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Posted by J. Clarke on 05/18/06 09:58
Steve Guidry wrote:
>> In the audio field, people were in denial about the coming of ProTools
>> and the other programs. In video, it was denial about NLEs. This stuff
>> is coming. Over the air analog dies on February 18, 2009. In HD, the
>> big networks will make the jump, followed by the lesser networks. Then
>> HD TV prices will drop, and the cable companies will go all HD. Then
>> the affiliates and LPTV/Access centers/college stations. Maybe this
>> process will take 10 years, maybe less. As Sony goes, so goes the
>> industry.
>
>
> You're making a common mistake. The death of analog does _NOT_ mean
> that
> all these TV stations will be doing HD. It means that they will be doing
> DIGITAL. For a very few, that may mean an all-HD schedule. But for
> most - - large markets and small, it will mean STANDARD DEFINITION
> digital.
>
> The reason is pure and simple economics : an HD TV channel takes all the
> bandwidth allocated to the station. An SD digital channel takes 1/4th of
> this bandwidth. That means the broadcaster can either transmit one really
> good-looking HD signal or 4 good, but not HD-quality SD signals. This
> means that he will have not one, but FOUR revenue streams. To be sure,
> there are some things that will demand HD quality - - sports and movies
> come
> to mind immediately. But there are a LOT of things that will most
> certainly be deemed NOT worthy of HD - - like news, daily talk shows,
> reruns of Hogan's Heroes, and all that legacy programming that no one
> wants to talk about.
All of that would be nice if it were true, however you might want to tell
Channel 3 in Hartford that they can't transmit CSI:Miami in 1080i on one
subchannel and 480p on another because they've been doing it for years.
Further, I think you'll find that few stations actually do anything
revenue-generating with the subchannels--the ones around here that use them
at all either use them for the same content at a different aspect ratio or
for public service--one displays weather 24/7 for example.
If what you were saying were true then the utility of the subchannels for
revenue generation would be pretty much zero. Nobody is going to watch a
TV station that goes black every time a 1080i network show comes on on
another channel.
It makes little sense for a TV station today to buy new equipment that is
_not_ HD capable other than that to be used for capturing legacy images.
HD capable equipment also handles SD imaging just fine.
> I agree that HD is coming. For some, it's here now. But it's just
> foolish to junk perfectly good SD gear when it has lots of life in it.
I don't think anybody is suggesting that this be done.
> And hey - - I might buy an HDV rig in a few months just so I can deceive
> clients into thinking that they're "getting HD". But I'll only be kidding
> them.
Uh, what would you use if you wanted them to "really" be "getting HD"?
--
--John
to email, dial "usenet" and validate
(was jclarke at eye bee em dot net)
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