tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-65200090272198368322024-03-19T18:17:06.637-05:00Iowa DTV Answers BlogBill Hayes has been Iowa Public Television's Engineering Director since 1999, and is responsible for Iowa Public Television's transition to digital television.
In a little more than a year, analog television will be shut off, and we’ll all be watching television a little differently.
Visit this page frequently to get answers to your digital television questions and to read about the industry and IPTV’s transition.Bill Hayeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08343569706881899436noreply@blogger.comBlogger26125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6520009027219836832.post-64218548915678562972013-01-03T17:04:00.002-06:002013-01-03T17:04:26.786-06:00Free TV is Still FreeWell with the new year comes some new issues to talk about. One of my colleagues was at a large electronics chain store purchasing a new television and looking to see if there were any television recording devices that didn't require a subscription service. The store representative didn't know of any but went and asked another sales representative who happened to work for one of the home satellite service providers. The sales representative confirmed that there were not any recording devices that didn't require a subscription and that is pretty much the way it is. However the satellite sales representative went on to tell my colleague that the US Congress had passed legislation in the last 30 days of 2012 that would essentially eliminate free over the air television and require everyone to subscribe to a service. A quick check with the National Association of Broadcasters in Washington, DC generated this response:<br />
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"<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">That is outrageously false! Unbelievable. I think we should call his manager and correct this."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">We did contact the manager and this particular case is being corrected. However, if you hear similar claims, feel free to forward the names and affiliations of the people making the claims and I will be happy to straighten them out. I am always a little guarded regarding claims made by people trying to sell me their product...sadly many resort to distortions of the truth to make a sale.</span>Bill Hayeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08343569706881899436noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6520009027219836832.post-70866815915603575532012-11-20T15:10:00.000-06:002012-11-20T15:10:05.269-06:00What Happened to the TV Guide Data ServiceOn November 1, 2012 many PBS stations were required to discontinue transmitting the TV Guide data that many consumer products use. This was a decision reached by the supplier of the data, Rovi Corporation (<a href="http://www.rovicorp.com/">http://www.rovicorp.com/</a>) and the local PBS stations had no choice in the matter. I raise this issue because within hours of discontinuing the service, Iowa Public Television began receiving calls from viewers wondering what had happened to the service and questioning why we had stopped supplying it. We have had to repeated explain to our viewers that the service was not discontinued by us but by the originator and we were not consulted prior to the decision to cease delivery. I suspect this is happening in many locations throughout the USA. I have had no reponses to any of my inquiries to Rovi regarding this decision and as of today (November 20, 2012), I was unable to find any helpful information on the Rovi website regarding what consumers should do. I will keep trying and update this blog posting when and if I receive any replies. Until then, my best advice is to go to the Rovi website and leave a message for them, perhaps if they get enough messages they will acknowledge the questions and respond. I also recommend contacting the manufacture of the device that used to get the TV Guide data and see what they advise.Bill Hayeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08343569706881899436noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6520009027219836832.post-81529515941139229112011-08-11T15:27:00.002-05:002011-08-11T15:31:05.881-05:00What is the best tv for digital receptionI received this e-mail today and I thought it was a very interesting question.
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<br />"We live in Dubuque and need every advantage when it comes to reception. Our system now uses a large outdoor antenna with a pre amp and a convert box. We receive all the national networks most of the time. We are thinking about buying a new television and assume that not all tvs receive digital signals the same. Is there any way to know which tv will do the best job?"
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<br />Boy is that a tough question. There are minimum performance specifications that all DTV receivers are expected to meet. Take for example the existing converter box you are using. In order to qualify for the coupon program the model theoretically had to pass tests. Early on in the conversion I started to see issues with a couple of the units we had so I purchased about 50 different makes and models and set up a little test facility in my basement. My goal was not to uncover whether some of the units actually didn't meet the required minimum performance specifications. Although I suspect a few of the units I tested didn't, I did not have the necessary laboratory test equipment necessary to make that call and since I was testing one of each unit, it was always possible that I was seeing issues with that particular unit and not the overall brand or model. What I wanted to do was to figure out which units worked best and which didn't perform as well. I was not in the position to make a recommendation of the best unit, but I felt pretty comfortable steering people away from units that didn't seem to work as well as others.
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<br />Unfortunately, I don't have the where with all to pick up 50 or so of the most popular DTV sets and do the same kind of testing. I have suggested to a number of organizations including Consumer Reports, that this type of testing should be done on a regular basis. Unfortunately over the air reception doesn't seem to be one of the key features that they consider important enough to invest in on any kind of regular basis. I am hoping that one of the broadcast organizations like the National Association of Broadcasters will consider underwriting the project. Until then, it is really more a matter of believing the specifications and the reputation of the manufacturer.
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<br />One test that I have suggested to a number of retailers is to put an attenuator into their master antenna feed. An attenuator would allow them to slowly make the signal reaching the television sets weaker which replicates distance from the transmitting antenna or increased moisture in the air or signal blockage from foliage, all of which degrade reception. By doing this on their master antenna they could observe all of the televisions connected to the antenna at the same time and see which ones begin to have problems first. This would be an indicator of which receivers are performing better as the signal fades. It is not the most scientifically accurate way of doing it but it does provide some general guidance. I have found smaller, locally owned television shops much more willing to do something like this while the bigger stores will not.
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<br />I hope this helps a little and if I ever find a source of independent test evaluations, I'll let you know.
