← HDTV Origins

Newsletter Issues (68)

Dale Cripps · 1995–1999
Dale Cripps argues that an underserved upper-income audience will pay $100 per month for a super-premium HDTV programming service delivering first-run films an…
1988
At NAB 1988, MIT Professor William Schreiber warned that HDTV receiver and display prices near $7,000 would severely limit consumer adoption, potentially diver…
Bija Gutoff · 1990
The second issue of the HDTV World Review assembles leading engineers, scientists, and policy experts to examine scanning standards debates, transmission syste…
1990
The Autumn 1990 issue of HDTV World Review covers Zenith president Jerry Pearlman's case for CRT-based HDTV at a $500 premium, Comsat's Intelsat satellite HDTV…
Dale Cripps · 1994
In a May 1994 interview republished in 1999, TVN Entertainment CEO Stuart Levin argues that near-video-on-demand is economically superior to true VOD, citing b…
Mark Schubin · 1995
Broadcast engineer Mark Schubin corrects a technical misreading of a 1995 paper on digital terrestrial TV transmission, clarifying that the Sari, Karam, and Je…
Ed Wilson · 1995
Edgar J. Wilson of the European Broadcasting Union's DVB Project Office explains that DVB specifications accommodate HDTV services within the MPEG-2 Transport …
Dale Cripps · 1996
With the FCC HDTV standard set in December 1996, Dale Cripps examines the massive commercial and cultural transition required to move American consumers from N…
Dale Cripps · 1996
Dale Cripps argues that HDTV has survived 12 years of naysayers, industry dampening, and political obstruction to finally reach its commercial starting blocks.…
Don Wilkinson · 1996
Fisher Broadcasting VP Don Wilkinson confirms plans to launch HDTV on KOMO-TV and KATU in Seattle and Portland as quickly as possible, prioritizing free over-t…
1996
This 1996 editorial defends the ACATS-derived DTV standard against computer industry proposals to strip out high-definition widescreen elements in favor of a r…
1997
Sony Electronics announced plans to introduce a lineup of consumer digital television receivers supporting ATSC digital signal formats, including widescreen HD…
1998
The Government of India officially adopted DVB-T as its digital terrestrial television broadcasting standard following a unanimous recommendation by a core gro…
1998
The ATSC and Consumer Electronics Manufacturers Association issued a joint statement in October 1999 defending the FCC-approved 8-VSB transmission standard aga…
1998
KTLA channels 5 and 31 in Los Angeles will broadcast the Rose Parade on January 1, 2000 in 1080i HDTV with 5.1 surround sound, marking the station's second con…
J.A. Flaherty · 1998
CBS Senior Vice President Joseph Flaherty traces the history of high-definition television from RCA's 343-line experiments in 1935 through the ITU's formal HDT…
Dale Cripps · 1998
Unity Motion began 24-hour HDTV satellite broadcasting on September 26, 1998, marking the first around-the-clock high-definition programming available across t…
1999
A June 1999 survey of New York-area electronics retailers reveals widespread misinformation among sales staff about HDTV availability, with clerks citing wildl…
Craig Birkmaier · 1999
A field visit to the newly opened Best Buy in Gainesville, Florida revealed a Panasonic 55-inch HDTV display, a $1,699 DTV-ready 32-inch CRT, and a 12-cube vid…
1999
Negotiations between major film studios and developers of the 5C Digital Transmission Content Protection standard remained unresolved in October 1999, threaten…
1999
Engineers and consultants including Mark Schubin and MIT Professor William Schreiber respond to a July 1999 HDTV Newslist mailing, arguing that 8-VSB faces ser…
John Taylor · 1999
Zenith Electronics released laboratory measurements showing significant multipath and ghost-cancellation improvements across first-, second-, and third-generat…
1999
In August 1999, the Seattle Seahawks and KING-TV Channel 5 produced the first live local sporting event televised in HDTV, simulcasting a 1080i HDTV signal alo…
Nat Ostroff · 1999
Sinclair Broadcast Group VP Nat Ostroff argues that CEMA's July 1999 FCC filing proposing a Mobile Multimedia Broadcast Service on UHF channels 60–69 reveals a…
1999
Consumer Electronics Manufacturers Association president Gary Shapiro issued a statement in July 1999 defending the ATSC's 8VSB modulation standard against Sin…
Dermot Nolan · 1999
UK commentator Dermot Nolan argues that CEMA is acting as an enabler for competitors to North American DTV broadcasters by promoting COFDM over 8VSB, drawing p…
1999
Harris Corp. released a study arguing that switching from VSB to COFDM modulation for DTV would cost stations many times the previously estimated $50,000, incl…
Jan Pazral · 1999
Jan Pazral, chief engineer at WXXI Public Broadcasting, traveled to Baltimore in August 1999 to observe DTV field tests comparing 8-VSB and COFDM reception. Hi…
1999
NxtWave Communications introduced the NXT2000, a multimode VSB/QAM receiver chip delivering error-free indoor and mobile reception of broadcast digital signals…
1999
Motorola, in collaboration with Sarnoff Corporation, introduced the MCT2100 demodulator and FEC chip in August 1999 to address multipath interference plaguing …
Dale Cripps · 1999
Sinclair Broadcast Group's Nat Ostroff reports completion of urban and fringe-area reception tests comparing COFDM and 8-VSB modulation in Baltimore, predictin…
1999
This 1991 issue of HD World Review surveys competing digital HDTV proposals — including Zenith/AT&T's Digital Spectrum Compatible HDTV, the Advanced Television…
Richard M. Wolfe · 1999
Richard M. Wolfe of WBNS-TV draws a direct historical parallel between the FCC's politically pressured shift of the FM band in the 1940s — which set FM radio b…
1999
Director Robert Fleet and producer Alina Szpak used a Sony HDCAM camcorder and HD editorial services at American Production Services in Los Angeles to produce …
