I cannot make a link to this article,
unfortunately - there is some kind
of problem.
But those of us who are broadcast
engineers or watchers of OTA (Over The Air)
TV night want to keep a eye out.
Aside from the fact that the FCC wants to
pack HDTV into other, lower frequency
spectrum - there is something new going
on. I do not understand it, so I am putting
the word out here.
Apparently there is a legal battle going on
between a service that wants to provide
broadcast TV to the internet, and - the
TV networks themselves. Then there was
spaculation that at some point in the future,
some or all of the big 4 TV networks might chose to be on
cable, and not go through broadcast OTA TV
stations at all.
I do not understand what is going on here.
If anyone else here has heard about this,
feel free to check in.
Bruce, The DOGRADIO group
I prefer OTA TV. It's actually much better quality than cable or ADSL or the Internet, as it is true 720p or whatever, and not compressed.
Plus it's free, after the initial investment, of course. But even that's not too bad. Most newer TV's have pretty good digital tuners. And gone are the days that you needed a monstrosity antenna - because HDTV is UHF (at least right now), the antennas are much smaller. Finally, you either get the channel perfectly, or you don't (there's no snow).
I hope they don't mess around with what's working well.
After reading Mr. DogRadio's TV concerns, I checked my recent copy of TV Technology from May 8 and saw a few references that might tie into to whatever he heard.
Nearing the close of the NAB Convention Mr. Chris Ornetas of NAB interviewed two FCC Commissioners before a room full of broadcasters, and although many subjects were discussed, they did mention a threat made by Mr. Chase Carey to change Fox TV into a cable network, which has many Fox Affiliates wondering what's going to happen. No mention was made of other TV networks having similar ideas, but maybe they do. Both Commissioners said the FCC has no authority over what Fox decides to do.
They also remarked about the open proceedings on retransmission, which Mr. Dog Group mentioned above, but again commented that the FCC cannot dictate the outcome, that it was up to "market forces".
Mention was made of the "TV spectrum auctions coming up in 2014." That is probably a piece of the puzzle.
My wife and I ditched cable.
She watches lots of shows on
Hulu and Netfllix. I'm not really
a TV show guy, but there are a
few shows from the last few years
that I have really enjoyed.
OTA TV works great here. We
get CBS, NBC, ABC, FOX, and PBS.
When our son was in Boston a mile
away from the bombings, watching
the live TV helped us feel better.
(About our son's safety.)
Carl - from your comments, you
may have latched onto part of
this new mystery. I guess we'll
see what happens.
By the way, even though this is
not Part 15 - my favorite TV show
of my whole life so far is "Monk."
The extremely touching comedy
and sometimes drama about the
goofy genius detective Adrian Monk.
He is a brilliant in solving crimes.
However, he has Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.
This helps him solve cases, but drives all
of his friends crazy. A more wonderful
TV show I do not know of. Hillarious and
sad at the same time. And we get the
reruns on OTA TV. (I'm sure there are
other great shows, but even as a huge
Sci-Fi fan - "Monk" will always be my
favorite.)
And Mr. Artisan, you are right on with
your last comment. I too, hope they
don't mess with a good thing.
Bruce, The Dog Radio Group
MONK is a rare and welcome work of intelligence and wit, setting it apart from a large amount of TV fare.
I was perfectly satisfied with NTSC analog TV and have quit all association with TV since I refuse to keep upgrading to new and different systems.
But I want you to have and enjoy the TV of your choice.
NTSC = Not Twice Same Color
It's true that NTSC suffered from "color drift", which needed to be compensated for all down the chain starting with the orginal videotaping session, dubs, transmission systems, transmitters, receivers, TV sets, VCRs....
That was part of the fun of it.
Probably most TV sets became mis-calibrated as users fiddled with the confusing "contrast" and "brightness" controls, then jiggled the color wheel for more green or more red.
As a video producer our vectorscope and time-base correctors where as much part of tweaking the picture as was lighting, scripting, micing, and scene composition.
Now, with Part 15 radio, we don't have enough dials to twiddle.
I want to add fine-adjustments and rows of meters so that transmitter adjustment takes over an hour.
i mostly prefer over the air tv but i have cable tv and an antenna both hooked up to my tv and i mainly watch the antenna with the execption of a few cable channels.
ABC
NBC
CBS
FOX
MNTV
ION
along with all the news channels
the weather channel
mtv
vh1
spike
discovery
history
a&e
and fx.
Well i certainly hope the fcc get's smart and allows some type of service where a tv station in a large market can have a remote tv station in area's unable to receive hdtv signals. I live 75 miles south of Lexington, Ky which is a major market area. The tv station (ota) are WLEX 18, WDKY 56, WKYT 27, and i believe there is one more probably a WB. All are HDTV
Having tried receiving these signals with no luck our only other options are cable or a tv station from Tennessee which is not , at least in my mind a local station.
So we are stuck paying for cable tv.I think it would be helpful that commercial tv stations be allowed to have remote transmitters outside of their major markets. Much like PBS is doing in Kentucky. There are translators all over the Bluegrass because of the weird hilly terrain.
There might be something new called LTE Broadcast Technology
Is that just over the air "TV" going
through phones - and the phones
are just receivers - no streaming -
no downloading? And it would be
done on cell phone frequencies?
Carl! Do you think that is what
they are saying there?
Bruce, The DOGRADIO Group
P.S. I hope your weather is
managable.
I am crazy to an extent, just not crazy about television. There is only two or three tv stations here. None of which are worth watching. Okay maybe KET - A public tv station but other than that the medium known as tv is dead to me.
In the last years of analog TV I would sit like any American and stare for hours at "The Set."
But when they shut it all down and started over with DTV I refused to go along.
Today TV does not exist in my life and I have lost weight.
Video technology is interesting, but I don't have time to sit and stare at it all day.
I have watched a lot of TV, and
was a TV DXer.
I think about the original Star Trek,
and a show Monk, from the USA network.
Oh - and the Big Bang Theory, which goes
back a while and is still on the air. I recommend
that one.
The second version of The Outer Limits, which ran
from 1995 to 2002 was very good. I haven't seen
all of those. There are several absolutely wonderful
British shows. Doc Martin is amazing. Doc Martin
is a strange emotionless doctor in a British village
where many of the people catch fish for a living.
It is wonderful, and the scenery of the village is
beautiful.
But I could do without all of them if I had to.
I've seen enough TV for a lifetime. I would
rather have music running in the house.
BUT it's a funny thing about HDTV over the air TV.
We are on a busy street. Our NTSC reception was
terrible. There was ghosting that flipped all over the
place. It was mostly unwatchable. We get very good
HDTV reception, and I don't know why. Also, the
PBS station has 4 or 5 channels. You know: like
channels 24.1 though 24.5.
But if it all went away today I would be alright.
Then there's the matter of my wife. That's another
story.
Bruce, DOGRADIO