Daryl Gray
May 31st, 2005, 07:48 PM
This past week, a new bill came before the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee that will dramatically affect off-air television signals.
This comes on the heels of a 2002, controversial U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) mandate, designed to help kick-start the digital television revolution. The mandate came after an earlier voluntary request to include digital television tuners in new televisions was scoffed at by many major electronics manufacturers as being too expensive. The FCC mandated that by 2004, all television manufacturers must begin including digital television tuners into half of all televisions that are 36" or larger. By 2007, every new television 13" or larger must include a digital tuner capable of receiving off air digital broadcasts.
From a broadcasting standpoint, the 2002 FCC mandate also forced all television broadcasting stations to begin offering the signals in digital in format by 2007. There are currently over 1500 off-air television stations across the United States, the majority of which are already offering a digital version of their signal in addition to their analog one. Some are offering high definition signals, while others are offering a simpler standard definition digital signal. The FCC ruling did not mandate HDTV, by rather an analog to digital convergence.
The most controversial part of the 2002 mandate stated that by the end of 2006, analog stations were to begin discontinuing their analog signals, leaving only the digital broadcasts. This would mean that all analog televisions in the USA would no longer be able to receive off air signals without either an internal or an external decoder. This section had an escape clause that would allow a station, on a case by case basis to keep their analog signal if more than 15% of their market was not able to receive their digital signal. This escape clause would serve as a way out for many stations to delay the analog retirement.
One of the primary factors at work is heavy lobbying to make use of the frequencies currently in use by the VHF television band. By shifting broadcasts to digital, they also shift the frequencies into the higher frequency UHF band, allowing the FCC to sell off the current VHF and UHF analog spectrum to new emerging technologies, such as mobile video and 2 ways communications. The VHF band is very favorable as it carries for long distances, can penetrate buildings and walls and is capable of more bandwidth than other frequencies currently available.
The new bill, unveiled to the house this week and currently under scrutiny would make a number of changes, both pro-consumer and also pro-industry. The highlights include:
<ul>
<li>A mandate that all television broadcasts cease analog television transmissions by the end of 2008, with no escape clause. This would add an addition 2 years of grace period before an abrupt end of all analog television broadcasts in the USA.</li>
<li>By the end of 2006, the FCC must allocate final assignments of channels 2 to 51, All appeals must also be resolved by July 31, 2007</li>
<li>Cable operators would be permitted to offer an analog version of a channel, only if they also offered a digital version. </li>
<li>Any HDTV signals offered must be done so without any degradation of signal quality.</li>
<li>Channel spectrum of channels 52-69 would be reclaimed and auctioned off on April 2, 2008</li>
<li>45 days after enactment, TV manufacturers must place warning labels on analog sets sold stating that they would not be capable of receiving off air analog signals after Dec 31, 2008 without an external decoder.</li>
<li>From July 1 to Dec 31, 2008 all stations must air a minimum of 2 60-second public service announcements stating that the analog signal would be unavailable after Dec 31, 2008. Cable and satellite operators must also include the same information in their monthly statements. </li>
<li>Beginning July 1, 2006, all new televisions sold in the U.S. 13" and larger must have digital tuners capable of receiving digital off air signals.</li>
</ul>
The HDTV carriage without degradation will likely cause great problems for most cable vision companies, especially those that offer rural service that are often far less quality than city subscribers.
If enacted, this bill will have even more far reaching implications for the consumer. An off air television viewer on January 1, 2009 would require either;
<ul>
<li>A digital television with internal decoder</li>
<li>An analog television with an external digital decoder set-top box</li>
<li>A digital cable or satellite decoder</li>
<li>A digital to analog decoder</li>
</ul>
The forth option, a digital to analog decoder would be the most cost effective option, ranging in the $50 range. It would simply take a digital signal and down convert it to analog, which would be viewable on a standard analog TV. Most digital television set top boxes already have this built in as a feature allowing use of an analog TV with the receiver. Although this option would not allow the consumer to receive full advantage of the digital picture quality, it would still allow them to access the off air signals. A full-featured HDTV receiver by comparison runs in upwards of $400-500, with internal television digital tuners adding $200 to the average cost of a new television.
The digital conversion presents technological problems as well. Current analog VHF stations have a very broad range of reception, with higher power stations often being receivable up to 100+ miles line of sight from the transmitter. However by moving the broadcasts into the higher digital UHF spectrum, the range is dramatically reduced, many times by 50% or more. This will force many fringe viewers to upgrade to very large, and expensive outdoor antennas in order to continue being able to receive the signals. Currently most large outdoor UHF antennas are only capable of receiving UHF signals from 60+ miles, so in many cases, far fringe viewers will find themselves without the capability of off air signals at all. These large antennas range in cost from $200-$400 depending on manufacturer and design and are often more than 4’+ in width, making them impractical for many home owner, especially apartment and condo owners who have regulations restricting such things. Further complicating this is the fact that unlike analog signals, which a weak signal can still be received with a much poorer and "snowy" quality, a digital signal has a preset threshold, meaning that if you are unable to receive an adequate signal strength, you will not receive anything at all. This can cause complications in even metropolitan areas with large building, tunnels, bridges and mountains. These factors of course will force many "out in the cold" viewers to seek a cable or satellite alternative to blank screens. In some case users may spend hundreds of dollars on a technology that they are physically unable to utilize.
On the upside, once the old analog spectrum is resold, you can also expect new technologies to emerge or expand, paving the way for mobile television and multi-media broadcasting as well as 2 way video and much more. In Europe, mobile video is an emerging market with a number of defined standards allowing quality video and multi-media transmissions to cellular, PDA, and mobile computer users.
