The Origins of the ATV/HDTV Movement: From NHK's 1969 Strategy to America's Broadcast Response
Summary
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 Japan's MUSE system, Europe's Eureka 95 initiative, and the American broadcast industry's push to protect spectrum from land-mobile encroachment.
First Prepared in 1994 for Broadcast Engineering Magazine
By
Dale Cripps
he November 28th cover story in Newsweek said that record numbers of baby boomers have forsaken political activism, careerism, and even marathon running in order to pursue a more soul-satisfying spiritual quests. From the beginning the ATV movement has mimicked a spiritual quest more than it functioned as a pragmatic plan for business expansion. This social turn from within a large segment of the wealth-holding body may signal good news for those who have labored hard in the HDTV/ATV fields.
Where did ATV come from?
Many know the ATV story. Who hasn't asked a hundred times over the question of whether it is an opportunity or a threat? A brief review of its origins may help refine an understanding of just what the ATV movement is... and is not. Once secure in knowing what it is, the steps forward should seem less hazardous. You will be more likely to define and prepare for what business you want to be in.
The ATV movement began in 1969 from a confluence of events within Japan's huge public broadcaster, NHK (Japan Broadcasting Company), the increasingly global economy, and advanced microelectronics technology. Under a long standing mandate from the Japanese government NHK must spend a percentage of its multi-billion dollar annual income for research and development. They do the R & D in conjunction with the electronic manufacturers of Japan. The coming deregulation of the airwaves in Japan caused concern in the ranks of NHK. A comfortable broadcast monopoly era was about to end. Having scant program talent NHK relied upon their technical strength to overcome. A strategy was devised--HDTV the means. It would be developed and employed as a protectorate for NHK because of its inherent high cost. That would leave the shallow pocketed commercial competitors to struggle with obsolete technology. The technocracy of Japan would be disinterested and with a superior HDTV service NHK could count on retaining the technocracy's' loyalty. This implausible plot was eclipsed quickly by the astounding performance of HDTV itself. NHK, along with most other supporters of it, quickly adopted more public spirited rationale for furthering its development, saying finally that HDTV was no-less than a benefit to humanity.
The first phase in HDTV development was directed to making an all-electronic world production standard--just one. That was haulted in 1987. The second phase--consumer HDTV--began serious work in the early 1980s, driven by the enthusiasm of television engineers who wanted to try out the new technologies. While considerable vision stirred their debates about implementation, none other than NHK and the Hi-Vision Promotion Association in Japan said they would spend the millions of dollars required to pioneer the signals--an essential thing for selling commercial HD sets. The Hi-Vision Promotion Association is broadcasting HDTV 10 hours per today.
The dream of a single worldwide production standard was sunk in 1987. International protective politics were blamed. Europe realized upon seeing the Japanese HDTV MUSE system transmitted in 1985 the seriousness of the situation. They believed then that a (basically) Japanese world production standard would force a Japanese transmission system on everyone. Europe could never keep up and the loss of their consumer and professional electronics business to Japan was thought certain. That fear propelled an announcement in 1986 that the next generation of television in Europe would also be HDTV--their own homegrown MAC version. With help from every quarter, including the European Commission, their HDTV initiative (known as Eureka 95) successfully blocked Japan, and wound up scuttling its own effort after the Japanese threat subsided. The European initiative became in 1992 an all-digital standard resolution one designed to catch up with the all-digital effort brewing since '91 in the US. HDTV is little more than an appendage to the European digital plan, relegated to a "someday" status.
The US was slower to react than Europe. Little consumer or professional production equipment industry is left to protect, except semiconductors. The strength of America--programming--would benefit from a single production standard and the US supported it internationally. If HDTV took off, that would be fine for program makers--selling to still another format. US broadcasters recognized the HDTV movement as their golden opportunity for protecting spectrum (maybe even gaining some) which had come under increasing threat in the '80s by land-mobile. "HDTV is coming," all declared as they watched both Japan and Europe peaking over the transom. The American broadcast system, said the NAB, must survive as a free over-the-air universal service", as it has always. Broadcasters petitioned the FCC in 1987 to stop further spectrum allocations in the broadcast range until the HDTV question was fully answered. President George Bush was moved by the military threat that a foreign-dominated HD industry could pose and ordered the Secretary of Commerce to get the US in the lead in HDTV. A blue ribbon Advisory Committee to the FCC on Advanced Television Systems (ACATS) was formed following the broadcasters' 1987 FCC petition. ACATS, chaired by former FCC Chairman, Richard Wiley, set about stimulating industry to develop the best HDTV system in the world. The FCC finished President Bush's command, declaring in 1991 that the winning system had to fit in 6 MHz, and, if possible, be all-digital. The past had to be abandoned and the future embraced to reach the most innovative, and daring.
