HDTV news, Mark Schubin

[Alan Roberts]

In response to a tumult of requests (i.e. one) I intend to post here a weekly message. It's written by Mark Schubin, industry guru in the US. Every week, he posts a collated message detailing the HDTV activity in the US and the rest of the world. It's a gold-mine of useful information and URLs.

Because his messages are rather big, I'd be very grateful if you make responses in other threads, otherwise this thread will get absolutely huge.

Of course, if you choose to ignore that, there's little I can do about it, but at least I tried.

For starters, here are the last two weeks' postings.

[Alan Roberts]

Dated 2004/06/01

- Follow-ups:

- Over-the-air cable-like multicasting service - The Emmis-led
Broadcasters Initiative has reportedly more than doubled the number of
participating stations to 350 in 30 groups since the number announced at
the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) convention in April:
http://www.tvweek.com/news/web052704.html#stations

- MPEG LA AVC license fees -
- I am told by someone who should know that the one-time
encoder fees are truly one-time, with no issue of renewal.
- That covers free broadcasts. Someone at a pay-TV company
had a different point of view in a message to me: "From my perspective,
MPEG-LA may have just killed AVC."

- Australian DTT set-top boxes - The list was updated on May 27.
There are now 36 models, just five of which are HD. The prices have not
changed:
http://www.dba.org.au/index.asp?sectionID=18

- DTT on mobile phones - There's a European Union project that has
made a multimillion-Euro grant:
http://www.eetuk.com/tech/news/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=21100319

- July 1 -
- There's exactly one month to go to the start of the
CableCARD and DTT-reception-circuitry mandates.
- See also the ads section for inexpensive non-integrated sets:
- TV sets that would require DTT-reception circuitry starting 2004:
- JVC AV36AF54 36-inch flat-screen TV @ Ultimate $798.95
- Magnavox MS3652 36-inch TV @ Circuit City $449.99
- Sharp 36US50 36-inch TV @ Best Buy $449.99
- Toshiba 36-inch TV @ Sears $599.99
- TV sets that would require DTT-reception circuitry starting 2005:
- Apex AT2708 27-inch TV @ Circuit City $179.99
- Apex AT2708S 27-inch TV @ Ultimate $168.95
- Magnavox 27MS343S 27-inch TV @ Circuit City $189.99
- Sansui TVS2746 27-inch TV @ Best Buy $169.99
- Devices that would require DTT-reception circuitry in 2007:
- RCA 13V400T 13-inch TV @ Best Buy $69.99
- Magnavox 20MT133S 20-inch TV @ Circuit City $109.99
- Mystery brand 20-inch TV @ CompUSA $79.99 after rebate
- Mystery brand 20-inch TV @ Fry's $89
- Daewoo DV6T8748 DVD/VCR combo @ CompUSA $99.99
- Mystery brand DVD/VCR combo @ Circuit City $84.99 after rebate
- Sansui DVD/VCR combo @ Sears $94.99
- Toshiba SD-V392 DVD/VCR combo @ Best Buy $129.99
- Coby DVD-R1000 DVD+R/RW recorder @ J&R $249.99
- LiteOn DVD+R/RW recorder @ CompUSA $199.99 after rebate
- Philips DVDR75 DVD+R/RW recorder @ CompUSA $299.99
- Pioneer DVR-225 DVD recorder @ Best Buy $299.99
- Replay TV RPTV5500 40-hour PVR @ Graffiti $129
- Devices that would require dual DTT-reception circuitry in 2007:
- Sylvania 6313CD/CE 13-inch TV/VCR combo @ Ultimate $98.95
- Toshiba MV13P2 13-inch TV/VCR combo @ Best Buy $119.99
- Devices not covered by the mandate but using analog TV broadcasts:
- Action ACN5503 5-inch TV/AM/FM @ Circuit City $89.99
- jWIN JV-TV1010 5-inch TV/AM/FM @ Graffiti $17.88

- May 1 - Neither the NAB nor the Association of Public Television
Stations (APTS) has updated its lists this week, but the Federal
Communications Commission (FCC) has (as of May 26):
- 1642 stations (97%) have received either construction
permits or licenses for DTT, and 1423 U.S. DTT stations are said to be
on the air (more than 200 more than the NAB lists):
http://www.fcc.gov/mb/video/files/dtvsum.html
- There has been no change in the 40 top-10-market stations
due on the air May 1, 1999; 38 are fully licensed and two are operating
on temporary authority:
http://www.fcc.gov/mb/video/files/dtvstat.html
- There has been no change in the 79 market 11-30 stations due
on the air November 1, 1999; 72 are fully licensed and seven are
operating on temporary authority:
http://www.fcc.gov/mb/video/files/dtvstat11.html
- The FCC says 263 non-commercial U.S. DTT stations are in
operation; APTS still lists only 246:
http://www.fcc.gov/mb/video/files/dtvonairsum.html
- These are the 781 stations listed as operating on temporary
authority (at low power):
http://www.fcc.gov/mb/video/files/dtvstas.html
- These are the 642 said to be either fully licensed or
operating on program-test authority:
http://www.fcc.gov/mb/video/files/dtvonair.html
Doug Lung's RF Report in TV Technology says the FCC's CDBS database
listed 524 fully licensed U.S. DTT stations as of May 23:
http://www.tvtechnology.com/dlrf/one.php?id=452

- More than seven years after it laid down a timetable for the DTT
transition, the FCC has finally decided to "seek comment on options for
minimizing the disruption to consumers when the switch-over to digital
broadcasting occurs. We are primarily concerned with those households
that rely exclusively on over-the-air broadcasting for their television
service, but we seek comment more broadly on minimizing the impact on
all consumers. First, we seek comment on the identity of those
consumers that rely on over-the-air television broadcasting and why they
do not subscribe to a pay television service. Second, we seek comment
on potential options for minimizing the impact on these and other
consumers when broadcasters are operating solely in digital." Comments
are due July 12 with replies due August 5:
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-041497A1.doc
That's all reasonable except that the FCC is examining only TV
sets. Some consumers also "rely... on over-the-air broadcasting" for
their VCRs, PVRs, DVD recorders, computer tuner cards, and TV-band
radios. I use one of the last on most of the live shows on which I work.

- The May 2004 issue of The Standard from the Advanced Television
Systems Committee (ATSC) has come out. It has extensive information on
the E-AC-3 audio standard:
http://www.atsc.org/news_information/newsletter/ATSC_Newsletter-15.pdf

- There's an interesting article by Karen Brown on 1080p in the online
version of the cable publication Communications Engineering Digest:
http://www.cedmagazine.com/ced/2004/0604/06e.htm

- International H/DTV news:

- Taiwan Television Enterprise was to have begun DTT broadcasts today:
http://www.taiwanglobe.com/p/95/45a5d4f1098c66.html?id=WNATa56bfc52b98fef6dd5c61cc 980bb7c43

- The CableLabs newsletter has a story on video over DSL in Europe:
http://www.cablelabs.com/news/newsletter/SPECS/AprMay_2004/story7.html

- There's a report available on the ITU regional
radiocommunications conference on digital broadcasting:
http://www.itu.int/newsroom/press_releases/2004/13.html

- A report on the latest Japan Broadcasting Corporation (NHK) open
house mentions their UHDTV system, but there doesn't seem to be anything
new:
http://www.idg.com.sg/idgwww.nsf/0/BEEA22FE29B63CA248256EA6000DCA8F?OpenDocument

- Sony's 4k (horizontal-resolution) SXRD projector has gotten some press:
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/31/technology/31projector.html
http://www.idg.com.sg/idgwww.nsf/0/FCCA751C6D13A12348256EA6000F464C?OpenDocument
But this article says the one to wait for is still their GLV system
(for which we've been waiting a LONG time):
http://www.arnnet.com.au/index.php?id=1835460307&fp=2&fpid=1

- Screen Digest's May issue notes more digital-projection theater
screens in Asia than in North America:
http://www.screendigest.com

- Based on figures from CEA, sales of VCRs to U.S. dealers were down 68%
for the first 19 weeks of 2004 compared to the same period in 2003.
Non-H/DTV direct-view TV sets were UP 2%. My ten-week running average
for them was up 1.8%.
So-called "Digital Television" sales to U.S. dealers for the 19th
week were 56,907 units. For the first 19 weeks of the year, there were
1,394,576 units. "Digital Televisions" (most of which are HDTV displays
without DTT-reception capability) still accounted for about 14.8% of the
TVs (not counting plasma or direct-view LCD) sold to U.S. dealers so far
this year. It may be worth noting here what that means. Over 85% of
the non-plasma, non-direct-view-LCD TVs sold so far this year were still
plain non-H/DTV direct-view TVs with picture tubes.
To qualify as a "Digital Television," a display need only be
capable of dealing with at least 480p; it need not be capable of either
receiving digital signals or displaying them. Devices actually capable
of receiving DTT signals were still a small fraction of those numbers.

- Ads for set-top DTT receivers: I'm aware of only the Samsung at J&R.

- The ads - I think Best Buy's 27-inch Advent for $449.99 and Fry's
Samsung 27-inch might be new low prices for sets said to be HDTV. FYI,
not in the ads but according to a correspondent, Samsung's 26-inch
integrated HDTV is selling for $699 at both Best Buy and Target in
Plano, Texas. Best Buy once again advertised the Sanus Systems "Digital
TV Stand." J&R called the Panasonic TH-42PC25U/P and TH-50PX25U
monitors even though the ads noted that they included both ATSC and NTSC
"tuners."
- Best Buy (appropriate disclaimers):
- Advent HT2751A 27-inch 4:3 direct-view CRT TV $449.99
- JVC LT17X475 17-inch widescreen direct-view LCD TV $999.99
- Mitsubishi WS55315 55-inch 16:9 projection TV $1899.99
- Mitsubishi WS-65315 65-inch 16:9 projection TV $2499.99
- Pioneer PDP5041HD 50-inch 16:9 integrated plasma DTV $8999.99
- Samsung HLN-5065W 50-inch 16:9 DLP projection TV $3299.99
- Samsung LT-P227W 22-inch widescreen direct-view LCD TV $1899.99
- Samsung LT-P1545 15-inch 4:3 direct-view LCD TV $649.99
- Samsung SP-P4251 42-inch 16:9 plasma TV $3999.99
- Sony KP46WT510 46-inch 16:9 projection TV $1499.99
- Sony KP51WS510 51-inch 16:9 projection TV $1699.99
- Sony KV32FS100 32-inch 4:3 direct-view CRT TV $699.99
- Sony KV36FS100 36-inch 4:3 direct-view CRT TV $999.99
- Toshiba 42HP83P 42-inch 16:9 plasma TV $5499.99
- Toshiba 57H93 57-inch 16:9 CRT integrated proj. DTV $1999.99
- Big Screen Store (Washington Post, no disclaimer):
- Mitsubishi 73-inch 16:9 projection TV $2999
- Circuit City (appropriate disclaimers):
- Akai PT4298HD 42-inch 16:9 projection TV $999.99
- Audiovox 15-inch direct-view LCD TV $429.99
- Magnavox 51MP392H 51-inch 16:9 projection TV $1199.99
- Sony KE37XS910 37-inch 16:9 plasma TV $4499.99
- Sony KP51WS510 51-inch 16:9 projection TV $1529.99
- CompUSA (appropriate disclaimer):
- Panasonic PT-47WX53 47-inch 16:9 projection TV $1199.99
- Panasonic TH-50PX20U/P 50-inch 16:9 plasma TV $5999.99
- Samsung SPN4235 42-inch 16:9 plasma TV $2499.99
- Dell (various papers, no disclaimer):
- Dell 2200MP projector $899
- Dell W1700 17-inch widescreen LCD TV $630
- Dell 30-inch widescreen LCD TV $2499
- Fry's (Los Angeles Times, no disclaimer):
- "Major Brand Name" projection TV $1499
- Mitsubishi WS-55413 55-inch 16:9 CRT projection TV $1999
- Samsung 27-inch 4:3 direct-view TV $399
- Samsung HLN-5065 50-inch 16:9 DLP projection TV $3499
- Good Guys (Los Angeles Times, appropriate disclaimer):
- Mitsubishi WS 65413 65-inch 16:9 projection TV $1949
- Philips 42FD9935 42-inch 16:9 plasma TV $2499
- Sony KV34HS510 34-inch 16:9 direct-view CRT TV $1699
- J&R (New York Times, no disclaimer):
- Epson PowerLite Home 10 projector
- JVC HM-DH4000U D-VHS recorder $649.99
- Panasonic TC-17LA1 17-inch 4:3 LCD TV $749.99
- Panasonic TH-42PX25U/P 42-inch 16:9 integrated plasma DTV
- Panasonic TH-50PX25U 50-inch 16:9 integrated plasma DTV
- Samsung LTN406W 40-inch 16:9 direct-view LCD TV
- Samsung SIR-T165 ATSC receiver/decoder $399.99
- Samsung SPP4251 42-inch 16:9 plasma TV
- Sony KE-42TS2 42-inch 16:9 plasma TV
- Toshiba 30HF83 30-inch 16:9 direct-view flat CRT TV
- Toshiba 42HP83P 42-inch 16:9 plasma TV $4499.99
- Toshiba TLP-ET1 projector $1044.99
- Zenith P42W34 42-inch 16:9 plasma TV $2499.99
- Ken Crane's (Los Angeles Times, no disclaimer):
- LG DU-42PZ60 42-inch 16:9 integrated plasma DTV $3498
- LG DU52SZ61D 61-inch projection TV $3298
- LG RU-44SX61D 44-inch 16:9 projection TV $2798
- Mitsubishi WS-55315 55-inch 16:9 projection TV $1898
- Panasonic PT-50LC13 50-inch LCD projection TV $2798
- Panasonic PT-60LC13 60-inch LCD projection TV $3998
- Sony KE32TS2 32-inch 16:9 plasma TV $3998
- Sony KE42XS910 42-inch 16:9 plasma TV $5998
- Sony KE50XS910 50-inch 16:9 plasma TV $7998
- Sony KF-50WE610 50-inch 16:9 LCD projection TV $3298
- Sony KF-60WE610 60-inch 16:9 LCD projection TV $3998
- MyerEmco (Washington Post, no disclaimer):
- Mitsubishi WS48413 48-inch 16:9 projection TV $1599
- Sharp LC32G4U 32-inch widescreen LCD direct-view TV $3999
- Sony KF50WE610 50-inch 16:9 LCD projection TV $2999
- ViewSonic VPW450HD 42-inch 16:9 plasma TV $3999
- Provideo (Washington Post, no disclaimer):
- Sony KF42WE610 42-inch 16:9 LCD projection TV
- Sony 46-inch 16:9 projection TV $1299
- Sony 51-inch projection TV $1399
- Sears (no disclaimer):
- Hitachi 46-inch 16:9 projection TV, Sears #54713 $1399.99
- Philips 55-inch 16:9 projection TV, Sears #54333 $1699.99
- Samsung 26-inch 16:9 direct-view TV, Sears #45063 $569.99
- Samsung 43-inch 16:9 DLP projection TV, Sears #54073 $2849.99
- Ultimate Electronics (no disclaimer noticed):
- Akai PT4298HD 42-inch 16:9 projection TV $898.95**
- Hitachi 46F500 46-inch 16:9 CRT projection TV $1349.95
- JVC AV48WP74 48-inch 16:9 projection TV $1198.95
- JVC PD42WV74 42-inch 16:9 plasma TV $3799.95
- Mitsubishi WS48513 48-inch 16:9 integrated projection DTV $1799.95
- Mitsubishi WS55813 55-inch 16:9 integrated projection DTV $3149.95
- Mitsubishi WS65513 65-inch 16:9 integrated projection DTV $2519.95
- Panasonic CT32HL43 32-inch 4:3 direct-view CRT TV $898.95
- Samsung HPN5039 50-inch 16:9 plasma TV $4999.95
- Sharp LC22SV6U 22-inch 16:9 LCD direct-view TV $1499.95
- Sony KDP57WS550 57-inch 16:9 integrated projection DTV $1999.95
- Zenith L15V26C 15-inch 4:3 LCD TV $498.95
- Zenith P42W22B 42-inch 16:9 plasma TV $1998.95**
** price after mail-in rebate
- Video & Audio Center (Los Angeles Times, no disclaimer):
- LG MU50PZ90V 50-inch 16:9 plasma TV $4997
- Sony KF42WE610 42-inch 16:9 LCD projection TV $2797
- Sony KF50WE610 50-inch 16:9 LCD projection TV $3297
- Sony KDE50XBR950 50-inch 16:9 integrated plasma DTV $8997

- DVD news:

- According to CEA, sales of DVD players to U.S. dealers for the
first 19 weeks of 2004 were up 2.7% over the same period in 2003. My
ten-week running average was up 1.3%.