Posted by: Daryl Gray , ©1997-2005 Digital Insurrection
This comes on the heels of a 2002, controversial U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) mandate, designed to help kick-start the digital television revolution. The mandate came after an earlier voluntary request to include digital television tuners in new televisions was scoffed at by many major electronics manufacturers as being too expensive. The FCC mandated that by 2004, all television manufacturers must begin including digital television tuners into half of all televisions that are 36" or larger. By 2007, every new television 13" or larger must include a digital tuner capable of receiving off air digital broadcasts.
From a broadcasting standpoint, the 2002 FCC mandate also forced all television broadcasting stations to begin offering the signals in digital in format by 2007. There are currently over 1500 off-air television stations across the United States, the majority of which are already offering a digital version of their signal in addition to their analog one. Some are offering high definition signals, while others are offering a simpler standard definition digital signal. The FCC ruling did not mandate HDTV, by rather an analog to digital convergence.
The most controversial part of the 2002 mandate stated that by the end of 2006, analog stations were to begin discontinuing their analog signals, leaving only the digital broadcasts. This would mean that all analog televisions in the USA would no longer be able to receive off air signals without either an internal or an external decoder. This section had an escape clause that would allow a station, on a case by case basis to keep their analog signal if more than 15% of their market was not able to receive their digital signal. This escape clause would serve as a way out for many stations to delay the analog retirement.
One of the primary factors at work is heavy lobbying to make use of the frequencies currently in use by the VHF television band. By shifting broadcasts to digital, they also shift the frequencies into the higher frequency UHF band, allowing the FCC to sell off the current VHF and UHF analog spectrum to new emerging technologies, such as mobile video and 2 ways communications. The VHF band is very favorable as it carries for long distances, can penetrate buildings and walls and is capable of more bandwidth than other frequencies currently available.
The new bill, unveiled to the house this week and currently under scrutiny would make a number of changes, both pro-consumer and also pro-industry. The highlights include:
<ul>
<li>A mandate that all television broadcasts cease analog television transmissions by the end of 2008, with no escape clause. This would add an addition 2 years of grace period before an abrupt end of all analog television broadcasts in the USA.</li>
<li>By the end of 2006, the FCC must allocate final assignments of channels 2 to 51, All appeals must also be resolved by July 31, 2007</li>
<li>Cable operators would be permitted to offer an analog version of a channel, only if they also offered a digital version. </li>
<li>Any HDTV signals offered must be done so without any degradation of signal quality.</li>
<li>Channel spectrum of channels 52-69 would be reclaimed and auctioned off on April 2, 2008</li>
<li>45 days after enactment, TV manufacturers must place warning labels on analog sets sold stating that they would not be capable of receiving off air analog signals after Dec 31, 2008 without an external decoder.</li>
<li>From July 1 to Dec 31, 2008 all stations must air a minimum of 2 60-second public service announcements stating that the analog signal would be unavailable after Dec 31, 2008. Cable and satellite operators must also include the same information in their monthly statements. </li>
<li>Beginning July 1, 2006, all new televisions sold in the U.S. 13" and larger must have digital tuners capable of receiving digital off air signals.</li>
</ul>
The HDTV carriage without degradation will likely cause great problems for most cable vision companies, especially those that offer rural service that are often far less quality than city subscribers.
If enacted, this bill will have even more far reaching implications for the consumer. An off air television viewer on January 1, 2009 would require either;
<ul>
<li>A digital television with internal decoder</li>
<li>An analog television with an external digital decoder set-top box</li>
<li>A digital cable or satellite decoder</li>
<li>A digital to analog decoder</li>
</ul>
The forth option, a digital to analog decoder would be the most cost effective option, ranging in the $50 range. It would simply take a digital signal and down convert it to analog, which would be viewable on a standard analog TV. Most digital television set top boxes already have this built in as a feature allowing use of an analog TV with the receiver. Although this option would not allow the consumer to receive full advantage of the digital picture quality, it would still allow them to access the off air signals. A full-featured HDTV receiver by comparison runs in upwards of $400-500, with internal television digital tuners adding $200 to the average cost of a new television.
The digital conversion presents technological problems as well. Current analog VHF stations have a very broad range of reception, with higher power stations often being receivable up to 100+ miles line of sight from the transmitter. However by moving the broadcasts into the higher digital UHF spectrum, the range is dramatically reduced, many times by 50% or more. This will force many fringe viewers to upgrade to very large, and expensive outdoor antennas in order to continue being able to receive the signals. Currently most large outdoor UHF antennas are only capable of receiving UHF signals from 60+ miles, so in many cases, far fringe viewers will find themselves without the capability of off air signals at all. These large antennas range in cost from $200-$400 depending on manufacturer and design and are often more than 4’+ in width, making them impractical for many home owner, especially apartment and condo owners who have regulations restricting such things. Further complicating this is the fact that unlike analog signals, which a weak signal can still be received with a much poorer and "snowy" quality, a digital signal has a preset threshold, meaning that if you are unable to receive an adequate signal strength, you will not receive anything at all. This can cause complications in even metropolitan areas with large building, tunnels, bridges and mountains. These factors of course will force many "out in the cold" viewers to seek a cable or satellite alternative to blank screens. In some case users may spend hundreds of dollars on a technology that they are physically unable to utilize.
On the upside, once the old analog spectrum is resold, you can also expect new technologies to emerge or expand, paving the way for mobile television and multi-media broadcasting as well as 2 way video and much more. In Europe, mobile video is an emerging market with a number of defined standards allowing quality video and multi-media transmissions to cellular, PDA, and mobile computer users.
Posted by: Daryl Gray , ©1997-2005 Digital Insurrection