The all-digital 6MHz HDTV is an amalgamation of four digital proponents tested in 1991-92. This "Grand Alliance" (GA) HDTV system hardware is in final assembly at the David Sarnoff Research Center in New Jersey. The technical subgroup of ACATS will meet on the 7th of December to discuss and approve the final target specifications for the system. These are target performance specs which the Grand Alliance is targeted to meet in each specific area of testing. If the present schedule holds, the finished hardware will move in on January 31st to the Advanced Television Testing Center.(ATTC) in Virginia. Testing will begin in February. Following the lab test the Advisory Committee will undertake some field test with the complete system hardware to confirm the laboratory results. By June the Advisory Committee hopes to have not only completed the test, but the analysis and reports on them as well. The technical sub-group will then look at those results in July of 95, and the "big" ACATS meeting will be held in late July, or early August in preparation to submit the standard to the FCC.
In parallel, the Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC) in late February will send out to its members a ballot for the fully documented GA system. At that point the ATSC will take up the documentation of the standard resolution television compression (SDTV). The Advisory Committee is working now on a white paper which shows how the GA system accommodates the broadcast of some form of standard definition television. The FCC will subsequently set the standard. Baring a repeat of a CBS Color wheel-like debacle, where the first FCC color choice was overturned, the standard will be the terrestrial HDTV standard for North America for the next 50 to 100 years.
The largest bone of contention being chewed by on broadcasters now is whether the new spectrum should be used exclusively for the untried HDTV service, or should there be a flexible use policy from the FCC that permits broadcasters the "multiplexing" of four compressed standard resolution programs. The Grand Alliance team has lobbied for some enforced usage of HDTV in prime time rather than allowing four standard programs at all times. Fox is leading the way on the multiplexing issue saying that the improvements in digital are serving the publics taste for an upgrade and that what is more important in business terms is maximizing the opportunity offered by digital with what resources are available. In Murdoch's case there are at least four programming sources he would like to distribute across the US on his own web. The National Association of Broadcasters has tried to wake broadcasters to non-traditional data casting opportunities for the new channel with hundreds of illustrated talks given by Dr. John Abel. His broadcasting of multimedia concepts have provoked a mixed, though generally respectful reception. Without any doubts the flurry of new technologies to contend with has become nearly overwhelming. While the virtues of digital or HDTV broadcasting remains unknown, the technology to enable your killer applications is marching onwards.
First Prepared in 1994 for Broadcast Engineering Magazine
By
Dale Cripps
he November 28th cover story in Newsweek said that record numbers of baby boomers have forsaken political activism, careerism, and even marathon running in order to pursue a more soul-satisfying spiritual quests. From the beginning the ATV movement has mimicked a spiritual quest more than it functioned as a pragmatic plan for business expansion. This social turn from within a large segment of the wealth-holding body may signal good news for those who have labored hard in the HDTV/ATV fields.
Where did ATV come from?
Many know the ATV story. Who hasn't asked a hundred times over the question of whether it is an opportunity or a threat? A brief review of its origins may help refine an understanding of just what the ATV movement is... and is not. Once secure in knowing what it is, the steps forward should seem less hazardous. You will be more likely to define and prepare for what business you want to be in.
The ATV movement began in 1969 from a confluence of events within Japan's huge public broadcaster, NHK (Japan Broadcasting Company), the increasingly global economy, and advanced microelectronics technology. Under a long standing mandate from the Japanese government NHK must spend a percentage of its multi-billion dollar annual income for research and development. They do the R & D in conjunction with the electronic manufacturers of Japan. The coming deregulation of the airwaves in Japan caused concern in the ranks of NHK. A comfortable broadcast monopoly era was about to end. Having scant program talent NHK relied upon their technical strength to overcome. A strategy was devised--HDTV the means. It would be developed and employed as a protectorate for NHK because of its inherent high cost. That would leave the shallow pocketed commercial competitors to struggle with obsolete technology. The technocracy of Japan would be disinterested and with a superior HDTV service NHK could count on retaining the technocracy's' loyalty. This implausible plot was eclipsed quickly by the astounding performance of HDTV itself. NHK, along with most other supporters of it, quickly adopted more public spirited rationale for furthering its development, saying finally that HDTV was no-less than a benefit to humanity.
The first phase in HDTV development was directed to making an all-electronic world production standard--just one. That was haulted in 1987. The second phase--consumer HDTV--began serious work in the early 1980s, driven by the enthusiasm of television engineers who wanted to try out the new technologies. While considerable vision stirred their debates about implementation, none other than NHK and the Hi-Vision Promotion Association in Japan said they would spend the millions of dollars required to pioneer the signals--an essential thing for selling commercial HD sets. The Hi-Vision Promotion Association is broadcasting HDTV 10 hours per today.