- CompUSA had ads for DVD movies at 6 for $29.97 and DVD-R blank at
100 for $19.98. Fry's advertised DVD players for $29 without need of
rebate.

- The BBC is reportedly making its archive available on the Internet:
http://news.zdnet.co.uk/internet/0,39020369,39156023,00.htm

- Here's the Government Accounting Office report on spectrum management:
http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-04-666
Here are just the highlights:
http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d04666high.pdf

- Upcoming Dates (DTV and non-DTV):

- June 3, Montgomery, Alabama, Road Show -- "A Taste of NAB" (not
NAB affiliated) http://www.tech-notes.tv/2004/18_Montgomery.htm.
- June 4-6, Dallas Convention Center, HD Expo http://www.hdexpo.net/.
- June 5-11, Georgia World Congress Center, Atlanta, InfoComm
http://infocomm03.expoexchange.com/.
- June 7, Tampa, Road Show -- "A Taste of NAB" (not NAB affiliated)
http://www.tech-notes.tv/2004/19_Tampa.htm.
- June 9, Miami, Road Show -- "A Taste of NAB" (not NAB affiliated)
http://www.tech-notes.tv/2004/20_Miami.htm.
- June 11, West Palm Beach, Florida, Road Show -- "A Taste of NAB"
(not NAB affiliated) http://www.tech-notes.tv/2004/21_WPalm_Beach.htm.
- *June 11-13, Universal City Studios, Cine Gear Expo
http://www.cinegearexpo.com.
- June 14, Jacksonville, Florida, Road Show -- "A Taste of NAB"
(not NAB affiliated) http://www.tech-notes.tv/2004/22_Jacksonville.htm.
- June 14, Panavision, Woodland Hills, California, ETC Charles
Poynton Seminar http://www.etcenter.org/Seminars.asp.
- June 14-18, Milwaukee Area Technical College, SMPTE Engineering
Committee meetings http://www.fibush.net/smpte/June2004/June2004.htm.
- June 15-18, Singapore Expo, Broadcast Asia 2004, Audio Technology
2004, CableSat 2004, ComGraphics & Animation 2004, CommunicAsia 2004,
EnterpriseIT 2004 http://www.broadcast-asia.com/.
- June 16, Atlanta, Road Show -- "A Taste of NAB" (not NAB
affiliated) http://www.tech-notes.tv/2004/23_Atlanta.htm.
- June 18, Huntsville, Alabama, Road Show -- "A Taste of NAB" (not
NAB affiliated) http://www.tech-notes.tv/2004/24_Huntsville.htm.
- June 21, Nashville, Road Show -- "A Taste of NAB" (not NAB
affiliated) http://www.tech-notes.tv/2004/25_Nashville.htm.
- *June 21-24, RAI, Amsterdam, Cinema Expo http://www.cinemaexpo.com.
- June 23, Knoxville, Tennessee, Road Show -- "A Taste of NAB" (not
NAB affiliated) http://www.tech-notes.tv/2004/26_Knoxville.htm.
- June 24-26, Toronto, Joint Technical Symposium (archiving and
preservation) http://www.jts2004.org/english/index_en.htm.
- June 25, Greenville, South Carolina, Road Show -- "A Taste of
NAB" (not NAB affiliated) http://www.tech-notes.tv/2004/27_Greenville.htm.
- June 28, Charlotte, North Carolina, Road Show -- "A Taste of NAB"
(not NAB affiliated) http://www.tech-notes.tv/2004/28_Charlotte.htm.
- June 30, Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina, Road Show -- "A Taste of
NAB" (not NAB affiliated)
http://www.tech-notes.tv/2004/29_Raleigh-Durham.htm.
- July 6, Baltimore-Washington, Road Show -- "A Taste of NAB" (not
NAB affiliated) http://www.tech-notes.tv/2004/30_Baltimore-Washington.htm.
- July 8, Philadelphia, Road Show -- "A Taste of NAB" (not NAB
affiliated) http://www.tech-notes.tv/2004/31_Philadelphia.htm.
- July 12, New Haven, Connecticut, Road Show -- "A Taste of NAB"
(not NAB affiliated) http://www.tech-notes.tv/2004/32_New_Haven.htm.
- July 14, Boston, Road Show -- "A Taste of NAB" (not NAB
affiliated) http://www.tech-notes.tv/2004/33_Boston.htm.
- July 16, Eastern New York, Road Show -- "A Taste of NAB" (not NAB
affiliated) http://www.tech-notes.tv/2004/34_Up_State_NY.htm.
- July 19, Binghamton, New York, Road Show -- "A Taste of NAB" (not
NAB affiliated) http://www.tech-notes.tv/2004/35_Binghamton.htm.
- July 19-23, Seattle, MPEG meetings.
- July 21, Cleveland, Road Show -- "A Taste of NAB" (not NAB
affiliated) http://www.tech-notes.tv/2004/36_Cleveland.htm.
- July 22, Columbus, Ohio, Road Show -- "A Taste of NAB" (not NAB
affiliated) http://www.tech-notes.tv/2004/37_Columbus.htm.
- July 26, Indianapolis, Road Show -- "A Taste of NAB" (not NAB
affiliated) http://www.tech-notes.tv/2004/38_Indianapolis.htm.
- July 28, Urbana-Champaign, Illinois, Road Show -- "A Taste of
NAB" (not NAB affiliated)
http://www.tech-notes.tv/2004/39_Urbana-Champaign.htm.
- July 29, Madison, Wisconsin, Road Show -- "A Taste of NAB" (not
NAB affiliated) http://www.tech-notes.tv/2004/40_Madison.htm.
- August 2, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Road Show -- "A Taste of NAB"
(not NAB affiliated) http://www.tech-notes.tv/2004/41_Minn-StP.htm.
- August 4, Omaha, Nebraska, Road Show -- "A Taste of NAB" (not NAB
affiliated) http://www.tech-notes.tv/2004/42_Omaha.htm.
- August 6, Riverton, Wyoming, Road Show -- "A Taste of NAB" (not
NAB affiliated) http://www.tech-notes.tv/2004/43_Riverton.htm.
- August 9, Salt Lake City, Utah, Road Show -- "A Taste of NAB"
(not NAB affiliated) http://www.tech-notes.tv/2004/44_SLC.htm.
- August 11, Bozeman, Montana, Road Show -- "A Taste of NAB" (not
NAB affiliated) http://www.tech-notes.tv/2004/45_Bozeman.htm.
- August 13, Boise, Idaho, Road Show -- "A Taste of NAB" (not NAB
affiliated) http://www.tech-notes.tv/2004/46_Boise.htm.
- August 16, Spokane, Washington, Road Show -- "A Taste of NAB"
(not NAB affiliated) http://www.tech-notes.tv/2004/47_Spokane.htm.
- August 18, Washington State University, Road Show -- "A Taste of
NAB" (not NAB affiliated) http://www.tech-notes.tv/2004/48_WSU.htm.
- August 20, Seattle, Road Show -- "A Taste of NAB" (not NAB
affiliated) http://www.tech-notes.tv/2004/49_Seattle.htm.
- August 24, Portland, Oregon, Road Show -- "A Taste of NAB" (not
NAB affiliated) http://www.tech-notes.tv/2004/50_Portland.htm.
- August 25, Eugene, Oregon, Road Show -- "A Taste of NAB" (not NAB
affiliated) http://www.tech-notes.tv/2004/51_Eugene.htm.
- August 30-September 1, Hollywood Renaissance Hotel, Entertainment
Media Expo http://www.media-tech.net/news/New_A.htm.
- September 1-3, Reading, UK, International Symposium on Consumer
Electronics http://www.isce.reading.ac.uk.
- September 9-14, RAI, Amsterdam, International Broadcasting
Convention http://www.ibc.org.
- September 16-19, Sony, Basingstoke, England, SMPTE Engineering
Committee meetings http://www.fibush.net/smpte/Sept2004/Sept2004.htm.
- October 6-7, Washington (D.C.) Convention Center, Government
Video Technology Expo http://www.GVExpo.com.
- October 13-15, Hotel Washington, Washington, D.C., IEEE Broadcast
Symposium http://www.ieee.org/organizations/society/bt/symposium.html.
- November 4, Los Angeles Center Studios, HD Expo
http://www.hdexpo.net/.
- November 4-7, Westin St. Francis Hotel, San Francisco, Home
Entertainment 2004 West http://www.homeentertainment-expo.com/.
- November 17-19, Makuhari Messe (Tokyo area), InterBEE
http://bee.jesa.or.jp.
- January 6-9, Las Vegas, Consumer Electronics Show
http://www.cesweb.org/.
- January 8-12, Las Vegas Convention Center, International
Conference on Consumer Electronics http://www.icce.org/.
- ***January 26-28, Rancho Las Palmas Marriott, California, ***The
Technology Retreat*** http://www.hpaonline.com.
* - new or revised listing

TTFN,
Mark

PS Permission is granted to forward this or any other Monday Memo.
Next week's memo might be late. There will be no memo the week of June
14, and the memo the following week will be late (if it comes out at all).

Confused about something in the memo? Please first check out the second
post-script to the January 5 memo here:
http://www.digitaltelevision.com/mondaymemo/mlist/frm02052.html

[Alan Roberts]

Dated 2004/06/08
Reminder: There will be no memo next week, and IF there's a memo the
following week, it will be very late.

- Follow-ups:

- Australian DTT set-top receivers - The latest list has six HD models
out of 37:
www.dba.org.au/index.asp?sectionID=18 (http://www.dba.org.au/index.asp?sectionID=18)

- Taiwan DTT - Five broadcasters have begun transmissions before the
official launch date, two offering programming to cars:
www.dtg.org.uk/news/world/-taiwan_jump_gun.htm (http://www.dtg.org.uk/news/world/-taiwan_jump_gun.htm)

- Sony's 4k digital-cinema projector - This is typical of many stories,
that Sony's work is nice but TI doesn't think it will affect them much:
finance.lycos.com/qc/news/story.aspx?story=41803063 (http://finance.lycos.com/qc/news/story.aspx?story=41803063)

- MPEG LA's license terms for AVC - The Technical Committee of the World
Broadcasting Unions is not impressed by the $2500 one-time encoder
payment. "Despite this concession, the WBU-TC has unanimously concluded
that the MPEG-4 AVC licensing terms remain extremely onerous for
free-to-air broadcasters. The WBU-TC suggests that free-to-air
broadcasters should be exempted from charges for use of MPEG-4 AVC. In
the absence of such an exemption, the WBU-TC may recommend that the
worlds major broadcasters should not use MPEG-4 AVC":
www.nabanet.com/WBU_TC_MPEG.pdf (http://www.nabanet.com/WBU_TC_MPEG.pdf)

- The Emmis-led Broadcasters Initiative and USDTV - The former might try
to acquire the latter:
<http://www.tvweek.com/news/web060304.html#emmis[/url]
FYI, a correspondent reported seeing the USDTV boxes in a Wal-Mart in
Illinois for under $200.

- Digital cable and HD - There's an overview in CableWorld:
www.cableworld.com/ct/archives/0604/0604_weather.html (http://www.cableworld.com/ct/archives/0604/0604_weather.html)

- UHDV - Many media outlets are reporting on it now; Monday Memo readers
saw it reported long ago:
www.nytimes.com/2004/06/03/technology/circuits/03next.html?8cir (http://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/03/technology/circuits/03next.html?8cir)

- July 1 - See also the ads section for inexpensive non-integrated sets:
- TV sets that would require DTT-reception circuitry starting 2004:
- Toshiba 36E60 36-inch TV @ Royal $298
- RCA ZA46 46-inch projection TV @ Royal $397
- Toshiba 50A60 50-inch projection TV @ Royal $428
- Sony 53S65 53-inch projection TV @ Royal $498
- Sony 61S75 61-inch projection TV @ Royal $598
- Toshiba 61H60 61-inch projection TV @ Royal $618
- Sony 65S65 65-inch projection TV @ Royal $849
- TV sets that would require DTT-reception circuitry starting 2005:
- RCA 25-inch TV @ Royal $98
- Sharp 25-inch TV @ Fry's $119.99
- Daewoo DTQ2754FC 27-inch TV @ Target $169.99
- Magnavox 27MS3404 27-inch TV @ Circuit City $199.99
- Toshiba 27-inch TV @ Fry's $199
- Toshiba 27H50 27-inch TV @ Royal $139
- Devices that would require DTT-reception circuitry in 2007:
- "Famous Maker" 13-inch TV @ Royal $58
- RCA E13320 13-inch TV @ Circuit City $89.99
- Sylvania 13-inch TV @ Sears $89.99
- Daewoo DTQ20U4SC 20-inch flat-screen TV @ Best Buy $129.99
- Mystery brand 13-inch TV/DVD combo @ OfficeMax $99.99 after rebate
- GoVideo R6640 DVD+R/RW recorder @ J&R $299.99
- GoVideo R6640 DVD+R/RW recorder @ Ultimate $298.95
- Philips DVD recorder @ Fry's $299
- DVD/VCR combo @ Best Buy $119.99
- DVD/VCR combo @ OfficeMax $89.99
- GoVideo DVD/VCR combo @ Ultimate $98.95
- Polaroid DVC-2010 DVD/VCR combo @ Target $99
- Sylvania DVD/VCR combo @ Sears $89.98
- Sylvania DVC860E DVD/VCR combo @ amazon.com $99.99
- Devices that would require dual DTT-reception circuitry in 2007:
- Daewoo DVQ-13H1FC 13-inch TV/VCR combo $99.99
- Mystery brand 13-inch TV/VCR combo @ Circuit City $109.99
- Sylvania 13-inch TV/VCR combo @ Sears $99.99

- May 1 -
- Neither the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) nor the National
Association of Broadcasters (NAB) updated their lists this week.
- The Association of Public Television Stations (APTS) has updated its
list to 247 non-commercial U.S. DTT stations, still well below the FCC
figure of 263:
www.apts.org/html/digital/dtv/ptv_digitalstations.htm (http://www.apts.org/html/digital/dtv/ptv_digitalstations.htm)
- Doug Lung's RF Report says the FCC CDBS database listed 529 fully
licensed U.S. DTT stations as of June 6:
www.tvtechnology.com/dlrf/one.php?id=466 (http://www.tvtechnology.com/dlrf/one.php?id=466)

- There are no H/DTV items on agenda of June 10 FCC meeting:
hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-248013A1.pdf (http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-248013A1.pdf)

- The House Telecommunications Subcommittee held a hearing on U.S. DTT
last week. Here are some reports on it:
bth.broadcastengineering.com/june_7/# (http://bth.broadcastengineering.com/june_7/#)
www.twice.com/article/CA422995?display=Breaking+News (http://www.twice.com/article/CA422995?display=Breaking+News)
news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20040602/pl_nm/congress_digitaltv_dc_2 (http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20040602/pl_nm/congress_digitaltv_dc_2)
www.tvweek.com/news/web060204.html#lawmakers (http://www.tvweek.com/news/web060204.html#lawmakers)
www.tvtechnology.com/dlrf/one.php?id=461 (http://www.tvtechnology.com/dlrf/one.php?id=461)
www.twice.com/article/CA422995?display=Breaking+News (http://www.twice.com/article/CA422995?display=Breaking+News)
The big news was that Representative Joe Barton, who chairs the parent
House Energy and Commerce Committee, said it was so important to recover
the TV spectrum that Congress should consider buying receivers for those
who can't afford them, thereby keeping the 2006 analog cut-off date.
Only TV Technology reported that by the end of the hearing the only
representative who hadn't left the room was the subcommittee chair Fred
Upton:
www.tvtechnology.com/dailynews/one.php?id=2039 (http://www.tvtechnology.com/dailynews/one.php?id=2039)
- Here's the NAB point of view:
www.nab.org/Newsroom/PressRel/testimonies/FrittsDTV060204.asp (http://www.nab.org/Newsroom/PressRel/testimonies/FrittsDTV060204.asp)
- Here's that of the National Cable and Telecommunications Association:
www.ncta.com/pdf_files/robert_sachs_testimony_6-02-04.pdf (http://www.ncta.com/pdf_files/robert_sachs_testimony_6-02-04.pdf)
- Here's the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA). It's interesting in
that CEA is joining NAB in calling for cable and satellite to provide
full carriage of DTT (by January 2009):
www.ce.org/press_room/press_release_detail.asp?id=10470 (http://www.ce.org/press_room/press_release_detail.asp?id=10470)

- Sinclair Broadcast Group praised Zenith's 5th-generation ATSC receiver
this week, saying that it seems to have solved indoor reception issues:
www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/06-08-2004/0002189302&EDATE= (http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/06-08-2004/0002189302&EDATE=)
I, too, am very impressed with the receiver, but I'd prefer to see it
tested in my apartment before saying it's solved indoor reception.

