There is competition in most places. I've observed in the past couple of years that TWC has been engaging in a FUD campaign against satellite TV.... and that satellite carriers have been firing back with either a "we undercut cable like mad" (DirecTV and Dish) or "we've got more HD then cable" (Voom) campaign. It's very amusing to watch.
but because of hardware limitations the device still does not support MP3 playback.
Hardware limitations my ass.
This translates to "Because we don't want to encourage you to play your already-fully-stocked collection of DRM unencumbered MP3s in favour of buying all your recordings yet another time (did I mention we sell recordings?), our hardware does not support MP3."
This is the part that impressed me: 9 Closed-circuit TV cameras . . . Anti-integration makes things difficult for the bad guys; it means they will have to break two systems instead of one.
Redundancy is a Good Thing. Heterogeneous redundancy is a Better Thing. Here endeth the lesson.
At the present, the cost of energy is on the rise, and I would be shocked if this rise in energy cost slows; more likely it will accellerate as we dig deeper into the reserves of oil.
Via have been working on highly efficient CPU's. Presently, a Via EPIA MII 12000 motherboard can be had with a built-on 1.2GHz processor. It's no speed demon, but it's no slouch, either. It is reported to draw 31 watts off of the power supply under load, versus 75+ for MoBo's with Intel/AMD chips.
As an added bonus, less energy in equals less heat out. This reduces the cooling requirements, and, by extension, can make the computer quieter (which ties in with another comment in this thread)
As yet another added bonus, these MoBo's are small and have most of the things I can think of wanting to put into a computer already on them.
No, I'm not affiliated with Via, I'm just a happy customer.
. . . currently, our storage capacity for electricity is zero.
In Gilboa, NY, there is a plant with two reservoirs, one at the top and one at the bottom of a mountain. Four pump/turbines are connected between the two. It stores electricity using gravity, and has been there since the 60s, if I recall correctly. Details here.
If you can find an old GE Superradio I, II or III at a garage sale or flea market (I got mine for $8 at a flea market), the reception range is awesome, and the sound quality will make you question the necessity of FM. With mine, I have little trouble picking up WFAN and WCBS and a few other NYC stations from Albany, NY, which made for interesting listening during the blackout last year.
Don't worry so much about EQX. My sister-in-law used to be on their sales force. They are able to command triple the money for ad time of what CC and Albany Broadcasting can. The owner also subsidizes the radio station with his profits from the Equinox Hotel. Just pray for a good skiing season and EQX will continue to do just fine.
On the [N]PR[I] model applied to music, WVCR had it mostly right for a while, then changed formats. They currently have an "urban beat" format that makes me hurl, but I'm sure their format is as good there as it was when they were doing rock.
I also heard about a radio station in California, I wish I could remember the callsign, where they are still running ads, but only about 6 minutes of ads per hour. They don't accept screaming ads, and they don't hire screaming DJ's. They don't fade songs out one over the other, and they don't talk over the music. In short, they cut out most of the bullshit, and claim to be inspired by [N]PR[I].
This looks like a fun fight. It doesn't matter which side wins or loses, but we get to watch the corporate giants that have tried to homogenize our lives and destroy any effort to halt this homogenization eat each other for lunch! Now THAT's entertainment!
Right, and that is the reason you capture progressively, then and only then (if needed), interlace it. I believe that the current DV camcorders that sport progressive scan already do exactly that.
Compressed HDTV runs at 19.8 Mega Bits/second. To do 1080p you would have to run at twice that 39.6 Mbps.
I don't see any reason why you could not take the video in at 30 frames per second progressive. This would have the same bandwidth as 60 fields per second (30 frames per second) interlaced, which is what this camera shoots natively. You would have to alter the front end a little to accomodate this, but 30fps progressive is in the HDTV standards for 1080-line mode. It's called 1080i because it gets delivered to the monitor interlaced.
The rules for the UHF band are stricter due to the increased susceptibility to interference of television receivers in the UHF band.
I may be mistaken on this, but I am of the impression that selectivity is good enough nowadays not to be an issue.
Additionally, I would point out that CATV systems are an example that demonstrates that these rules are passe. There is no reason that I know of that a TV transmitter over the air can't make a signal as clean as those of the modulators used by CATV systems, and the fact that even an older, not-cable-ready TV can function on a CATV system (channels 2-13, anyway) without serious problems tells me that receiver selectivity is also not a problem.