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<br />Bill HayesBill Hayeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08343569706881899436noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6520009027219836832.post-18530412423073810542010-01-26T15:32:00.002-06:002010-01-26T16:06:56.931-06:00DTV is Wireless, Cool and Free!I recently read an article in the Sun Sentinel newspaper out of Fort Lauderdale, FL. The article was noting that in these tight economic times many people are looking for ways to save money and among the consideration is dropping subscription based cable or satellite services. When I have discussed this with folks in meetings it is interesting the reactions that I see.<br /><br />Younger people are virtually oblivious to the fact that there is free wireless television. All their lives, the television has been connected to a wall plate that was connected to the cable head end so they have no experience. Middle aged people remember when they had an antenna on their roof hooked to their television but probably went to cable to get some add on services that were available via cable and the side benefit was that the cable also carried the local broadcast stations and they didn't have to worry about an antenna anymore and they have kind of forgotten about the free wireless nature of broadcast television.<br /><br />If you're a basic cable subscriber, I would recommend that you keep a log for a month or so of your television viewing and determine how much time you actually spend watching local broadcast channels versus cable only channels. But don't just track the time, also grade the content you watched to determine if the viewing was a good use of your time. If you find that the majority of your good viewing time was spent watching broadcast television, then you may want to consider dropping your paid service in favor of the free over the air service. You may actually find that you get more out of the free service than you get from the basic paid service.<br /><br />As an example, in the Des Moines area where I live, we have PBS, ABC, CBS, NBC, MNT, CW, ION and FOX network affiliates. The majority of these stations are broadcasting multiple services so there are probably 14 or 15 free channels to choose from. The primary channels probably carry the content that you watch the majority of the time and the ancillary channels carry additional services that may be of interest. My own station carries a full time HD feed of PBS and two ancillary services, one called Kid/Create which offers kids programming and how-to programs and the other IPTV/World is news and information programming. All of it available for free and from my experience, the HD content delivered is typically better than what is delivered via the subscription based services.<br /><br />If you're happy with your subscription based services, that is great. But if you're looking for a way to trim expenses, dropping the pay service could save some money and may not be as big a sacrifice as you think.<br /><br />BillBill Hayeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08343569706881899436noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6520009027219836832.post-83978991389978576802009-12-28T12:34:00.007-06:002009-12-28T12:54:08.245-06:00What's Wrong With This Picture?<div><br /><div><div><div><p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Calibri;">One of the questions that I get most frequently is what's wrong with the picture. It seldom relates to the quality of the picture but the content of the picture. Why are the titles cut off? Why a titles in the middle of the screen rather than at the edge of the picture like they used to be? The issue is aspect ratio which is the relationship between the height and width of the picture. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes"></span>This is an important concept to grasp because in the transition from analog television to digital television, the aspect ratio changed. Traditional analog television has an aspect ratio of 4x3 which means that the picture is 33% wider than it is tall. Digital television's have an aspect ratio of 16x9 which means that the picture is about 78% wider than it is tall. This represents a pretty significant difference in aspect ratio. In my office I have an analog television with a screen that is 16 inches wide and 12 inches all. If you do a little basic math that confirms that the screen is 33% wider than it is tall. I also have a digital television in my office with a screen that is about 22.5 inches wide and about 12.7 inches tall. The same basic math will show that the screen is about 78% wider than it is tall.</span></p><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt" class="MsoNormal"><?xml:namespace prefix = v ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:vml" /><v:shapetype id="_x0000_t75" stroked="f" filled="f" path="m@4@5l@4@11@9@11@9@5xe" coordsize="21600,21600" spt="75" preferrelative="t"><v:stroke joinstyle="miter"></v:stroke><v:formulas><v:f eqn="if lineDrawn pixelLineWidth 0"></v:f><v:f eqn="sum @0 1 0"></v:f><v:f eqn="sum 0 0 @1"></v:f><v:f eqn="prod @2 1 2"></v:f><v:f eqn="prod @3 21600 pixelWidth"></v:f><v:f eqn="prod @3 21600 pixelHeight"></v:f><v:f eqn="sum @0 0 1"></v:f><v:f eqn="prod @6 1 2"></v:f><v:f eqn="prod @7 21600 pixelWidth"></v:f><v:f eqn="sum @8 21600 0"></v:f><v:f eqn="prod @7 21600 pixelHeight"></v:f><v:f eqn="sum @10 21600 0"></v:f></v:formulas><v:path gradientshapeok="t" extrusionok="f" connecttype="rect"></v:path><?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:lock aspectratio="t" ext="edit"></o:lock></v:shapetype><span style="font-family:Calibri;">If you think about it in terms of pictures and the frames we mount them in, it is a little easier to understand. Thanks to some friends at NBC, I'll use a picture that many of us are familiar with. Here is Da Vinci's Last Supper. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-IO92l1xks7zWGDjjwiLuwVV0oy8A4ca0a2v0vpbE29AH0UVciufmXqEo7NacrTebm-rl3roQ5H8ue2y4h-bNQEtFQDAhLhmHnQOQsRfpFdxAcz2cdOvwFMvchoT-_Tv3EKstNO6Hfb4/s1600-h/Last+Supper+16x9.JPG"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 171px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5420358897453655730" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-IO92l1xks7zWGDjjwiLuwVV0oy8A4ca0a2v0vpbE29AH0UVciufmXqEo7NacrTebm-rl3roQ5H8ue2y4h-bNQEtFQDAhLhmHnQOQsRfpFdxAcz2cdOvwFMvchoT-_Tv3EKstNO6Hfb4/s320/Last+Supper+16x9.JPG" /></a>Don't focus on the poor image quality but on the shape and the size relationship of the picture height to picture width. That is the aspect ratio. This particular image has an aspect ratio that is very close to the 16x9 digital aspect ratio. If you were to frame this picture for display you would measure the height and width of the canvas and then build the frame to those specifications. But what if you had to make it fit in a frame that you already have? This is the issue that many people are dealing with now as they try to display digital content on their old analog televisions.</span></p><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Calibri;">If the desire is to show the c<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0He2wgtrri3-9piY7Dgbl1VgBM6vuza3dw3W-tz6hQwCT29im7HjSCUBrLK40jRtSmBGWrwCdWlXjp-8-wsYdpHib7Hlu3k5hrJ7OOfnJPEShIz_QDYfaqYH5Wrq7amHrhyphenhyphenIAcBpymB8/s1600-h/Last+Supper+16x9+Letterbox.JPG"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5420359395603584770" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0He2wgtrri3-9piY7Dgbl1VgBM6vuza3dw3W-tz6hQwCT29im7HjSCUBrLK40jRtSmBGWrwCdWlXjp-8-wsYdpHib7Hlu3k5hrJ7OOfnJPEShIz_QDYfaqYH5Wrq7amHrhyphenhyphenIAcBpymB8/s320/Last+Supper+16x9+Letterbox.JPG" /></a>omplete 16x9 image in the existing 4x3 television frame, there are only two options. The first is to do what is called letterboxing the image. What this means is</span><span style="font-family:Calibri;">that we scale or adjust the width of the 16x9 picture to fill the width of the 4x3 frame. The side effect of this scaling is that there is a portion of the 4x3 frame that the picture does not fill. In essence a black matte is generated to fill from the top and bottom edges of the picture to the top and bottom edges of the frame. As you can see from the example the entire 16x9 picture is displayed with the proper width to height relationship and is made to fit within the 4x3 frame. Image integrity is maintained but the actual image on the screen is smaller than a 4x3 picture would be.</span></p><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Calibri;">The other option for displaying a 16x9 image on a 4x3 display is to forget abou<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx9rzgalR9fX_ftKtJONgeX5UYeJASCTuQo7rz7jYqmRdC_XAxKByGaKhGRW8j6J0zorpCzAM2pIVrQcvY4IXgdFe98HYDHvnfU9vhvvqhFxFIXC-lCaiZ9mbf4CiqTjQW6wzp4RjcwtY/s1600-h/Last+Supper+16x9+Squeezed.JPG"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 241px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5420359917676412594" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx9rzgalR9fX_ftKtJONgeX5UYeJASCTuQo7rz7jYqmRdC_XAxKByGaKhGRW8j6J0zorpCzAM2pIVrQcvY4IXgdFe98HYDHvnfU9vhvvqhFxFIXC-lCaiZ9mbf4CiqTjQW6wzp4RjcwtY/s320/Last+Supper+16x9+Squeezed.JPG" /></a>t maintaining image integrity. in this case we would scale the width of the image to fill the width of the 4x3 frame and then independently scale the height of the image to fill the 4x3 frame. As you can see from the example, the 16x9 image fills the 4x3 screen but the picture is distorted. The characters are vertically stretched so that they appear taller and skinnier than normal. Conversely, if you look at the horizontal table, it appears to be shorter and than normal. So the 4x3 screen is filled but the picture content is compromised.