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High Definition Radio is Here
nfranzen submits this story/advertisement: "Yesterday, I had the opportunity to buy the first High Definition (HD) Radio in the United States. HD Radio, invented by iBiquity Digital, adds a digital channel to the sidebands of an existing analog FM signal. The technology is still pretty new, but I can tell you first-hand that listening to my favorite local FM station in HD sounds just like I am listening to a CD. Well, except for the commercials (grin). Here are some links to local TV news coverage and a news release for more info. HD receivers will hit the open market following the Consumer Electronics Show next week in Vegas." We had an old story about the FCC approving these digital broadcasts in the FM radio bands.
Realistically speaking, the only big problem with FM radio quality is that it attenuates above 16kHz . . . a range that you more or less can't hear in the poor listening environments where FM is typically used (vast majority of the time being, of course, in moving vehicles).
Or on my crappy $10 headphones. Or at the gym, cranked up to distortion levels on the hifi system. Seriously folks, few people listen to FM in an environment where 'high definition' radio makes a difference. Its like playing crappy MP3s on your free-with-the-PC speakers - you can't even tell that the MP3s suck, because the speakers suck more. I guess hearing the voices on NPR at 16bit,44.1KHz may make some people's day, but this is not like the upgrade path from tape to CD. This is a product looking for a market.
I want to delete my account but Slashdot doesn't allow it.
While you exploit your analog "hole" (until its shut off. DAB is a long way off, but analog TV should be off in 10 years) in reception, millions others will exploit the rarely used "headphone" socket.
Um, it's digital, so there won't be any static. Poor signal will probably sound like a bad cell phone connection, with cutouts, echos, and "robot voices." I think I'd prefer the static.
High Definition sounds kind of misleading for this technology.. Detail on the quality of the broadcasts is conspicuously absent from the information I could find on this technology. They only describe it as "CD-like".
So, where High Definition video is clearly defined as 1920x1080i or 1280x720p (~ 5x the resolution of a DVD), "HD" radio is lower quality than a 25 year old audio standard.
They should stick to caling it what it is, Digital Radio. It's really cool technology, with a lot of advantages over analog - but it's not setting a new bar for quality like HDTV is compared to DVD.
No-one sees the point of buying HD radio, after all who wants to hear 25 out of every 60 minutes listening to HD commercials. Better to just get an MP3 player, since we all have all the music we want on our hard drives anyways.
But wait, if we all stopped unlawfully copying music to our hard drives, perhaps RIAA would stop trying to reclaim the lost revenues from other sources (read: increasing radio royalties), which would in turn allow the radio stations to reduce the ad content to bearable levels. (Okay, so the royalties aren't likely to come down in the near future, but no need to drive them higher...)
Or alternatively you could go with satelite radio, but that has subscription costs, because they don't have commercials, but the subscription costs are pretty high, because they have to pay those same royalties, because RIAA perceives that they are losing money to our hard drives.
So, before you pan radio for the problems, think about how much you have contributed to the sources of those problems.
"Talk minus action equals nothing" - Joey Shithead, D.O.A.
"Talk minus action equals
Radio is that thing owned by "Clear Channel" wherein they play the same shit over and over. Like one of those songs? great, because you'll be able to hear it at the exact same time on the (name your music preference here) station in whatever city you live in, because, Guess What? they fired most of the local DJ's years ago. Most of what you hear on Clear Channel owned stations is syndicated (particularly the morning stuff.
Don't want to hear a car ad in your new car (why the fuck do stations even run these when most people only listen in their cars?), Tough shit! They own the competition too, so if you flip channels, you'll hear the same ad, or another just as worthless!
The above is why I don't even turn on the radio any more. I already own the music I want to listen to (legaly, don't split hairs over licensing, I have the CDs, I'll use them as I see fit as long as I'm not passing them around). I listen to THAT on my MP3 jukebox, or in the CD player.
Why the hell would I want to listen to random crap and then listen to advertisements that don't interest me to pay for it? To experience new music? No, I'm not interested in the crap-du-jour that Clear Channel is selling. I get new music recommendations from friends whos opinions I give a shit about. Or sometimes from the cute girl at the counter at the music store (when I go in there looking for a DVD).
More of the same in "high def?"
No fucking thank you.
"Oh my God. This is terrible. This is the end of my Presidency. I'm fucked."; ~ Donald J. Trump