- Cox is adding local HD ads to its cable systems in Rhode Island:
www.cedmagazine.com/cedailydirect/2004/0604/cedaily040607.htm#1 (http://www.cedmagazine.com/cedailydirect/2004/0604/cedaily040607.htm#1)

- CBS has long been known for its HDTV; now it wants its affiliates to
do multicasting. The full stories require paid subscriptions, but the
abstracts may be sufficient:
www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA423590?verticalid=311&industry=Top+of+the+Week&industryid=1024 (http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA423590?verticalid=311&industry=Top+of+the+Week&industryid=1024)
www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr/television/brief_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000525264 (http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr/television/brief_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000525264)
It may be worth noting that, depending on how it's done and how many
simultaneous streams are provided, multicasting can preclude HDTV.

- More free digital screenings at the Entertainment Technology Center's
Hollywood Pacific Theater lab: "Shrek 2" on Monday (June 14) and "The
Day After Tomorrow" on June 28. You must register first:
www.etcenter.org/Seminars.asp (http://www.etcenter.org/Seminars.asp)

- Those attending the Joint Technical Symposium in Toronto get to go to
a free screening of the restored FILM print of "The Good, the Bad, and
the Ugly," with a discussion of the restoration process, on the 25th:
www.jts2004.org/english/schedule.html (http://www.jts2004.org/english/schedule.html)

- DisplaySearch has issued a call for papers for its HDTV Forum 2004, to
be held August 24-26. Abstracts are to be submitted by June 30 to
kendra@displaysearch.com (http://kendra@displaysearch.com)

- David Pogue had a story on Voom in this week's "Circuits" section of
The New York Times. I couldn't help offering the opening paragraph
(which has essentially nothing to do with Voom):
"Let's face it: those $5,000 plasma screens are popular not just because
they're high-definition TV sets but also because they're status symbols.
Look at Gateway's 42-inch $3,000 plasma screen, a runaway hit even
though it can't actually display images in high definition. At this
rate, someone will surely come up with a $200 plasma screen that doesn't
even turn on. It would just hang on the wall and look cool":
www.nytimes.com/2004/06/03/technology/circuits/03stat.html (http://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/03/technology/circuits/03stat.html)

- Based on figures from CEA, sales of VCRs to U.S. dealers were down
66.4% for the first 20 weeks of 2004 compared to the same period in
2003. Non-H/DTV direct-view TV sets were UP 2.7%. My ten-week running
average for them was up 4.3%.
So-called "Digital Television" sales to U.S. dealers for the 20th week
were 60,443 units. For the first 20 weeks of the year, there were
1,455,019 units. "Digital Televisions" (most of which are HDTV displays
without DTT-reception capability) still accounted for about 14.7% of the
TVs (not counting plasma or direct-view LCD) sold to U.S. dealers so far
this year. It may be worth noting here what that means. Over 85% of the
non-plasma, non-direct-view-LCD TVs sold so far this year were still
plain non-H/DTV direct-view TVs with picture tubes.
To qualify as a "Digital Television," a display need only be capable of
dealing with at least 480p; it need not be capable of either receiving
digital signals or displaying them. Devices actually capable of
receiving DTT signals were still a small fraction of those numbers.

- Ads for set-top DTT receivers: I'm aware of only the LG and Samsung at
J&R.

- The ads - My Los Angeles correspondent was out of town this week.
The DTT-reception premium at Ultimate for the Mitsubishi WS55613 over
the WS55313 was just $270 this week -- and there's a model in between.
Ultimate called an integrated set a monitor, but only at Ultimate did
there seem to be an increase in the number of integrated sets.
- amazon.com (no disclaimer):
- Toshiba 30HF83 30-inch 16:9 direct-view flat CRT TV $799.99
- Best Buy (appropriate disclaimers):
- JVC PD42WV74 42-inch 16:9 plasma TV w/$400 gift card $3999.99
- Mystery brand plasma TV $2499.99
- Optoma EZPRO 732 projector $1199.99
- Panasonic PT-50LC13 50-inch LCD projection TV w/$200 GC $2799.99
- Samsung TX-P2670WH 26-inch 16:9 TV w/$50 gift card $699.99
- Sharp 32F641 32-inch 4:3 direct-view CRT TV w/$50 GC $499.99
- Sharp LC30HV4U 30-inch 16:9 LCD TV w/$400 gift card $3999.99
- Sony KE42XS910 42-inch 16:9 plasma TV w/$500 gift card $5999.99
- Sony KE50XS910 50-inch 16:9 plasma TV w/$500 gift card $7999.99
- Sony KLV26HG2 26-inch widescreen LCD TV w/$300 gift card $3299.99
- Sony KP57WS510 57-inch 16:9 projection TV w/$200 gift card $1999.99
- Toshiba 26HL83P 26-inch widescreen LCD TV w/$300 gift card $2999.99
- Toshiba 46H83 46-inch 16:9 projection TV w/$100 gift card $1499.99
- Zenith L23V36 23-inch widescreen LCD TV w/$100 gift card $1899.99
- Circuit City (appropriate disclaimers):
- Hitachi 42HDT50 42-inch 16:9 plasma TV $5399.99
- Hitachi 50V500 50-inch 16:9 LCD projection TV $2969.99
- Hitachi 51F500A 51-inch 16:9 CRT projection TV $1529.99
- Hitachi 57F500A 57-inch 16:9 CRT projection TV $1799.99
- Magnavox 51MP392H 51-inch 16:9 projection TV $939.99
- RCA HD61LPW42 61-inch 16:9 integrated DLP projection DTV $3509.99
- Samsung HLN507W 50-inch 16:9 DLP projection TV $3149.99
- Samsung LTP1545 15-inch 4:3 direct-view LCD TV $584.99
- Samsung SPN4235 42-inch 16:9 plasma TV $2519.99
- Samsung TXN3245FP 32-inch 4:3 direct-view CRT TV $629.99
- Sharp LC15B4US 15-inch 4:3 LCD direct-view TV $674.99
- Sharp LC20B4US 20-inch 4:3 LCD direct-view TV $1079.99
- Sharp LC22SV2U 22-inch 16:9 LCD direct-view TV $1529.99
- Sony KE37XS910 37-inch 16:9 plasma TV $4499.99
- Sony KP46WT510 46-inch 16:9 projection TV $1349.99
- Sony KP51WS510 51-inch 16:9 projection TV $1529.99
- Sony KV32HS510 32-inch 4:3 direct-view CRT TV $1169.99
- Sony KV34XBR910 34-inch 16:9 direct-view CRT TV $2249.99
- Sony KV36HS510 36-inch 4:3 direct-view CRT TV $1619.99
- Dell (no disclaimer):
- Dell 17-inch widescreen LCD TV $699
- Fry's (Dallas Morning News, no disclaimer):
- Mitsubishi WS-55413 55-inch 16:9 CRT projection TV $1699
- Philips 42-inch 16:9 plasma TV $2199.99
- Philips 60-inch 16:9 projection TV $1499
- RCA HD50LPW151 50-inch 16:9 integrated DLP projection DTV $2999
- Samsung HLN-5065W 50-inch 16:9 DLP projection TV $2999
- Sony KV-32FS100 32-inch 4:3 direct-view CRT TV $599
- Toshiba 57-inch 16:9 integrated projection DTV $1699
- Home Theater Store (Dallas Morning News, no disclaimer):
- LG 42-inch 16:9 plasma TV $2999
- LG 60-inch widescreen direct-view LCD TV $2999
- Mitsubishi 42-inch 16:9 TV $999
- Mitsubishi 48-inch 16:9 TV $1299
- Mitsubishi 65-inch 16:9 TV $1899
- Samsung 50-inch 16:9 DLP projection TV
- Samsung 50-inch 16:9 plasma TV $4999
- Samsung 61-inch 16:9 DLP projection TV
- Sony 42-inch LCD projection TV $2499
- Sony 42-inch 16:9 plasma TV
- J&R (New York Times, no disclaimer):
- LG LST-3510A ATSC receiver/DVD player $449.99
- Panasonic TC-15LT1 15-inch 16:9 LCD TV
- Philips 20PF7835 20-inch 4:3 LCD TV $799.99
- Samsung SIR-T165 ATSC receiver/decoder $379.99
- Sharp LC-37HV4U 37-inch 16:9 LCD direct-view TV $4599.99
- Toshiba 30HF83 30-inch 16:9 direct-view flat CRT TV $499.99
- Toshiba 42HP83P 42-inch 16:9 plasma TV $4299.99
- Westinghouse W33001 30-inch 16:9 direct-view LCD TV $1899.99
- Sears (no disclaimers):
- Hitachi 50-inch 16:9 projection TV, Sears #54759 $3299.99
- Philips 55-inch 16:9 projection TV, Sears #54333 $1799.99
- Samsung 42-inch 16:9 projection TV, Sears #54003 $999.99
- Sony 46-inch 16:9 projection TV, Sears #54604 $1499.99
- Ultimate Electronics (no disclaimer):
- Akai PT4298HD 42-inch 16:9 projection TV $998.95
- Epson LS57P1 57-inch 16:9 projection TV/photo printer $3699.95
- Mitsubishi WS48313 48-inch 16:9 projection TV $1499.95
- Mitsubishi WS55313 55-inch 16:9 projection TV $1709.95
- Mitsubishi WS55513 55-inch 16:9 integrated projection DTV $1979.95
- Mitsubishi WS65513 65-inch 16:9 integrated projection DTV $2519.95
- Mitsubishi WS65813 65-inch 16:9 integrated projection DTV $4049.95
- Panasonic CT32HL43 32-inch 4:3 direct-view CRT TV $798.95
- Panasonic PT47WX53 47-inch 16:9 projection TV $1999.85**
- Panasonic PT50LC13 50-inch LCD projection TV $2499.95
- Panasonic TH42PD25 42-inch 16:9 integrated plasma DTV $4084.95
- Pioneer PDP4340HD 43-inch 16:9 plasma TV $6174.95
- Sony KDP57WS550 57-inch 16:9 integrated projection DTV $1999.95
- Sony KE37XS910 37-inch 16:9 plasma TV $4249.95
- Sony KF50WE610 50-inch 16:9 LCD projection TV $3099.95
- Zenith C34W37 34-inch 16:9 integr. direct-view CRT cable/DTV $1619.95
- Zenith L15V26C 15-inch 4:3 LCD TV $498.95
- Zenith L20V26 20-inch 4:3 LCD TV $749.95
- Zenith L23V36 23-inch widescreen LCD TV $1709.95
- Zenith P42W22B 42-inch 16:9 plasma TV $2498.95
** price includes home theater sound package

- DVD news: According to CEA, sales of DVD players to U.S. dealers for
the first 20 weeks of 2004 were up 4.2% over the same period in 2003. My
ten-week running average was flat.

- The Consumer Electronics Association has issued a call for speakers
for the Consumer Electronics Show (CES):
www.ce.org/press_room/press_release_detail.asp?id=10482 (http://www.ce.org/press_room/press_release_detail.asp?id=10482)

- There's also a call for papers for the IEEE Consumer Communications
and Networking Conference, taking place just before CES
www.ieee-ccnc.org/ (http://www.ieee-ccnc.org/)

- Ed DiGiulio, involved in the development of Steadicam, Showscan, and
many other products, including an HD telecine, died on Friday. Memorial
services will be held at Pierce Brothers Westwood Village Memorial Park
and Mortuary, 1218 Glendon Avenue, Westwood Village, 310-474-1579, on
Saturday at 1 p.m.

- Upcoming Dates (DTV and non-DTV):