</span></p><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Calibri;">As I said, there are really only two wa<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVQRNC-UgJV1yzM9B4mzLH9law5kFJhhyphenhyphen3C-uuDsmUHySMLMCY5SgrIyusn7F1Qu95Pwbi5icVUvIuJiUusXGaG3JJ4uutR5Lc5V9Bx36sdXY81zMoEUFriMY5lEpX1e3_DTO4_veOaSg/s1600-h/Last+Supper+Cropped+4x3.JPG"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5420360406879730322" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVQRNC-UgJV1yzM9B4mzLH9law5kFJhhyphenhyphen3C-uuDsmUHySMLMCY5SgrIyusn7F1Qu95Pwbi5icVUvIuJiUusXGaG3JJ4uutR5Lc5V9Bx36sdXY81zMoEUFriMY5lEpX1e3_DTO4_veOaSg/s320/Last+Supper+Cropped+4x3.JPG" /></a>ys to display the entire 16x9 image on a 4x3 screen. There are however other options that can be used. One popular one is called cropping or center cutting. If you have every taken a picture that is too large for a frame and trimmed it to fit, you have cropped. In television, because most of the important visual information is in the center of the screen, a 4x3 image is cut from the center of the 16x9 picture. Once again, the 4x3 screen is filled but the image is compromised. In the example image, although the characters in the original image maintain their proper width to height relationship, three of the original characters are no longer displayed so in this case we would see Jesus and the nine apostles. I am certain that Leonardo Da Vinci would not believe that this was an accurate interpretation of his work or an accurate representation of the historical event he is recording.</span></p><p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Calibri;"></span><br /> </p><p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Calibri;">One technique that is often suggested is what is called center or 4x3 protect. What this means is that when the picture is being created, the action should be framed to all <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiszi4a7nzsO0qDla782YpjqRl6v_pQdIiehiYOWmAfRFUtZJUydixI96Rd-HG2GIrYN7BVI17SNf0poAms8lhgm50sLtqMSOccH_4gzNMjwNgS5_OjDeTA7S9We2NJqp23Qws7Mso0cVs/s1600-h/Last+Supper+16x9+center+protect.JPG"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 170px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5420361003251704690" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiszi4a7nzsO0qDla782YpjqRl6v_pQdIiehiYOWmAfRFUtZJUydixI96Rd-HG2GIrYN7BVI17SNf0poAms8lhgm50sLtqMSOccH_4gzNMjwNgS5_OjDeTA7S9We2NJqp23Qws7Mso0cVs/s320/Last+Supper+16x9+center+protect.JPG" /></a>take place within the 4x3 center of the 16x9 frame. In some cases this is being done with some success but it is not always possible. In the example picture, this is what the Last Supper might have looked like if Da Vinci had created on a 16x9 canvas for display in both a 16x9 and 4x3 frames. As you can, all of the characters are in the image and their width to height ratio is proper but the image is unbalanced because of the compression of all of the action to the center of the frame while the left and right edges are more vacant and unused. In this case the image would look unusual on both displays.</span></p><p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Calibri;">It is challenging and sometimes impossible to create content that makes full use of the wider digital aspect ratio while trying to insure the content's integrity on legacy displays. Realizing that 4x3 displays are the legacy device and will eventually be gone and 16x9 or wider displays will be the norm, content needs to be created to take advantage of the benefits of new display technologies. For display on legacy devices, the first choice should be to maintain the integrity of the wide screen images through letterboxing.</span></p><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt" class="MsoNormal"><o:p><span style="font-family:Calibri;"></span></o:p></p></div></div></div></div>Bill Hayeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08343569706881899436noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6520009027219836832.post-37875466550705881772009-06-15T08:50:00.002-05:002009-06-15T08:52:58.652-05:00Welcome all-digital TV!Last Friday, IPTV officially became an all-digital television network! We spent Friday and the weekend taking calls from viewers who needed help, as we've been doing for more than 18 months.<br /><br />If you know of someone who is still having trouble receiving Iowa Public Television, or someone who needs help, tell them to call IPTV at 1-800-532-1290. We'd be happy to help them.<br /><br />Meanwhile, enjoy IPTV, IPTV LEARNS, and IPTV WORLD. Thanks!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com28tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6520009027219836832.post-22969386314021946122009-02-09T07:27:00.003-06:002009-02-09T10:35:55.623-06:00Why is IPTV continuing analog broadcasting past Feb. 17?We've heard from viewers concerned about our decision to continue broadcasting analog signals past the original Feb. 17 shutoff date following the national delay approved by Congress. We've also heard from viewers grateful for a little more time to get ready.<br /><br />Iowa Public Television is, at our core, a public service media organization. We believe it's important to serve all Iowans, regardless of where they live or what they can afford to pay. And in the past year, we've fulfilled some of that public service role by assisting Iowans with questions and problems converting to digital television. We've conducted more than 100 town hall meetings around the state, aired 30 hours of information about the switch, and talked with thousands of Iowans having difficulty making the transition.<br /><br />Though we did not advocate for the delay, we do see it as our role to take advantage of the extra time to provide information and assistance to those Iowans who aren't yet ready.<br /><br />We have no doubt Iowans are aware of the switch - and we're not staying analog to help procrastinators. We believe, through our conversations and visits with Iowans, that most of those who haven't made the switch are having unanticipated difficulties with reception and antenna issues. Still others applied for converter box coupons and are now on a waiting list, or never received coupons to begin with.<br /><br />There will be utility costs associated with staying analog for a few more months, and in these budget times taking on those costs was a difficult decision. We're finding other ways to save in these demanding budget times, because we strongly feel these costs are an investment in helping as many Iowans as possible be prepared for the switch. And of course, the individual contributions made by members will continue to go directly toward programming.<br /><br />Iowans rely on television, not just for entertainment and a connection to the outside world, but for important public safety information. And Iowa's families - particularly those families in lower income situations without access to pay television or new televisions - rely on our service for safe, educational children's programs.<br /><br />So though staying analog does incorporate additional expense, we feel the cost allows us to do the important public service mission with which we are charged - helping all Iowans through public media. It's why we were created, why we are supported, and it's our unique responsibility.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6520009027219836832.post-63406884910290301772009-02-05T21:56:00.003-06:002009-02-05T22:04:53.848-06:00What about that DTV delay?By now you've heard about the national delay in the required analog TV shutoff date - the date is now June 12, 2009.<br /><br />Iowa Public Television will continue to broadcast in analog until the new shutoff date. Though there is additional expense for Iowa Public Television to do so, we want to ensure as many Iowans as possible are able to make the switch.<br /><br />We're finding that many viewers who contact us are aware of the transition, and have taken steps to be ready. But when they try to make the switch in their homes, many are finding they have reception and antenna issues. So, we're glad to take advantage of this extra time to help viewers on the phone, on the air, and online.<br /><br />If you're ready, you can watch IPTV's <a href="http://www.iptv.org/iptv_news_detail.cfm?id=3314&type=press_release">three digital channels</a> right now! And be sure to help your neighbors, family, and friends with their switch.<br /><br />If you aren't ready, there's no need to wait. Give us a call at (800) 532-1290 and we can help you make the switch in your home.<br /><br />We're committed to making sure as many people as possible are ready for the analog shutoff.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com20tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6520009027219836832.post-91368677593949797372009-01-09T09:55:00.002-06:002009-01-09T10:13:41.361-06:002009 Consumer Electronics Show - Day 1I am attending the 2009 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas and I am looking at a few very specific items. As I have been doing DTV information sessions throughout the state of Iowa, I have had an opportunity to listen to and answer many questions. However there are many more questions that still need to be answered and I have used those issues to determine what I am looking at.<br /><br />Primarily there are four specific issues. First is recording over-the-air digital television. Many peopl who have purchased converter boxes have discovered that they make using existing VCR's very difficult. I am looking at what items are available to replace the analog VCR. The second area is indoor antennas. Although I am not a fan of indoor antennas because of the problems associated with indoor reception it is clear that many people want to continue to use them. I will be reporting on what is happpening on this front.<br /><br />The third issue is about what is happening in display development. There are some exciting new technologies being unveiled at this year's conference. Many people are looking at new televisions and want to be sure that what they are purchasing is the right choice for them.<br /><br />The fourth issue is audio. You don't have to watch too much digital television to recognize that there are some unresolved audio concerns. Audio/video synchronization is an issue and a number of vendors are offering the consumer some options for correcting these problems. And if you change channels you'll notice the other issue which is loudness or more precisely the inconsistent audio levels between channels. I will be reporting on what is happening on this front as well.