1999
A Bear Stearns equity research report analyzes a Sinclair Broadcast Group demonstration in Baltimore showing COFDM consistently outperforming the U.S. 8VSB sta…
1999
CBS and Mitsubishi Digital Electronics America announced the most extensive HDTV primetime programming package in broadcast or cable history, featuring 12 hour…
2000
The April 2000 HDTV Newsletter reports on a CBS DTV/HDTV field test at KYW-DT in Philadelphia and Brazil's rationale for choosing COFDM over VSB. CEA's Gary Sh…
2000
Advanced Television Publishing frames HDTV as a cultural and technological milestone, promising viewers a return to grace and elegance in the new century. The …
2000
UCLA Extension announced a series of consumer electronics short courses for winter and spring 2000, covering topics from turbo codes and digital TV compression…
C. Hubler · 2000
HDTV set-top boxes from Panasonic and Mitsubishi shipped to dealers in December 2000 are for showroom display only, not public sale. Matsushita/Panasonic suppl…
2000
Sinclair Broadcast Group staged a live COFDM demonstration at the NAB convention in Las Vegas, transmitting HDTV and SDTV signals from a mountaintop DTV statio…
2001
The FCC issued its Report and Order on January 19, 2001, settling the long-running COFDM vs. 8-VSB modulation debate by confirming 8-VSB as the U.S. DTV transm…
2001
American Production Services completed editorial work on 'Nicolas,' the first American feature produced entirely with Sony's HDW-F-900 24p CineAlta HD camcorde…
2001
The FCC approved AOL's $103 billion acquisition of Time Warner with conditions, clearing the merger's final regulatory hurdle one year after its announcement. …
Fumitada Takahashi · 2001
Japan's JEITA forecasts shipments of BS digital TV receivers and tuners will reach 8.6 million units by 2003, approaching the industry's goal of 10 million uni…
2002
The Consumer Electronics Association filed suit in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit on October 11, 2002, challenging the FCC's mandate requiring …
2002
HDTV Magazine Tips List contributors debate whether current HDTV displays marketed as 1080i actually deliver true 1920x1080 resolution, with industry technicia…
2002
The FCC adopted a phase-in plan requiring digital TV tuners on nearly all new television sets by 2007, while major studios began weighing in on competing high-…
Dale Cripps · 2002
Dale Cripps argues that poor retail demonstrations are the last major bottleneck blocking widespread HDTV adoption, contending that no amount of digital featur…
Dale Cripps · August 31, 2002
The HDTV Newsletter's daily programming guide for Sunday, August 31, 2002 lists that evening's high-definition broadcasts across ABC (720p), CBS, Discovery Cha…
October 1, 2002
HDTV Magazine's programming guide for Tuesday, October 1, 2002 lists prime-time HDTV broadcasts across ABC, CBS, NBC, and The WB, including season premieres an…
October 3, 2002
This HDTV Magazine schedule listing covers HD programming available on Thursday, October 3, 2002, across ABC, CBS, The WB, Discovery HD Theater, and HDNet. Fea…
Dale Cripps · 2003
CEA President Gary Shapiro criticizes broadcasters for failing to aggressively promote HDTV, calling 2003 a tipping point year for the digital television trans…
2003
Cablevision launched Voom, its HDTV-focused direct broadcast satellite service, nationwide on October 15, 2003, offering up to 39 high-definition channels incl…
2003
The ATSC released its Advanced Common Application Platform (ACAP) Candidate Standard, harmonizing DTV and CableLabs OCAP specifications to enable interoperable…
2003
Four Tucson network affiliates launched digital television transmissions in September 2003, while ESPN and EchoStar announced a distribution agreement bringing…
2003
This October 2003 news digest covers major HDTV and digital television developments including Cablevision's VOOM satellite service launch, a CEA survey project…
July 12, 2003
HDTV Magazine's Saturday programming guide for July 12, 2003 lists prime time schedules across ABC, CBS, NBC, The WB, PBS, Discovery HD Theater, HDNet, and oth…
2004
PBS broadcast 'Concert for George,' a 2002 Royal Albert Hall tribute to George Harrison featuring Paul McCartney, Eric Clapton, Ringo Starr, and Tom Petty, in …
2004
A May 2004 roundup covers surging consumer HDTV interest driven by plasma displays, FCC concerns about low-income viewers losing over-the-air signals during th…
2004
This April 2004 news digest covers major HDTV developments including the anticipated launch of a high-definition TiVo on DirecTV, new broadcast equipment unvei…
2004
A mid-2004 news digest captures HDTV's expanding footprint, with studies confirming a small but growing audience, new hardware like Gefen's 2:8 distribution am…
2004
HDTV set sales approached 4 million units in 2003 and were projected to exceed 5 million in 2004, driven by Super Bowl interest and falling prices. New product…
2004
A February 2004 news digest covers Cox Communications launching HDTV broadcasts of San Diego Padres games, ATI introducing a low-cost PC HDTV tuner card, and N…
2004
DirecTV and DISH Network both carried the NBA All-Star Game weekend in high-definition, including Saturday's Three-Point Shootout and Sunday's All-Star Game on…
2004
This news archive page aggregates HDTV industry headlines from late May and June 2004, covering product launches including Elgato's first Mac HDTV DVR, Brillia…
2004
This news aggregation page compiles HDTV industry headlines from September 2004, covering topics including satellite transponder market forecasts, new camera s…
February 6, 2004
HDTV Magazine lists prime-time HDTV program highlights for Friday, February 6, 2004, covering three network broadcasts: '8 Simple Rules,' 'Navy NCIS,' and 'Law…