- June 9, Miami, Road Show -- "A Taste of NAB" (not NAB affiliated)
www.tech-notes.tv/2004/20_Miami.htm (http://www.tech-notes.tv/2004/20_Miami.htm).
- June 11, West Palm Beach, Florida, Road Show -- "A Taste of NAB" (not
NAB affiliated) www.tech-notes.tv/2004/21_WPalm_Beach.htm (http://www.tech-notes.tv/2004/21_WPalm_Beach.htm).
- June 11-13, Universal City Studios, Cine Gear Expo
www.cinegearexpo.com (http://www.cinegearexpo.com).
- June 14, Jacksonville, Florida, Road Show -- "A Taste of NAB" (not NAB
affiliated) www.tech-notes.tv/2004/22_Jacksonville.htm (http://www.tech-notes.tv/2004/22_Jacksonville.htm).
- June 14, Panavision, Woodland Hills, California, ETC Charles Poynton
Seminar www.etcenter.org/Seminars.asp (http://www.etcenter.org/Seminars.asp).
- June 14-18, Milwaukee Area Technical College, SMPTE Engineering
Committee meetings www.fibush.net/smpte/June2004/June2004.htm (http://www.fibush.net/smpte/June2004/June2004.htm).
- June 15-18, Singapore Expo, Broadcast Asia 2004, Audio Technology
2004, CableSat 2004, ComGraphics & Animation 2004, CommunicAsia 2004,
EnterpriseIT 2004 www.broadcast-asia.com/ (http://www.broadcast-asia.com/).
- June 16, Atlanta, Road Show -- "A Taste of NAB" (not NAB affiliated)
www.tech-notes.tv/2004/23_Atlanta.htm (http://www.tech-notes.tv/2004/23_Atlanta.htm).
- June 18, Huntsville, Alabama, Road Show -- "A Taste of NAB" (not NAB
affiliated) www.tech-notes.tv/2004/24_Huntsville.htm (http://www.tech-notes.tv/2004/24_Huntsville.htm).
- June 21, Nashville, Road Show -- "A Taste of NAB" (not NAB affiliated)
www.tech-notes.tv/2004/25_Nashville.htm (http://www.tech-notes.tv/2004/25_Nashville.htm).
- June 21-24, RAI, Amsterdam, Cinema Expo www.cinemaexpo.com (http://www.cinemaexpo.com).
- June 23, Knoxville, Tennessee, Road Show -- "A Taste of NAB" (not NAB
affiliated) www.tech-notes.tv/2004/26_Knoxville.htm (http://www.tech-notes.tv/2004/26_Knoxville.htm).
- June 24-26, Toronto, Joint Technical Symposium (archiving and
preservation) www.jts2004.org/english/index_en.htm (http://www.jts2004.org/english/index_en.htm).
- June 25, Greenville, South Carolina, Road Show -- "A Taste of NAB"
(not NAB affiliated) www.tech-notes.tv/2004/27_Greenville.htm (http://www.tech-notes.tv/2004/27_Greenville.htm).
- June 28, Charlotte, North Carolina, Road Show -- "A Taste of NAB" (not
NAB affiliated) www.tech-notes.tv/2004/28_Charlotte.htm (http://www.tech-notes.tv/2004/28_Charlotte.htm).
- June 30, Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina, Road Show -- "A Taste of NAB"
(not NAB affiliated) www.tech-notes.tv/2004/29_Raleigh-Durham.htm (http://www.tech-notes.tv/2004/29_Raleigh-Durham.htm).
- July 6, Baltimore-Washington, Road Show -- "A Taste of NAB" (not NAB
affiliated) www.tech-notes.tv/2004/30_Baltimore-Washington.htm (http://www.tech-notes.tv/2004/30_Baltimore-Washington.htm).
- July 8, Philadelphia, Road Show -- "A Taste of NAB" (not NAB
affiliated) www.tech-notes.tv/2004/31_Philadelphia.htm (http://www.tech-notes.tv/2004/31_Philadelphia.htm).
- July 12, New Haven, Connecticut, Road Show -- "A Taste of NAB" (not
NAB affiliated) www.tech-notes.tv/2004/32_New_Haven.htm (http://www.tech-notes.tv/2004/32_New_Haven.htm).
- July 14, Boston, Road Show -- "A Taste of NAB" (not NAB affiliated)
www.tech-notes.tv/2004/33_Boston.htm (http://www.tech-notes.tv/2004/33_Boston.htm).
- July 16, Eastern New York, Road Show -- "A Taste of NAB" (not NAB
affiliated) www.tech-notes.tv/2004/34_Up_State_NY.htm (http://www.tech-notes.tv/2004/34_Up_State_NY.htm).
- July 19, Binghamton, New York, Road Show -- "A Taste of NAB" (not NAB
affiliated) www.tech-notes.tv/2004/35_Binghamton.htm (http://www.tech-notes.tv/2004/35_Binghamton.htm).
- July 19-23, Seattle, MPEG meetings.
- July 21, Cleveland, Road Show -- "A Taste of NAB" (not NAB affiliated)
www.tech-notes.tv/2004/36_Cleveland.htm (http://www.tech-notes.tv/2004/36_Cleveland.htm).
- July 22, Columbus, Ohio, Road Show -- "A Taste of NAB" (not NAB
affiliated) www.tech-notes.tv/2004/37_Columbus.htm (http://www.tech-notes.tv/2004/37_Columbus.htm).
- July 26, Indianapolis, Road Show -- "A Taste of NAB" (not NAB
affiliated) www.tech-notes.tv/2004/38_Indianapolis.htm (http://www.tech-notes.tv/2004/38_Indianapolis.htm).
- July 28, Urbana-Champaign, Illinois, Road Show -- "A Taste of NAB"
(not NAB affiliated)
www.tech-notes.tv/2004/39_Urbana-Champaign.htm (http://www.tech-notes.tv/2004/39_Urbana-Champaign.htm).
- July 29, Madison, Wisconsin, Road Show -- "A Taste of NAB" (not NAB
affiliated) www.tech-notes.tv/2004/40_Madison.htm (http://www.tech-notes.tv/2004/40_Madison.htm).
- August 2, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Road Show -- "A Taste of NAB" (not NAB
affiliated) www.tech-notes.tv/2004/41_Minn-StP.htm (http://www.tech-notes.tv/2004/41_Minn-StP.htm).
- August 4, Omaha, Nebraska, Road Show -- "A Taste of NAB" (not NAB
affiliated) www.tech-notes.tv/2004/42_Omaha.htm (http://www.tech-notes.tv/2004/42_Omaha.htm).
- August 6, Riverton, Wyoming, Road Show -- "A Taste of NAB" (not NAB
affiliated) www.tech-notes.tv/2004/43_Riverton.htm (http://www.tech-notes.tv/2004/43_Riverton.htm).
- August 9, Salt Lake City, Utah, Road Show -- "A Taste of NAB" (not NAB
affiliated) www.tech-notes.tv/2004/44_SLC.htm (http://www.tech-notes.tv/2004/44_SLC.htm).
- August 11, Bozeman, Montana, Road Show -- "A Taste of NAB" (not NAB
affiliated) www.tech-notes.tv/2004/45_Bozeman.htm (http://www.tech-notes.tv/2004/45_Bozeman.htm).
- August 13, Boise, Idaho, Road Show -- "A Taste of NAB" (not NAB
affiliated) www.tech-notes.tv/2004/46_Boise.htm (http://www.tech-notes.tv/2004/46_Boise.htm).
- August 16, Spokane, Washington, Road Show -- "A Taste of NAB" (not NAB
affiliated) www.tech-notes.tv/2004/47_Spokane.htm (http://www.tech-notes.tv/2004/47_Spokane.htm).
- August 18, Washington State University, Road Show -- "A Taste of NAB"
(not NAB affiliated) www.tech-notes.tv/2004/48_WSU.htm (http://www.tech-notes.tv/2004/48_WSU.htm).
- August 20, Seattle, Road Show -- "A Taste of NAB" (not NAB affiliated)
www.tech-notes.tv/2004/49_Seattle.htm (http://www.tech-notes.tv/2004/49_Seattle.htm).
- August 24, Portland, Oregon, Road Show -- "A Taste of NAB" (not NAB
affiliated) www.tech-notes.tv/2004/50_Portland.htm (http://www.tech-notes.tv/2004/50_Portland.htm).
- *August 24-26, Westin Century Plaza, Los Angeles, DisplaySearch HDTV
Forum 2004 www.displaysearch.com/hdtvforum/ (http://www.displaysearch.com/hdtvforum/).
- August 25, Eugene, Oregon, Road Show -- "A Taste of NAB" (not NAB
affiliated) www.tech-notes.tv/2004/51_Eugene.htm (http://www.tech-notes.tv/2004/51_Eugene.htm).
- August 30-September 1, Hollywood Renaissance Hotel, Entertainment
Media Expo www.media-tech.net/news/New_A.htm (http://www.media-tech.net/news/New_A.htm).
- September 1-3, Reading, UK, International Symposium on Consumer
Electronics www.isce.reading.ac.uk (http://www.isce.reading.ac.uk).
- September 9-14, RAI, Amsterdam, International Broadcasting Convention
www.ibc.org (http://www.ibc.org).
- September 16-19, Sony, Basingstoke, England, SMPTE Engineering
Committee meetings www.fibush.net/smpte/Sept2004/Sept2004.htm (http://www.fibush.net/smpte/Sept2004/Sept2004.htm).
- October 6-7, Washington (D.C.) Convention Center, Government Video
Technology Expo www.GVExpo.com (http://www.GVExpo.com).
- October 13-15, Hotel Washington, Washington, D.C., IEEE Broadcast
Symposium www.ieee.org/organizations/society/bt/symposium.html (http://www.ieee.org/organizations/society/bt/symposium.html).
- November 4, Los Angeles Center Studios, HD Expo www.hdexpo.net/ (http://www.hdexpo.net/).
- November 4-7, Westin St. Francis Hotel, San Francisco, Home
Entertainment 2004 West www.homeentertainment-expo.com/ (http://www.homeentertainment-expo.com/).
- November 17-19, Makuhari Messe (Tokyo area), InterBEE
bee.jesa.or.jp (http://bee.jesa.or.jp).
- *January 3-6, Las Vegas, IEEE Consumer Communications and Networking
Conference www.ieee-ccnc.org/ (http://www.ieee-ccnc.org/).
- January 6-9, Las Vegas, Consumer Electronics Show
www.cesweb.org/ (http://www.cesweb.org/).
- January 8-12, Las Vegas Convention Center, International Conference on
Consumer Electronics www.icce.org/ (http://www.icce.org/).
- ***January 26-28, Rancho Las Palmas Marriott, California, ***The
Technology Retreat*** www.hpaonline.com (http://www.hpaonline.com).
* - new or revised listing

TTFN,
Mark

PS Permission is granted to forward this or any other Monday Memo. There
will be no memo next week, and IF there is a memo the week of the 21st,
it will be very late.

Confused about something in the memo? Please first check out the second
post-script to the January 5 memo here:
www.digitaltelevision.com/mondaymemo/mlist/frm02052.html (http://www.digitaltelevision.com/mondaymemo/mlist/frm02052.html)

[Alan Roberts]

Dated 30.June.2004

- Follow-ups:

- USDTV boxes - Here is one user's report:
http://technology360.typepad.com/technology360/2004/06/usdigital_dtv_s_1.html

- Sinclair and the 5th-generation Zenith ATSC receiver - I spoke
extensively with Sinclair's Mark Aitken today, and he described how the
receiver worked in tough locations I had visited during the earlier
Sinclair tests. It certainly seems to him to have worked about as well
as the COFDM receivers used then.

- July 1 - See also the ads section for inexpensive non-integrated
sets:
- TV sets that would require DTT-reception circuitry starting 2004:
- Magnavox 36-inch TV @ Fry's $399
- Magnavox MS3625 36-inch TV @ Circuit City $549.99
- Toshiba 36A43 36-inch TV w/stand @ Best Buy $599.99
- TV sets that would require DTT-reception circuitry starting 2005:
- Apex AT2708 27-inch TV @ Circuit City $189.99
- Apex AT2708S 27-inch TV @ Ultimate $168.95
- Magnavox 27MS3404 27-inch TV @ Circuit City $199.99
- Philips 27PT543S 27-inch TV @ Best Buy $199.99
- Sansui TVS2746 27-inch TV @ Best Buy $169.99
- Toshiba 27A34 27-inch TV @ Best Buy $229.99
- Devices that would require DTT-reception circuitry in 2007:
- Apex AT1308 13-inch TV @ Circuit City $64.99
- RCA E13320 13-inch TV @ Circuit City $89.99
- Toshiba 13A23/4 13-inch TV @ Best Buy $79.99
- Symphonic ST419E 19-inch TV @ Best Buy $89.99
- Magnavox 20MS233S 20-inch TV @ Best Buy $119.99
- Magnavox 20MT133S 20-inch TV @ Circuit City $109.99
- Daewoo DTQ20U4SC 20-inch flat-screen TV @ Best Buy $129.99
- Magnavox 20MS3442 20-inch flat-screen TV @ Circuit City $149.99
- Sylvania 20-inch flat-screen TV @ Sears $119.99
- Daewoo DV6T874B DVD/VCR combo @ CompUSA $99.99
- Mystery brand DVD/VCR combo @ Circuit City $99.99
- Philips DVD750VR DVD/VCR combo @ CompUSA $119.99
- Sansui DVD/VCR combo @ Sears $99.99
- Sylvania DVC845E DVD/VCR combo @ Best Buy $89.99
- Toshiba SDV492 DVD/VCR combo @ J&R $119.99
- Zenith XBV442 DVD/VCR combo @ Circuit City $109.99
- Zenith XBV443 DVD/VCR combo @ Best Buy $109.99
- Coby DVD-R1000 DVD+R/RW recorder @ J&R $249.99
- GoVideo R6640 DVD+R/RW recorder @ J&R $279.99
- Magnavox MRV64017 DVD+R/RW recorder @ Circuit City $269.99
- Panasonic DMR-E505 DVD-R/RAM recorder @ CompUSA $299.99
- Devices that would require dual DTT-reception circuitry in 2007:
- Broksonic CTSGT9369T 19-inch TV/VCR combo @ Circuit City $159.99
- Devices not covered by the mandate but using analog TV broadcasts:
- Casio GBOXTV980 2.3-inch LCD TV @ Circuit City $69.99
- Casio SY-4000 4-inch LCD TV @ J&R $179.99
- Curtis RT068 5-inch TV w/radio @ Best Buy $19.99
- Sony DNF400PSGR AM/FM/Weather/TV/CD portable @ Best Buy $79.99
- Sony DNS707F AM/FM/Weather/TV/CD portable @ Best Buy $99.99
- Sony DNS707F AM/FM/Weather/TV/CD portable @ Circuit City $99.99
- Sony SRFM80V AM/FM/Weather/TV/stopwatch portable @ Best Buy
$49.99

- May 1 -
- Despite the long delay since the last memo, neither the
Federal Communications Commission (FCC) nor the National Association of
Broadcasters (NAB) has updated its lists.
- Doug Lung's RF Update in TV Technology reported 533 licensed
U.S. DTT stations listed in the FCC CDBS database as of June 19:
http://www.tvtechnology.com/dlrf/one.php?id=481
- The Association of Public Television Stations now lists 263
non-commercial DTT stations operating in the U.S.:
http://www.apts.org/html/digital/dtv/ptv_digitalstations.htm

- There's a story on public-television datacasting in the
public-broadcasting publication Current:
http://www.current.org/dtv/dtv0410datacast.shtml

- Here's a story on the recent U.S. Senate hearing on DTT:
http://www.tvtechnology.com/dailynews/one.php?id=2056

- Many people contacted me about their being impressed with the
Panavision Genesis digital-cinematography camera shown at CineGear
Expo. Like ARRI's D20, it appears to use a 35-mm-frame-sized imager.
Reports say it has over 12 million pixels:
http://www.cinematography.com/forum2004/index.php?showtopic=1308&st=0
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr/columns/tech_reporter_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=100052742 5

- International H/DTV news:

- Britain's Sky satellite service plans to offer HDTV in 2006:
http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/article/ds14675.html

- Sky also plans a free-to-view service said to have up to 200
channels or just 116 (compared to Freeview's 30):
<http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/article/ds14674.html (http://<http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/article/ds14674.html)
http://www.primezone.com/newsroom/news_releases.mhtml?d=58868
It's possible that it will cost something after two years:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/3794443.stm
Roughly 97% of UK households are said to have access to the service
vs. 73% of UK households having access to all Freeview channels and
another 7% to some:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/3793471.stm

- According to some reports, the UK Freeview DTT service is now in
four million UK households:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/3815971.stm
The figure was reportedly disputed in the Guardian, but I don't
have a URL for that.

- Free DTT is to start in France on March 1 of next year with pay
channels following six months later:
http://www.advanced-television.com/2004/news_archive_2004/June7_11.htm#frenchdtt

- Australia's commercial broadcasters have differing plans for
their DTT channels IF they're allowed to implement them:
http://entertainment.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4459,9787380%255E10229%255E%255Enbv,00.html

- There are concerns in Australia about receiver quality:
http://news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,9865260%255E15306,00.html

- Finland's commercial broadcasters are to start DTT in August and
September, by which time they should be serving 94% of the population:
http://www.dtg.org.uk/news/world/-finland_94percent.htm

- Auto-parts maker Visteon is offering mobile DTT receivers in Germany:
http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/06-24-2004/0002199582&EDATE=

- On a street corner in Xi'an, China last week, I saw an ad for
some sort of "1080p" TV.

- The Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC) has come up with a
recommended practice for receiver performance in areas of sensitivity,
overload, phase noise, selectivity, and multipath. It also suggests a
smart-antenna interface. The first URL is for the press release. The
second is for the 67-page recommended practice:
http://www.atsc.org/news_information/press/2004/PR_Receiver_RP_June2004.htm
http://www.atsc.org/standards/a_74.pdf
This next URL is a spreadsheet relating to success of demodulating
certain captured signals. Many were not:
http://www.atsc.org/standards/a_74_RF_capture_spreadsheet.xls

- ATSC also has a candidate standard that will allow receivers to be
upgraded with downloaded software in the field. Again, the first URL is
the press release and the second the 16-page candidate standard:
http://www.atsc.org/news_information/press/2004/PR_Download_CS.htm
http://www.atsc.org/standards/cs_documents/cs_97.pdf

- An article by Eric Taub in the New York Times "Circuits" section last
week suggests that there are still (at least before sales of the
5th-generation Zenith receiver) significant ATSC reception problems.
FYI, he contacted me, but I was out of town, so I contributed absolutely
nothing to the story:
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/24/technology/circuits/24hdtv.html?th

- Samsung says that if its receivers are not upgraded to include
"broadcast flag" software, users may have trouble getting even
"unprotected content":
http://www.samsungusa.com/stb_upgrade/
One posting on the OpenDTV Forum suggested problems are already
occurring:
http://www.freelists.org/archives/opendtv/06-2004/msg00255.html

- Sony has been sued for aspect-ratio burn-in:
http://finance.lycos.com/qc/news/story.aspx?story=42104003

- Proposals for papers for the IEEE Conference on Consumer Electronics
(ICCE) will be accepted until July 15:
http://www.icce.org/

- According to iSuppli/Stanford Resources, worldwide TV shipments in the
first quarter were 38.5 million, of which 1.6 million were LCD:
http://www.eetuk.com/mr/news/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=22101631

- NPD Intelect, which measures sales to consumers (except Wal-Mart,
catalogs, and Internet) reported 404,660 CRT-based projection TVs in the
first quarter and 56,623 microdisplay-based (DLP and different forms of
LCD) projection TVs. LCD 27-inch and up exceeded plasma. But CRT still
has a roughly 11 times more units sold than non-CRT:
http://www.twice.com/article/CA428356.html?verticalid=820&industry=Video&industryid=23099&pubdate=06/21/2004

- Based on figures from CEA, sales of VCRs to U.S. dealers were down
64.8% for the first 21 weeks of 2004 compared to the same period in
2003. Non-H/DTV direct-view TV sets were UP 4.1%. My ten-week running
average for them was up 6%. For the first 22 weeks it was -65.7%, 0.1%,
and -7.6%. For the first 23 weeks it was -64.5%, -0.5%, -7.5%.
So-called "Digital Television" sales to U.S. dealers for the 21st
week were 125,992 units, for the 22nd week 47,300 units, and for the
23rd week 51,182 units. For the first 23 weeks of the year, there were
1,679,493 units. "Digital Televisions" (most of which are HDTV displays
without DTT-reception capability) accounted for about 15% of the TVs
(not counting plasma or direct-view LCD) sold to U.S. dealers so far
this year. It may be worth noting here what that means. About 85% of
the non-plasma, non-direct-view-LCD TVs sold through the 23rd week this
year were still plain non-H/DTV direct-view TVs with picture tubes.
To qualify as a "Digital Television," a display need only be
capable of dealing with at least 480p; it need not be capable of either
receiving digital signals or displaying them. Devices actually capable
of receiving DTT signals were still a small fraction of those numbers.

