524 Days Until the Scheduled End of Analog Television Broadcasting The Digital Picture Needs Fine-Tuning It is time for Congress and the Federal Communications Commission to lay out a clear plan for the transition from analog to digital television that includes protections for consumers, a compromise path for broadcast and cable over the tricky issue of must-carry, a plan for helping low-income viewers, clear labeling for all TV sets and a plan for public interest broadcasting. (TelevisionWeek) http://www.tvweek.com/article.cms?articleId=28436 JupiterResearch Forecasts Digital Video Recorders Will be in Nearly Half of All U.S. Households Within Five Years JupiterResearch, a division of Jupitermedia Corporation, today released its annual digital television (DTV) forecast entitled, "U.S. DTV Forecast, 2005-2010," which presents JupiterResearch's latest projections of the growth of digital television, including HDTV, in U.S. households. (Business Wire via Yahoo News) http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/050721/215469.html?.v=1 Picture bright for U.S. digital TV industry Makers of high-definition television sets and digital video recorders are looking at a windfall, with nearly half the households in the United States expected to get a DVR by decade's end, a study says. (CNET News.com / ZDNet News) http://news.com.com/Picture+bright+for+U.S.+digital+TV+industry/2100-1041_3-5800183.html http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1040_22-5800183.html DTV to NTSC - Issues Remain in U.S. Transition What seemed like a never-ending story may actually come to a conclusion. (Broadcaster Magazine) http://www.broadcastermagazine.com/article.asp?id=45580&issue=07192005 Digital TV: Tech sees new uses in old spectrum A two-decade debate in Washington, D.C., over the television spectrum now occupied in the U.S. by some analog TV stations may come to an end this year, with IT vendors and broadband users the beneficiaries. (IDG News Service via IT World) http://www.itworld.com/Tech/2987/050721digitaltv/ Spectrum Battle Heats Up First responders need bandwidth for comms (TV Technology) http://www.tvtechnology.com/features/news/n_spectrum_battle.shtml Fritts appeals to Congress for multicasting support on cable Cable association leader Kyle McSlarrow says doing so would be harmful to consumers. (Broadcast Engineering) http://broadcastengineering.com/newsletters/rfupdate/20050722/#Fritts Shapiro tells committee "disenfranchisement" claims are exaggerated The CEA chief told lawmakers that a survey revealed 87 percent of the 110 million U.S. TV households are receiving local and national broadcast programming via cable or satellite. (Broadcast Engineering) http://broadcastengineering.com/newsletters/rfupdate/20050722/#Shapiro Don't throw out that old TV yet (Pueblo, CO Chieftain) http://www.chieftain.com/business/1122213601/2 Crossing the digital TV divide Cable TV joins in offering first true high-def package (Pueblo, CO Chieftain) http://www.chieftain.com/business/1122213601/1 New TVs don't pass FCC test Despite FCC mandates, many digital sets on the market don't have the required tuners included. (Broadcast Engineering) http://broadcastengineering.com/newsletters/bth/20050724/#test HD May Be too Good to Last I've gone gaga over HDTV, even though there still isn't a lot of programming available. As when color TV began, you find yourself watching something because of the process in which it's being transmitted, not because of the content. (Television Week) http://www.tvweek.com/article.cms?articleId=28464 HDNet reups with PanAmSat [Paid Subscription Required] HDNet and PanAmSat have agreed on a long-term extension of its current multi-transponder deal that sends out HDNet to U.S. cable and DBS operators. The deal now runs through 2021. (Broadcasting & Cable) http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA628939?display=Breaking+News UPN gives HD a 10 [Paid Subscription Required] UPN says it will broadcast 10 of its series in high-definition this fall, the network's largest HD offering to date. (Broadcasting & Cable) http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA628548?display=Breaking+News NFL Network airs 15 preseason games in HDTV (NFL.com) http://www.nfl.com/nflnetwork/story/8664135 Event Distributors Begin to Jab at HD [Paid Subscription Required] Production Costs Have Prevented A Full Embrace For the Format (Multichannel News) http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA628692.html?display=Pay+Per+View