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From: mgrant@MIMSY.UMD.EDU.UUCP
Newsgroups: mod.telecom
Subject: Picture Phones
Message-ID: <8701272304.AA22688@mimsy.umd.edu>
Date: Tue, 27-Jan-87 18:04:47 EST
Article-I.D.: mimsy.8701272304.AA22688
Posted: Tue Jan 27 18:04:47 1987
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I just talked with several people at AT&T and a company called Visual
Communications.  I have determined that PicturePhone's are still alive,
and could be in the home in 10 years or less.

What we're waiting for is all the local phone companies to make
available to it's residential customers the ISDN, (the Integrated
Service Digital Network), aparently called PSDS, (Public Switched
Digital Service).  What is required between 2 points is a 56 kbps
link.  There is already a service called Switched-56 offered by AT&T
which is somewhat reasonably priced, (some monthly + usage which is
suposedly about twice what voice long distance runs--affordable).  The
klintcher is the equipment--at $75,000 a phone, not to many people are
willing to jump into the water today.  There are aparently several
manufacturers.  I spoke with some people at Visual Communications who
sell equipment manufactured by Widcom, which is what AT&T uses.  

The phones use full color NTSC video.  They digitize it at something
like 80 megabits/sec which they compress *real time* down to 1.5
megabits/sec.  I'm told there is some loss of quality in compression.
What I want to know is how to they sqeeze 1.5 mbps over a 56 kbps
line?

As of today, anyone can walk out and buy one of these suckers and
call people.  AT&T will set you up and give you a special phone
number.  I guess either they have their own NPA-NXX, or several, one
or more in each city they offer the service in.

Video Communications is going to be having a demo soon, which I am
going to try and attend.

Does anyone know anything more?

-Mike Grant