[BC] Panel LCD TV's

[Paul Christensen]

> I get conflicting stories about the resolution of cable and satellite. My 
> DirecTV HD box switches modes depending on the source. They might just be 
> switching the resolution leds on the receiver.

You're getting conflicting reports because the transmitted bit-rate is 
constantly evolving -- and generally evolving in the wrong direction. 
Recently, I've had to referee this issue between two south Florida 
municipalities and their serving MSOs as part of a forthcoming franchise 
renewal.

The game the MSOs and satcasters have had to reckon with is the necessity to 
compress HD video to the point where the public doesn't a perceive a 
reduction in video quality.  Finding that threshold across all forms of 
content isn't easy.  For example, content providers can get away with more 
data reduction with movies versus live events.  Since the vast majority of 
movies are produced on film, the added benefit from say 480p to either 
a1080i or 1080p format isn't as much as it is with live video.  When I 
purchased a HD-DVD player last year, I was very disappointed with the video 
quality of HD movies.  I expected a lot more detail than what I had seen for 
years from a 480p format player.  The nature of the film medium masks much 
of the added benefit of increased line resolution.

Last week, I met with a client who is a regional VP for a large MSO in the 
southwest.  When asked about the greatest competitive threat facing MSOs, he 
quickly responded that it was in the effort relating to analog bandwidth 
recovery for added digital services.   Historically, MSOs have done a poor 
job of managing their spectrum and its beginning to affect their ability to 
offer more HD content.  They've waited far too long to make their systems 
100% addressable.  In the past, most system operators would point to capital 
costs in the deployment of simple converters for basic tier service as their 
rationale.  But that cost can be quickly recovered through a reduction in 
cable theft.  Cable theft represents a significant cost for MSOs and the 
sooner they make their systems fully addressable, the sooner they can 
recover some of that revenue.  However, because cable theft is primarily 
concentrated in the lower socio-economic strata, not all of what's now 
stolen will be converted to revenue-generating units.

We'll likely see more controversy on the matter as time moves on. 
MultiChannel News has been presenting some interesting articles including 
this one:

http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6504772.html

Paul


====================================
Paul Christensen, CPBE CBNT
LAW OFFICE OF P. B. CHRISTENSEN, P.A.
3749 Southern Hills,  Jacksonville, Florida 32225
Office: (904) 379-7802    Facsimile: (904) 212-0050
pchristensen at ieee.org