<br /><br />I will be filing my first report later today.<br /><br />BillBill Hayeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08343569706881899436noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6520009027219836832.post-60608935792108383432008-12-30T17:35:00.002-06:002008-12-30T17:37:40.240-06:00Beware of High Definition HypeI recently had a question from a viewer who was receiving our digital signal and was quite happy except for the fact that occasionally he had what he described as “digitization” in the picture. Probably anyone that has watched any television for some period of time has noticed this artifact. It is sometimes called “pixelization” or “mosaic tiling” or “blockiness.” The professional term for it is macro-blocking and it is what happens to the picture when the digital decoder in the receiver starts to run out of data. Is it the edge of the abyss we call the digital cliff. The digital cliff is the reason why I stress taking all the steps possible to deliver as clean a signal to the receiver as possible. Those steps increase the margin or distance between the received signal and the cliff and the greater the margin, the better.<br /><br />The viewer lives in a three story home with an outdoor antenna and uses splitters and cable runs to distribute the signal to five different television receivers. He had done some research regarding splitters and sent me a couple of links to websites that he had looked at and was wondering if there was any merit in the claims made about these splitters and if installing them would improve the reliability of his signal. I visited both websites and one was quite accurate in describing the splitter’s capabilities and function, although I am not sure why a splitter needs a “precision die-cast 24k gold-plated chassis.” Gold-plating the connector contact improves connectivity which gives some improvement in performance but I don’t know how gold-plating the outside of the splitter helps.<br /><br />The other site was much more worrisome since it was full of misinformation. It started off with this statement “These 1080p rated 2, 3 and 4 Way, 2 GHz RF high definition splitters are solely designed for high definition systems.” Where do I start? An RF splitter’s function is to take an RF signal from an antenna or cable system and divide it equally. 2, 3, and 4 way splitters divide the single input into 2, 3 and 4 outputs respectively. They work with the radio frequency (RF) signal and therefore do not care if the content on the signal is digital or analog, high definition or standard definition. RF splitters have been employed since the very early days of broadcast so it is doubtful that this splitter was solely designs for high definition systems and 1080p is a high definition video display format and has nothing to do with the performance of this or any other splitter. The advertising copy went on to make numerous claims of performance of this splitter and inaccurately relating it directly to high definition television.<br /><br />I have said it before, but what makes digital television digital is not the RF signal, but the content that is on the RF signal. So until the content is removed (demodulated and decoded), the DTV signal works pretty much just like the analog signal. In the RF domain, there is no such thing as a digital antenna, a digital splitter, or digital wire. These passives components are agnostic to the content and only care about the RF signal. To be sure, having good components will improve reception but the same good components will improve analog or digital reception. Don’t fall for the marketing hype.<br /><br />BillBill Hayeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08343569706881899436noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6520009027219836832.post-57274190851374438372008-12-15T13:10:00.003-06:002009-01-23T12:53:44.933-06:00IPTV DTV Information SessionsIn the coming months, Iowa Public Television's DTV experts will conduct free information and Q&A sessions about Digital Television. UPDATED JANUARY 23<br /><br />And remember - if you'd like an Iowa Public Television staff person to speak to your community or civic group, please let us know! Contact Jennifer at 800-532-1290 or at jennifer.konfrst@iptv.org to schedule a session in your community!<br /><br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Upcoming Free Digital Television Information Sessions</span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><ul><li>Cedar Rapids Public Library - Westdale Mall - Wednesday, January 28 at 6:30 p.m.</li><li>Ericksen Center - Clinton, Iowa - Thursday, February 12 at 1 p.m.<br /></li></ul></div></div><div style="text-align: left;" align="left"><br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6520009027219836832.post-24312563963049666822008-12-02T11:18:00.003-06:002008-12-02T12:07:07.285-06:00Why Does Digital Reception Behave DifferentlyAs the February 17, 2009 analog shutoff approaches there has been a huge and very successful push to increase the public awareness that something is happening regarding television in the USA. When I first began explaining digital television to viewer in the mid 1990's the focus was on telling them what they would need to do to receive digital services. Television signals, whether digital or analog, essentially travel the same way so how the signal gets to the receive antenna is more a factor of what television channel and band (VHF or UHF) the signal is on rather then whether the content riding on that signal is digital or analog. The real observable difference to the end users is in the performance of the digital decoder in a DTV receiver.<br /><br />I try to explain it to lay people this way. In analog television there is a direct connection between the quality of the received signal and the quality of the displayed content on that signal. Weak signal means noisy picture. A signal receiving self-interference (called multipath) has visible ghosting or after images in the picture. These and other common signal impairments are easily visible to the end user because although they are impairments to the television signal, they show up as impairments to the displayed content.<br /><br />What makes DTV behave so differently is that when the content is created, before it is ever placed on a television signal, the content is digitized and from that point on we are not working directly with the content but rather with the numbers that represent the content. Those numbers can be manipulated and shipped around over many different forms of electronic transportation and as long as the number that gets to the decoder (this is what turns the number back into the content) are readable, the picture can be recreated perfectly.<br /><br />So if we think back the things that impaired the analog television signal and recognize that the digital television signal travels those same paths, it makes sense then that those same impairments would happen to the digital television signal. And just like with the analog service, those impairments show up on the digital content (the numbers) but since the numbers have to go through the decoder before the content can be displayed, the direct connection that existed between the signal and the display of content no longer exists. Instead what happens is the decoder sees the noise from a weak signal but since all it has to figure out what the numbers are, even if they are noisy it will recreate the picture without showing any problems. If the numbers have ghosts it doesn't matter as long as the decoder can figure out the numbers it will recreate the picture.<br /><br />So when digital service fails, what is really failing is the decoder not the receiver. What has happened is that the impairment to the signal has gotten so great, the decoder can not get enough of the number to recreate the picture. In the analog world this would show up on the screen as a picture that is so noisy and or ghosted that it would be unwatchable. The display would unlock (picture roll) or distort diagonally or be too noisy to make out any images. Digital receivers just can't display that.<br /><br />So one of the fundamentals that people need to understand about digital reception regardless of whether it is via a new digital television or a coupon eligible converter box is that even though the same things impact the both the digital and analog television signals, the receivers will behave differently and essentially the same things that make analog reception work better (outdoor antennas, high quality wire, etc.) will make digital work better.<br /><br />BillBill Hayeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08343569706881899436noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6520009027219836832.post-35005421961972580602008-11-10T15:18:00.002-06:002008-11-10T15:28:26.174-06:00More DTV Resources for YouTo help prepare you for your switch to all-digital tv, Iowa Public Television in continually adding resources to our Web site and on our air.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Digital TV Q&A: An Iowa Journal Special </span></span>aired Thursday, November 6, and is available <a href="http://www.iptv.org/iowajournal">here on our site</a>. You can also see segments, answers to common questions, and other resources there.<br /><br />In addition, this special program will be broadcast again Monday, November 24 at 8 p.m. You can call in that evening to have your digital television questions answered by IPTV engineers and staff.<br /><br />And of course, you can always email Iowa Public Television at programming@iptv.org or iowajournal@iptv.org, or you can call us during business hours at (800) 532-1290. We have staff ready to help you with your questions, from basic installation to reception issues and more.<br /><br />We want to make this transition as smooth as possible. If there's anything we can do to help, please let us know.<br /><br />Thank you!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6520009027219836832.post-28837005435859901312008-09-25T08:12:00.004-05:002008-09-25T08:17:35.576-05:00No reason to wait - start watching DTV now!By now, you have heard a lot of messages about digital television and what you need to do to prepare for digital-only broadcasting. In fact, you're probably getting tired of all those messages!