Originally Posted By: MedB
What were people expecting?

DTV is a broadcast standard... NOT a content standard. If you didn't like what was on before, you certainly aren't going to like what's on afterwards.


And as far it goes it's a damn good broadcast standard. It makes the following possible:
* High-def quality (we currently lag behind the rest of the world in TV picture quality
* Discrete surround sound
* Multi-casting
* Interactive TV
* OPEN standard that can grow (unlike the 70 year old handcufffs we suffered from)


And, as a broadcast standard, it's [censored]-POOR. Absolutely, unequivocally [censored] POOR, and if you buy the BS about "interactive" I have bridge in NYC you can buy. ATSC is a terrible, terrible technical standard. It performs poorly in NYC where I've tried with a wide range of equipment, it performs poorly out here in Bucks County, PA and where it does work, I've seen pristine, clear signals simply vanish for no reason at all. It seems prone to rain & snow fade too.

OK, the gloves are off, because this is the second "digital transition" that I'm going to suffer - the first was, and remains, much more serious, and it was the transition from Analog Fire Radios to Digital system.

The parallels are incredible.

- When we switched to digital fire radios, we lost coverage in areas that had coverage before.
- When we switched to digital television, we lost coverage in areas that had coverage before.

- The new digital fire radios allegedly allowed us to do so much more - on the fly talk groups, encryption, multi-agency single system - and they can - if they can get a signal to the repeater and back, which about 50% of the time, they can't.
- The new digital televisions allegedly allow us to do so much more - high def, discrete surround sound, multi-casting - if they can get and hold a signal, which 50% of the time, they can't.

- The new digital radios required us to buy, at great expense, all new equipment to replace equipment that was working fine.
- The new digital televisions require us to buy, at some expense, all new equipment to replace equipment that was working fine.

Look, I'm not a total free-market maniac, but I can't help but notice that we made the transition from VHS to DVD with no government mandates. In the radio world, they are doing their best to push their version of Digital Radio (HD Radio) but nobody is seriously talking about shutting down AM radio stations any time soon.

If Digital TV is so great - then let it stand on its own merits. this whole program reeks of "meals in a pill" technologists run amok.