- Ads for set-top DTT receivers: I saw FOUR! And the prices of two of
them were $299.99.

- The ads - These are three weeks worth except only two weeks from
Minneapolis (by my request, to keep my inbox clear). With the scheduled
"tuner mandate" kicking in on Thursday, most of the advertised sets are
still not capable of DTT reception:
- Best Buy (appropriate disclaimers):
- Daewoo DP-42SM 42-inch 16:9 plasma TV $2299.99
- JVC LT17X475 17-inch widescreen direct-view LCD TV $949.99
- JVC LT23X475 17-inch widescreen direct-view LCD TV $1804.99
- JVC LT26WX84 26-inch widescreen direct-view LCD TV w/$200 GC $2499.99
- JVC PD42WV74 42-inch 16:9 plasma TV w/$300 gift card $3999.99
- Mitsubishi WS-48313 48-inch 16:9 projection TV $1329.99
- Mitsubishi WS55315 55-inch 16:9 projection TV $1899.99**
- Mitsubishi WS-65315 65-inch 16:9 projection TV $2499.99**
- Mystery brand 17-inch widescreen LCD TV $699.99
- Mystery brand 42-inch plasma TV w/$200 gift card $2499.99
- Panasonic CT-27HL14 27-inch 4:3 direct-view CRT TV $526.99
- Panasonic PT-50LC13 50-inch LCD projection TV $2499.99**
- Panasonic TH-42PX25U 42-inch 16:9 integ. plasma DTV w/$400 GC $5999.99
- Philips 17PF9936 17-inch 16:9 LCD TV $899.99**
- Philips 30PF9946 30-inch widescreen direct-view LCD TV $2849.99
- Philips 30PW8402 30-inch 16:9 direct-view CRT TV w/stand $799.99
- Pioneer PDP4341HD 43-inch 16:9 plasma TV $6174.99
- Prima (Advent?) HT2751A 27-inch 4:3 direct-view CRT TV $449.99
- RCA D52W15 52-inch 16:9 projection TV $1234.99
- Samsung HLN-5065W 50-inch 16:9 DLP projection TV $2999.99
- Samsung HL-P5063W 50-inch 16:9 DLP projection TV w/$300 GC $3499.99
- Samsung LTN1535 15-inch 4:3 direct-view LCD TV $569.99
- Samsung LT-P1545 15-inch 4:3 direct-view LCD TV $649.99**
- Samsung SP-P4251 42-inch 16:9 plasma TV $3999.99**
- Samsung SIR-TS360 ATSC/DirecTV receiver/decoder $299.99
- Sharp LC30HV4U 30-inch 16:9 LCD direct-view TV w/$200 GC $2749.99***
- Sony KE37XS910 37-inch 16:9 plasma TV $4749.99
- Sony KE42XS910 42-inch 16:9 plasma TV w/$400 gift card $5999.99
- Sony KE50XS910 50-inch 16:9 plasma TV w/$500 gift card $7999.99
- Sony KLV23HR1 23-inch 16:9 direct-view LCD TV $2184.99
- Sony KLV26HG2 26-inch widescreen direct-view LCD TV $3299.99**
- Sony KP46WT510 46-inch 16:9 projection TV w/$100 gift card $1499.99
- Sony KP51WS510 51-inch 16:9 projection TV $1699.99**
- Sony KP57WS510 57-inch 16:9 projection TV w/$100 gift card $1999.99
- Sony KP65WS510 65-inch 16:9 CRT projection TV $2499.99**
- Sony KV30HS420 30-inch 16:9 direct-view CRT TV w/$50 gift card $999.99
- Sony KV32FS100 32-inch 4:3 direct-view CRT TV $664.99
- Sony KV32HS420 32-inch direct-view CRT TV w/stand $999.99
- Sony KV36FS100 36-inch 4:3 direct-view CRT TV $949.99
- Toshiba 26HL83P 26-inch widescreen LCD TV w/$200 GC $2699.99
- Toshiba 42HP83P 42-inch 16:9 plasma TV $5224.99
- Toshiba 46H83 46-inch 16:9 projection TV $1499.99**
- Toshiba 57H93 57-inch 16:9 CRT integrated proj. DTV $1999.99
** price includes leather recliner and ottoman
*** price after mail-in rebate
- Circuit City (appropriate disclaimers):
- Akai PT4298HD 42-inch 16:9 projection TV $999.99
- Akai PDP4249G 42-inch 16:9 plasma TV $3199.99
- ESA PDP4294LV 42-inch 16:9 plasma TV $2499.99
- Hitachi 42HDT50 42-inch 16:9 plasma TV $5399.99****
- Hitachi 50V500 50-inch 16:9 LCD projection TV $2969.99
- Hitachi 51F500A 51-inch 16:9 CRT projection TV $1624.99
- Hitachi 57F500A 57-inch 16:9 CRT projection TV $1799.99
- Magnavox 51MP392H 51-inch 16:9 projection TV $1199.99
- Motorola HDT100/HDT101 set-top ATSC receiver/decoder $299.99
- Panasonic CT34WX54 34-inch 16:9 direct-view CRT TV $1324.99
- Panasonic PT50LC13 50-inch LCD projection TV $2499.99
- Panasonic TC20LA2 20-inch 4:3 LCD TV $1024.99
- Panasonic TH42PX20U/TH42PX25U 42-inch 16:9 plasma TV $5499.99****
- Philips 15PF9936 15-inch 4:3 LCD TV $629.99
- RCA 52-inch 16:9 projection TV $1299.99
- RCA D52W20 52-inch 16:9 projection TV $1424.99
- RCA HD61LPW42 61-inch 16:9 integrated projection DTV $3509.99
- Samsung HLN507W/HLP5063W 50-inch 16:9 DLP projection TV $3199.99
- Samsung HLN617W 61-inch 16:9 DLP projection TV $4049.99
- Samsung LTN1565 15-inch 4:3 direct-view LCD TV $549.99
- Samsung TXN2775HF 27-inch 4:3 direct-view CRT TV $539.99
- Samsung TXN3075WHF 30-inch 16:9 direct-view CRT TV $799.99
- Samsung TXN3275HF 32-inch 4:3 direct-view CRT TV $809.99
- Sharp LC13B4US 13-inch 4:3 LCD direct-view TV $499.99
- Sharp LC22SV2U 22-inch 16:9 LCD direct-view TV $1624.99
- Sony KE37XS910 37-inch 16:9 plasma TV $4499.99****
- Sony KLV21SG2 21-inch widescreen LCD TV $1624.99
- Sony KLV26HG2 26-inch widescreen direct-view LCD TV $2999.99
- Sony KP46WT510 46-inch 16:9 projection TV $1424.99
- Sony KP51WS510 51-inch 16:9 projection TV $1529.99
- Sony KV30HS420 30-inch 16:9 direct-view CRT TV $899.99
- Sony KV32HS510 32-inch 4:3 direct-view CRT TV $924.99
- Sony KV36HS510 36-inch 4:3 direct-view CRT TV $1424.99
**** price includes basic installation after rebate
- CompUSA (disclaimers one week):
- Hitachi 42HDT50 42-inch 16:9 plasma TV $5999.99
- Hitachi 51F500 51-inch 16:9 CRT projection TV w/$100 gift card
$1799.99
- Panasonic PT-47WX53 47-inch 16:9 projection TV $1349.99*****
- Panasonic PT-50LC13 50-inch LCD projection TV w/$200 gift card
$2999.99
- Panasonic TH-50PX20U/P 50-inch 16:9 plasma TV $5999.99*****
- Philips 55PL9524 55-inch 16:9 LCoS projection TV $3799.99*****
- Samsung SPN4235 42-inch 16:9 plasma TV $2499.99*****
- Sharp LC20B4US 20-inch 4:3 LCD direct-view TV w/$50 gift card $899.99
***** price includes DVD/VCR 5.1-channel home-theater sound system
- Dell (no disclaimer):
- Dell 17-inch widescreen LCD TV $699
- Dell 2200MP projector $810
- Fry's (Los Angeles Times, no disclaimer):
- Mitsubishi WS-55413 55-inch 16:9 CRT projection TV $1699
- Mystery brand 42-inch 16:9 plasma TV $1999
- Samsung HLN617W 61-inch 16:9 DLP projection TV $3999
- Sony KDP-57WS550 57-inch 16:9 integrated projection DTV $1999
- Good Guys (Los Angeles Times, appropriate disclaimer):
- JVC PD42WX84 42-inch 16:9 plasma TV $4999
- Philips 34PW9819 34-inch 16:9 direct-view CRT TV $1699##
- Philips 42FP9954 42-inch 16:9 plasma TV $3999
- Philips 50FD9955 50-inch 16:9 plasma TV $5999
- Philips 55PL977S 55-inch 16:9 LCoS projection TV $2699
- Samsung LTN226WX 22-inch 16:9 direct-view LCD TV $1199
- Sony KDP57WS550 57-inch 16:9 integrated projection DTV $1999
- Sony KLV21SG2 21-inch widescreen LCD TV $1699##
- Sony KV30HS510 30-inch 16:9 direct-view CRT TV $999
- Sony KV32HS420 32-inch 4:3 direct-view CRT TV $999##
- ViewSonic N2700W 27-inch widescreen LCD direct-view TV $2499##
## price includes DVD portable
- Great Indoors (Los Angeles Times, no disclaimer):
- Epson LS47P1 47-inch 16:9 projection TV/photo printer $3499
- Epson LS57P1 57-inch 16:9 projection TV/photo printer $3999
- Hitachi 50V500 50-inch 16:9 LCD projection TV $3299
- Hitachi 60V500 60-inch 16:9 LCD projection TV $3999
- Samsung HLN467W 46-inch 16:9 DLP projection TV $3299
- Samsung HLN567W 56-inch 16:9 DLP projection TV $3999
- Howard's (Los Angeles Times, no disclaimer):
- Panasonic PT-47WX53 47-inch 16:9 projection TV $1499
- Panasonic PT-53TW53 53-inch 16:9 CRT projection TV $1599
- Panasonic PT53WX53 53-inch 16:9 CRT projection TV $1599
- Panasonic PT56TW53 56-inch 16:9 CRT projection TV $1799
- Panasonic PT60LC13 60-inch LCD projection TV $3299
- Sony KP46WT510 46-inch 16:9 projection TV $1499
- Sony KP51WS510 51-inch 16:9 projection TV $1699
- Toshiba 46HX83 46-inch 16:9 projection TV $1399
- Toshiba 51HX83 51-inch 16:9 projection TV $1599
- Toshiba 57HX83 57-inch 16:9 CRT projection TV $1899
- Toshiba 65HX83 65-inch 16:9 projection TV $2199
- J&R (New York Times, no disclaimer):
- JVC AV-20P475 20-inch 4:3 direct-view CRT TV $229.99
- Panasonic PT-50LC13 50-inch LCD projection TV $2499.99
- Panasonic TC-15LT1 15-inch 16:9 LCD TV $699.99
- Panasonic TC-22LH1 22-inch 16:9 LCD TV $1699.99
- Panasonic TH-50PX20U 50-inch 16:9 plasma TV $6299.99
- Philips 36PT842H 36-inch 4:3 CRT direct-view TV $1299.99
- Samsung 710MP 17-inch LCD TV $539.99***
- Samsung DVD-L1200 12-inch widescreen DVD/LCD combo
- Samsung HLN507W 50-inch 16:9 DLP projection TV
- Samsung HLN617W 61-inch 16:9 DLP projection TV
- Samsung HPN5039 50-inch 16:9 plasma TV $4999.99
- Samsung SPP4251 42-inch 16:9 plasma TV
- Sharp LC-30HV4U 30-inch 16:9 LCD direct-view TV $2999.99
- Sharp LC-37HV4U 37-inch 16:9 LCD direct-view TV $4299.99
- Toshiba 34HF83 34-inch (called "36") 16:9 direct-view CRT TV $1499.00
- Toshiba 42HP83P 42-inch 16:9 plasma TV $3999.99
- Toshiba DST3100 ATSC/DirecTV/NTSC receiver $499.99
- Westinghouse W32001 20-inch 16:9 direct-view LCD TV $699.99
- Westinghouse W33001 30-inch 16:9 direct-view LCD TV $1899.99
*** price after mail-in rebate
- Ken Crane's (Los Angeles Times, no disclaimer):
- LG DU-42PZ60 42-inch 16:9 integrated plasma DTV $3498
- LG DU-50PZ60 50-inch 16:9 integrated plasma DTV $6498
- LG RU-42PZ90 42-inch 16:9 plasma TV $2998
- LG RU-20LA61 20-inch direct-view LCD TV $998
- LG RU-44SZ61D 44-inch 16:9 projection TV $2798
- LG RU-48SZ40 48-inch 16:9 projection TV $3498
- LG RU-52SZ61D 52-inch 16:9 projection TV $3298
- Magnolia (Los Angeles Times, no disclaimer):
- Mitsubishi PD4225S 42-inch 16:9 plasma TV $4499
- Mitsubishi PD5030 50-inch 16:9 plasma TV $6999
- Mitsubishi WS-55413 55-inch 16:9 CRT projection TV $1799
- Panasonic TC-26LX20 26-inch widescreen LCD TV $2999
- Panasonic TH42PA20U 42-inch 16:9 plasma TV $3999
- Panasonic TH50PX20U 50-inch 16:9 plasma TV $6999
- Pioneer PDP-5030 50-inch 16:9 plasma TV $6999
- Samsung HLN437 43-inch 16:9 DLP projection TV $2799
- Samsung HLN567 56-inch 16:9 DLP projection TV $3499
- Paul's (Los Angeles Times, appropriate disclaimer):
- Mitsubishi WT-42311 42-inch 16:9 CRT projection TV $985
- Sears (Minneapolis Star Tribune, no disclaimer):
- Hitachi 46-inch 16:9 projection TV, Sears #54713 $1399.99
- Hitachi 57-inch 16:9 projection TV, Sears #54733 $1999.99
- Philips 55-inch 16:9 projection TV, Sears #54333 $1799.99
- Samsung 43-inch 16:9 DLP projection TV, Sears #54073 $2999.99
- Sony 46-inch 16:9 projection TV, Sears #54604 $1499.99
- Sony 51-inch 16:9 projection TV, Sears #54623 $1699.99
- Ultimate Electronics (Minneapolis Star Tribune, no disclaimer noticed):
- Akai PT4298HD 42-inch 16:9 projection TV $998.95
- Epson LS57P1 57-inch 16:9 projection TV/photo printer $3699.95
- JVC PD42WV74 42-inch 16:9 plasma TV $3799.95
- Mitsubishi WS55313 55-inch 16:9 projection TV $1979.95
- Mitsubishi WS55513 55-inch 16:9 integrated projection DTV $1979.95
- Panasonic PT47WX53/34 47-inch 16:9 projection TV $1198.95
- Panasonic PT50LC13 50-inch LCD projection TV $2499.95
- Panasonic 60-inch LCD projection TV $3499.95
- Panasonic TC17LA1 17-inch 4:3 LCD TV $749.95
- Panasonic TC22LH1 22-inch 16:9 LCD TV $1899.95
- Panasonic TH42PD25 42-inch 16:9 integrated plasma DTV $4084.95
- Panasonic TH50PX20U 50-inch 16:9 plasma TV $5999.95
- Pioneer PDP4340HD 43-inch 16:9 integrated plasma DTV $6174.95
- Samsung HLN467W 46-inch 16:9 DLP projection TV $3134.95
- Samsung HLN567W 56-inch 16:9 DLP projection TV $3799.95
- Samsung HPN5039 50-inch 16:9 plasma TV $4999.95
- Sharp LC22SV6U 22-inch 16:9 LCD direct-view TV $1499.95
- Sharp LC30HV4U 30-inch 16:9 LCD direct-view TV $2999.95
- Sony KDE42XBR950 42-inch 16:9 integrated plasma DTV $7599.95
- Sony KDP57WS550 57-inch 16:9 integrated projection DTV $1999.95
- Sony KP46WT510 46-inch 16:9 projection TV $1349.95
- Sony KV32HS420 32-inch direct-view CRT TV $899.95
- Zenith C34W37 34-inch 16:9 integ. direct-view CRT cable/DTV $1619.95
- Zenith L15V26C 15-inch 4:3 LCD TV $498.95
- Zenith L20V26C 20-inch 4:3 LCD TV $749.95
- Zenith P42W22B 42-inch 16:9 plasma TV $2298.95
- Zenith P42W34H 42-inch 16:9 plasma TV $2159.95
- Video & Audio Center (Los Angeles Times, no disclaimer):
- LG DU42PZ60 42-inch 16:9 integrated plasma DTV $3497
- LG MU50PZ90 50-inch 16:9 plasma TV $5997
- LG RU52SZ30 52-inch 16:9 LCD projection TV $2427
- Sony KDF70XBR950 70-inch 16:9 LCD projection TV $6997
- Sony KE-32TS2 32-inch 16:9 plasma TV $3997
- Sony KE42TS2 42-inch 16:9 plasma TV $5497
- Sony KE-42XS910 42-inch 16:9 plasma TV $5997
- Sony KF42WE610 42-inch 16:9 LCD projection TV $2797
- Sony SAT-HD300 ATSC/NTSC/DirecTV set-top receiver $397

