engagement potential make it uniquely suited to transform education, small business marketing, and…
This editorial argues that HDTV represents far more than an entertainment upgrade — it is a transformative medium delivering five times the visual information o…
This editorial argues that HDTV will transform business communication by enabling high-resolution audio-visual presentations to replace traditional documents an…
Dale Cripps traces HDTV's journey from NHK's 1969 research origins through its celebrated promise and subsequent marginalization by competing technologies, poli…
This practical guide walks HDTV viewers through selecting, installing, and grounding an outdoor OTA antenna using AntennaWeb.org to identify local DTV channels …
Sony R&D chief Masahiko Morizono delivered a keynote at the 1987 Montreux International Television Symposium forecasting the shift from analog to digital broadc…
Written in 1989, Dale Cripps envisions HDTV delivering full theatrical quality to home viewers, arguing it surpasses even color television as the most significa…
The inaugural Fall 1989 issue of The HDTV Review assembled leading engineers, consultants, and broadcasters to examine HDTV's development, transition strategies…
Written in 1990 by Dr. Corey P. Carbonara, this article traces the technological evolution of high-definition television across six major stages, from Nipkow's …
MIT professor William Schreiber summarizes key findings from the Advanced Television Research Program, including audience studies showing picture size mattered …
In a 1990 address, HDTV Newsletter president Dale Cripps argued that Hi-Vision (Japan's HDTV standard) would achieve market acceptance fastest by targeting indu…
At the 1991 NAB Convention, Francis Ford Coppola recounted his 1975 vision of an all-electronic cinema future, sparked by using Sony Betamax on location during …
CBS technology pioneer Joseph Flaherty surveys the global state of HDTV in 1991, examining production standards, program distribution, and the critical lack of …
Dale Cripps challenges the broadcast engineering community to fix 8-VSB's shortcomings rather than abandon the ATSC standard, arguing that replacing it would re…
Written in 1994 for Broadcast Engineering Magazine, Dale Cripps traces the HDTV/ATV movement from its origins in NHK's competitive strategy in 1969 through Japa…
Dale Cripps argues that broadcasters, cable, and networks lack the will to voluntarily launch HDTV services ahead of the 1996 FCC standard, leaving the industry…
A skeptical analysis from Network Computing argues that the U.S. digital television transition is plagued by political contradictions, industry self-interest, a…
Robert Hopkins, Senior IEEE Member, traces the six-year FCC process to establish a U.S. digital HDTV terrestrial broadcasting standard, from the 1987 spectrum c…
CBS's Dr. Joseph Flaherty draws striking parallels between early 20th-century skepticism toward television and contemporary resistance to digital HDTV, citing h…
Dale E. Cripps answers foundational questions about NTSC, PAL, and SECAM broadcast standards, explaining their technical specifications and inherent limitations…
Publisher Dale Cripps traces the historical arc from Edison's phonograph through radio, black-and-white TV, and color television to argue that HDTV represents t…
A 1994 statement by Japan's Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications director questioning the MUSE analog HDTV standard sent shockwaves through Japanese manufac…
Publisher Dale Cripps argues that HDTV's commercial success depends on visionary leadership capable of aligning governments, manufacturers, broadcasters, and co…
Editor Dale Cripps argues that 1995 marks the critical moment for HDTV to move from development into initial commercialization, urging advocates to hold firm ag…
This 1995 editorial analyzes the competing political and commercial motivations behind HDTV adoption in the US, Japan, and Europe, arguing that broadcasters emb…
Written in 1995, HDTV Newsletter president Dale Cripps argues that the all-digital standard television movement was temporarily overshadowing HDTV ambitions, bu…
In April 1995, NBC president Robert Wright announced the network would begin broadcasting digital HDTV programs by 1997, marking a pivotal moment in the commerc…
Dale Cripps argues that HDTV's greatest near-term opportunity lies not in the home but in electronic cinema, where digital projectors can serve audiences of 300…
Dale Cripps argues that HDTV's commercial launch requires visionary leadership comparable to David Sarnoff's role in launching broadcast television, warning tha…
This page does not contain a daily HD programming guide; it features a 1995 editorial by Dale E. Cripps on the future of the global HDTV movement, written for c…
Dale Cripps argues that cost-driven compromises in the DTV transition risk alienating consumers and dooming the shift to digital. He proposes a shared-risk, sat…
Publisher Dale Cripps argues that HDTV's commercialization has stalled due to fragmented standards, absent economic incentives for broadcasters, and a lack of c…
