[Vision2020] Digital TV is in Moscow, now ....

[MoscowSam]

I haven't been reading all the V2020 posts lately; there are so many!

So maybe I missed some content on the "Digital Television" thread. If
I am repeating what has been said already, then just DELETE.

KUID now broadcasts digital television on Channel 12 with four different
content channels during the day until 4 p.m. Yes, that is four separate
digital "channels" in the bandwidth of what was just one analog channel. 
Public television is making very effective use of its channel allocation! 

12-1 is the digital version of the "regular" analog channel program (now 
over the air on Channel 35); 12-2 is "PBS Kids"; 12-3 is "Learn" which is 
educational courses, I presume for credit; 12-4 is "Citizen" which seems
to focus on news and issues.  These four are in "standard" 4:3 aspect
ratio to which those of us who watch TV are accustomed.

At 4 pm, 12-2, 12-3 and 12-4 are shut down, while 12-1 continues 
with the addition of 12-5 in high definition, often in wide-screen 
format.

If you have not seen wide-screen high-definition TV on a large television
screen, then you are in for an experience when you do.  Ordinary analog 
television may display 350 lines or so of discernible definition.  KUID's
12-1, 12-2, 12-3 and 12-4 probably are 480 lines, while 12-5 is 1080.  
Yes, that is 1080 pixels, vertically.  In wide screen format that should 
be 1920 x 1080 pixels.  

Compare that to the settings of your computer's monitor.  The
most common computer monitor setting probably is 800 x600 pixels
while quite a few are 1024 x 768.  Some folks with big computer
screens and good close vision even set theirs to 1280 x 960.

Hence 1920 x 1080 on a big, wide-screen TV is truly spectacular.

Apparently we will have the addition of KWSU by the end of May.
Lewiston has been on the air in digital format for a while on 
Channel 32, but their signal is not strong enough for me to
get a picture at my home on Indian Hills Drive in Moscow.  I
believe that KLEW-DT does not broadcast in high definition nor
in wide screen format yet.

These over-the-air broadcasts are "free".  E.g., you do not
have to subscribe to a satellite TV service to get them, nor
can you get them via local cable.  You have to have an antenna
and a "set-top box" or a TV with an "integrated" digital signal
tuner.  And that is the rub to receive and view these fine
broadcasts; the cost right now is high for the special gear
required.

I checked two stores while in Portland a few days ago.  The lowest
cost for an over-the-air digital receiver was priced at $399.  That 
was without DirecTV or Dish TV capabilities.  Set-top boxes with
the additional satellite abilities run from $500 to $850 and
maybe more.  

There is more than one store in Moscow that has high-definition,
wide-screen TV's available.  They are of excellent quality.  If
you are curious, visit these stores and you can see for yourself
the difference between conventional/analog TV and the new mode
now emerging.

I agree with Shawn.  Once analog, over-the-air television broadcasts
cease, prices for digital to analog converters to use with existing
TVs should come down drastically because many makers will want a
piece of the market and competition will do its thing to lower prices.

If you lament what is being foisted on the U.S. public in the way
of new television broadcast standards, then those of you old enough
to remember, please think back to the advent of color television.
Same thing as now:  Few channels carrying color, few programs, high
prices for color TV's.

Would you rather, now, still be watching black and white broadcasts
on TV's of 1960's quality?

Yes; I suppose I am a vidiot.

Sam Scripter
Moscow

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Shawn Clabough" <shawnc@outtrack.com>
To: <vision2020@moscow.com>
Sent: Thursday, April 17, 2003 12:58 PM
Subject: RE: [Vision2020] Digital television


> Don't confuse a digital signal with HDTV.  Although HDTV is digital, a
> standard resolution picture can also be digital, which is what many stations
> will be moving to first.  These standard resolution converters should be
> relatively inexpensive. Cable boxes and satellite boxes are already doing
> this conversion for many people.  Only if you want over-the-air broadcasts
> would you need an additional box.
> 
> Shawn