Just received this April issue (today's email notice) of SatMagazine's Cover Story on HDTV. Here are a few excerpts from the story on p 20 - 27: ( http://www.satmagazine.com/ )
"...HDTV is coming. It’s hard to pin-point the transition line to mass adoption, but it looks like this is the year. Why 2005? The timing is right for a combination of technology, marketing, and
growing customer demand. The technical bottlenecks are being addressed through advanced
satellite transmission techniques and new compression capabilities of MPEG-4 AVC (Advanced Video Coding). The DVB standards group claims DVB-S2 bandwidth efficiency “is so powerful that in the course of our lifetime, we will never need
to design another system”.
There is no better example of HDTV growing pains than Cablevision subsidiary Rainbow DBS’ all HD satellite service. This ambitious effort to compete with DirectTV and Dish Network has struggled to gain subscriber base (reportedly less than 30,000). During the last month there has been an amazing
sequence of roller-coaster reports mapping the ups and downs of CableVision’s billion dollar investment in HDTV infrastructure. The latest headlines
reflect CableVision’s decision to shut down the system and recoup their losses—as well as founder Charles Nolan’s commitment to keep the service
running on his own funds. The company’s name has been the butt of an endless series of headline puns:
...Chairman Nolan has been trying to revisit with sale of Voom assets to Echostar—a sale made by
his son, CEO James Nolan, who has been doubtful of Voom potential. However, Voom media is a bellwether of the growing potential of the new market. So, despite the growing pains, with a little luck, the company will revoom, er, resume its
growth trajectory and signal the opening of a new era in mass satellite broadcast business...."
p 21 excerpts:
"In contrast, cable needs space only for the few local channels relevant to each market. Satellite’s
carriage costs will increase, and cable will continue to win over a disproportionate share of HDTV homes. Satellite will be forced to choose: Invest
hundreds of millions of dollars in new satellites, develop and upgrade millions of set-top boxes to MPEG4, or give up on HDTV and settle for lower-paying, less profitable subscribers” [from “HDTV and the Coming Bandwidth Crunch” by Josh
Bernoff, February 17, 2005)....
That last paragraph before page 21 gives hope--maybe a Phoenix rising from the ashes--good name for a new venture--Phoenix.
Why is VOOM telling us to go with another provider--maybe because they know it will be at least a year before a new Phoenix rises from the ashes?
If I got with any other provider, given the new MP4 technology coming out and this article in SatMag, I would NEVER invest in any current HD receivers from ANYONE, unless it were some ridiculously low figure.
This article does emphasize the quicker jump-in for cable vs satellite, so those of us with no cable options, will just have to wait it out. It was like the Cardinals last year (our favorite MLB team)--they played hard to the very end, but they just didn't win the World Series, but, hey they are back again playing, aren't they?
NEVER< NEVER GIVE UP!
Charlie DOLAN, please NEVER< NEVER give up!
"...HDTV is coming. It’s hard to pin-point the transition line to mass adoption, but it looks like this is the year. Why 2005? The timing is right for a combination of technology, marketing, and
growing customer demand. The technical bottlenecks are being addressed through advanced
satellite transmission techniques and new compression capabilities of MPEG-4 AVC (Advanced Video Coding). The DVB standards group claims DVB-S2 bandwidth efficiency “is so powerful that in the course of our lifetime, we will never need
to design another system”.
There is no better example of HDTV growing pains than Cablevision subsidiary Rainbow DBS’ all HD satellite service. This ambitious effort to compete with DirectTV and Dish Network has struggled to gain subscriber base (reportedly less than 30,000). During the last month there has been an amazing
sequence of roller-coaster reports mapping the ups and downs of CableVision’s billion dollar investment in HDTV infrastructure. The latest headlines
reflect CableVision’s decision to shut down the system and recoup their losses—as well as founder Charles Nolan’s commitment to keep the service
running on his own funds. The company’s name has been the butt of an endless series of headline puns:
...Chairman Nolan has been trying to revisit with sale of Voom assets to Echostar—a sale made by
his son, CEO James Nolan, who has been doubtful of Voom potential. However, Voom media is a bellwether of the growing potential of the new market. So, despite the growing pains, with a little luck, the company will revoom, er, resume its
growth trajectory and signal the opening of a new era in mass satellite broadcast business...."
p 21 excerpts:
"In contrast, cable needs space only for the few local channels relevant to each market. Satellite’s
carriage costs will increase, and cable will continue to win over a disproportionate share of HDTV homes. Satellite will be forced to choose: Invest
hundreds of millions of dollars in new satellites, develop and upgrade millions of set-top boxes to MPEG4, or give up on HDTV and settle for lower-paying, less profitable subscribers” [from “HDTV and the Coming Bandwidth Crunch” by Josh
Bernoff, February 17, 2005)....
That last paragraph before page 21 gives hope--maybe a Phoenix rising from the ashes--good name for a new venture--Phoenix.
Why is VOOM telling us to go with another provider--maybe because they know it will be at least a year before a new Phoenix rises from the ashes?
If I got with any other provider, given the new MP4 technology coming out and this article in SatMag, I would NEVER invest in any current HD receivers from ANYONE, unless it were some ridiculously low figure.
This article does emphasize the quicker jump-in for cable vs satellite, so those of us with no cable options, will just have to wait it out. It was like the Cardinals last year (our favorite MLB team)--they played hard to the very end, but they just didn't win the World Series, but, hey they are back again playing, aren't they?
NEVER< NEVER GIVE UP!
Charlie DOLAN, please NEVER< NEVER give up!
