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DTV

Roy Walker
WA5YZD

Do You Remember These?

History

In the United States, the National Television System Committee (for which
the NTSC standard is named) standardized on 525 lines at 30 fps in 1940,
with regular broadcasts starting on July 1, 1941.

NTSC standard was updated to include first a non-compatible 441-line


color standard in 1950, which was replaced by a compatible 525-line,
29.97fps color standard approved in 1953 and used to this day.

Current high definition video standards were developed during the course
of the advanced television process initiated by the Federal
Communications Commission in 1987 at the request of American
broadcasters

FCC process, led by the Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC)


adopted a range of standards from interlaced 1080 line video with a
maximum frame rate of 30 fps, and 720 line video, progressively
scanned, with a maximum frame rate of 60 fps. The FCC officially adopted
the ATSC transmission standard (which included both HD and SD video
standards) in 1996, with the first broadcasts on October 28, 1998.

Who is Affected by Change to


DTV?

Consumers who receive over-the-air television signals


through antennas on television sets that are equipped with
analog tuners and who do not subscribe to cable, satellite
or a telephone company television service provider will
be affected by the transition.

At least 19.6 million households receive over-the-air signals


exclusively in their homes, and 14.9 million households
have secondary over-the-air television sets in their
bedrooms or kitchens. Overall, nearly 70 million television
sets are at risk of losing their signals on February 17, 2009,
if consumers do not make the transition to DTV.

Analog vs. Digital Television

Analog TV AM vestigial sideband

6 MHz of bandwidth per channel plus the audio

High power transmitters for coverage 45 to 75KW Avg. Out

~300KW to 5MW ERP

Noise and multi-path interference common

Digital TV 8VSB MPEG-2 Stream

6 Mhz Channel can produce multiple programs viewable with ATSC tuner
(multicasting)
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Why the Change to Digital


TV ?

Increase number of programs local broadcasters can provide

Improve the Quality of Picture and Sound

Converting to DTV will also free up parts of the scarce and valuable
broadcast airwaves. Those portions of the airwaves can then be
used for other important services, such as advanced wireless and
public safety services (for example, police, fire departments, and
rescue squads, commercial wireless).

Transition to Digital Television

TV stations serving all markets in the United States are airing


digital television programming today, most will continue to
provide analog programming through February 17, 2009.

Full-power TV stations will cease broadcasting on their current


analog channels, and the spectrum they use for analog
broadcasting will be reclaimed and put to other uses.

The Commission's digital tuner rule specifies that as of


March 1, 2007, all new TVs must include digital tuners.

Converter Box Coupon


Program

Between Jan. 1, 2008, and March 31, 2009, all U.S.


households will be eligible to request up to two
coupons, worth $40 each, to be used toward the
purchase of up to two, digital-to-analog converter
boxes.

The National Telecommunications and Information


Administration (NTIA) has responsibility for
administering the coupon program. More
information can be found at
www.ntia.doc.gov/otiahome/dtv/dtvcoupon.html.
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Digital Television Quality


Levels
Standard Definition TV (SDTV) - SDTV is the basic level of quality
display and resolution for both analog and digital. Transmission of SDTV
may be in either the traditional (4:3) or wide screen (16:9) format.

Enhanced Definition TV (EDTV) - EDTV is a step up from Analog


Television. EDTV comes in 480p wide screen (16:9) or traditional (4:3)
format and provides better picture quality than SDTV, but not as high as
HDTV.

High Definition TV (HDTV) - HDTV in wide screen format (16:9)


provides the highest resolution and picture quality of all digital broadcast
formats. Combined with digitally enhanced sound technology, HDTV sets
new standards for sound and picture quality in television. (Note: HDTV
and digital TV are not the same thing -- HDTV is one format of digital TV.)

What You Should Know Before You Buy

Compare DTV picture quality. Go to the showroom and look at what you are
paying for. Contrast and compare the cost with the picture quality and features
within a brand you are considering. Look at the next brand and repeat the
comparison.

Image Processor Engines make the difference in picture quality.


Bravia
DLP

Make sure you have all the DTV equipment you need. DTV equipment can
be purchased as an integrated set or as separate components. Integrated
digital televisions have built-in tuners and a monitor to display the programming.
If you buy a DTV monitor (without an integrated tuner), you will need a stand-alone
tuner, cable set-top box, or satellite set-top box to watch DTV.

HDTV is the Top End Quality of DTV. HDTV requires special equipment, so
make sure to ask about HDTV-capable equipment and talk to your cable or satellite
provider to verify you have the proper set-top box to view HDTV.
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Can You See the Difference?

Is 720p vs. 1080i worth being concerned about? Yes and no. If
you're a consumer looking for a new TV, you can happily
ignore the 720p vs. 1080i debate because every TV which is
described as HDTV or HDTV Ready is required to support both
formats.

You should be aware that lots of TVs which support 1080i


have fewer than 1080 lines on their display and so scale the
1080 signal down. That's not a huge issue as even scaled
down 1080i is far ahead of a regular NTSC picture. It is worth
bearing in mind that more expensive HDTVs tend to have
better scalers than cheaper ones, and this may be an issue

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720p vs. 1080i

720p signal is made up of 720 horizontal lines. Each frame is


displayed in its entirety on-screen for 1/30th of a second. This
is know as progressive scan (hence the 'p'). The quality is like
watching 30 photographic images a second on TV.

A 1080i signal comprises 1080 horizontal lines but all the lines
are not displayed on-screen simultaneously. Instead, they are
interlaced (hence the 'i'), i.e. every other lines is displayed for
1/60th of a second and then the alternate lines are displayed

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Interlacing

Most of the time interlacing works fine, but for fast moving
images such as sports like baseball and hockey it can cause
problems which manifest themselves as a 'stepping' effect onscreen. Progressive scan signals don't have this problem and
so are better suited to sports.

ESPN puts it like this: 'Progressive scan technology produces


better images for the fast moving orientation of sports
television. Simply put, with 104 mph fastballs in baseball and
120 mph shots on goal in hockey, the line-by-line basis of
progressive scan technology better captures the inherent fast
action of sports. For ESPN, progressive scan technology makes
perfect sense.'

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Screen Technologies

Cathode ray tube (CRT) screens traditional color television


screens updated for digital

Rear Projection TVs rear projection TVs can create brilliant, wide
angle pictures on ever-larger screens (Its the Mirrors DLP)

LCD screens - are very thin and produce extremely clear pictures,
but are currently expensive and limited in size

Plasma screens - create a bright, clear picture up to enormous sizes


while remaining very thin. Cause high rf noise that interfere with HF
communications.

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Aspect Ratio

4 X 3: Traditional TV aspect ratio, that is, the screens


width as compared to its height. For example, a 32 inch TV
screen would be 25 inches wide and 19 inches tall.

16 X 9: Wide screen TV aspect ratio that is more like a


movie screen than a traditional TV. For example, a 32 inch
TV screen would be 28 inches wide and 16 inches tall.

Most new sets allow you to stretch or zoom the picture to fill
the screen. Some do a smart zoom that maintains linearity
of the picture. Cheaper set let you watch a distorted picture
and most people never notice how bad it looks.

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Austin DTV Allocations

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Spectra Comparison

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Data Formatting for 8-VSB

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Questions

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