The dream of a single worldwide production standard was sunk in 1987. International protective politics were blamed. Europe realized upon seeing the Japanese HDTV MUSE system transmitted in 1985 the seriousness of the situation. They believed then that a (basically) Japanese world production standard would force a Japanese transmission system on everyone. Europe could never keep up and the loss of their consumer and professional electronics business to Japan was thought certain. That fear propelled an announcement in 1986 that the next generation of television in Europe would also be HDTV--their own homegrown MAC version. With help from every quarter, including the European Commission, their HDTV initiative (known as Eureka 95) successfully blocked Japan, and wound up scuttling its own effort after the Japanese threat subsided. The European initiative became in 1992 an all-digital standard resolution one designed to catch up with the all-digital effort brewing since '91 in the US. HDTV is little more than an appendage to the European digital plan, relegated to a "someday" status.
The US was slower to react than Europe. Little consumer or professional production equipment industry is left to protect, except semiconductors. The strength of America--programming--would benefit from a single production standard and the US supported it internationally. If HDTV took off, that would be fine for program makers--selling to still another format. US broadcasters recognized the HDTV movement as their golden opportunity for protecting spectrum (maybe even gaining some) which had come under increasing threat in the '80s by land-mobile. "HDTV is coming," all declared as they watched both Japan and Europe peaking over the transom. The American broadcast system, said the NAB, must survive as a free over-the-air universal service", as it has always. Broadcasters petitioned the FCC in 1987 to stop further spectrum allocations in the broadcast range until the HDTV question was fully answered. President George Bush was moved by the military threat that a foreign-dominated HD industry could pose and ordered the Secretary of Commerce to get the US in the lead in HDTV. A blue ribbon Advisory Committee to the FCC on Advanced Television Systems (ACATS) was formed following the broadcasters' 1987 FCC petition. ACATS, chaired by former FCC Chairman, Richard Wiley, set about stimulating industry to develop the best HDTV system in the world. The FCC finished President Bush's command, declaring in 1991 that the winning system had to fit in 6 MHz, and, if possible, be all-digital. The past had to be abandoned and the future embraced to reach the most innovative, and daring.
The all-digital 6MHz HDTV is an amalgamation of four digital proponents tested in 1991-92. This "Grand Alliance" (GA) HDTV system hardware is in final assembly at the David Sarnoff Research Center in New Jersey. The technical subgroup of ACATS will meet on the 7th of December to discuss and approve the final target specifications for the system. These are target performance specs which the Grand Alliance is targeted to meet in each specific area of testing. If the present schedule holds, the finished hardware will move in on January 31st to the Advanced Television Testing Center.(ATTC) in Virginia. Testing will begin in February. Following the lab test the Advisory Committee will undertake some field test with the complete system hardware to confirm the laboratory results. By June the Advisory Committee hopes to have not only completed the test, but the analysis and reports on them as well. The technical sub-group will then look at those results in July of 95, and the "big" ACATS meeting will be held in late July, or early August in preparation to submit the standard to the FCC.
In parallel, the Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC) in late February will send out to its members a ballot for the fully documented GA system. At that point the ATSC will take up the documentation of the standard resolution television compression (SDTV). The Advisory Committee is working now on a white paper which shows how the GA system accommodates the broadcast of some form of standard definition television. The FCC will subsequently set the standard. Baring a repeat of a CBS Color wheel-like debacle, where the first FCC color choice was overturned, the standard will be the terrestrial HDTV standard for North America for the next 50 to 100 years.
The largest bone of contention being chewed by on broadcasters now is whether the new spectrum should be used exclusively for the untried HDTV service, or should there be a flexible use policy from the FCC that permits broadcasters the "multiplexing" of four compressed standard resolution programs. The Grand Alliance team has lobbied for some enforced usage of HDTV in prime time rather than allowing four standard programs at all times. Fox is leading the way on the multiplexing issue saying that the improvements in digital are serving the publics taste for an upgrade and that what is more important in business terms is maximizing the opportunity offered by digital with what resources are available. In Murdoch's case there are at least four programming sources he would like to distribute across the US on his own web. The National Association of Broadcasters has tried to wake broadcasters to non-traditional data casting opportunities for the new channel with hundreds of illustrated talks given by Dr. John Abel. His broadcasting of multimedia concepts have provoked a mixed, though generally respectful reception. Without any doubts the flurry of new technologies to contend with has become nearly overwhelming. While the virtues of digital or HDTV broadcasting remains unknown, the technology to enable your killer applications is marching onwards.