HDTV and Its Impending Problems?

NeuroManson asks: "With the growing hype surrounding HDTV and copy protection, and as further corporate control of the FCC becomes more commonplace with the inevitable arrival of the technology thanks to Hollywood, you will have no choice in the future of watching anything else, since your TV, VCR, etc, will be forced into obsolescence. There are two things that this brings to mind that should be addressed: who will be paying for the retrofit to the thousands of CRT and TV manufacturing plants around the world to make this possible; and assuming that this is going to be a US only problem in the short term (approx 3 years), how do they propose to safely dispose of all those outmoded TVs?" About the only way that this can happen by the recently proposed deadline of July 1st, 2007, without trashing and replacing the majority of our current televisions, American television owners would have to have their TVs "serviced" by a qualified technician to continue to receive broadcast signals. Having a secondary tuner would not work as that would break the "trusted" display chain that Hollywood is seeking to establish.

"Assuming there are approximately 300 million Americans, with 2/3 having upwards of 2 TV sets, that amounts to close to 500 million or more perfectly functional TVs that will wind up in landfills or third world 'recycling' countries like China. These are not exact figures, but you get the idea. As this grinds on, it looks like economic and ecological impacts are the predominate risks involved, as well as not being able to record the latest Star Trek because they put a copy-block flag into the digital broadcast. This is something that I think everyone, from the geek on the web to the little old lady across the street, through the average soccer mom should be concerned about. Any suggestions as to how such could be made publically known, organized against, and promoted, in such a way that the public would know it as a threat, not only to their way of life, but also to their pocketbook and health?"

Comments

Simply put

[cscx]

It just won't happen. This is an FCC/Hollywood pipe dream. If it does actually happen this way, there will be revolution, trust me. There are people who can barely afford TV sets today, let alone taking that privlege away from them by forcing digital down their throats.

problems

[chainrust]

Although broadcasters will be broadcasting HDTV by 2006, there is a catch. HDTV can be broken up in to several different, lower quality channels. Its much cheaper for networks to do it this way, so what do you think will happen? The other big problem is that by 2006, the majority of us will still have plain old nonHD-TVs. What incentive will there be for the networks to provide a high-quality signal? I don't think its realistic to expect networks to broadcast high-quality TV for free when they can split the signal and make more money, especially when the consumer demand is not there. The only hope is to have pay channels like HBO - I think thats the only real HDTV you will see.

What about existing HDTV sets?

[tweakt]

You are forgetting about the growing percentage of HDTV compatible TV sets already out there. The majority of these sets have analog inputs. Yep. High-Res, but its still analog. Basically its a large VGA monitor (only limited to 60hz vert refresh and ~80khz horiz.)

Will these become "obsoleted" as well? No. The copyright protection systems discussed so far involve also the recording of analog signals. This is about the same as macrovision did for DVD players. This is already happening with DVHS.

The truth is, probably ~80% of the HDTVs sold (all the reasonably priced ones) do not contain an HDTV tuner, they have analog inputs which are capable of 1080i, 720p, etc, resolutions. These _cant_ be simply ignored since it took so long to get capable equipment into the hands of consumers, the industry isn't just going to say tell everyone to buy another set.

I imagine these will be grandfathered. New sets will contain digital connections (like DVI for example) and some kind of end-to-end protection, but this, as we all know is futile anyhow.

For the time being, there are VERY few practical ways for Joe Consumer to record a high-def broadcast and replay it, or even send it to someone else. DVHS is the only customer usuable solution right now. Which as we read about earlier has already been taken care of.

Re:What about existing HDTV sets?

[Futurepower(R)]

Interesting.

The computer industry has a scam that they use with unsuspecting executives. It is the "security" scam. The industry ran this scam against the DVD consortium. In actuality, there was no security, but the computer industry managed to convince the DVD group that there was. The deception was, and is, immensely profitable for some hardware manufacturers. But, of course, a 16-year-old released a method of breaking the encryption (with help from more knowledgeable people.)

More recently, Microsoft tried to run the security scam against the entire world. The Passport scheme was working well in the sense that only a small percentage of people realized that it was a scam. But the U. S. government's Federal Trade Commission (FTC) told Microsoft to stop in its August 8, 2002 order: Microsoft Settles FTC Charges Alleging False Security and Privacy Promises

Microsoft has run the security scam against its corporate customers. In actuality, the (local) security of Windows 2000 and Windows XP is very limited; if corporate customers realized this, they might not invest in these operating systems. See the section "Windows XP provides no local security" in the article Windows XP Shows the Direction Microsoft is Going.

