 
October 18, 2002
(Editors note: The item below offers a lively provided a modicum of the
tension at the CEA Fall Conference in San Francisco this week. Zenith's John Taylor, an
unabashed advocate for the FCC tuner mandate, and Mitsubishi's Bob Perry, who is not in
favor of it, squared off (it was friendly) to duke it out in the press by way of a LA
Times' reporter sent there to prepare a story on this predictable event (the CEA suit).
Zenith's position is clear--they are beneficiaries by way of royalties they receive from
all ATSC 8-VSB tuners. To them the more tuners, the merrier it is. Mitsubishi's Perry
would like to tie the tuner mandate to a livable agreement between CE and the cable
industry for the illusive cable-ready license. Taylor thought it was unfortunate to see
their trade association enter into a contest that would give the appearance of being
anti-transitional to DTV Perry pointed to the fact (or is it a fading fact?) that
sets hooked to cable would have no purpose for this turner and thus just be adding useless
cost. To add spice to the mix Panasonic signed an agreement with the cable industry (see
below), apparently taking some of the wind from Mr. Perry's sail. Bob Perry, who has
successfully guided Mitsubishi to top spot in the DTV transition has promised to write a
piece for us once he has accomplished his part in settling the cable-ready TV business
issue--an issue which is still an obstruction to the simplification of the transition, and
thus an obstruction to the transition.)
CEA Sues FCC Over Tuner Mandate
The Consumer Electronics Association has gone to court to overturn federal rules
that gradually require inclusion of digital tuners in nearly all new TV sets.
The CEA fought the mandate as both costly and ineffective while the Federal Communications
Commission was debating the issue earlier this year. After the rules were adopted in
August, the association promised a court battle, and it took the first step Oct. 11 by
filing suit in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. (Full
Story)
Panasonic Signs PHILA Accord
By Matt Stump
Multichannel News
10/17/2002 6:00:00 PM
Cable Television Laboratories Inc. announced that Panasonic
Consumer Electronics is the first major television manufacturer to sign a POD-Host
Interface License Agreement (PHILA) with the cable industry.(Full
Story)
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Analog on Cable, HDTV on DBS
By Ted Hearn
Multichannel News
10/17/2002 7:04:00 PM
It could be the strangest carriage fight in America: A new TV station in
Florida is seeking analog carriage on local cable systems but high-definition-TV carriage
on direct-broadcast satellite carrier EchoStar Communications Corp.
There's nothing Adelphia Communications Corp. and other cable systems in
the area can do because the Federal Communications Commission has already ruled that
digital-only stations like WHDT-DT in Stuart, Fla., can insist on analog cable carriage
for at least the next few years.(Full
Story)
INTERNATIONAL
Japan tackles high-definition storage,
transmission
By Yoshiko Hara
EE Times
TOKYO Japanese engineers are doing their best to push a camel through a needle's
eye. The camel is the mass of data that will whiz into 20 million Japanese households by
2005 as a project called e-Japan sets up one of the world's most sophisticated broadband
networks. The eye is the pipe into which this information wad will be crammed.(Full Story)
For the technically minded...
Enhanced Propagation of TV Signals
Part I
Interference between DTV and analog stations sharing the same channel was back
in the in the news this summer when WBOC in Salisbury, Md,. reported problems with
interference from WHRO-DT in Hampton Roads, Va., (TV Technology, Aug. 7). You may remember
the problems with DTV interference to WOOD, Channel 8 in Grand Rapids, Mich., from WMVS-DT
Channel 8 in Milwaukee, Wis., almost two years ago. In the WBOC case, the interference
occurred on Channel 16, proving the problem isn't limited to VHF stations.(Full Story)
reader mail
Best comments the Tips List
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I hate to say it but I agree with Charlie Ergen. If you want to view your locals
now in HD get an antenna. The reception is better than anything I am getting on Dish with
the exception of Discovery HD Theater. I would rather save the limited bandwidth for
future programming such as ESPN HD, which can not be picked up via an antenna.
For those that can not pick up their local stations via an antenna, the laws need to be
relaxed so that waivers are more easily granted.
I have found that since having my rooftop antenna installed that I am watching less Dish
programming which is now making me reconsider carrying the Dish "Everything
Package". I think Charlie may want to rethink his logic because he may get what he
is wishing for only to find that customers will cut back Dish's services once they find
that after the initial investment of antenna installation that the local programming that
they are receiving is of a higher quality than that offered by cable or satellite and it
is free. Customers after all also have limited bandwidth in their discretionary spending.