<br /><br /><br />But it’s not enough just to know – it’s important to act now to make sure you’re ready. And besides, you can watch digital programming right now, so there's really no need to wait.<br /><br /><br />Set up your digital television, or connect your converter boxes, and make sure you receive the all channels you expect to see. We hope you find you’ll see even more.<br /><br /><br />If you can’t get a digital signal even with the right equipment, contact your local retailer. They can help you determine if your antenna needs an upgrade too. Better to find out now if you need to get on the roof to install a new antenna than in January!<br /><br />And feel free to contact us with questions or to schedule an information session. We want your transition to digital television to be as smooth as possible.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6520009027219836832.post-17415602813101558572008-08-26T15:24:00.004-05:002008-08-29T16:25:32.146-05:00Are You Receiving Me?I have been on the road a lot doing <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">DTV</span> information sessions across the state of Iowa. As part of the presentation I bring along my <a href="http://www.consumer.philips.com/consumer/en/us/consumer/cc/_productid_US2_PHDTV1_US_CONSUMER/TV-antenna+US2-PHDTV1">Philips Silver Sensor antenna </a> and few different converter boxes and generally hook them up to an analog television so I can show the attendees how the boxes work. The reason I bring along the Silver Sensor is because it is small and easy to set up but I frequently have people ask me about it because a number of them have tried traditional rabbit ears and are not entirely satisfied with the results. Many folks marvel that the Silver Sensor is not amplified and yet it works in areas where their amplified rabbit ears don't. I am often asked where to acquire this antenna and if I recommend it and it is those questions that I would like to answer in this message.<br /><br />First, a simple statement of fact. Indoor reception in inherently difficult and unreliable. The reason for this is that in order to just get to the antenna, the transmitted signal has to pass through walls and windows and all of the trees and anything else that is a ground level just to get to the antenna and all of these items degrade and disrupt the signal. In addition everything in the room with the antenna is a potential source of reflection which further degrades the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">receivability</span> of the signal. On top of that add to the mix that anything in the room that moves, like the viewer, the kids, the dog or the cat will also dynamically disrupt the signal and further degrade received service and unlike analog television where the picture on the screen gives you a clear indication of how poor the incoming signal actually is, digital gives no indication until the decoder realizes it doesn't have enough information to make a picture and it either freezes, macro blocks (<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">blockiness</span>) or goes away. So I will never recommend indoor reception or an indoor antenna.<br /><br />So why then does the Silver Sensor work when I am doing demonstrations? It is pretty simple really, the Silver Sensor is a directional antenna where as rabbit ears are omnidirectional. Plainly stated the Silver Sensor receives very well from one direction at a time so in a room where there may be signal coming from all directions, it ignores them and delivers a much less disrupted signal to the receiver than rabbit ears in the same location. Directional antennas also act a little like a satellite receive antenna (dish) in that they tend to gather more of the signal coming in from a specific direction and add it all together. This is referred to as the gain of the antenna and is specified in decibels (dB) which is a ratio. In the case of most antennas, the gain specified in dB is a comparison to the directional antenna and a dipole and guess what, rabbit ears are a dipole. In the case of the Silver Sensor, it has a gain of about 6 to 7 dB compared to a dipole but don't jump the gun, that doesn't mean it is 6 to 7 times better. The way the math and physics work out, the Silver Sensor probably collect about 2.5 times as much signal as a dipole (rabbit ears) and probably as important it ignores signals coming from other directions. That is why it works better than rabbit ears. I have had people say but my rabbit ears have a 10 dB amplifier built in so that should overcome the gain improvement of your Silver Sensor. This is not entirely true because remember that dB is a ratio so an amplifier with 10 dB of gain is taking the signal coming in to the amplifier and increasing the amount of signal by 10 dB. Okay but the amplifier is after the antenna so that the signal that is being amplified in the rabbit ears has already been degraded by all of the items I mentioned above and therefore all you are doing is increasing the size of the degraded signal but the receiver and decoder still can't figure out what the message is no more than yelling at someone who doesn't understand English makes them understand.<br /><br />So I can't recommend an indoor antenna with any degree of certainty because the number of things that will disrupt the service using an indoor antenna are virtually unlimited and constantly changing. I will always tell people to look at outdoor antennas as their best option. I have had a number of people tell me that they are not permitted to put up an antenna because of local restrictions. I would suggest that you follow this web link (<a href="http://www.fcc.gov/mb/facts/otard.html">http://www.fcc.gov/mb/facts/otard.html</a>) and I <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">believe</span> you'll find that many of those restrictions are <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">superseded</span> by federal rules that in most cases will allow you to install an outdoor antenna, even in rental properties. So you might want to look at antenna reception again. Remember, rabbit ears work great on rabbits but not so well on television signals.<br /><br />BillBill Hayeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08343569706881899436noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6520009027219836832.post-6577575235319612362008-08-03T19:20:00.003-05:002008-08-03T19:27:08.358-05:00Q&A and Screening of Iowa DTV Answers Thursday, August 7 at 6:30 p.m.<div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:times new roman;"> <p class="x_MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;"><b><span style="font-weight: bold;">Iowa</span></b><b><span style="font-weight: bold;"> Public Television and the Science Center of Iowa are teaming up to give you answers about DTV!</span></b></span></p> </div> <div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:times new roman;"> <p class="x_MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">With so much information out there about the universal switch to digital television, many of us are still left with basic questions: Will I need a new TV? Will I still get all the same channels? Why is this happening, and what do I need to do to be ready?</span></p> </div> <div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:times new roman;"> <p class="x_MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;"> </span></p> </div> <div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:times new roman;"> <p class="x_MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">On Thursday, August 7 at 6:30 p.m., the Science Center of Iowa and Iowa Public Television will present an information session that answers these questions and more as you prepare for February 17, 2009 when analog TV becomes a thing of the past. The evening begins with <b><i><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Iowa DTV Answers</span></i></b>, a 30-minute program that addresses many concerns about the transition. Then at 7 p.m., IPTV Director of Engineering Bill Hayes will answer <i><span style="font-style: italic;">your</span></i> questions about digital television. </span></p> </div> <div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:times new roman;"> <p class="x_MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;"> </span></p> </div> <div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:times new roman;"> <p class="x_MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">The event will be hosted in the John Deere Adventure Theater at the Science Center of Iowa and is ideally suited for anyone with questions about digital television. Doors for this event open at 6 p.m.</span> </p> </div> <div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:times new roman;"> <p class="x_MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">For driving directions and parking information about visiting the Science Center of Iowa, please visit <a href="https://iptvmail.iptv.org/owa/redir.aspx?URL=http%3a%2f%2fwww.sciowa.org%2f" target="_blank">www.sciowa.org</a> and click the “Visiting SCI” link. For all other questions about the event, please contact Jennifer Konfrst at 515-242-3146. </span></p> </div><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:times new roman;font-size:85%;" > </span><span style=";font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;" ><span style="font-size:12;"><br /></span></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6520009027219836832.post-67091646194457393062008-06-19T09:13:00.002-05:002008-06-19T09:52:40.548-05:00Where Did All the Converter Boxes Go?For the last few weeks I have had a number of people at presentations and online mention that the stores in their area don't have converter boxes in stock at this point. This has caused me to do a little market research on my own and I have discovered that there are many stores that don't have boxes in stock and aren't expecting them to be back in stock until next month. This raises a couple of questions. The first is why. I have asked a number of stores about this and they don't seem to have a good answer. Basically what I hear is that most stores were not expecting the volume of demand that they received. While this may be true, it doesn't explain why they cannot get boxes in until sometime next month. The last I had heard these things were being manufactured in huge quantities. I think the real reason is something that I addressed a few weeks ago. It has to do with most of the converter boxes inability to pass the antenna feed through to the television when the box is not in service, like a video tape recorder does when it is turned off. I know a number of manufacturers are in the process of redesigning and recertifying their boxes to include this feature. The redesign is quite frankly pretty minimal so that shouldn't take much time but there is the process of recertifying the box so that it qualifies for the coupon program. This program is administered by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) and I am not sure what the procedure is for qualifying the converters but I know at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in January of this year I saw a number of boxes at various manufacturers displays that were all in the process of qualifying and it was almost three months or more until they started appearing on shelves.