In November 1996, FCC Chairman Reed Hundt had yet to act on the ATSC DTV standard submitted months earlier, as broadcasters and computer companies clashed over …
CBS Senior Vice President of Technology Dr. J.A. Flaherty traces the origins of modern HDTV from NHK's 1970 research through the formation of the FCC's Advisory…
Dale Cripps examines the competing interests of broadcasters, manufacturers, and consumers in the HDTV transition, arguing that SDTV alone may not compel consum…
This document argues that the FCC must accept the ATSC digital television standard to preserve free over-the-air broadcasting and enable the massive investment …
The Clinton administration, through Commerce Department official Larry Irving, urged the FCC to adopt only essential elements of the digital TV standard rather …
Dale Cripps argues that HDTV cannot be forced into existence by FCC mandate alone, as broadcasters lack financial incentive and no major communications company …
Publisher Dale Cripps argues that HDTV's greatest near-term opportunity lies not in the home but in large-venue electronic theaters, where live events can be sh…
Dale Cripps argues that HDTV cannot succeed without a coordinated industry-wide launch involving manufacturers, programmers, signal providers, and the public. W…
CBS DTV/HDTV Rollout: How, Why, and When — Dr. Flaherty's 1998 Affiliate Engineers Breakfast Address
CBS Senior Vice President of Technology Dr. J.A. Flaherty outlined the network's commitment to launching a primetime 1080i HDTV schedule in Fall 1998, arguing t…
As HDTV broadcasting approached its anticipated 1998 launch, front projection systems emerged as the ideal display technology for high-definition content, offer…
Dale Cripps argues that launching HDTV through terrestrial broadcasting and mass-market retail is fundamentally flawed, given the technology's high cost and lim…
As DVB-S, DVB-C, and DVB-T services expand across Europe, the Middle East, Australia, and Asia, the U.S. ATSC standard increasingly resembles an isolated enclav…
CBS Senior Vice President of Technology Dr. J.A. Flaherty delivered this paper to the HAT Symposium in Moscow in November 1998, arguing that digital HDTV repres…
Dale Cripps argues that cost-focused compromises in the DTV transition risk alienating consumers by sacrificing picture quality. He proposes a shared-risk satel…
Dale Cripps traces how a pivotal 1990 FCC meeting under Chairman Al Sikes set HDTV on a simulcast, all-digital path, only for the standard to be eclipsed by com…
An anonymous expert makes the technical case for 1080i over 720p and 480p formats, comparing pixel counts, pixels-per-second rates, and motion rendition across …
Dale Cripps argues that television markets will inevitably stratify by quality and price point, just as the hotel and audio industries have, making a one-size-f…
Dale Cripps responds to a News & Observer business editor's questions about whether HDTV is a lasting technology or a passing standard, explaining that ATSC's l…
The UK's National Consumer Council warns that digital television could deliver hundreds of channels of repeats and old films rather than original programming, w…
MIT electrical engineering professor William Schreiber argues that because the average home has nearly three TV sets but only one cable box, well over half of a…
A Chicago broadcast engineer visited a Michigan Avenue electronics store on July 15, 1999, to witness the city's first over-the-air HDTV broadcast by the local …
Sinclair Broadcast Group president David Smith challenged the industry to fix 8-VSB or replace it after Baltimore demonstrations revealed serious indoor recepti…
A 1999 economic analysis by TBS Telecommunications argues that switching US DTV from ATSC/8VSB to COFDM would save approximately $20 billion when accounting for…
HBO reversed its policy of broadcasting 2.35:1 films in their original aspect ratio, opting instead to pan-and-scan all widescreen content to 1.85:1 following c…
Craig Birkmaier argues that the FCC should rescind its mandate requiring broadcasters to implement the ATSC 8-VSB standard and instead allow market-driven selec…
Mark Schubin attended a digital screening of Miramax's 'An Ideal Husband' at New York's Clearview Chelsea Cinemas, comparing Hughes/JVC ILA projection favorably…
American Enterprise Institute scholar Thomas Hazlett argues that the FCC's 13-year investment in HDTV spectrum allocation was a failed industrial policy, with b…
Sinclair Broadcast Group president David Smith challenged the industry to fix or replace 8-VSB after Baltimore demonstrations revealed poor indoor reception per…
On June 18, 1999, George Lucas's Star Wars: The Phantom Menace became the first major digital cinema release, screening at four U.S. theaters using Hughes/JVC D…
A 1999 analysis by TBS's Dermot Nolan calculates that the total 8VSB DTV antenna bill for non-cabled U.S. television sets would reach approximately $14 billion,…
A fierce dispute between the broadcast and computer industries over the ATSC DTV standard centers on whether interlace scanning formats should be included along…
