What's your excuse?
Oct 1, 2007 12:00 PM, BY CRAIG BIRKMAIER
Broadcasters need to enable the transition to local HD content.
Don't wait!
Digital Lighthouse, an independent production company in Gainesville, FL, is shooting HD for a range of clients including CBS Sports. This shoot will be part of a traveling exhibit produced by the Florida Museum of Natural History.
With little more than a year until the scheduled February 2009 end of NTSC broadcasting, it is time for broadcasters to develop a comprehensive strategy to support widescreen SD/HD programming and commercials.
A good place to start would be to deliver all widescreen programming to NTSC viewers in letterbox format. If commercials delivered to HD viewers in pillarbox is a red flag for commercial breaks, perhaps delivering all NTSC programming in letterbox would be a red flag for consumers to buy a widescreen display. It might also encourage advertisers to get with the program, so to speak.
To help speed the conversion to widescreen SD/HD, broadcasters need to work with manufacturers to develop standards for the delivery of MPEG-2 files in any of the ATSC formats. If there is still any doubt, it is time for broadcasters to start shooting and delivering widescreen content.
Craig Birkmaier is a technology consultant at Pcube Labs, and he hosts and moderates the OpenDTV forum.
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Web links
Discovery finds HD ads pay off www.tvweek.com/news/2007/09/discovery_finds_hidef_ads_pay.php
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Home Technology Monitor study: How people use HDTV www.knowledgenetworks.com/htm/index.html
Send questions and comments to: craig.birkmaier@penton.com
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