Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!uwm.edu!gem.mps.ohio-state.edu!rpi!crdgw1!crdos1!davidsen
From: davidsen@crdos1.crd.ge.COM (Wm E Davidsen Jr)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc
Subject: Re: BULLEish on Zenith Data Systems
Summary: either but not both
Message-ID: <1143@crdos1.crd.ge.COM>
Date: 16 Oct 89 16:49:45 GMT
References: <8ZCCaG200WI9MMD0YQ@andrew.cmu.edu>
Reply-To: davidsen@crdos1.UUCP (bill davidsen)
Organization: GE Corp R&D Center
Lines: 33

In article <8ZCCaG200WI9MMD0YQ@andrew.cmu.edu>, eb2e+@andrew.cmu.edu (Eric James Bales) writes:

|    HDTV recquires a wider bandwidth which is not available in
|  the US due to use of the bandwidth by companies, cellular,
|  etc.  So a method of producing an HD picture has to be
|  developed which will fit in the existing bandwidth or one that
|  is only slightly larger, AND that same signal must also be
|  compatible with the old type of signal because there isn't
|  room for transmitting two signals for each station (or
|  companies/government don't want to make room :-).  

  That's the problem, the FCC. One company produced a prototype which
used two channels, one of which could be viewed by a conventional TV. It
was reportedly rejected because it took too much bandwidth. Another
showed a system to do HDTV in a conventional channel. It was rejected
because a conventional TV can't receive (or at least can't view) the
signal.

  The problem is like trying to develop a version of compress which will
let "cat" view the file, too. As long as the FCC wants to keep
compatible with a standard developed 50 years ago (or more), we will
waste time and effort trying to make a compromise. If we developed a new
standard we could add error correcting, too, and have really better
pictures.

  It is interesting to note that for TV the government says "we can't
make the old stuff obsolete," and for cars they say "cars designed for
unleaded gas are old anyway, they'll just be scrapped a little earlier."
-- 
bill davidsen	(davidsen@crdos1.crd.GE.COM -or- uunet!crdgw1!crdos1!davidsen)
"The world is filled with fools. They blindly follow their so-called
'reason' in the face of the church and common sense. Any fool can see
that the world is flat!" - anon