Dr. Kerns Powers of Sarnoff explains how the 16:9 aspect ratio was selected for HDTV through a geometric analysis of common aspect ratios normalized to equal ar…
Dale Cripps argues that cable and satellite providers are too focused on protecting existing revenue streams to successfully pioneer HDTV, and proposes a new fo…
Editor Dale Cripps argues that HDTV's launch requires coordinated commitment from both manufacturers and broadcasters, warning that half-hearted adoption risks …
One year after the launch of digital HDTV broadcasts in the U.S., fewer than 50,000 sets have been sold, cable carriage remains unresolved, and Sinclair Broadca…
Australian broadcast engineer Colin Wright outlines Australia's DVB-T HDTV rollout, including a national receiver standard covering set-top boxes and integrated…
HD VISION president Randall P. Dark led a crew to Waco, Texas over the Fourth of July weekend to shoot a 30-minute HDTV documentary on drag boat racing using th…
The newly formed ATSC Task Force marks the first acknowledgment by 8-VSB proponents of concerns raised by Sinclair's Baltimore tests, which showed 8-VSB receive…
Dale Cripps draws on firsthand observations from Japan's analog MUSE HDTV launch to argue that the U.S. must avoid repeating Japan's mistakes by recognizing HDT…
Dale Cripps argues that HDTV represents more than a technical upgrade, drawing on his own partial vision loss as a metaphor for the limitations NTSC imposes on …
An anonymous European HDTV industry veteran argues that COFDM is a superior modulation scheme to 8VSB and that the FCC and ATSC process took too long, leaving t…
Dale Cripps argues that HDTV, despite its technical brilliance, risks failing to reach American homes without bold, far-sighted leadership capable of uniting go…
Dale Cripps advocates for 'Stonehenge,' a proposed international for-profit cross-industry cooperative premium HDTV network requiring unprecedented collaboratio…
Dale Cripps argues that HDTV's success hinges not on technical upgrades but on bold, world-class programming that captures a global audience. Without that creat…
Dale Cripps argues that cable operators remain largely indifferent to HDTV rollout, with satellite serving as the more reliable national delivery path. He calls…
High Definition Production Quo Vadis: Address to the Canadian Satellite Users Association Conference
CBS Senior Vice President J.A. Flaherty argues that 1080/1920 HDTV represents the inevitable pinnacle of broadcast quality, tracing television's resolution hist…
Martin Jacklin argues that digital convergence of televisions, computers, and telephones is an unstoppable supertrend driven by consumer personalization and con…
Dale E. Cripps argues that cost, not technical shortcomings or industry politics, is the fundamental barrier to HDTV market adoption. While blame circulates amo…
Sweden's digital terrestrial television service, launched in April 1999, attracted only 500 subscribers after seven months, prompting regulators at RTTV to thre…
A leaked ATSC RF Group report reveals that the 8-VSB transmission standard cannot meet broadcasters' minimum requirements and is incapable of supporting mobile …
Editor Dale Cripps calls for an end to the COFDM vs. 8-VSB modulation debate, arguing that prolonged indecision harms the DTV transition and fails the American …
Dale Cripps draws parallels between HDTV's difficult launch and the early struggles of the printing press, telephone, radio, and television, arguing that compla…
A draft report from Canada's Communication Research Centre found reliable indoor DTV reception at only 50 percent of test sites using simple set-top antennas, w…
AP Sports Writer Alan Robinson reviewed ABC's inaugural HDTV Super Bowl broadcast, comparing it side-by-side with the standard NTSC telecast on comparable scree…
The DTV transition faces a near-collapse due to slow decoder sales, Sinclair's modulation dispute, and short-term industry thinking, but a landmark Panasonic-CB…
Dale Cripps argues that HDTV's technical brilliance alone cannot guarantee its adoption, drawing parallels to David Sarnoff's pivotal role in launching broadcas…
After the FCC denied Sinclair's petition to include COFDM as a second transmission standard, Dale Cripps examines whether Sinclair will accept the ruling or esc…
A joint consumer study by HDTV Magazine and the Consumer Electronics Association surveyed 318 DTV owners in September 2000, revealing that 82% purchased HDTV by…
The FCC denied Sinclair Broadcast Group's petition to add COFDM as an option alongside 8-VSB in the ATSC digital television standard, with the decision subject …
The FCC denied further action on Sinclair's petition to reconsider the 8-VSB DTV transmission standard, instead deferring the modulation question to its upcomin…
Sinclair Broadcasting's long campaign against the 8-VSB digital transmission standard culminated in the ATSC unanimously voting to establish a new Modulation Ta…
Digital television sales reached 625,000 units in 2000, a fivefold increase over 1999, yet still represented less than 3 percent of total TV sales. At CES 2001,…