<br /><br />That leads to the even more important question regarding people who have unused coupons that may expire before the boxes are available again. What can those people do? A number of the stores that I spoke with offered the option of preordering the boxes and using the coupons before they expire. The store would process the sale and then contact you when the box is in. Sadly, none of the stores that I was at had a box setup for demonstration so you could see how it worked to determine if this was the one you wanted so you end up buying blind. I sincerely doubt that you would end up buying a box that didn't work but it might not have all the features that you want.<br /><br />On June 18th, Senator Tom Harkin and a number of others in the Senate sent a letter to the NTIA calling on them to reissue expired coupons. So far, I have not seen any response from NTIA on this. I have also contacted them and asked them what options consumers have and as yet I have not seen a reply. As soon as I do, I will post an update. In the meantime, if you would like to try and use your coupons before they expire, I suggest that you look on-line for vendors that may have boxes in stock.Bill Hayeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08343569706881899436noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6520009027219836832.post-36710432888427330292008-06-16T13:58:00.001-05:002008-06-16T13:58:59.026-05:0030-Minute DTV Program June 26 at 6:30 p.m.!<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><strong>Iowa</strong><strong> Broadcasters Join to Present Local Digital Television Education Program Thursday, June 26</strong></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><em>New 30-minute program provides answers to common questions about DTV</em></p><p class="MsoNormal">(Johnston, Iowa) -- Viewers across Iowa – and across the country – have been inundated with messages about digital television in the past several months. But many Iowans are still left with basic questions – what is DTV? Why is the transition happening? What are these converter boxes? Do I need a new TV? </p> <p class="MsoNormal">To answer these questions for Iowans, the Iowa Broadcasters Association will present <strong><em>Iowa DTV Answers </em></strong>to all Iowans this month.<strong><em> </em></strong>This new, local 30-minute program, produced by Iowa Public Television, will inform Iowa viewers about the digital television transition, alleviate concerns about the change, and encourage viewers to take action. <strong><em>Iowa DTV Answers </em></strong>will be broadcast commercial-free on most Iowa television stations on Thursday, June 26 at 6:30 p.m. (Check local listings for broadcast and repeat times.)</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The program will feature real Iowans from across the state dealing with real situations and solutions regarding the DTV conversion. </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Some of the topics covered on <strong><em>Iowa DTV Answers</em></strong> include:</p> <ul style="margin-top: 0in;" type="disc"><li class="MsoNormal">Digital television definition</li><li class="MsoNormal">DTV transition explanation</li><li class="MsoNormal">DTV converter boxes</li><li class="MsoNormal">Defining HD & SD</li><li class="MsoNormal">Advice on buying a new digital TV</li><li class="MsoNormal">Information for cable and satellite subscribers</li></ul> <p class="MsoNormal">Viewers with questions about the program should contact the Iowa Broadcasters Association at 515-224-7237. For general information about the digital television transition in Iowa, visit <a href="http://www.iptv.org/">www.iptv.org</a> or <a href="http://www.dtv2009.gov/">www.dtv2009.gov</a>. </p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"># # # </p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6520009027219836832.post-80138671021452350212008-06-06T11:36:00.001-05:002008-06-06T11:38:35.450-05:00What Digital Television Converter Box is Right for Me?This is one of the questions this is frequently asked by viewers calling the station or attending the DTV information sessions that IPTV is putting on throughout the state. As of this blog entry on June 6, 2008 there are currently 90 different models of coupon eligible converter boxes (CECB’s) listed by the National Telecommunication Information Administration’s at their official information website (<a href="https://www.ntiadtv.gov/cecb_list.cfm">https://www.ntiadtv.gov/cecb_list.cfm</a>). I am in the process of acquiring one of each model so that I can test the units and see how well they perform. However, it is not my intent to create grade the CECB or recommend one over the other because from my testing so far, I have found that all of the boxes do what they need to do which is receive digital television, convert it to analog and output it so that an analog television can still be used. Certainly if I find a box that doesn’t do these basic functions I will let the people who read this blog or call the station or attend the information session know that there are problems with a specific unit but so far, I haven’t found one yet that fails to work.<br /><br />So if they all work and there are 90 or so different models out there, how do you pick one? Well, there are a few “features” that I do recommend that you look for but keep in mind these “features” were not required to be included in the CECB but as I have gained more experience with various models I have dealt with a few issues. One of the first features I would suggest looking for on the box is a power switch. I realize that most of us wouldn’t consider the power switch to be a feature but it was not required and I have one box from Digital Stream that works very well but doesn’t have any control switches so everything must be done using the remote control. If you’re like me and you occasionally misplace the TV remote, at least you can get up and walk to the set and turn it on but with this particular unit, without the remote you cannot even turn it on. I’d also suggest that you look for channel up/down controls on the box for pretty much the same reason, if you’ve misplaced the remote you will probably want to be able to change channels as well as turn the box on.<br /><br />Another feature to look for is called “antenna pass through” or “antenna bypass.” You probably already know about this but haven’t really known what it was. If you have a VCR hooked up so that you’re antenna is feeding into the VCR’s antenna input and then another piece of antenna line goes from the VCR to the antenna input of the television you have used this feature. This is what allows the signals coming in from the antenna to continue on to the television even when the VCR is turned off. Very few of the CECB’s (22 out of the current 90) have this feature so when the converter box is turned off, the antenna signals no longer continue to the television. What makes this feature important is that right now, full powered television stations are broadcasting both analog and digital signals and if you want to watch an analog service after installing a converter box, unless it has this pass through capability you must physically disconnect the converter box from the antenna and reconnect the antenna to the television. So is this a big deal after the analog shutoff? It may be, depending on where you live and what stations you watch. Although in February of 2009, all full powered television stations will stop broadcasting analog signals and only broadcast digital signal, there is whole group of television stations call low powered television or translators that may (and many probably will) continue to broadcast analog television services because the federal mandate for digital conversion is only for full powered stations. If you happen to live in an area where there is a mix of full powered and low powered stations, you may want to be able to receive both. The rules for the converter boxes required that they could only receive digital television so the boxes cannot receive and analog signal, including low power so the only way to watch them is to use the analog tuner in the television. Now at some point in the future, these low powered stations and translators will convert to digital operation but until that happens there will probably be a mix of services in many areas. In Iowa, IPTV uses 8 translators to service viewers in the northwest corner, the northeast corner and southeast corner of the state. Even though there is no requirement to convert our translators to digital, we will begin that conversion after the analog shutoff and should be 100% digital before spring. It is our belief that trying to maintain an analog and digital service will be very confusing for the audience and will prevent people receiving the analog service from getting all the additional programming that will be part of our digital multicast services.