I live in Chicago and use AT&T DSL. So there is an alternative available. I don't run filesharing apps so I don't know if they regulate traffic at all.
It depends what you mean by standard. A True HDTV can display 1080i (1920 x 1080 resolution, interlaced), 720p (progressive scan). However, many HDTVs on the market, particularly LCD models that have only one native resolution, resample the high-res signal to their (high) native resolution. There is no standards issue here, only picture quality. (And anyone who has seen _true_ HDTV will report that it will knock your socks off.)
The issue at hand is with the connector from the outbourd decoder box to the TV. Currently component video is used (like on your DVD player, which runs at max 480p) or a VGA connector. But the idea is to switch to Firewire (IEEE1394) and encrypt the signal so non-copy-protection compliant TVs, even HDTVs, display at ugly 480i (which is what you watch right now, standard NTSC.)
Ubelieveable but true.
Presumeably Mr. Boucher is refering to upcoming HDTV encryption.
I do agree that we need to take some steps to assure that material which is, for example, broadcast across digital-television equipment should be protected in such a way as to disallow unauthorized copying and disallow uploading to the Internet. I actually endorse the idea of doing that.
I wonder if he knows that this could render thousands of pieces of HDTV equipment nationwide obsolete, icluding TVs and set top boxes, that were not built with the new standard.
Don't jump on this guy's boat too fast. It may be tempting to hear someone in Congress saying some things we want to hear, but we have to be careful. There is always the chance that he doesn't understand the reprecussions of the proposed standard.
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I live in Chicago and use AT&T DSL. So there is an alternative available. I don't run filesharing apps so I don't know if they regulate traffic at all.
It depends what you mean by standard. A True HDTV can display 1080i (1920 x 1080 resolution, interlaced), 720p (progressive scan). However, many HDTVs on the market, particularly LCD models that have only one native resolution, resample the high-res signal to their (high) native resolution. There is no standards issue here, only picture quality. (And anyone who has seen _true_ HDTV will report that it will knock your socks off.) The issue at hand is with the connector from the outbourd decoder box to the TV. Currently component video is used (like on your DVD player, which runs at max 480p) or a VGA connector. But the idea is to switch to Firewire (IEEE1394) and encrypt the signal so non-copy-protection compliant TVs, even HDTVs, display at ugly 480i (which is what you watch right now, standard NTSC.) Ubelieveable but true.
Presumeably Mr. Boucher is refering to upcoming HDTV encryption. I do agree that we need to take some steps to assure that material which is, for example, broadcast across digital-television equipment should be protected in such a way as to disallow unauthorized copying and disallow uploading to the Internet. I actually endorse the idea of doing that. I wonder if he knows that this could render thousands of pieces of HDTV equipment nationwide obsolete, icluding TVs and set top boxes, that were not built with the new standard. Don't jump on this guy's boat too fast. It may be tempting to hear someone in Congress saying some things we want to hear, but we have to be careful. There is always the chance that he doesn't understand the reprecussions of the proposed standard.