- Tech-Notes #125 has come out:
http://www.tech-notes.tv/Archive/tech_notes_125.pdf

- DVD news:

- According to CEA, sales of DVD players to U.S. dealers for the
first 21 weeks of 2004 were up 3.4% over the same period in 2003. My
ten-week running average was up 0.9%. For the first 22 weeks it was
DOWN 3.6% and down 18.5%. For the first 23 weeks, it was down 3% and
down 18%. It's the end of an era. Sigh.

- NPD Techworld reports that consumer DVD-player prices fell by
almost 10% last month:
http://www.npdtechworld.com/techServlet?nextpage=pr_body_it.html&content_id=1068

- The physical spec of HD DVD has been approved:
http://www.eet.com/sys/news/showArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=QA3XDO3N1ZV1QQSNDBCSK HQ?articleID=22100666

- Hollywood, based on remarks at the recent Home Entertainment
Summit, seems to be in no rush for a prerecorded HD consumer disk system.
- "We're in no real hurry to align ourselves with one format,"
said Buena Vista's Bob Chapek. "We're comfortably on the fence," said
MGM's David Bishop. "We would all be doing ourselves a disservice if we
stepped on the growth curve of DVD," said Lion's Gate's Steve Beeks.
And, according to Fox's Mike Dunn, DVD "is still a sexy format":
http://www.uemedia.net/CPC/videography/article_8631.shtml

- EchoStar's DISH network has hit 10 million subscribers:
http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/altavista/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20040614005438&newsLang=en

- SBC is planning to deliver HD via its phone network using Microsoft
technology:
http://www.nypost.com/business/23541.htm

- The FCC has issued its notice of inquiry for its annual report on
competition in the multichannel vide programming marketplace. Comments
are due July 23, replies August 25:
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-04-136A1.doc

- Upcoming Dates (DTV and non-DTV):

- June 30, Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina, Road Show -- "A Taste of
NAB" (not NAB affiliated)
http://www.tech-notes.tv/2004/29_Raleigh-Durham.htm
- July 6, Baltimore-Washington, Road Show -- "A Taste of NAB" (not
NAB affiliated) http://www.tech-notes.tv/2004/30_Baltimore-Washington.htm
- July 8, Philadelphia, Road Show -- "A Taste of NAB" (not NAB
affiliated) http://www.tech-notes.tv/2004/31_Philadelphia.htm
- July 12, New Haven, Connecticut, Road Show -- "A Taste of NAB"
(not NAB affiliated) http://www.tech-notes.tv/2004/32_New_Haven.htm
- July 14, Boston, Road Show -- "A Taste of NAB" (not NAB
affiliated) http://www.tech-notes.tv/2004/33_Boston.htm
- July 16, Eastern New York, Road Show -- "A Taste of NAB" (not NAB
affiliated) http://www.tech-notes.tv/2004/34_Up_State_NY.htm
- July 19, Binghamton, New York, Road Show -- "A Taste of NAB" (not
NAB affiliated) http://www.tech-notes.tv/2004/35_Binghamton.htm
- July 19-23, Seattle, MPEG meetings.
- July 21, Cleveland, Road Show -- "A Taste of NAB" (not NAB
affiliated) http://www.tech-notes.tv/2004/36_Cleveland.htm>
- July 22, Columbus, Ohio, Road Show -- "A Taste of NAB" (not NAB
affiliated) http://www.tech-notes.tv/2004/37_Columbus.htm
- July 26, Indianapolis, Road Show -- "A Taste of NAB" (not NAB
affiliated) http://www.tech-notes.tv/2004/38_Indianapolis.htm
- July 28, Urbana-Champaign, Illinois, Road Show -- "A Taste of
NAB" (not NAB affiliated)
http://www.tech-notes.tv/2004/39_Urbana-Champaign.htm
- July 29, Madison, Wisconsin, Road Show -- "A Taste of NAB" (not
NAB affiliated) http://www.tech-notes.tv/2004/40_Madison.htm
- August 2, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Road Show -- "A Taste of NAB"
(not NAB affiliated) http://www.tech-notes.tv/2004/41_Minn-StP.htm
- August 4, Omaha, Nebraska, Road Show -- "A Taste of NAB" (not NAB
affiliated) http://www.tech-notes.tv/2004/42_Omaha.htm
- August 6, Riverton, Wyoming, Road Show -- "A Taste of NAB" (not
NAB affiliated) http://www.tech-notes.tv/2004/43_Riverton.htm
- August 9, Salt Lake City, Utah, Road Show -- "A Taste of NAB"
(not NAB affiliated) http://www.tech-notes.tv/2004/44_SLC.htm
- August 11, Bozeman, Montana, Road Show -- "A Taste of NAB" (not
NAB affiliated) http://www.tech-notes.tv/2004/45_Bozeman.htm
- August 13, Boise, Idaho, Road Show -- "A Taste of NAB" (not NAB
affiliated) http://www.tech-notes.tv/2004/46_Boise.htm
- August 16, Spokane, Washington, Road Show -- "A Taste of NAB"
(not NAB affiliated) http://www.tech-notes.tv/2004/47_Spokane.htm
- August 18, Washington State University, Road Show -- "A Taste of
NAB" (not NAB affiliated) http://www.tech-notes.tv/2004/48_WSU.htm
- August 20, Seattle, Road Show -- "A Taste of NAB" (not NAB
affiliated) http://www.tech-notes.tv/2004/49_Seattle.htm
- August 24, Portland, Oregon, Road Show -- "A Taste of NAB" (not
NAB affiliated) http://www.tech-notes.tv/2004/50_Portland.htm
- August 24-26, Westin Century Plaza, Los Angeles, DisplaySearch
HDTV Forum 2004 http://www.displaysearch.com/hdtvforum/
- August 25, Eugene, Oregon, Road Show -- "A Taste of NAB" (not NAB
affiliated) http://www.tech-notes.tv/2004/51_Eugene.htm
- August 30-September 1, Hollywood Renaissance Hotel, Entertainment
Media Expo http://www.media-tech.net/news/New_A.htm
- September 1-3, Reading, UK, International Symposium on Consumer
Electronics http://www.isce.reading.ac.uk
- September 9-14, RAI, Amsterdam, International Broadcasting
Convention http://www.ibc.org
- September 16-19, Sony, Basingstoke, England, SMPTE Engineering
Committee meetings http://www.fibush.net/smpte/Sept2004/Sept2004.htm
- October 6-7, Washington (D.C.) Convention Center, Government
Video Technology Expo <http://www.GVExpo.com>.
- October 13-15, Hotel Washington, Washington, D.C., IEEE Broadcast
Symposium http://www.ieee.org/organizations/society/bt/symposium.html
- November 4, Los Angeles Center Studios, HD Expo
http://www.hdexpo.net/
- November 4-7, W
estin St. Francis Hotel, San Francisco, Home Entertainment 2004 West
http://www.homeentertainment-expo.com/
- November 17-19, Makuhari Messe (Tokyo area), InterBEE
http://bee.jesa.or.jp
- *January 3-6, Las Vegas, IEEE Consumer Communications and
Networking Conference <http://www.ieee-ccnc.org/>.
- January 6-9, Las Vegas, Consumer Electronics Show
http://www.cesweb.org/
- January 8-12, Las Vegas Convention Center, International
Conference on Consumer Electronics http://www.icce.org/
- ***January 26-28, Rancho Las Palmas Marriott, California, ***The
Technology Retreat*** http://www.hpaonline.com
* - new or revised listing

TTFN,
Mark

PS Permission is granted to forward this or any other Monday Memo.
Next week's memo might be late.

Confused about something in the memo? Please first check out the second
post-script to the January 5 memo here:
http://www.digitaltelevision.com/mondaymemo/mlist/frm02052.html

[Alan Roberts]

Dated: July 12 2004

- Follow-ups:

- Mexico's DTT standard - It's that of the Advanced Television
Systems Committee (ATSC):
http://www.atscforum.org/pr/PR-040707-ATSC-Mexico.pdf

- South Korea's DTT standard - After much debate, they also
reaffirmed the choice of ATSC, though they are considering DVB for
mobile applications:
http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/200407/200407080021.html
Ministry of Information and Communications official Rha Bong-ha said
analog shut down would be in 2010, when 95% of households are expected
to be DTT-equipped:
http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/200407/kt2004070817121610230.htm

- CableCARDs and IEEE-1394 - It may be apocryphal, but one
correspondent says a friend of his found incomprehension at a cable
system but kept insisting that they were required by law to provide
Firewire outputs and was rewarded by receiving a fire extinguisher.
After repeatedly getting blank responses from my cable company, Time
Warner Cable of New York City, today I got a response to my question,
"How much does Time Warner get for a CableCARD?" It's $1.75/month here
(where a digital set-top box is $6.75).

- Other cable and H/DTV -
- On its HD-on-demand service, Comcast is reportedly offering
only two movies, "Antarctica HD" and "India: Kingdom of the Tiger":
http://www.tvpredictions.com/comcasthd070704.html
- The National Cable and Telecommunications Association (NCTA)
mid-year report lists just 382 U.S. DTT stations being carried on any
U.S. cable systems but 17 HD cable networks. It divides the U.S. total
multichannel video programming distributor (MVPD) universe (97 million
households out of Nielsen's 108.4 million TV households) as of April as
follows:
- 73.3% - Cable
- 23.5% - DBS satellite
- 1.1% - Satellite master-antenna TV (SMATV)
- 0.4% - C-band satellite
- 0.2% - Multichannel multipoint distribution service (MMDS)
- 1.4% - Other:
http://www.ncta.com/pdf_files/Overview.pdf

- July 1 -
- According to a story in This Week in Consumer Electronics
(TWICE), sales of TV sets with integrated DTT reception had no growth
(or even negative growth) in the first quarter:
http://www.twice.com/article/CA435342.html?verticalid=820&industry=Video&industryid=23099&pubdate=07/12/2004

- For the second week, I saw no ads for inexpensive 36-inch TVs.
- In this week's ads, there were (if I counted right) 50 TVs
36-inch or larger, 12 of which were integrated with DTT reception.
- Here are the ads for inexpensive non-H/DTV sets. See also
the ads section for inexpensive non-integrated sets:
- TV sets that would require DTT-reception circuitry starting 2005:
- Apex AT2708 27-inch TV @ Circuit City $189.99
- Apex AT2708S 27-inch TV @ Ultimate $168.95
- Sansui TVS2746 27-inch TV @ Best Buy $169.99
- Sharp/Jensen 27-inch home-theater system @ Ultimate $297.90**
- Devices that would require DTT-reception circuitry in 2007:
- Daewoo DTQ13V5FC 13-inch TV @ Best Buy $59.99
- RCA E13320 13-inch TV @ Circuit City $89.99
- Symphonic ST419E 19-inch TV @ Best Buy $89.99
- Magnavox 20MS3442 20-inch flat-screen TV @ Circuit City $149.99
- Sylvania 20-inch flat-screen TV @ Sears $119.99
- Samsung DVDV4600 DVD/VCR combo @ Circuit City $119.99
- Sensory Science SC104 DVD/VCR combo @ Ultimate $88.95
- Toshiba SDV392 DVD/VCR combo @ J&R $119.99
- GoVideo R6640 DVD+RW recorder @ J&R $279.99
- Magnavox MRV64017 DVD+RW recorder @ Circuit City $249.99
- Devices that would require dual DTT-reception circuitry in 2007:
- SuperScan 19-inch TV/VCR/DVD combo @ Sears $199.99
- Magnavox 27MDTR20/17 27-inch TV/VCR/DVD combo @ Home Depot $279
** price after rebate

- May 1 - Only the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB)
updated its list this week. As of the 9th, they said there were 1233
U.S. DTT stations in operation in 207 markets. That's considerably less
than the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) 1424 (as of June 30)
reported here last week:
http://www.nab.org/newsroom/issues/digitaltv/dtvstations.asp

- There are no H/DTV items on the agenda of the FCC's Technological
Advisory Council meeting on the 28th:
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-04-2064A1.pdf

- The FCC is proposing that broadcasters retain recordings of their
broadcasts between 6 am and 10 pm for as long as 90 days to be checked
for obscenity, indecency, and profanity:
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-04-145A1.pdf
At 19.4 Mbps for U.S. DTT stations, that comes to close to 13 terabytes
of storage -- or a bunch of D-VHS tapes; if it's 24 hours, make that
more like 20 TB.

- The Satellite Broadcasting and Communications Association (SBCA) has
joined the Digital Transition Coalition (of which EchoStar was already a
member).
http://www.twice.com/article/CA434777.html?display=Breaking+News
The Coalition has promoted the satellite industry plan to carry
broadcast HD programming to places where they can't currently do so:
http://www.digitaltransitioncoalition.com/digital/

- International H/DTV news:
- NHK (the Japan Broadcasting Corporation) reports shipments of over
a million DTT receivers in seven months:
http://www.japantoday.com/e/?content=news&cat=4&id=304882
I haven't seen a recent Consumer Electronics Association report on
similar shipments here, but the time frame will be more like seven years.

