GristyMcFisty used our news submit to tell us that the digital television standards have been approved by the Federal Communications Commission on September 10th.
Approved digital TV standards mean that future digital TV sets such as HDTV will be more compatible with digital cable TV. These standards include "smart card" support, which means that the digital converter with smartcard reader would no longer be required in most cases. It would be as simple as plugging the coaxial cable into the TV and not worrying about an extra box to find room for 😉 As before, the smartcard provided by the cable operator will control what channels can be viewed by the set. Unfortunately, some cable operators which provide Pay-per-view or 2-way interactive services may still need to provide a set-top box to access these services.
With these standards approved, there will be less hustle in purchasing a digital TV set and making sure that the features you need are provided by the set. With cable operators, they will only need to provide the cable line and the smart card and the rest is up to the customer. By the end of 2004, there should be a fair selection of digital TVs using these approved standards.
As expected, DRM is part of the standards. This will give broadcasters control of what the consumer can do with the programming. For example, a customer will not be allowed to permanently record a pay-per-view movie. Other options may be to allow recording, but only single playback and so on.
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When implemented by set-makers, many digital-cable subscribers should be able to plug digital sets into their cable connection without having to find room for an intervening cable box on top of their home entertainment system. Instead, subscribers will be able to plug a "smart card," provided by the cable company, into their sets, and it will control which stations they can watch.
FCC Chairman Michael K. Powell called the new rules "good for consumers." Trade groups representing the cable and consumer-electronics industries characterized the decision as a landmark that would hasten the adoption of digital television.
"It's a huge decision for the transition," said Gary Shapiro, president of the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA). "We are very pleased."
For cable operators, the good news is that "digital cable ready" sets will allow them to compete more effectively with satellite services in retail stores, said Robert Sachs, president and chief executive of the National Cable & Telecommunications Association.
"By Christmas 2004, consumers will find that, in addition to displays for satellite products at stores like Circuit City and Best Buy, there'll be displays for digital-cable products as well," he said.
Although digital television's rollout was once hampered by a general lack of programming available in the format, that seems to be changing. According to the National Association of Broadcasters, 80 percent of U.S. households are in markets with five or more broadcasters airing digital signals.
Sales of digital TV sets are also up. The CEA expects unit sales of digital sets to hit 4 million this year, up from 3.5 million last year. Set prices have been dropping at about 2 percent per month; they now average $ 1,500. |
The Federal Communications Commission approved standards yesterday that should make future digital television sets more compatible with cable offerings, in the hopes of speeding up consumer transition to digital and high-definition sets.In one way, these standards will help digital televisions to be more compatible with digital content, but in another way, will a consumer be happy that the broadcaster has some control of their approved HDTV VCR and TV? I would not be happy if my video recorder said 'You do not have permission to record this'. I am sure that people will start developing "plug-in's" to bypass this, but then again we have the DMCA issue 🙁
At the moment, the main thing that is preventing HDTV's from leaving the shelf is obviously the price. At $ 1,500 up for a typical HDTV, an XGA LCD projector would do just the job for that 70"+ crisp picture and the unit itself is lighter and more compact. Then again, HDTV sets do have the advantage that you can use them in brightly lit room.
Source: Yahoo Technology News
