Re: [RE] Grand master identifier

[Richard Brand <rbrand@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Title:

Arthur:
You bring up a very good point about TV in No. America vs the UK and Europe.  In my many ITU stds meetings, I have had discussion re: HDTV with delegates of  PTT's in the EU and UK.  Most have not even seen the stunning (in my opinion) quality capabilities of HDTV content when it is correctly captured and then displayed in 1080i format on a good 40"+ full 1080i (1920 X 1080) capable display.  Indeed, most of them have traveled to No. America and remember how dismal our existing NTSC picture quality is and therefore correctly assume that HDTV will not be that much better that the PAL version.  Like most people here in No. America however they have not seen a good demo of 1080i.  Bottom line, I have had none of them tell me they have interest in providing "triple Play" services with the possible exception of FT.  Reps from BT have told me that they have no interest at this time. 

A, probably the issue is competition.  In No. America, the MSOs are a life threatening challenge to the RBOCs because they are starting to take voice line services via VoIP away from the RBOCs.  While MSO penetration on the European continent is spotty, I have seen a lot of satellite dishes now sitting on the walls of building in Europe.  While being pretty ugly and only offering more albeit digital channels this represents a growing consumer demand for digital video and new content.  You can expect the satellite guys to start offering a few channels of HD content and that could set off the escalation of quality over quantity in TV services.  It may sound a wake up call for BT and maybe some of the other PTTs but I don't see the market dynamics in the UK/EU region akin to those which exist in No. America.

Where HDTV is really happening is Japan and Korea and in those countries, KT and NTT are the HD drivers.  As Samsung described last July in the Res Enet Call for Interest, HDTV is a major driver in Korea where I had the opportunity as a guest of KT to witness trial HDTV trials via WD-PON.
I'd be interested in other applications perspectives.
Regards,
Richard



Arthur Marris wrote:

Michael,
   Thanks for the explanations.

  

Right now, consumers expect that when they select a channel,
or a CD, or a DVD they will get it *perfectly*.
    

   I guess this is the key justification for what you are proposing and
relates to the broad market potential criterion.

   There is an interesting difference between what is happening with
digital TV in the UK and the USA. The UK broadcasters are using digital
TV to bombard consumers with more and more channels at medium definition
while US broadcasters are using it to roll out HDTV. Personally I am
surprised at how tolerant UK consumers are of the poor picture and sound
quality of some of these channels. I would rather have HDTV.

Arthur.

  

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