- Hong Kong DTT has been delayed by a year (to 2007) to give China a
chance to pick a standard. If they don't by the end of 2006, Hong Kong
will go DVB-T:
http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200407/10/eng20040710_149123.html
China has reportedly tested five standards but wants to launch DTT
before the 2008 Olympics in Beijing:
http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_detail_frame.cfm?articleid=49200&intcatid=1


- Australia's latest list of set-top DTT receivers shows 19
manufacturers offering 41 models, eight of them HDTV-capable. The least
expensive SD model is A$199 (about US$144). The least-expensive HD
model is A$599 (about US$435):
http://www.dba.org.au/index.asp?sectionID=18

- Based on figures from CEA, sales of VCRs to U.S. dealers were down 64%
for the first 25 weeks of 2004 compared to the same period in 2003.
Non-H/DTV direct-view TV sets were down 0.2%. My ten-week running
average for them was down 7.6%. Interestingly, for the 25th week alone,
sales of TV/VCR combos were actually UP 7.9% over last year's 25th week.
So-called "Digital Television" sales to U.S. dealers for the 25th
week were 97,666 units. For the first 25 weeks of the year, there were
1,836,801 units. "Digital Televisions" (most of which are HDTV displays
without DTT-reception capability) accounted for about 15% of the TVs
(not counting plasma or direct-view LCD) sold to U.S. dealers so far
this year. It may be worth noting here what that means. About 85% of
the non-plasma, non-direct-view-LCD TVs sold through the 25th week this
year were still plain non-H/DTV direct-view TVs with picture tubes.
I've been saying that for a while, so some of you may be wondering
how much of the market plasma and LCD represent. Here are CEA figures
for unit TV sales to U.S. dealers this year through April:
- Non-H/DTV direct-view CRT - 6,274,842
- "Digital" direct-view CRT - 232,995
- CRT-based projection - 1,051,415
- Microdisplay projection - 172,047
- Plasma TVs - 158,324
- "Digital" LCD TVs* - 370,505
* - differentiated primarily from hand-held LCD TVs
For global shipments, here, again, is iSupply/Stanford Resources for
the first quarter of 2004 in thousands:
- Direct-view CRT TVs - 11,186
- CRT rear projection - 1,001
- Direct-view LCD TV - 365
- Plasma TV - 356
- Microdisplay projection TV - 265
- Home front projector - 106
http://www.twice.com/article/CA428356.html?verticalid=820&industry=Video&industryid=23099&pubdate=06/21/2004

To qualify as a "Digital Television," a display need only be capable
of dealing with at least 480p; it need not be capable of either
receiving digital signals or displaying them. Devices actually capable
of receiving DTT signals were still a small fraction of those numbers.

- Ads for set-top DTT receivers: I saw none this week.

- The ads - Best Buy introduced a "Reward Zone" program with points and
certificates ($95 on a $2500 item), but, because they don't mention
certificate values for all items, I haven't included them. Ultimate
called the Mitsubishi WS55613 a monitor.
- Best Buy (appropriate disclaimers):
- Daewoo DP-42SM 42-inch 16:9 plasma TV $2499.99
- JVC LT17X475 17-inch widescreen direct-view LCD TV $999.99
- Mitsubishi WS-65315 65-inch 16:9 projection TV $2499.99
- RCA D52W15 52-inch 16:9 projection TV $1299.99
- Samsung HL-P5063W 50-inch 16:9 DLP projection TV $3499.99
- Samsung SP-P4251 42-inch 16:9 plasma TV $3799.99
- Samsung TX-P2670WH 26-inch 16:9 integrated direct-view CRT DTV $699.99
- Sony KLV26HG2 26-inch widescreen direct-view LCD TV $2999.99
- Sony KP46WT510 46-inch 16:9 projection TV $1499.99
- Sony KV32FS100 32-inch 4:3 direct-view CRT TV $599.99
- Sony KV36FS210 36-inch 4:3 direct-view CRT TV $999.99
- Toshiba 42HP83P 42-inch 16:9 plasma TV $5499.99
- Circuit City (appropriate disclaimers):
- Akai PDP4249G 42-inch 16:9 plasma TV $3199.99
- Akai PT4298HD 42-inch 16:9 projection TV $899.99
- Audiovox FP1500 15-inch 4:3 LCD TV $399.99
- Hitachi 50V500 50-inch 16:9 LCD projection TV $3099.99
- Hitachi 51F500A 51-inch 16:9 CRT projection TV $1699.99
- Hitachi 57F500A 57-inch 16:9 CRT projection TV $1999.99
- Panasonic PT50LC13/PT50LC14 50-inch LCD projection TV $2999.99
- Philips 26PW8402 26-inch 16:9 direct-view CRT TV $599.99
- RCA D52W20 52-inch 16:9 projection TV $1499.99
- Samsung HLP5063W 50-inch 16:9 DLP projection TV $3499.99
- Samsung LTN1535 15-inch 4:3 direct-view LCD TV $599.99
- Samsung LTP1545 15-inch 4:3 direct-view LCD TV $649.99
- Samsung LTP2045 20-inch 4:3 direct-view LCD TV $999.99
- Samsung SPP4251 42-inch 16:9 plasma TV $3999.99***
- Samsung TXN3075WHF 30-inch 16:9 direct-view CRT TV $799.99
- Sharp LC20B4US/LC20B6US 20-inch 4:3 LCD direct-view TV $11998.99
- Sharp LC22SV2U 22-inch 16:9 LCD direct-view TV $1499.99
- Sony KE42M1 42-inch 16:9 plasma TV $3999.99***
- Sony KP51WS510 51-inch 16:9 projection TV $1699.99
- Sony KV30HS420 30-inch 16:9 direct-view CRT TV $999.99
- Sony KV34HS510 34-inch 16:9 direct-view CRT TV $1999.99
*** price includes basic installation
- Fry's (Los Angeles Times, no disclaimer):
- "Major Brand" 51-inch 16:9 integrated projection DTV $1499
- Philips 42FD9954 42-inch 16:9 plasma TV $3999
- Sony KDP-57WS550 57-inch 16:9 integrated projection DTV $2199
- Howard's (Los Angeles Times, no disclaimer):
- Panasonic PT47WX34 47-inch 16:9 projection TV $1299
- Panasonic PT53X54 53-inch 16:9 CRT projection TV $1599
- Panasonic PT56TW53 56-inch 16:9 CRT projection TV $1799
- Panasonic TH37PD25UP 37-inch integrated 16:9 plasma DTV $3299
- Panasonic TH42PD25UP 42-inch 16:9 integrated plasma DTV $3799
- J&R (New York Times, no disclaimer):
- JVC PD-42WX84 42-inch 16:9 plasma TV $4099.99
- Philips 23PF9945 23-inch 16:9 LCD TV $1499.99
- Philips 37FD9954 37-inch 16:9 plasma TV $2999.99
- Samsung TX-P2745P 27-inch 4:3 direct-view CRT TV $399.99
- Toshiba 32AF44 32-inch direct-view CRT TV $499.99
- Toshiba 42HP83P 42-inch 16:9 plasma TV $3999.99
- Sears (Minneapolis Star Tribune, no disclaimer):
- Mitsubishi 55-inch 16:9 projection TV, Sears #54124 $1804.99
- Ultimate Electronics (Minneapolis Star Tribune, one disclaimer):
- LG RU17LZ22 17-inch widescreen direct-view LCD TV $809.95
- LG RU44SZ61D 44-inch 16:9 projection TV $2519.95
- Magnavox 42MF7000 42-inch 16:9 plasma TV $2498.95
- Magnavox 51MP392H 51-inch 16:9 projection TV $1199.95
- Mitsubishi WS55315 55-inch 16:9 projection TV $1709.95
- Mitsubishi WS55513 55-inch 16:9 integrated projection DTV $1979.95
- Mitsubishi WS55613 55-inch 16:9 integr. projection DTV - part of pkg.
- Mitsubishi WS65513 65-inch 16:9 integrated projection DTV $2519.95
- Mitsubishi WS65813 65-inch 16:9 integrated projection DTV $3999.95
- Mitsubishi WT42315 42-inch 16:9 CRT projection TV $1349.95
- Panasonic PT47WX34/WX53 47-inch 16:9 projection TV - part of package
- Panasonic PT50LC13 50-inch LCD projection TV $2499.95
- Panasonic TC22LH1 22-inch 16:9 LCD TV $1799.95
- Panasonic TH42PD25 42-inch 16:9 integrated plasma DTV $3419.95
- Pioneer PDP4340HD 43-inch 16:9 integrated plasma DTV $5399.95**
- Samsung HLN567W 56-inch 16:9 DLP projection TV $3599.95
- Samsung LTP1545 15-inch 4:3 direct-view LCD TV $539.95
- Samsung SPP4251 42-inch 16:9 plasma TV $3479.95
- Sharp LC30HV4U 30-inch 16:9 LCD direct-view TV $2999.95
- Sony KDP57WS550 57-inch 16:9 integrated projection DTV $1999.95
- Sony KE42TS2 42-inch 16:9 plasma TV $4949.95
- Sony KF50WE610 50-inch 16:9 LCD projection TV $2969.95
- Sony KP46WT510 46-inch 16:9 projection TV $1349.95
- Sony KV32HS420 32-inch 4:3 direct-view CRT TV $899.95
- Zenith C32V37 32-inch 4:3 integrated direct-view CRT DTV $899.95
- Zenith L15V26C 15-inch 4:3 LCD TV $498.95
** price after rebate

- DVD news:
- According to CEA, sales of DVD players to U.S. dealers for the
first 25 weeks of 2004 were DOWN 1.2% from the same period in 2003. My
ten-week running average was down 12.3%.

- Next year's Academy Awards "screeners" may be encrypted DVDs
requiring a special player:
http://audiotechnologyupdate.broadcastengineering.com/july_9/#oscar

- Upcoming Dates (DTV and non-DTV):

- July 14, Boston, Road Show -- "A Taste of NAB" (not NAB
affiliated) http://www.tech-notes.tv/2004/33_Boston.htm.
- July 16, Eastern New York, Road Show -- "A Taste of NAB" (not NAB
affiliated) http://www.tech-notes.tv/2004/34_Up_State_NY.htm.
- July 19, Binghamton, New York, Road Show -- "A Taste of NAB" (not
NAB affiliated) http://www.tech-notes.tv/2004/35_Binghamton.htm.
- July 19-23, Seattle, MPEG meetings.
- July 21, Cleveland, Road Show -- "A Taste of NAB" (not NAB
affiliated) http://www.tech-notes.tv/2004/36_Cleveland.htm.
- July 22, Columbus, Ohio, Road Show -- "A Taste of NAB" (not NAB
affiliated) http://www.tech-notes.tv/2004/37_Columbus.htm.
- July 22, Todd-AO Studios, Studio City, California, Entertainment
Technology Center demo of Fraunhofer Institute's Wave Field Synthesis
spatial audio technology, RSVP +1-213-743-1600 http://www.etcenter.org.
- *July 23-24, Raleigh Studios, Hollywood, HPA Summer School
http://www.hpaonline.com/i4a/forms/form.cfm?id=88.
- July 26, Indianapolis, Road Show -- "A Taste of NAB" (not NAB
affiliated) http://www.tech-notes.tv/2004/38_Indianapolis.htm.
- July 28, Urbana-Champaign, Illinois, Road Show -- "A Taste of NAB"
(not NAB affiliated)
http://www.tech-notes.tv/2004/39_Urbana-Champaign.htm.
- July 29, Madison, Wisconsin, Road Show -- "A Taste of NAB" (not
NAB affiliated) http://www.tech-notes.tv/2004/40_Madison.htm.
- August 2, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Road Show -- "A Taste of NAB" (not
NAB affiliated) http://www.tech-notes.tv/2004/41_Minn-StP.htm.
- August 6, Riverton, Wyoming, Road Show -- "A Taste of NAB" (not
NAB affiliated) http://www.tech-notes.tv/2004/43_Riverton.htm.
- August 9, Salt Lake City, Utah, Road Show -- "A Taste of NAB" (not
NAB affiliated) http://www.tech-notes.tv/2004/44_SLC.htm.
- August 11, Bozeman, Montana, Road Show -- "A Taste of NAB" (not
NAB affiliated) http://www.tech-notes.tv/2004/45_Bozeman.htm.
- August 13, Boise, Idaho, Road Show -- "A Taste of NAB" (not NAB
affiliated) http://www.tech-notes.tv/2004/46_Boise.htm.
- August 16, Spokane, Washington, Road Show -- "A Taste of NAB" (not
NAB affiliated) http://www.tech-notes.tv/2004/47_Spokane.htm.
- August 18, Washington State University, Road Show -- "A Taste of
NAB" (not NAB affiliated) http://www.tech-notes.tv/2004/48_WSU.htm.
- August 20, Seattle, Road Show -- "A Taste of NAB" (not NAB
affiliated) http://www.tech-notes.tv/2004/49_Seattle.htm.
- August 24, Portland, Oregon, Road Show -- "A Taste of NAB" (not
NAB affiliated) http://www.tech-notes.tv/2004/50_Portland.htm.
- August 24-26, Westin Century Plaza, Los Angeles, DisplaySearch
HDTV Forum 2004 http://www.displaysearch.com/hdtvforum/.
- August 25, Eugene, Oregon, Road Show -- "A Taste of NAB" (not NAB
affiliated) http://www.tech-notes.tv/2004/51_Eugene.htm.
- August 30-September 1, Hollywood Renaissance Hotel, Entertainment
Media Expo http://www.media-tech.net/news/New_A.htm.
- September 1-3, Reading, UK, International Symposium on Consumer
Electronics http://www.isce.reading.ac.uk.
- September 9-14, RAI, Amsterdam, International Broadcasting
Convention http://www.ibc.org.
- September 16-19, Sony, Basingstoke, England, SMPTE Engineering
Committee meetings http://www.fibush.net/smpte/Sept2004/Sept2004.htm.
- October 6-7, Washington (D.C.) Convention Center, Government Video
Technology Expo http://www.GVExpo.com.
- October 13-15, Hotel Washington, Washington, D.C., IEEE Broadcast
Symposium http://www.ieee.org/organizations/society/bt/symposium.html.
- November 4, Los Angeles Center Studios, HD Expo
http://www.hdexpo.net/.
- November 4-7, W
estin St. Francis Hotel, San Francisco, Home Entertainment 2004 West
http://www.homeentertainment-expo.com/.
- November 17-19, Makuhari Messe (Tokyo area), InterBEE
http://bee.jesa.or.jp.
- January 3-6, Las Vegas, IEEE Consumer Communications and
Networking Conference http://www.ieee-ccnc.org/.
- January 6-9, Las Vegas, Consumer Electronics Show
http://www.cesweb.org/.
- January 8-12, Las Vegas Convention Center, International
Conference on Consumer Electronics http://www.icce.org/.
- ***January 26-28, Rancho Las Palmas Marriott, California, ***The
Technology Retreat*** http://www.hpaonline.com.
* - new or revised listing

TTFN,
Mark

PS Permission is granted to forward this or any other Monday Memo.
Next week's memo might be late and could be without ads. There will be
some loss of memos in August, but I'm not yet sure when that will be.

Confused about something in the memo? Please first check out the second
post-script to the January 5 memo here:
http://www.digitaltelevision.com/mondaymemo/mlist/frm02052.html


----------------------------------------------------------------------

[Alan Roberts]

Dated 20 July 2004
- Follow-ups:

- Australian DTT STB receiver prices - The prices include the 10%
Federal sales tax.