High Definition Comes To Videogames at E3 This year's E3 blast in Los Angeles in mid-May offered conclusive proof of why the videogame industry can claim its revenues of about $12 billion are "bigger than Hollywood." (TV Technology) http://www.tvtechnology.com/features/tuning_in/f_gary_arlen.shtml What About the Tiny TVs? [The Masked Engineer: Mario Orazio] You might not have noticed that there are numbers smaller than 13. I point this out because the FCC, Our Beloved Commish, seems to have just made the discovery. (TV Technology) http://www.tvtechnology.com/features/Masked-Engineer/f_mario_orazio.shtml Several Issues Cloud Picture With New HDTV Set The digital-TV transition can still seem a fuzzy, far-off thing, even though it's now been almost seven years since the first customer took home a high-definition digital set. (Washington, DC Post via Hartford, CT Courant) http://www.courant.com/technology/hc-homehdtv0722.artjul22,0,3302292.story?&track=rss New LCD and plasma TVs show their strengths (Independent Online) http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=115&art_id=qw1122194342656R131 Samsung and Sony, the Clashing Titans, Try Teamwork (New York Times via Lakeland, FL Ledger) http://www.theledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050725/ZNYT01/507250368/1001/BUSINESS Dell UltraSharp 2405FPW 24-inch LCD Display Big, wide flat panel offers exquisite output, low price, unique features (Broadcast Newsroom / HDTV Buyer) http://www.broadcastnewsroom.com/articles/viewarticle.jsp?id=33448 http://www.hdtvbuyer.com/articles/viewarticle.jsp?id=33448 Yamaha DPX-1200 DLP projector (Ultimate AV) http://www.guidetohometheater.com/videoprojectors/705yamaha/ MSTV, NAB extend set top box RFQ deadline The RFQ includes the target parameters and specifications for a prototype terrestrial digital converter box. (Broadcast Engineering) http://broadcastengineering.com/newsletters/rfupdate/20050722/#MSTV Tech-Note #131 [Adobe PDF File] (Tech-Notes) http://www.tech-notes.tv/Archive/tech_notes_131.pdf The Superheterodyne Concept and Reception [Charles W. Rhodes] Today we don't use vacuum tubes in receivers, but all radio and TV receivers use Armstrong's superheterodyne receiver principle. The strengths and weaknesses of this invention are important to the future of terrestrial TV broadcasting, so please read on ; you can quickly become an expert on superheterodyne receivers and amaze your boss. (TV Technology) http://www.tvtechnology.com/features/digital_tv/f_charles_Rhodes.shtml ETSI approves DMB standard for mobile TV The European Telecommunications Standard Institute (ETSI) has approved the Digital Multimedia Broadcasting (DMB) standards for the delivery of mobile television services. (Digital TV Group) http://griffin.dtg.org.uk/news/news.php?class=countries&subclass=193&id=1028 'Olympics could put back London switchover' [UK] (Digital TV Group) http://griffin.dtg.org.uk/news/news.php?class=countries&subclass=193&id=1031 Digital Switchover Statement by the Secretary of State [UK] (Department for Culture, Media and Sport) http://www.digitaltelevision.gov.uk/press/2005/statement_ds.html Welsh analogue-to-digital TV switchover trial is a success [UK] (PublicTechnology.net) http://www.publictechnology.net/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=3322 DVB-H test to begin in Spain [Spain] The pilot project will take place in Madrid and Barcelona between September 2005 and February 2006. (Broadcast Engineering) http://broadcastengineering.com/newsletters/rfupdate/20050722/#DVB Focus - Digital divide [Malta] Many are wondering what the hype surrounding digital TV is all about. MASSIMO FARRUGIA looks into some aspects of the new technology and why some of the broadcasters are unhappy with the latest policies. (Times of Malta) http://www.timesofmalta.com/core/article.php?id=194093 Italy regulator sees digital TV loosening Mediaset, RAI mkt grip [Italy] (Interactive Investor) http://www.iii.co.uk/news/?type=afxnews&articleid=5359017&subject=companies&action=article Mediaset launches DTT movies on demand [Italy] (Digital TV Group) http://griffin.dtg.org.uk/news/news.php?class=countries&subclass=0&id=1033 Analysis: China Allows Private Investment in March to Digital TV [China] (BBC Monitoring Media Services via RedNova) http://www.rednova.com/news/display/?id=183160&source=r_technology Gov't to help land-based digital broadcasters outside big cities [Japan] (Kyodo via Yahoo News) http://asia.news.yahoo.com/050722/kyodo/d8bgb9vg1.html