The 24P high-definition digital video format debuted at the 2001 Sundance Film Festival, drawing attention after George Lucas used Panasonic and Sony/Panavision…
The opening of the Robert Zemeckis Center for Digital Arts at USC marks Hollywood's formal embrace of digital filmmaking technology, backed by major directors a…
A home theater installer recounts how first-time HDTV viewers became so transfixed by a DirecTV high-definition demo loop that they refused to leave even as a n…
Craig Birkmaier examines NHK's foundational HDTV research, arguing that the true HDTV viewing experience requires screens exceeding 100 inches diagonal to achie…
The $3 million MSTV/NAB comparative tests failed to resolve the 8-VSB versus COFDM modulation debate, instead revealing that 8-VSB delivers up to 50% loss of se…
Sidney Lumet chose Sony's CineAlta 24P High Definition video system to shoot the A&E drama 100 Centre Street, making it the first production to use multiple 24P…
The MSTV-supervised comparison tests of 8-VSB and COFDM modulation systems, presented January 11, 2001 in Washington DC, showed neither standard met original br…
Dale Cripps weighs a contributor's argument that COFDM and DVB have effectively won the global DTV standards battle, leaving ATSC's 8-VSB isolated international…
Attorney Jim Burger responds to Dale Cripps's editorial on copy protection in the digital age, arguing that DTV and digital recorders represent an opportunity r…
Dale Cripps argues that retail HDTV demonstrations are indispensable to the transition from standard to high-definition television, as consumers cannot grasp th…
Dale Cripps examines the enormous challenges facing the U.S. HDTV transition, comparing it to RCA's 1926 radio network launch and warning that the difficulty of…
The House Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet held a legislative hearing on September 25, 2002 to address the stalled DTV transition, featuring …
ABC broadcast the 75th Annual Academy Awards in 720p high definition using one of its new HDTV production trucks, delivering crisp images and 5.1 surround sound…
This editorial traces Japan's pioneering role in HDTV development from NHK's 1960 initiative through international political battles that undermined the technol…
The inaugural HDTV Forum conference at Marina Del Rey drew 300 attendees and featured CEA data showing 8% market penetration and widespread consumer confusion a…
Fox Network celebrates massive ratings for Joe Millionaire and the Daytona 500 without a single hour of HDTV in its lineup, illustrating how far HDTV still need…
Dale Cripps argues that HDTV's progress defies skeptics like Nicholas Negroponte and George Gilder because early adopters' genuine enthusiasm is driving grassro…
Dale Cripps argues that HDTV's progress defies skeptics like Nicholas Negroponte and George Gilder, driven by passionate early adopters who have experienced its…
The HDTV Forum 2003 conference, scheduled for November 12–13 at the Marina Del Rey Marriott, will bring together senior executives from across the HDTV industry…
Dale Cripps argues that movie studios waste peak consumer demand by failing to offer films through additional release windows shortly after theatrical premiere.…
Dale Cripps launches the HDTV Magazine blog with a philosophical argument that HDTV is more than prettier pictures — it is a tool for civilizational progress, c…
Dale Cripps launches the HDTV Magazine blog with two editorials arguing that HDTV serves a civilizational purpose beyond prettier pictures. He also proposes a n…
Dale Cripps, founder of the HDTV Newsletter and president of the High-Definition Television Association of America, reflects on 21 years of advocacy for the HDT…
Todd Mitchell reports from Day 2 of the HPA Technology Retreat in La Quinta, covering JVC's D-VHS HD Distribution Suite, Sony's HDCAM SR system, and Cobalt Ente…
Todd Mitchell reports from the final day of the 2004 HPA Tech Retreat, covering Washington policy updates on the Broadcast Flag and DTV transition alongside a c…
Dale Cripps warns that technical failures and poor content experiences are discouraging early HDTV adopters, with consumer forum posts revealing frustration ove…
A House of Representatives panel approved a sweeping copyright bill targeting peer-to-peer piracy and expanding federal enforcement powers against Internet copy…
CBS Sports will deploy 42 high definition cameras to broadcast the 2004 Masters Tournament in 1080i HDTV, marking the second consecutive year of unified HD and …
CinemaQuest, Inc.'s Ideal-Lume 6500-kelvin viewing environment luminaires have earned endorsements from Joe Kane Productions and are used by NIST, ISF, ILM, THX…
A rural Minnesota reader details his frustrating experience trying to activate an HD TiVo unit while caught in a DirecTV-Pegasus account transfer limbo. Meanwhi…
Dale Cripps launches a new HD programming grid guide and warns that HDTV quality must be protected as DirecTV announces four new satellites capable of deliverin…