It is always a pleasure for me to write about HDTV. It is a fascinating
subject able to fully satisfy the hungriest of curiosities or intellects. I
have followed HDTV daily for the last ten years. Few topics have been so
dramatic, far reaching, consequential, and personally impactful as HDTV. HDTV
development has spanned nearly 30 years, yet it is still a measure away from
being a household item. In this review to give you some fundamental reasons
why HDTV is certain to be a valuable asset to your quality consciousness and
to illustrate those things which still inhibit it. Trying to illustrate the
value of HDTV without you enjoying it first with a few hour road test is
little like explaining in writing why bumble bees fly. I think I can do it,
but there is a danger of getting us lost in the explanation.
A high school drop out, Thomas Edison, started it all with his invention of
the phonograph. With that he ushered in the era of home entertainment
appliances. That opened ultimately every nation to the idea of receiving and
playing professionally produced and technically delivered entertainment and
instructional programs at home. Musicians feared Mr. Edison had ruined their
trade. Who would hire them if platters or cylinders would suffice?
David Sarnoff, a vice president of the Radio Corporation of America, ushered
in commercial radio broadcasting in the 20s. Live programs of news, drama,
and music were heard in cities and country farms in various parts of the
nation. Newspapers charged Sarnoff at that time of single-handedly wanting to
destroy their institutions. They went so far as to refuse advertising for
radio. But nothing could stop it. Networks formed to make national services.
Stars from stage and phonograph moved to the "amazing" technology that
distributed their voices to more people in one day than ever they could in a
lifetime from the stage. It was exciting. It was growing. It was important.
It created a national community with a local lodge. It was little regulated
by the Federal Government.
With General Sarnoff again leading the way, black and white television
struggled into spotty service following WWII. Some, and then more, and then
more, and still more living rooms across the United States tuned, what were
very expensive sets, to Hopalong Cassidy movies, wherever they could find
them. They came to faithfully tune in unison at 7:30 PM on Tuesday nights
Texaco's Uncle Miltie. Berle gave the nation its last look at the fading art
of vaudeville. Those same personalities which lent radio its stature
recognized quickly that the future was in scanning lines. With the help of
William Paley (CBS Chairman) they jumped ship to the new visual medium. That
did just what Paley expected-carried the audiences with them. The combination
of winning the war, the talent shift from radio to TV, exploiting the
remaining strengths of vaudeville, solid news reporting, and batches of fresh
new talent rising to the occasion made for what is now called the golden age
of television. Television became one of the greatest growth industries of
post WWII.
Color was the dream of engineers from the inception of scanned images. It
didn't have quite the excitement within its development as did radio and
black and white television. Those were, after all, brand new services
creating whole new ways of at looking at society. They also took very gutsy
and exciting pioneers to get the services started. There were no sets to
receive expensively created and transmitted signals. Signals had to be
invested in until a pay-back could be realized many years hence-not months
hence. Color was viewed certainly as a worthy aim and again, David Sarnoff,
now a trusted Chairman of RCA (which owned NBC), headed the drive. In the
process he gambled nearly all of his company's resources to achieve color
television, nearly failing. Not only did he see it the glorious culmination
of television engineering, he wanted to expand RCA's presence and dominate
both the domestic market and foreign markets in Europe and Japan. To insure
order in the development process a committee was established from within the
industry. Their mission-create a color standard to be accepted by the FCC.
The committee was called the National Television Systems Committee (NTSC).
After lengthy struggles and one major misstep (where a quickly aborted
standard using a color wheel occurred), the Committee agreed upon the
compatible color system we have today. It is often called NTSC. Japan bought
it and Europe rejected it. But both Japan and Europe entered the color
television transmission business and began making sets for sale within their
own regions, and later to all regions of the world. Sarnoff did not dominate
color television around the world, but many of RCA's patents were finally
used in every color system.
Fast Forward to 1964 Japan
Japan had one national broadcaster after the war. The revenue to operate the
network-Japan Broadcasting Corporation, or NHK- comes from a monthly levy
assessed every television set in use in Japan. Huge revenues are the result
with a small percentage (about 1%) of that revenue being dedicated by law to
research in the world renowned NHK Science & Technical Research Laboratories
in Tokyo. All television innovation for professional or consumer items is
developed in a cooperative with the Japanese electronic manufacturers. Some
of the most significant innovation in television has come from this
cooperative of broadcast laboratory and private industry.
The Next Generation of Television-HDTV
NHK began work on the future of broadcasting in 1964, the same year the
Olympics were held Japan. The reasons for doing so have long since become
folk lore. Some say NHK simply wanted to increase the enjoyment for the
viewers. Others point out that NHK knew the day of their monopoly status
would end with deregulation and that every edge, including technical quality,
had to be used for competitive reasons. Still, another view has it that a new
world production standard was needed and Japan would particularly benefit
from access to world program connections. Some sterner critics see a sinister
side where Japan would focus all its resources to creating a new television
era with the strategy of leaping ahead of everyone else and staying ahead so
as to finally dominate global communications. All others would have to
compete to maintain their self-respect and Japan would sell the rest of the
world the production and consumer HDTV equipment to do so.
Some grounds for believing such a strategy existed with certain agencies
surfaced in the 80s. But international domination of any sort would have
proved to be Japan's worst nightmare, rather than a dream. Japan does not
have enough international goodwill to carry such heavy political responsibilities.
Still, after the first transmission of HDTV in Japan in the early 1980s using
their MUSE decoding scheme the American Electronics Association said HDTV
will be the most powerful driver of advanced electronics in the world. If
Japan had a dominant role in its manufacturing it could hold true that they
might dominate other fields. Uncle Sam worried about defense and the Bush
administration told the FCC to get America in the lead, or else. But I am
ahead of myself. The purpose of this article is to give you a fundamental
understanding of why there have been billions of dollars spent on HDTV and
why, after all of this talk, you still can't buy one in your favorite outlet.
Understanding the Subtleties of HDTV
Following exhaustive study, NHK decided in the early 70s what their vision
would be for the next generation of television. Elevating the sense of
reality (therefore greater engagement in the program for the viewer) is the
major feature and whole purpose for consumer HDTV.
HDTV is not simply about clearer pictures.It is about involvement in the
program which comes when certain image and audio conditions are met.
This heightened sense of realism provides to the viewer a near three
dimensional effect. Meeting that challenge technically defined the general
parameters of the future HDTV production equipment and HD receivers.
Japan carried that information to a landmark international meeting of
television engineers in Algiers in 1981.
There, they defined in general terms what parameters should be established
to meet the objective of greater viewer involvement.
Continue for part 2
"Commerce, like an army, can go forward no faster than its means of
communications. The history of industrial advance in all ages shows that with
every addition to communications facilities the volume of business has
increased."
Note: This article originally appeared in the HDTV Newsletter. A link to the HDTV Newsletter Home Page can be found in the HOTLINX section of this site.
E-Mail address: jfedele@fedele.com