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CableCARDs and HDTV
An anonymous reader writes: "HDTV is the next big thing. I attended the NAB conference in Las Vegas last week and everyone was pitching HDTV or asking about it. DesignTechnica has an interesting article on CableCARDS, which allows viewing HDTV through a CableCARD compatible HDTV set without needing a set top box. Cable companies are required to enable CableCARDs with card-compatible HDTVs by July 1, 2004. So here's some questions: Has anyone heard of CableCARD? Is anyone planning on buying a CableCARD compatible TV? How many people actually get HDTV in their area, and how many channels? HDTV is so hyped right now but seems that there is barely any deployment."
Sadly, I think he was trying to making a point.
"Victory means exit strategy, and it's important for the President to explain to us what the exit strategy is." G.W.Bush
I sort of have the opposite view. I think TVs should do one job, and one job only - display whatever is input to them (in fact, I think they should not have speakers either). Decoding of digital cable content (and in fact, tuning analog cable channels) should not be the job of the TV. TVs should have one single input (like a DVI port, or something to keep the image digital). Everyone should also have an A/V receiver so they can plug all their equipment into one central source - perhaps there could be a market for cheap stereo receivers, for those who don't need 5.1 dolby digital surround sound. Connections to the A/V receiver should be *fully digital* (maybe then they could have all audio/video data on one line).
Why do I think this is a good idea? Because it is much more simpler, especially for those who aren't inclined or willing to understand how everything works - there's only one connection to the TV, so you obviously plug the video out to the TV - anything else like your DVD player or digital cable terminal plugs into the A/V receiver. There would be no "changing your TV to channel 3 and changing your cable terminal to channel 56" nonsense, which is probably the root of confusion for most consumers. Also, it is much more modular - what if a new cable or satellite technology comes out down the road? Do you really want to buy a new TV? What if a new video techology comes out? What if you need more inputs? What if you want to upgrade your speakers? Upgrade the TV only? The multiple remotes issue could be solved by mandating a standard interface that the A/V receiver uses to communicate with all peripherals. That way, all communications would be between the remote and the A/V receiver, with the receiver controlling functions on other devices such as DVD playback or changing of channels on a digital terminal. The TV could have a power-save function that would turn it off when no signal is detected (or, an interface could be defined so that all A/V receivers would have control over the TV power).
The problem here is that you expect manufacturers to build to the 1080i/p standard before the technology exists. The best sets for high resolution out there are still CRT based, because LCD (and that goes for LCoS too) and DLP technologies simply don't offer more than 720p resolution at the consumer end of the market. In fact, there are no DLP chips out there that do more than 1280x720, and the high end of LCD Front/Rear projection is still 1366x768 (Sony HS-20). Only a CRT offers full 1440x1080i resolution, because CRTs are inherently analog technology from the electron beam out to phosphor.
If you want full 1920x1080 resolution you must either wait for LCD/DLP technology to progress to native HD spec resolution (probably two chip generations away before it hits consumer), or buy a very high end CRT based system. I have an HS-20 LCD front projector (720p native) and a Hitachi 51S500 RPTV; a low end model with three 7" CRTs and semi-decent optics. It only supports 1080i at 1440x1080. The better RPTVs use 9"CRTs, with better optics, but they're still limited to 1440x1080. The only "real" CRT systems out there that do full 1080i spec are commercial units for pre and post production, usually costing somewhere in the range of $25K - $30K.
Why is this? Because the scan times for 1080i and 1080/24p are insanely fast, and the bandwidth requirements are insanely high. It's not just a computer monitor. And with an RPTV, the convergence issues alone get in the way of full 1080i. Really, the upshot here is that full 1080i spec was written long before the technology existed to display such resolutions. Only today with the migration away from CRT to digital LCD/DLP chip technologies are we coming close to display devices capable of real 1080i. And note, plasma doesn't even come close.
Anyway, feel bad about it all you want, but I think the manufacturers are doing a fine job with implementing the standard given current technology. I note that my 51" RPTV with the higher resolution isn't much nicer than images projected against my 117" screen at 720p. Honestly, one can't tell the difference, though 480p from DVDs does suffer with such a large screen size.
The real PITA has been the fight over DRM and copy controls interfering with rollout of content and obsoleting old HD displays. There will be a lot of very pissed off customers once they realize their component only HD sets are worthless for HD content in the next few years.
Cheers,
--Maynard