- Licensing AVC - MPEG LA announced the availability of its
H.264/MPEG-4 Part 10 patent-portfolio license on the 15th:
http://www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/2004/jul/1057185.htm

- Cable and HDTV -
- Firewire - A correspondent tried to get a set-top box with
Firewire connection from his local cable operator and was told they
weren't available in his area. One day after he contacted his state
regulatory authority, they became available.
- Number of HDTV cable subscribers - INHD, alone, reports
reaching over a million. They, therefore, have committed to providing
no less than 100 hours of new programming per month:
http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=SVBIZINK3.story&STORY=/www/story/07-19-2004/0002212830&EDATE=MON+Jul+19+2004,+10:44+AM

- Satellites and HDTV -
- DTT programming - DirecTV is providing some HD programming
from WCBS-DT in New York and KCBS-DT in Los Angeles to subscribers in
markets where CBS owns and operates stations. Another arrangement to
carry Fox HD programming to subscribers in markets where Fox owns
stations is expected:
http://www.dtg.org.uk/news/world/-directv_hd.htm
- A bill introduced in the U.S. Senate by Senators John Ensign
of Nevada and John McCain of Arizona, the "Satellite Home Viewer
Extension and Rural Consumer Access to Digital Television Act of 2004"
(an act only if passed by both houses of Congress and signed by the
President or veto-overridden) would allow such programming to be
delivered by satellite wherever local DTT signals can't be received
(which could be in cities of license). The Consumer Electronics
Association (CEA) approves of the bill:
http://www.ce.org/press_room/press_release_detail.asp?id=10503
- Cablevision Systems won the bidding (with minimum bids) for
two orbital slots that could improve reception of Voom on the west coast:
http://www.newsday.com/business/ny-biz-bzvoom0715,0,1079568.story?coll=ny-business-headlines
FYI, despite reductions in standard-definition news coverage of them:
http://www.tvweek.com/news/web071904.html#cbs,
both Voom's High Definition News (HDN) and HDNet plan HD coverage of the
political conventions (a paid subscription is required for the full
article, but take my word for it):
http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA436814?display=Breaking+News

- July 1 - I've been out of town and away from newspapers since
Wednesday (except Sunday's Denver Post), and my Minneapolis-area
correspondent is also away, so the pickings are meager this week. See
also the ads section for inexpensive non-integrated sets.
Of what I've reported here and in the ads section below, I am aware
of ads for 39 TVs 36-inch or larger, of which seven had integrated
DTT-reception circuitry (there were also two sub-36-inch integrated sets
but many more advertised):
- TV sets that would require DTT-reception circuitry starting 2004:
- Sony 36-inch TV @ Unitek $749
- TV sets that would require DTT-reception circuitry starting 2005:
- Apex AT2708S 27-inch TV @ SoundTrack $168.95
- Toshiba 27A34 27-inch TV @ Best Buy $229.99
- Daewoo DTQ27U4SC 27-inch flat-screen TV @ Best Buy $249.99
- Devices that would require DTT-reception circuitry in 2007:
- Advent Q1435A 14-inch flat-screen TV @ Best Buy $99.99
- Samsung DVDV4600A DVD/VCR combo @ SoundTrack $119.95
- Sensory Science SC104 DVD/VCR combo @ SoundTrack $98.95
- Coby DVD-R1000 DVD+R/RW recorder @ J&R $199.99
- Sensory Science DVD recorder @ SoundTrack $248.95
- Devices not covered by the mandate but using analog TV broadcasts:
- Sony DNF400PSGR AM/FM/CD/TV/weather portable @ Best Buy $79.99
- Sony DNS707F AM/FM/CD/TV/weather portable @ SoundTrack $99.95

- May 1 - None of the lists I check weekly were updated this week.

- The June/July issue of the National Association of Broadcasters' (NAB)
"Destination Digital TV" is now available online:
http://www.nab.org/Newsroom/Issues/digitaltv/DDTV/0604.pdf

- The U.S. House of Representatives' Commerce Committee is to hold a
hearing Wednesday on the completed transition from analog TV to DTT in
Berlin:
http://energycommerce.house.gov/108/Hearings/07212004hearing1339/hearing.htm

- The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) informal working group 4
(broadcasting and amateur issues) of the advisory committee for the 2007
World Radiocommunications Conference (WRC 07) will meet the morning of
August 10 at Shaw Pittman, LLP:
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-04-2149A1.doc

- Despite noting that it would result in a loss of analog-TV service,
the FCC allowed WRNN in Kingston, NY to transmit DTT only because,
"according to Nielsen Media Research, there was no reportable
over-the-air viewing for the station for the month of April 2004":
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-04-2039A1.pdf

- A correspondent reports from a recent trip that WSTM-DT in Syracuse,
New York is carrying its own NBC signal on one sub-channel and WSTQ's
UPN on another. In Watertown, New York, WWNY-DT had its own CBS signal
on one sub-channel and WNYF's Fox on another. For some time, WNYW-DT in
New York City has been carrying its own Fox programming on one
sub-channel and WWOR's UPN on another. So the question is: What happens
when both sub-channels want to go HD? Fortunately, it's still early in
the transition.

- Lyra Research's DTV View Report "Desperately Seeking Content: A Survey
of HDTV Users," based on an Internet survey of more than 500 existing
users of high-definition television sets, conducted in May and June
2004, found that movies were most desired to be in HDTV, followed by
sports. Commercials were least desired to be in HDTV, followed by
reality programming:
http://www.dtvview.com/dtvview.nsf/hdtv

- Most fascinating technical explanation of the week: The nominal
version of HDTV, 1080i, has 1080 x 1920 or roughly two million picture
elements (pixels) per frame, and NHK's UDTV has 16 times that many. But
a press release on a new sign in Times Square for JPMorgan Chase notes
that "It is the highest definition display in the world. The display
uses nearly 2 million pixels. That's ten times the resolution of the
average television and 3 times the resolution of top-of-the-line HDTV sets":
http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/07-15-2004/0002211297&EDATE=

- International H/DTV news:

- Good news and bad news about watching TV on a cell phone in Korea:
"I had missed an episode of my favorite TV drama so I began watching it
using my phone [while fishing]," said Noh Eun Kyung. "The TV function
is fun and convenient but also very expensive. I only watched about 45
minutes and it cost me about $50":
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/3880069.stm

- Possible illegal state aid related to DTT in Germany and Sweden
is being investigated by the European Commission:
http://www.dtg.org.uk/latest/latest_eu_investigation.htm
A story in Ireland's Business World suggests that the results of
the investigation "may block Government plans to launch a digital
television service that would compete with satellite and cable":
http://www.businessworld.ie/livenews.htm?a=957105;s=rollingnews.htm

- Digital rights management news:

- Broadcast Engineering's Strategic Content Management reports
dissention in the ranks of premium on-demand programming distributors
with regard to copying. HBO and Showtime, according to the report,
oppose ANY copying; Starz! prefers allowing copy-once:
http://assetmanagement.broadcastengineering.com/july_13_2004/#copying

- A Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) Internet piracy
study of 3600 Internet users worldwide found that 24% "have downloaded a
movie" (58% in Korea). 80% of the respondents had broadband access:
http://www.mpaa.org/MPAAPress/

- Meanwhile, for theatrical exhibition, Broadcast Engineering's
Strategic Content Management reports that, under a bill introduced by
Senators John Cornyn and Dianne Feinstein, "those found guilty of
theater taping would face up to three years in prison for a first
offense, or five years if it was done for profit. Repeat offenders
could spend 10 years behind bars." A similar bill is moving through the
House of Representatives:
http://assetmanagement.broadcastengineering.com/july_13_2004/#Senate

- Warren Communications News reported last week that the "MPAA
gives thumbs up to Windows Media DRM for broadcast flag." The story is
no longer on their site, and I couldn't find any press releases about it
on either the Microsoft or MPAA sites:
http://www.warren-news.com/

- The big story of the week was about the Advanced Access Content
System (AACS) developed by Disney, IBM, Intel, Microsoft, Panasonic,
Sony, Time Warner, and Toshiba, ostensibly for next-generation consumer
media:
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/14/technology/14copyright.html
AACS is supposed to provide "flexible rules" that would allow users
to share content over home networks (up to ten devices, according to
someone who was briefed on the system) -- maybe even portable devices,
according to Richard Doherty of Envisioneering. At the same time, it
reportedly uses 128-bit AES encryption and renewable and revocable security
http://www.eet.com/sys/news/showArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=CLWR14BUFD2OWQSNDBCCK HQ?articleID=23900919
http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1104_2-5269286.html

- Broadcast Engineering's Strategic Content Management reports that
a coalition including the American Foundation for the Blind, the
American Library Association, BellSouth, the Computer and Communications
Industry Association, CEA, the Consumer Federation of America, Consumers
Union, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, Gateway, Intel, Philips,
Public Knowledge, Qwest, SBC, Sun Microsystems, the U.S. Telecom
Association, and Verizon are supporting a proposal by representative
Rick Boucher to rewrite the section of the Digital Millennium Copyright
Act that bans distribution of descrambling systems. The rewrite would
allow them as long as no copyright infringement is taking place:
http://assetmanagement.broadcastengineering.com/july_13_2004/#DMCA

- CEA-2027 is the new expandable home theater (XHT) standard allowing
home networking of HDTV with Internet-protocol control:
http://news.designtechnica.com/article4681.html

- NPD's Consumer Electronics Price Watch for May shows these average prices:
- 42-inch ED plasma displays - $2736
- DVD recorders -------------- $ 353
- Portable DVD/LCD combos ---- $ 234
- 27-inch TVs ---------------- $ 335
- CRT-based projection TVs --- $1733
Interestingly, that last one (projection TVs) experienced the
lowest rate of price decline.
The story is not yet on the NPD site. Here's a URL to the reported
press release:
http://finance.lycos.com/qc/news/story.aspx?story=42584280

- Based on figures from CEA, sales of VCRs to U.S. dealers were down
63.7% for the first 26 weeks of 2004 compared to the same period in
2003. Non-H/DTV direct-view TV sets were down 5.4%. My ten-week
running average for them was down 20.5%. The 26th week of 2004 seems
anomalously bad and the 26th week of 2003 was anomalously good.
So-called "Digital Television" sales to U.S. dealers for the 26th
week were 89,522 units. For the first 26 weeks of the year, there were
1,926,353 units. "Digital Televisions" (most of which are HDTV displays
without DTT-reception capability) accounted for just over 15% of the TVs
(not counting plasma or direct-view LCD) sold to U.S. dealers so far
this year. It may be worth noting here what that means. About 85% of
the non-plasma, non-direct-view-LCD TVs sold through the 26th week this
year were still plain non-H/DTV direct-view TVs with picture tubes.
To qualify as a "Digital Television," a display need only be
capable of dealing with at least 480p; it need not be capable of either
receiving digital signals or displaying them. Devices actually capable
of receiving DTT signals were still a small fraction of those numbers.

- Ads for set-top DTT receivers: I'm aware of the Philips at J&R and
the LG at Video & Audio Centers, both new brands to be advertised for
that product.

- The ads - I've been out of town and away from newspapers since
Wednesday (except Sunday's Denver Post), and my Minneapolis-area
correspondent is also away, so the pickings are meager this week:
- Best Buy (appropriate disclaimers):
- JVC LT23X475 17-inch widescreen direct-view LCD TV $1899.99
- Mitsubishi WS55315 55-inch 16:9 projection TV $1899.99**
- Mystery brand plasma TV $2499.99**
- Panasonic TH-42PX25U 42-inch 16:9 integrated plasma DTV $5999.99**
- Philips 17PF9936 17-inch 16:9 LCD TV $899.99
- Philips 34PW8502 34-inch 16:9 direct-view CRT TV $1299.99
- Samsung LTN1535 15-inch 4:3 direct-view LCD TV $599.99
- Sony KE42TS2 42-inch 16:9 plasma TV $4299.99**
- Sony KF50WE610 50-inch 16:9 LCD projection TV $3299.99**
- Sony KF60WE610 60-inch 16:9 LCD projection TV $3999.99**
- Toshiba 26HL84 26-inch widescreen LCD TV $2499.99
- Toshiba 32HF73 32-inch 4:3 direct-view CRT TV $899.99
- Toshiba 46H84 46-inch 16:9 projection TV $1399.99**
- Toshiba TDP-S20U projector $999.99
- Zenith E44W46LCD 44-inch widescreen LCD projection TV $2299.99**
** price includes home-theater speaker system
- Dell (no disclaimer):
- Dell 23-inch widescreen LCD TV $1280
- Dell 30-inch widescreen LCD TV $2240
- Fry's (Los Angeles Times, no disclaimer):
- Mitsubishi 42-inch 16:9 plasma TV $1999
- Philips 27PT830H 27-inch widescreen CRT direct-view TV $499
- Samsung HL-P5063W 50-inch 16:9 DLP projection TV $3497
- Toshiba 57-inch 16:9 integrated projection DTV $1499
- Good Guys (Los Angeles Times, appropriate disclaimers):
- JVC AV36DF74 36-inch 4:3 direct-view CRT TV $999
- JVC PD42WV74 42-inch 16:9 plasma TV $3799
- Philips 27PT8320 27-inch 4:3 CRT direct-view TV $499
- Pioneer PRO730HDI 64-inch 16:9 projection TV $2999
- Sharp LC37HV6U 37-inch 16:9 LCD direct-view TV $4499
- Sony KE50XS910 50-inch 16:9 plasma TV $7499
- Sony KF50WE610 50-inch 16:9 LCD projection TV $3299
- Howard's (Los Angeles Times, no disclaimer):
- Panasonic TH37PD25UP 37-inch integrated 16:9 plasma DTV $3299
- Panasonic TH42PD25UP 42-inch 16:9 integrated plasma DTV $3799
- Philips 42PF9936 42-inch 16:9 plasma TV $2999
- Sony KE42M1 42-inch 16:9 plasma TV $3999
- J&R (New York Times, no disclaimer):
- Philips 37FD9954 37-inch 16:9 plasma TV $2999.99
- Philips FTR9955 ATSC set-top receiver/decoder $299.99 after rebate
- Toshiba 42HP83P 42-inch 16:9 plasma TV $3999.99
- SoundTrack (Denver Post, no disclaimer):
- LG RU17LZ22 17-inch widescreen direct-view LCD TV $809.95
- LG RU52SZ61D 52-inch 16:9 DLP projection TV $2969.95
- Magnavox 42MF7000 42-inch 16:9 plasma TV $2298.95
- Magnavox 51MP392H 51-inch 16:9 projection TV $1098.95
- Mitsubishi WS48315 48-inch 16:9 projection TV $1439.95
- Mitsubishi WS55513 55-inch 16:9 integrated projection DTV $1979.95
- Panasonic 47-inch 16:9 projection TV as part of a package
- Panasonic TH42PD25 42-inch 16:9 integrated plasma DTV $3419.95
- Philips 55PL9774 55-inch 16:9 LCoS projection TV $3599.95
- Pioneer PDP4340HD 43-inch 16:9 integrated plasma DTV $5499.95***
- Samsung SPP4251 42-inch 16:9 plasma TV $3419.95
- Samsung TXP2775HF 27-inch integrated direct-view CRT DTV $629.95
- Sharp LC30HV4U 30-inch 16:9 LCD direct-view TV $2999.99
- Sony KV32HS420 32-inch 4:3 direct-view CRT TV $899.95
- Zenith C34W37 34-inch 16:9 integr. direct-view CRT cable/DTV $1619.95
- Zenith L15V26C 15-inch 4:3 LCD TV $498.95
- Zenith P42W34H 42-inch 16:9 plasma TV $2519.95
*** price after mail-in rebate
- Unitek (Los Angeles Times, no disclaimer):
- Sony PFM42B2/H 16:9 42-inch plasma TV $3799
- Sony PFM42V1/B 16:9 42-inch plasma TV $2789
- Sony PFM50C1 50-inch 16:9 plasma TV $5699
- Video & Audio Center (Los Angeles Times, no disclaimer):
- LG LSS3200 DirecTV/ATSC set-top receiver/decoder $297****
- Sony KE42M1 42-inch 16:9 plasma TV $3997
**** requires activation of DirecTV subscription

- DVD news:

- According to CEA, sales of DVD players to U.S. dealers for the
first 26 weeks of 2004 were down 4.6% from the same period in 2003. My
ten-week running average was down 19.6%.

- The average selling price of a "basic" DVD recorder in Taiwan is
said to be about $180 (U.S.) according to Taiwan's Market Intelligence
Center. Compare to NPD's $353 average in May (above the ads section):
http://finance.lycos.com/qc/news/story.aspx?story=42482968

- I have seen a July 12 document called "Liaison Statement to
ISO/IEC JTC1/SC29/WG11 on request for defining 4:2:0 8bit profile in
Amendment 1 to ISO/IEC 14496-10." It was sent by the Blu-ray disk
founders (BDF) to ask the Joint Video Team that developed
AVC/H.264/MPEG-4 Part 10 compression "to define 4:2:0 / 8bit profile in
'FDAM 1 to ISO/IEC 14496-10 : AVC Fidelity Range Extensions' that is
planned to be fixed in July 2004." The document notes that MPEG-2 is
already part of the Blu-ray pre-recorded disk standard but that, "In
addition to MPEG-2, we started evaluating advanced video codec for
covering a range from low bit rate applications to high bit rate around
20Mbps to achieve near transparent quality. 'FPDAM 1 to ISO/IEC 14496-10
: AVC Fidelity Range Extensions' including the Study text discussed in
March 2004 (JVT-K047) is our first choice, because coding efficiency
especially for HD-movies meets our requirements."
Another document I have seen, JVT-L033, a report on subjective
testing of that same fidelity range extension (FRExt) just submitted,
indicated that