You and others in your comments are questioning the HDTV security scam. You are saying, "Hey, wait a minute. Isn't this, and this, and this wrong with the scheme?"

Now Microsoft and Intel and AMD are running the scam with a thing called Palladium. With Microsoft's Palladium, we will, supposedly, have security in an inherently insecure operating system. Palladium's security certificate system is like putting all the world's money in one bank. If someone, a disloyal employee perhaps, breaks into that bank, the entire security is lost, and everyone who spent millions trusting that system will both lose, and have to continue with the system, just like with DVD's.

Palladium prevents security vulnerability the way the U.S. government's "War on Drugs" prevents illegal drug use. In actuality, the real purpose of the "War on Drugs" is to prevent competition by small illegal drug manufacturers, which would lower the price. The big manufacturers are selling more drugs now than before the "War on Drugs", and at artificially high prices.

This is absolutely ridiculous...

[Anonymous Coward]

... for Slashdot to have such an anit-technology standpoint. Every HDTV article I've seen on Slashdot in the last two years has been totally against it. Wild claims by ill-informed posters decry the supposed "lack of difference" in picture quality or fears that their TV's will be remoted controlled by Hollywood.

I've owned an HDTV for over two years now. A big one! Widescreen, rear projection. I watched a boatload of DVD's on it via a progressive scan player. 480p looked pretty damn good! Leaps and bounds above interlaced NTSC video from a VCR. Nobody will deny this, of course.

Three weeks ago, the first local station went up with the DTV (digital TV) broadcasting. Last week I purchased a DTV set-top-box and a very small UHF antenna which I hid behind the TV. I turn it on and get to watch real, true high-definition content received directly from the air! No cable, no satellite. Even watching non-HD content that is upconverted directly from the network -- it blows DVD away!

Anybody who says they can't see a difference is either not watching HDTV or a blind luddite!

It's not that extreme.

[rob_from_ca]

It was tough to find the questions buried in that long commentary, but here are the answers:

1. Who pays for the factory retrofits?

It's not like we're talking about a completely new way of generating images that makes all old factories completely obsolete. Most of the parts stay the same, there are a few new ones, and some need to be built with better specs. The manufacturers are constantly upgrading their facilities, because it enables them to sell more TV's cheaper. So they'll pay, and if it does cost a lot, they'll pass some of it on to the consumer, just like they always do, but I'd be suprised if there's a huge jump in priace in 5 years. HDTV Tuners started out at $1000 and have dropped to $500 in about two years, and they're still not really being manufacturered in quantities yet. Plus, tuners to upgrade old sets don't need to be high-res, which makes them much, much less expensive.

2. Where do all the old TV sets go?

Where do they go now? Into landfills. That problem has got nothing to do with HDTV. There will be an easy, cheap, external box to buy that will make your TV continue working. Hollywood doesn't care about low-res, NTSC analog outputs, only the higher-resolution ones, so they don't need a "trusted chain".

There are things to be worried about for when it comes to freedom of digital media going forward, but this isn't one of them.

Re:Just dont buy one..

[Waffle Iron]

You sound a little edgy. Maybe you're not getting enough sleep because you stay up too late watching TV. If so, you might think about getting rid of your TV. You'll be better for it.

FUD!

[gerardrj]

Several points:

• The deadline is ONLY for over the air broadcasters using the 2-63 channels on the standard dial.
  
• The deadline only mandates the inclusion of digital tuners, not HDTV or any other resolution or format change.
  
• There will likely be no end to analog broadcasts on the deadline date, but years afterward. At least not until there is evidence that a significant majority of people have new sets or converters.
  
• Even when digital is broadcast exclusively, all you'll need is a set-top converter to view these broadcasts on a standard(today) analog TV. (these should be cheap, I but I think they should be free)
  
• If you subscribe to cable TV, your current analog cable stations can stay analog.
  
• Another FCC mandate requires all digital simulast of analog content by April 2004. That's not going to happen.
  
  • 
    The whole thing here is that the FCC wants this conversion to take place as soon as possible so they can re-parcel the old televisions spectrum and sell it at auction for bug $$$. TV stations pay nothing for the airwaves under the "public good" clause.
    
    All those analog TVs will still be useful. Just as B&W monural TVs can still be used today in the age of color image and stereo sound. Please don't use such alarmist tones unless you really understand the issues at hand.