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Re: Digital TV Broadcasting in Hawaii
I hesitate to put my broadcast eggs into digital...yet!
Like an earlier post said that with digital the signal is either there or not. The problem is the "not" part. With analog signals the signal may be weak but at least you'll see the touchdown albeit a bit snowy but you'll see it. With digital the signal digitizes then you get this message telling you the digital signal was lost and the receiver has to recompile the signal before it can shoot it out to your TV monitor. By then the play is over and you're pissed off immensely.
Yeah HD gives great picture quality and tons of bonus add on's but if the bit-stream cannot maintain itself and you lose just one bit in the broadband signal...that's it, no signal.
But the biggest hurdle in HDTV is the fact that it requires such a high frequency for broadband reception that it's RF signal is limited to line of sight transmission meaning many many many repeaters to daisy chain the signal.
With so many people against RF radiation from these high frequency transmitters (cell phone towers) I wonder if the FCC has considered the environmental impact from these towers and the acceptance from nearby residences.
Remember with HDTV digital signals, Off the Air transmissions to digital ready TV sets can be as capeable as ANY TV set hooked up to cable. Basically having HD television signals broadcast over the air could be the deathnail to the cable and satellite TV industry.
Don't think so? Heck there is a thing called Wireless Broadband Internet that allows you to hook up to the internet at broadband speeds without the need for cable or DSL. Who else does this impact? Well if you can get VOIP over a DSL or Cable ISP, why not Wireless?
In other words with HDTV signals being broadcast over the airwaves has the same market catching ability over Cable as Wireless Broadband has over Cable.
It's a double whammy for Cable companies. But imagine this HDTV's broadband signal can probably deliver reasonable broadband internet wirelessly as well. With that said that would allow broadcasters (like KGMB) to offer everything from HDTV to Internet AND VOIP.
Who's got the license to broadcast already? The TV stations. Who has to apply for them? Oceanic and Hawaiian Telecom in order to compete if the FCC allows HDTV broadcasters to utilize their broadband HDTV signals for Internet and VOIP applications.
This is why I think cable companies across the nation are fighting this FCC mandate. They will lose and all that infrastructure to string up cable across America (and Hawaii) will be for nothing when Broadband HDTV signals broadcast over the air can be utilized for internet use and any computer with a wifi card and an HDTV tuner can get TV programming just like cable right on their laptops while enjoying the green flash at Waikiki Beach and seeing themselves on the many web cams in the same spot.
This integration of HDTV and wireless internet will probably happen once this FCC mandate goes into effect and will change the way we watch TV and cruise the internet and TV stations will have the edge over the cable company once again because they don't need cable to deliver crisp tv pictures and they can increase their revenue by entering the ISP market like the cable and telephone industry did. HDTV licensed broadcasters will hold all the aces once this game is dealt.
Am I sorry for Oceanic? Heck no, they have no plans on servicing my area in Keaau on the Big Island anyway, am I shedding a tear for them? I'm laughing so hard that yes I am crying
I hesitate to put my broadcast eggs into digital...yet!
Like an earlier post said that with digital the signal is either there or not. The problem is the "not" part. With analog signals the signal may be weak but at least you'll see the touchdown albeit a bit snowy but you'll see it. With digital the signal digitizes then you get this message telling you the digital signal was lost and the receiver has to recompile the signal before it can shoot it out to your TV monitor. By then the play is over and you're pissed off immensely.
Yeah HD gives great picture quality and tons of bonus add on's but if the bit-stream cannot maintain itself and you lose just one bit in the broadband signal...that's it, no signal.
But the biggest hurdle in HDTV is the fact that it requires such a high frequency for broadband reception that it's RF signal is limited to line of sight transmission meaning many many many repeaters to daisy chain the signal.
With so many people against RF radiation from these high frequency transmitters (cell phone towers) I wonder if the FCC has considered the environmental impact from these towers and the acceptance from nearby residences.
Remember with HDTV digital signals, Off the Air transmissions to digital ready TV sets can be as capeable as ANY TV set hooked up to cable. Basically having HD television signals broadcast over the air could be the deathnail to the cable and satellite TV industry.
Don't think so? Heck there is a thing called Wireless Broadband Internet that allows you to hook up to the internet at broadband speeds without the need for cable or DSL. Who else does this impact? Well if you can get VOIP over a DSL or Cable ISP, why not Wireless?
In other words with HDTV signals being broadcast over the airwaves has the same market catching ability over Cable as Wireless Broadband has over Cable.
It's a double whammy for Cable companies. But imagine this HDTV's broadband signal can probably deliver reasonable broadband internet wirelessly as well. With that said that would allow broadcasters (like KGMB) to offer everything from HDTV to Internet AND VOIP.
Who's got the license to broadcast already? The TV stations. Who has to apply for them? Oceanic and Hawaiian Telecom in order to compete if the FCC allows HDTV broadcasters to utilize their broadband HDTV signals for Internet and VOIP applications.
This is why I think cable companies across the nation are fighting this FCC mandate. They will lose and all that infrastructure to string up cable across America (and Hawaii) will be for nothing when Broadband HDTV signals broadcast over the air can be utilized for internet use and any computer with a wifi card and an HDTV tuner can get TV programming just like cable right on their laptops while enjoying the green flash at Waikiki Beach and seeing themselves on the many web cams in the same spot.
This integration of HDTV and wireless internet will probably happen once this FCC mandate goes into effect and will change the way we watch TV and cruise the internet and TV stations will have the edge over the cable company once again because they don't need cable to deliver crisp tv pictures and they can increase their revenue by entering the ISP market like the cable and telephone industry did. HDTV licensed broadcasters will hold all the aces once this game is dealt.
Am I sorry for Oceanic? Heck no, they have no plans on servicing my area in Keaau on the Big Island anyway, am I shedding a tear for them? I'm laughing so hard that yes I am crying
Is KHNL asking for more $$$ like KGMB? Or is Oceanic at fault? Anyone know the details?
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