Just my opinion.
Dallas Packer Hudson, Ohio
PETER PUTMAN
THREE'S THE CHARM
Peter H. Putman, CTS, ISF
Those readers who know me also know I am a big proponent of free, OTA digital TV. We all
love HDTV, but for it to become mainstream there has to be more of it available from the
major and minor TV networks.
The FCC's decision to mandate digital TV tuners capable of receiving OTA 8VSB broadcasts
(and cable 8VSB too, where available) is a no-brainer from my perspective. There is simply
no logic in mandating that the existing terrestrial analog broadcast TV system move
completely to a digital system by 1/1/2007 without a corresponding mandate that TVs sold
with integrated receivers also be capable of 8VSB reception.
Many manufacturers may take issue with this decision - in fact, the CEA has just sued the
FCC to overturn it - but at least it removes a great deal of uncertainty from the TV
manufacuring process.
Sure enough, we are seeing far more integrated DTVs this year as well as new DTV set-top
receiver designs. Many of these set-top receivers are dual-mode tuners that can handle
analog and digital OTA signals as well as analog cable, making them somewhat future proof
- at least, for the next 4 years.
Although the number of stations broadcasting DTV signals is still less than half the total
number of licensees, stations are coming on-air. Viewers in smaller markets like
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, PA and Portland, ME are now enjoying the same HDTV broadcasts of
"Alias", "NYPD Blue", "ER", "CSI", and
"J.A.G." as their big-city counterparts.
But there is a another stumbling block ahead, and it could cause major problems for TV and
receiver manufacturers. It's called Program and System Information Protocol, or PSIP for
short.
PSIP is a name for a collection of data packets that tell your digital TV or STB what
virtual channel it is watching, along with info on video and audio formats, time and date,
and major and minor channels.
PSIP may also include electronic program guide (EPG) information, although none of the 40+
DTV stations I have seen across the country don't send out much more than a simple
description of their programs at any time.
While there is an FCC mandate to transmit a DTV signal, there is no FCC mandate that PSIP
be carried on that signal. And therein lies the rub - several of today's crop of dual-mode
DTV set-top tuners look for PSIP data to identify and discriminate a 8VSB DTV signal from
an analog NTSC TV signal.
As long as the DTV station is transmitting even a very basic level of PSIP - callsign,
virtual channel, time and date - these new sets are happy as a clam. However, if the
broadcaster is not transmitting PSIP data, it's likely that DTV STBs (and possibly
integrated DTV sets) may skip right past the channel.
What has happened (based on my lab and field observations with new DTV set-top receivers)
is that some manufacturers are assuming the broadcasters are sending out PSIP in some form
and designing their ATSC DTV tuners accordingly.
As a result, those stations with PSIP are easily found and stored into memory. Those
without PSIP slip under the radar.
That's not good news for consumers who have just purchased a new DTV set or STB. They have
no way of knowing that their local station reception problem might be 100% due to
incomplete data exchange and not related to signal strength or antenna issues.
Anecdotal evidence from the field indicates this is already happening in some markets
where a given DTV station is on-air, but newer STBs won't tune in the signal at all due to
the absence of valid PSIP data.
The result? The DTV STB is returned to the dealer and another box is tried out. Or worse,
the customer gives up on OTA reception and opts for satellite or joins the waiting list
for a digital cable STB.
While the vast majority of DTV stations I have viewed (and that includes all of the
network-owned stations) are transmitting some form of PSIP, there are a few stations here
and there that are not.
So, the transition to DTV really needs to be a three-part transition. Part 1 is the
mandate to convert from analog to digital. Part II is the mandate to include digital TV
tuners. And Part III should be an FCC mandate for all DTV broadcasters to begin
transmitting PSIP (even basic, static PSIP) with their digital TV signals, no later than
January 1, 2004.
Without this mandate, DTV and STB manufacturers will have to modify their operating
systems retroactively to include defeatable channel mapping, such as the function found on
older RCA and Panasonic STBs. This will cause each DTV tuner to revert to a plain vanilla
8VSB demodulator, with no indication of the DTV station's callsign or virtual channel
number. But at least the channel will be received.
While that's the easy way out, the right way to do it is for all broadcasters to transmit
PSIP and enable viewers to easily find and store their OTA channels. The PSIP standards
have been clearly defined (ATSC documents A.69 and A.65) and advocated by several industry
groups.
It's time for the FCC to finish the job and clear up this last obstacle to the DTV
transition.
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