BTW, the separation rules for UHF, as they stand now, are 6 channels separation for a seventy mile radius, e.g., in our area, there is a 17, 23 and 45. 17 and 23 are separated by 6 channels. Outside of 70 miles, there is a channel 19 and a channel 25 that we can receive, which are within 70 miles of each other. Two channels separation are required on channels 2-13, with the exceptions that you can have channels 4 and 5 and channels 6 and 7 within 70 miles of each other because there are 4MHz separation between channels 4 and 5, and 86MHz separation between channels 6 and 7.
if it wasn't for this, you'd have people with 1 kW WiFi amplifiers
A 1kW WiFi amplifier would probably put one in the running for a Darwin award. It would work on one's surroundings like a microwave oven, just not quite as fast;-)
It is truly sad that it takes all this specification in order for people to know where NSW is located. Saddest part is that most of the ignorance would be from my fellow Americans.
A fine example is a system I have that alleges to support booting from CD. You can set it up, but it never works.
Another system I have can boot from some, but not all, CD's. It will boot any Slackware CD up to and including 8.0, but will not boot 8.1.
I believe that the ability to patch the BIOS would fix both of these machines.
Further, I have some even older motherboards that predate CD boot. How about engineering CD boot into them via an open BIOS?
...and why stop there? Maybe I want these machines (none of which support it) to boot from a USB flash device? Maybe I want to make one totally headless including having no video hardware at all, instead going to a serial port for a terminal? The list of possibilities just goes on and on.
So, NTSC is really "n * 525", not "n * 480" and *certainly* not "n * 486"
I re-assert that it is 480, because only 480 lines appear on the screen, and, in the event of a fixed-pixel screen (LCD, plasma, DLT), 480 is the appropriate Y resolution.
Additionally, in digitizing NTSC, it is digitized to 480 (VCD exception noted), because to do so is entirely aprporiate.
In a similar vein, I assert that PAL/SECAM is 576 (288 for VCD), despite that there are 625 scan lines. The lines beyond 576 are not shown, and are not part of the picture, they therefore contribute nothing to the resolution of the PICTURE.
TiVo is not 352x480, it supports three resolutions, and that happens to be the lowest one. If I recall correctly only if your Tivo is set to record over the air in basic quality does it use that low.
Its usually 544x480.
Thank you for the correction.
NTSC transmission is 720x486
set your TV to overscan and you'll see all sorts of interesting things broadcasters use in those two 'hidden' 3-pix areas
I did not count that area because it is part of the oversacan, not part of the picture. If I were counting overscan, I would have said 525 rather than 480, but your point is valid.
What about regular coax? what would the resolution be for that?
Analog RF carries composite, so composite rules apply. Either one will top out at about 300X480. If the coax is carrying digital RF, then digital and/or HDTV rules apply.
Regular TV is nX480, where n is determined by available analogue bandwidth, or by the defined digital value, whichever is less. If composite video is involved, n is less than 300, with colour resolution less than 150. If the narrowest analog link is S-Video, then image resolution may be as high as you can muster, but colour resolution is less constrained to about 400 pixels. Component can go as high as you want.
Digital modes include 352x240 (0.1 megapixels; VCD), 352x480 (0.2 megapixels; TiVo), 480x480 (0.2 megapixels; SVCD), 640x480 (0.3 megapixels; DTV/VGA), 704x480 (0.3 megapixels; DTV) and 720x480 (0.3 megapixels; DV/DVD). Note that in no case does X approach 800 nor Y approach 600. 800x600 would be 0.5 megapixels.
Now, if you've been paying attention, you've noticed that VCD is not nX480, byt nX240. To present this on an NTSC monitor, either each line is repeated, or the picture is scaled and smoothed, depending on your playback hardware.
HDTV, on the other hand, is firmly defined as 1280x720 (0.9 megapixels) or 1920x1080 (2.1 megapixels), both higher than 1024x768 (0.8 megapixels).
Slashdot Mirror
There is competition in most places. I've observed in the past couple of years that TWC has been engaging in a FUD campaign against satellite TV.... and that satellite carriers have been firing back with either a "we undercut cable like mad" (DirecTV and Dish) or "we've got more HD then cable" (Voom) campaign. It's very amusing to watch.
For the record, I am a satisfied Dish customer.
I think this should be the next Slashdot poll. I vot for "No, I would still run Linux."
Succeeded by DN.
