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[Monday at NAB]
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DTV: 10 Months and Counting
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by James E. O’Neal,
~ April 14, 2008
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TV TECHNOLOGY
Absent congressional intervention, analog television is only going to be with us for another 300 days or so. The Feb. 17, 2009 date is no stranger to anyone in television broadcasting, or at least it shouldn’t be.
Are you fully prepared to turn your old transmitter off for the last time and glide into the world of DTV?
If not, you’ve got a lot of catching up to do if you’re going to make the commission and your viewers happy on Feb. 18. However, there’s no better place than the NAB Show to do some quick comparison shopping and see if a rabbit or two can’t be pulled out of a hat.
As with any other really big project, the implications are wide ranging. Some of these are obvious; others are not.
CBS Senior Vice President of East Coast Operations Robert J. “Bob” Ross is a believer in the analog shutdown happening on schedule with no reprieves, and he cautions that there may be some neglected areas that could catch broadcasters unprepared.
“Most people built their digital systems with no backups,” Ross said. “You have one encoder, one modulator — one of everything. Just over a year from now, that’s all you’ve got if that stuff dies.”
Ross cautioned that while obtaining backup equipment is an expensive proposition, having a dark channel is even more costly. As we become more and more locked into HD transmissions, another element in the chain overlooked by a lot of broadcasters seems to be the studio-to-transmitter link.
“Everybody’s got STL on hot-standby backup for standard definition; not that many people have this for high-def,” Ross said. “What are you going to do? Do you have the frequencies? Do you have the equipment?”
A lot of stations are bumping up SD captioning to go along with widescreen HD transmissions. With the move to all-HD network contribution feeds, some broadcasters may need to look into equipment to convert captioning in the other direction.
HOW ABOUT YOUR AUDIO?
Audio has always been the poor stepchild in television, but it can’t be overlooked anymore with the switch to digital. Ross warned that there may be a snake pit here too, as even this far into the DTV era, many stations have been distributing audio in their plants more or less as usual.
These operations may not have given much thought to what happens when the analog switch is pulled for good and all of a sudden they’ve got 5.1 audio issues. These include content logging, which for some has simply been a slow-speed VHS machine fed from the mono program line.
To give broadcasters, and other content providers, a leg up on multichannel audio, the NAB Show has teamed with Pro Sound News to launch a new Surround Broadcast Audio conference this year. Held April 16, the conference will feature some of the biggest names in broadcast audio and surround technology.
GET READY FOR VIEWER QUESTIONS
There is still speculation as to whether there will be a big drop in off-air viewing audiences on the “day after.” According to NAB, virtually every broadcaster is already broadcasting in both analog and digital format.
While no one has access to a 1080p crystal ball just yet, inroads are being made in readying viewing audiences for the biggest change in television transmission since the adoption of 525 scanning and FM sound in 1941. Digital-ready sets have been on the shelves for some time now and retailers report that they are now moving out respective doors in fairly good numbers.
For those not ready to purchase a new set, the government has put into place a coupon program for purchase of outboard DTV-to-analog converters. As broadcasters are aware, each television household is eligible for two of these $40-off certificates. The U.S. Dept. of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) is administering the coupon distribution and reports that some 9,700 U.S., Puerto Rican, and U.S. Virgin Island retailers are ready to accept them.
“NTIA has been working very closely with manufacturers and retailers to be ready in anticipation of this day,” said acting NTIA administrator Meredith Baker. “Consumers can expect to receive their coupons soon and should do their research on the converter box model that’s best for them, and purchase it before the coupon expires in 90 days.”
Regardless, station management and engineering personnel need to be prepared to field calls and offer DTV reception information and tips when their analog rigs are retired.
This is the last NAB Show before the Big Switch, and absolutely the last chance for stations that are not fully prepared for their digital future to do some last minute shopping and tire kicking.
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