<br /><br />I think there is some fallout from this feature missing since I have had a number of people tell me that they have visited stores that are now out of converter boxes. What I believe is happening is that a number of manufacturer that are planning on adding this feature have suspended production of their CECB’s that don’t do antenna pass through and are gearing up to begin production and delivery of converters that do have this feature. I have spoken to one manufacturer that has confirmed this and knows that a number of others are doing the same thing. However, there are a number of boxes out there that already have this feature and are available and more will be showing up pretty quick since.<br /><br />Beyond what I have mentioned, I like to tell people that prior to going out and buying the converter, spend some time looking at your current television remote control. This is the user interface that you use the most to watch television. Look at what features your current remote control has that you use. If you ping pong back and forth between two channels like I do when watching football, the control that allows you to flip flop between channels may be important to you. If you’re using an indoor antenna, having the signal strength display as button on the remote control rather than buried in menus may be important. Being able to turn on and off closed captioning without going to a menu may be important to you. What I am getting at is that you should figure out how you watch television and then when shopping for converters, ask to see the remote control and make sure that the features that you want to have quick access to are on the remote. If they aren’t, that doesn’t make the converter box a bad unit but it may not be what you want so pick another one. The whole idea here is for you to be able to continue to watch television the way you currently do so minimize the amount of change you have to make.<br /><br />BillBill Hayeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08343569706881899436noreply@blogger.com45tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6520009027219836832.post-51475114125925516312008-03-31T09:08:00.003-05:002008-03-31T09:11:14.946-05:00Enhanced IPTV-Digital Services!Good news for over-the-air IPTV-Digital viewers!<br /><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 150%;" class="MsoBodyText"><br /></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 150%;" class="MsoBodyText">In response to viewer requests, IPTV now has three digital channels on the air for over-the-air viewers.<br /></p><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />11.1 - IPTV-Digital<br /></span><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 150%;" class="MsoBodyText">IPTV-Digital is IPTV’s primary digital channel and is broadcast on the .1 channel (11.1 in central Iowa; 12.1 in eastern Iowa; etc). It features programming that showcases high-definition and other digital programming options. IPTV-Digital first began broadcast in August 2001, and now offers local and national digital programming to Iowans across the state. IPTV-Digital is also carried by many cable and satellite services around the state. Viewers watching via cable or satellite need to check with their providers for channel numbers.</p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 150%;" class="MsoBodyText"> </p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 150%;" class="MsoBodyText"><span style="font-weight: bold;">11.2 - IPTV's Analog Simulcast</span><br /></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 150%;" class="MsoBodyText">IPTV’s analog schedule is now being simulcast on the .2 channel. It features our regular schedule around the clock, including PBS Kids programming weekdays from 6:30 a.m. until 5:30 p.m.<br /></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 150%;" class="MsoBodyText"> </p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 150%;" class="MsoBodyText"><span style="font-weight: bold;">11.3 - IPTV-Plus</span><br /></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 150%;" class="MsoBodyText">IPTV-Plus can now be found on the .3 channel. Previously it was carried on the .2 channel. On this channel, viewers can watch outstanding how-to programming each day with IPTV Create programs. Monday - Thursdays from 7 - 10 p.m., viewers will have the opportunity to see what potential multicast channels may have to offer in the future. </p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 150%;" class="MsoBodyText"> </p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 150%;" class="MsoBodyText">Both the .2 and the .3 channels are only available to viewers who utilize an antenna with a digital television set or an older set connected to a converter box.</p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com41tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6520009027219836832.post-21792595546008179432008-02-19T14:19:00.002-06:002008-02-19T15:04:59.599-06:00High Definition Disc PlayersIf you have been holding off on the purchase of a high definition DVD player to go with your new HD television set, the choice just got a lot easier. For a couple of years there have been two competing versions of high definition DVD players available. There is the "Blu-Ray" system from Sony and the "HD-DVD" system from Toshiba. Both manufacturers have been promoting thier products and working on securing strategic alliances with other manufacturers and content creators. Well the battled all but ended on Tuesday, February 19, 2008 when Toshiba announced that it will no longer develop, manufacture or market HD-DVD machines.<br /><br />The HD-DVD format had one ket advantage over the Blu-Ray format and that was that the machines were cheaper to manufacturer. Unfortunately it had the disadvantage of having lower disc capacity which limited the amount of content that a disc could store. Obviously Sony still remembers the lesson it learned in the early video cassette format war where the Sony Beta format lost the battle to the Panasonic VHS format. Comparing the two VCR formats side by side would show that Beta was a better looking format, but the tapes could only hold 90 minutes of content while VHS held 120 minutes. The better video quality was not significant enough to overcome the the advantage that an additional 30 minutes on the tape provided. In the case of the high definition DVD formats, there was no perceptable picture quality trade-off for the additional space.<br /><br />It also didn't hurt Blu-Ray's chances that Sony was able to secure agreements with most of the major movie studios to release content on Blu-Ray while Toshiba only had a couple of studio agreements. Obviously there is a lot more content available on Blu-Ray then on HD-DVD.<br /><br />The final straw was last Friday when Best Buy and Walmart announced that they would only carry Blu-Ray products. I am sure that the HD-DVD content shortage and trying to explain the lack of any significant differences in the technologies were key drivers in the decision to only deal with Blu-Ray. I don't think anyone wanted another 1080i versus 720p debate to muddy the waters.<br /><br />The only remaining issue is what about the existing HD-DVD customer base which include the XBOX 360 game platform. In January of this year, Microsoft indicated that it would be open to supporting Blu-Ray technology for the XBOX and it appears that support offer will be tested.<br /><br />So if you're thinking about a new high definition disc player to add to your HD home system, think Blu.Bill Hayeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08343569706881899436noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6520009027219836832.post-61892720126889516212008-01-14T15:27:00.015-06:002008-08-15T12:13:50.649-05:00Updated: Upcoming DTV Information SessionsThroughout the next year, Iowa Public Television's DTV experts will be traveling the state to conduct free information and Q&A sessions about Digital Television. The list will be updated frequently, so check back often. <span style="font-weight: bold;">Updated August 15, 2008</span><br /><br />And remember - if you'd like an Iowa Public Television staff person to speak to your community or civic group, please let us know! Contact Jennifer at 800-532-1290 or at jennifer.konfrst@iptv.org to schedule a session in your community!<br /><br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Upcoming Free Digital Television Information Sessions</span><br /></div><p><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span></p><ul><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">Burlington Public Library - </span>Monday, August 18 at 6 p.m. </li><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">Davenport Public Library - Fairmont St. Branch <span style="font-weight: bold;">- </span></span>Tuesday, August 19 at 6:30 p.m.</li><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">West Des Moines United Methodist Church - </span>Friday, September 12 at 11:30 a.m.</li><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">Johnston Evangelical Free Church - </span>Thursday, September 18 at 7 p.m.</li><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">Greater Des Moines Volkssport Association - </span>Monday, November 17 at 7 p.m.<br /></li></ul><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span><div style="text-align: left;" align="left"><br /></div><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6520009027219836832.post-24511846303378366722008-01-09T10:16:00.000-06:002008-01-09T10:50:53.448-06:00The DTV Converter<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh9MxLo96jLR51yt_g1GBoSZirzac2a9LnaUno8ow7iJuysuNOZKT3IR9NB9J5xsdem3_ygp_uSZM0qLsyuIzU87fP35kFau_t7-RwfuqZ-BeUpZSrArxj3dSproKkCPPVsJKEtuIZs6c/s1600-h/Digital+Converter+1.