Nope! CN++.
but because of hardware limitations the device still does not support MP3 playback.
Hardware limitations my ass.
This translates to "Because we don't want to encourage you to play your already-fully-stocked collection of DRM unencumbered MP3s in favour of buying all your recordings yet another time (did I mention we sell recordings?), our hardware does not support MP3."
This is the part that impressed me: 9 Closed-circuit TV cameras . . . Anti-integration makes things difficult for the bad guys; it means they will have to break two systems instead of one.
Redundancy is a Good Thing. Heterogeneous redundancy is a Better Thing. Here endeth the lesson.
Energy efficiency.
At the present, the cost of energy is on the rise, and I would be shocked if this rise in energy cost slows; more likely it will accellerate as we dig deeper into the reserves of oil.
Via have been working on highly efficient CPU's. Presently, a Via EPIA MII 12000 motherboard can be had with a built-on 1.2GHz processor. It's no speed demon, but it's no slouch, either. It is reported to draw 31 watts off of the power supply under load, versus 75+ for MoBo's with Intel/AMD chips.
As an added bonus, less energy in equals less heat out. This reduces the cooling requirements, and, by extension, can make the computer quieter (which ties in with another comment in this thread)
As yet another added bonus, these MoBo's are small and have most of the things I can think of wanting to put into a computer already on them.
No, I'm not affiliated with Via, I'm just a happy customer.
. . . currently, our storage capacity for electricity is zero.
In Gilboa, NY, there is a plant with two reservoirs, one at the top and one at the bottom of a mountain. Four pump/turbines are connected between the two. It stores electricity using gravity, and has been there since the 60s, if I recall correctly. Details here.
If you can find an old GE Superradio I, II or III at a garage sale or flea market (I got mine for $8 at a flea market), the reception range is awesome, and the sound quality will make you question the necessity of FM. With mine, I have little trouble picking up WFAN and WCBS and a few other NYC stations from Albany, NY, which made for interesting listening during the blackout last year.
Don't worry so much about EQX. My sister-in-law used to be on their sales force. They are able to command triple the money for ad time of what CC and Albany Broadcasting can. The owner also subsidizes the radio station with his profits from the Equinox Hotel. Just pray for a good skiing season and EQX will continue to do just fine.
On the [N]PR[I] model applied to music, WVCR had it mostly right for a while, then changed formats. They currently have an "urban beat" format that makes me hurl, but I'm sure their format is as good there as it was when they were doing rock.
I also heard about a radio station in California, I wish I could remember the callsign, where they are still running ads, but only about 6 minutes of ads per hour. They don't accept screaming ads, and they don't hire screaming DJ's. They don't fade songs out one over the other, and they don't talk over the music. In short, they cut out most of the bullshit, and claim to be inspired by [N]PR[I].
This looks like a fun fight. It doesn't matter which side wins or loses, but we get to watch the corporate giants that have tried to homogenize our lives and destroy any effort to halt this homogenization eat each other for lunch! Now THAT's entertainment!
Right, and that is the reason you capture progressively, then and only then (if needed), interlace it. I believe that the current DV camcorders that sport progressive scan already do exactly that.
Compressed HDTV runs at 19.8 Mega Bits/second. To do 1080p you would have to run at twice that 39.6 Mbps.
I don't see any reason why you could not take the video in at 30 frames per second progressive. This would have the same bandwidth as 60 fields per second (30 frames per second) interlaced, which is what this camera shoots natively. You would have to alter the front end a little to accomodate this, but 30fps progressive is in the HDTV standards for 1080-line mode. It's called 1080i because it gets delivered to the monitor interlaced.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't the Slashdot Community predict yesterday that this may or may not be the outcome?
Yes, yes, cell phones, . . . that doesn't help for connectivity, since cell modems are expensive.
Sanyo SCP-4900 CDMA1900 phone... $50
USB cable for SCP-4900 ordered over the net... $30
2000 Minutes two-phone shared plan with all the toys... $85/month
Unlimited wireless Internet access anywhere my phone works.... Priceless
What?!? They flushed their cache?!? What are we going to do when someone gets Slashdotted?!?
The rules for the UHF band are stricter due to the increased susceptibility to interference of television receivers in the UHF band.
I may be mistaken on this, but I am of the impression that selectivity is good enough nowadays not to be an issue.
