Sinclair's Nat Ostroff Reports Baltimore 8-VSB vs. COFDM Test Results, Holds FCC Petition Pending New Chip Demonstrations

"While we at Sinclair remain skeptical we are also cautiously optimistic that these companies have found the code to crack the most difficult aspect of the reception of the 8-VSB standard. If they can demonstrate their achievement we want to be among the first to say congratulations"

8/27/99

TO: Broadcasters

FROM: Nat Ostroff
V.P. New Technology, Sinclair Broadcast Group

SUBJECT: Update on Transmission Standard Testing

The comparative testing of COFDM and 8-VSB has been competed in Baltimore. Over 40 sites were included in the test. These sites were located both inside of the Grade A contour of the station and at the fringes of reception beyond the radio horizon. The test sites were both indoor and outdoor. The initial analysis of the data shows that the current implementation of 8-VSB in commercially available consumer grade set top boxes falls far short of what a consumer product must do to gain general user acceptance. On the other hand, COFDM allowed easy reception using simple antennas in most locations. Generally speaking 8-VSB failed to be received at most locations when simple antennas were in use. COFDM was easily received at every site where 8-VSB was received and in addition it was received at an overwhelming number of the total sample of sites tested using simple antennas. Furthermore, at the fringes of coverage there was no consistent difference between 8-VSB and COFDM. Where one failed the other also failed. Thus we were not able to demonstrate the claimed loss of coverage for COFDM against 8-VSB. A full report of the Baltimore test effort will be published and presented at the Fall IEEE Broadcast Symposium held in Washington, DC on September 24th, 1999.

With the test results in hand Sinclair has prepared a petition to the FCC to request that the Commission allow COFDM as an alternative transmission standard to be available to broadcasters along with 8-VSB. It was our intent to circulate this petition throughout the industry to obtain signatures and support.

In the last several days announcements have been made by both Motorola and Nxtwave corporations about a new chip based on new technology that, according to news releases, “solves the multi-path problems of 8-VSB.” The new technology does not approach the problem of multi-path reception in the conventional manner that continues to be implemented by the consumer set makers. Both of these companies are not set makers.

These announcements, coming from non-consumer set makers, need to be taken into consideration and evaluated before any further steps are taken with the FCC. The fact that the work has been inspired by background intellectual property from The Sarnoff Corporation lends a degree of creditability to the issue that must be recognized.

Sinclair has therefore decided to temporally hold onto the FCC petition and instead invited the chip making companies to come to Baltimore and demonstrate there achievements using our facilities and the “calibrated locations” available in Baltimore. We believe that they will accept the offer and come to see us early in September. If the September tests bear out the claims already made for this technology then there may not be a reason to file the current version of our petition with the FCC. We will report to you as the information is developed.

While we at Sinclair remain skeptical we are also cautiously optimistic that these companies have found the code to crack the most difficult aspect of the reception of the 8-VSB standard. If they can demonstrate their achievement we want to be among the first to say congratulations. Our objective throughout this entire process was to insure that the broadcaster ended up with a robust over the air delivery service. We rejected the CEMA model that required outdoor directional antennas and continue to find that model both unrealistic and unacceptable. If our efforts have contributed to the atmosphere that enables these companies to come forward now, we are pleased.