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5153514847551701922" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh9MxLo96jLR51yt_g1GBoSZirzac2a9LnaUno8ow7iJuysuNOZKT3IR9NB9J5xsdem3_ygp_uSZM0qLsyuIzU87fP35kFau_t7-RwfuqZ-BeUpZSrArxj3dSproKkCPPVsJKEtuIZs6c/s320/Digital+Converter+1.jpg" border="0" /></a><br />Greetings from the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. IPTV recently started airing some information announcement regarding the federal coupon program for the purchase of set-top DTV converter boxes. Since the program is currently taking coupon orders I have come here to look for the boxes to get an idea on what the consumer will be buying. My first stop was at the LG Electronics booth which was showing dozens of different HD televisions. After unsuccessfully searching for converter I found someone to ask. I was taken to a back room in the LG booth and there was an actual converter. The picture here shows the Zenith DTT900. When I saw the converter I was not able to actually see it in operation because it was not hooked to a television set or an antenna. I did get to look over the physical box. It is quite small, probably less than 10 inches wide and less than 8 inches deep. The back has one antenna input for a digital off-air receive antenna and an analog antenna output that would be hooked to the television. There are also a video and stereo audio outputs for hooking to the video and audio input of a television set. I am told it has a remote control but that was not present however, LG has agreed to send me one of the boxes for testing and evaluation so I will have more information after I receive it and try it out. I can tell you that according to LG, it will sell for $59.95.<br /><br />I next went to visit Samsung to see the box that they will be shipping. After another unsuccessful search of the booth I again found someone to ask about the converter. I was told that they have a box in design but it was not at the show. I later heard from some fairly reliable people that the Samsung box actually failed to meet the requirements of the NTIA program and that they have subsequently pulled it from out of the program I was unable to confirm that information but I will try again.<br /><br />The third and final place I stopped was at the Echostar booth where they were showing the TR-40 digital-to-analog converter. This is another NTIA coupon eligible product and was similar in size to the Zenith unit. The biggest difference in this device was the price. The price of this box will be $39.95 which is $20.00 cheaper than the Zenith unit and perhaps more importantly means that it will be free with an NTIA coupon. I was unable to get much more information or arrange for a unit to be sent to me for evaluation but I will contact them again to try and arrange for a unit.<br /><br />So, although the boxes are not yet available to the consumer, they will be available soon and as soon as I have had a chance to try them out, I'll post the result.Bill Hayeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08343569706881899436noreply@blogger.com41tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6520009027219836832.post-71358363103701137582008-01-08T15:08:00.000-06:002008-01-08T15:10:44.525-06:00Digital Converter Box Information<p class="MsoNormal">In February of 2009, all television stations will cease broadcasting their analog television service and rely exclusively on their digital television (DTV) services. What this means to viewers will vary depending on how they receive their television service. Viewers that subscribe to either cable or satellite services will not see a loss of service as both cable and satellite providers have already stated that they will substitute a station’s primary DTV service for the station’s analog channel on the cable or satellite system. However, viewers that rely on over-the-air reception via a conventional antenna will have to take some proactive steps to ensure that they will receive service after the end of analog television.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">In order to ensure that no one is disenfranchised by the federally mandated DTV conversion, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) has commission the manufacture of set-top converter boxes that will receive an over-the-air DTV signal and convert them to analog signals for display on existing analog television. As part of the project, the NTIA is also administering a coupon program that will allow individual homes to receive up to two $40.00 coupons for the purchase of these converter boxes.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The coupons are only available to private residences and although each residence can receive two, each coupon must be used independently toward the purchase of only approved converter boxes. In short, you cannot combine them for $80.00 off a single box and you can only use them toward the purchase of the approved converter boxes. For more information and to sign up for coupons, visit <a href="http://www.dtv2009.gov/">www.dtv2009.gov</a> or call 1-888-DTV-2009.</p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com81tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6520009027219836832.post-82085389498259226912007-12-07T11:45:00.000-06:002007-12-07T13:42:31.617-06:00How Big A Screen Do I Need?Some of the first questions I get asked regarding the digital television conversion come from people who are considering the purchase of new <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">DTV</span> televisions. They generally want to know whether they should buy plasma or LCD. I tell people before they even go to a store to look at the television they should first layout the room where the TV is going to be. Figure out where the TV will sit or hang and where the primary viewing location will be. Then use a tape measure to determine the distance from the front of the screen to the where the eyes of the viewer will be and don’t worry too much about being exact, if you’re within a foot or so of the actual measurement you’ll be fine.<br /><br />So how do you begin to plan your purchase? Using the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">SMPTE</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">EG</span>-18-1994 which was originally used for movie theater design and has now transitioned to home theater design you want to try and maintain a minimum viewing angle of 30°. This means that if you are seated in the optimum viewing location and look directly at the center of the screen, by rotating your head (or moving your eyes) 15° to the left or right you would be looking at left or right edge of the screen. There is a lot science research that has gone into this, much of it based on visual acuity and the portion of the human eye called the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">fovea</span>. This area of the retina has the greatest density of <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">photoreceptors</span> in the eye and is responsible for the amount of detail that we see. It is the area that allows us to read, drive and yes, watch television. So by locating the viewing position at a location that meets this minimum viewing angle you essentially fill the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">fovea</span> region of the eye and have the perfect viewing experience.<br /><br />Unfortunately, there is also some reality that enters into the calculations. If you adhere strictly to the calculation you realize that in any environment there is only one good seat and this certainly <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">didn</span>’t make sense in the design of movie theaters and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">doesn</span>’t make any more sense when planning at home, unless you live alone and will never have friends over to watch television with you. Let say that you make the viewing distance measurement and discover that you’re planning on sitting 13 feet back from your television screen. Doing the math, you should have a screen with about a 96 inch diagonal measurement!!! Now this is not impossible, there are front screen projector systems that can easily do this and there are even 100 inch plus plasma and LCD displays available but that is a seven foot wide, four foot tall television, it will weigh in at 500 pounds or more and will set you back somewhere in the neighborhood of $70,000.00. So clearly there has to be an acceptable compromise.<br /><br />What has become the generally accepted practice is to specify viewing distance in terms of screen height or width. I have heard people expound that you should measure the height of the screen and sit three times that distance back for the best experience which from the example above would indicate that you either need to move your chair about a foot closer to the screen or try to find a bigger display which I personally believe approaches insanity. If you want to reference the screen, you are better off going with somewhere between three and six times the picture width. In my example with the 13 foot distance I can pretty quickly figure out that I want a screen that is at least 37” diagonal. That puts me pretty close to the furthest distance I would want to be from the set so if I can afford to go larger I will.<br /><br />I have attached a grid with some of the most common screen sizes and their corresponding optimum and maximum viewing distances. The grid includes both standard (4x3) televisions and <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">wide screen</span> (16x9) televisions to show how the shape of the screen also impacts the viewing distance. Once you figure out how large a screen you want, then you can start looking at what technology you want to buy and find the best match between acceptable screen size and the cost of the set.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTQl-M5nHF6OPPLOH9DUY7HXBgFTK9Qe9-HRjsi02iIeFHfELqujn8pSWErAh3-7L8RaKDMaLoVoosMUPaoWIBM8LT0Z8hsKqGYYZk9G95ZcCXrjPmozsohMEU5eb43JYgOqAJED4aimM/s1600-h/Distance+Calculator.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5141317140543483506" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTQl-M5nHF6OPPLOH9DUY7HXBgFTK9Qe9-HRjsi02iIeFHfELqujn8pSWErAh3-7L8RaKDMaLoVoosMUPaoWIBM8LT0Z8hsKqGYYZk9G95ZcCXrjPmozsohMEU5eb43JYgOqAJED4aimM/s400/Distance+Calculator.JPG" border="0" /></a>Bill Hayeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08343569706881899436noreply@blogger.com9