Additionally, I would point out that CATV systems are an example that demonstrates that these rules are passe. There is no reason that I know of that a TV transmitter over the air can't make a signal as clean as those of the modulators used by CATV systems, and the fact that even an older, not-cable-ready TV can function on a CATV system (channels 2-13, anyway) without serious problems tells me that receiver selectivity is also not a problem.
BTW, the separation rules for UHF, as they stand now, are 6 channels separation for a seventy mile radius, e.g., in our area, there is a 17, 23 and 45. 17 and 23 are separated by 6 channels. Outside of 70 miles, there is a channel 19 and a channel 25 that we can receive, which are within 70 miles of each other. Two channels separation are required on channels 2-13, with the exceptions that you can have channels 4 and 5 and channels 6 and 7 within 70 miles of each other because there are 4MHz separation between channels 4 and 5, and 86MHz separation between channels 6 and 7.
if it wasn't for this, you'd have people with 1 kW WiFi amplifiers
A 1kW WiFi amplifier would probably put one in the running for a Darwin award. It would work on one's surroundings like a microwave oven, just not quite as fast ;-)
73 DE KC2IDF.
How about Esperanto?
Saluton.
New South Wales (where Sydney is) Australia
It is truly sad that it takes all this specification in order for people to know where NSW is located. Saddest part is that most of the ignorance would be from my fellow Americans.
But very funny.
A fine example is a system I have that alleges to support booting from CD. You can set it up, but it never works.
Another system I have can boot from some, but not all, CD's. It will boot any Slackware CD up to and including 8.0, but will not boot 8.1.
I believe that the ability to patch the BIOS would fix both of these machines.
Further, I have some even older motherboards that predate CD boot. How about engineering CD boot into them via an open BIOS?
...and why stop there? Maybe I want these machines (none of which support it) to boot from a USB flash device? Maybe I want to make one totally headless including having no video hardware at all, instead going to a serial port for a terminal? The list of possibilities just goes on and on.
Om!
So, NTSC is really "n * 525", not "n * 480" and *certainly* not "n * 486"
I re-assert that it is 480, because only 480 lines appear on the screen, and, in the event of a fixed-pixel screen (LCD, plasma, DLT), 480 is the appropriate Y resolution.
Additionally, in digitizing NTSC, it is digitized to 480 (VCD exception noted), because to do so is entirely aprporiate.
In a similar vein, I assert that PAL/SECAM is 576 (288 for VCD), despite that there are 625 scan lines. The lines beyond 576 are not shown, and are not part of the picture, they therefore contribute nothing to the resolution of the PICTURE.
TiVo is not 352x480, it supports three resolutions, and that happens to be the lowest one. If I recall correctly only if your Tivo is set to record over the air in basic quality does it use that low. Its usually 544x480.
Thank you for the correction.
NTSC transmission is 720x486 set your TV to overscan and you'll see all sorts of interesting things broadcasters use in those two 'hidden' 3-pix areas
I did not count that area because it is part of the oversacan, not part of the picture. If I were counting overscan, I would have said 525 rather than 480, but your point is valid.
What about regular coax? what would the resolution be for that?
Analog RF carries composite, so composite rules apply. Either one will top out at about 300X480. If the coax is carrying digital RF, then digital and/or HDTV rules apply.
regular tv is 800x600 hdtv is 1024x768
Wrong!
Regular TV is nX480, where n is determined by available analogue bandwidth, or by the defined digital value, whichever is less. If composite video is involved, n is less than 300, with colour resolution less than 150. If the narrowest analog link is S-Video, then image resolution may be as high as you can muster, but colour resolution is less constrained to about 400 pixels. Component can go as high as you want.
Digital modes include 352x240 (0.1 megapixels; VCD), 352x480 (0.2 megapixels; TiVo), 480x480 (0.2 megapixels; SVCD), 640x480 (0.3 megapixels; DTV/VGA), 704x480 (0.3 megapixels; DTV) and 720x480 (0.3 megapixels; DV/DVD). Note that in no case does X approach 800 nor Y approach 600. 800x600 would be 0.5 megapixels.
Now, if you've been paying attention, you've noticed that VCD is not nX480, byt nX240. To present this on an NTSC monitor, either each line is repeated, or the picture is scaled and smoothed, depending on your playback hardware.
HDTV, on the other hand, is firmly defined as 1280x720 (0.9 megapixels) or 1920x1080 (2.1 megapixels), both higher than 1024x768 (0.8 megapixels).