Since I knew I wasn't going to be able to come down for the entire fest this year, I never bothered to look at the forums list or the scheduled demonstrations in advance since I knew I'd have little if not any chance to see them.
When I got home and turned on my HDTV it hit me. WE ARE OUR NEIGHBORS RESIDENT RADIO AND TV GEEKS. With February 17, 2009 fast approaching, we can all bet that someone in our area who doesn't have a computer, hasn't seen the various instructional shows, or gets lost when a salesman at the local Rat Shack, Worst Buy or P.C. Thickhead store tries to mix sales pitch with inaccurate claims gets totally lost on that magic day the over the air portion of the analog video world comes to a halt. The changeover is being made out by all involved to be simple and reliable, but that is if the guy is connected to cable or satellite TV or tunes in LPTV repeaters. It's when the guy who finally saw a clear picture calls you at 10PM on a Sunday night because multipath caused by a huge thunderstorm or airplane flutter has caused his all or nothing DTV go blue screen. I would like to know if any of you guys would like to share stories about DTV in some sort of mailing list or blog? Is any such place available now? Could we make up a forum or video presentation for the 2009 Winterfest on the subject? As an inspiration here are some questions you won't find answered on www.dtv.gov. The answers are below. 1 - Why do ABC, ESPN and Fox transmit HD in 720p format instead of 1080i like the other networks? 2 - Some of my regular commercial DVDs expand to full screen on my friend's HDTV, but not on mine, why? Are they in HD or how can I make it fill the screen? 3 - Why do the commercials shrink? 4 - How come there are sparkles in this old rerun. 5 - Are the scanner scum reaping the benefits of this change? Answers: 1 - The refresh rate is actually higher with 720p because it is progressive scan vs. the interlace scanning of 1080i. This is better for carrying sports events. Even though the grass looks like green mud at some angles a ball in flight is seldom lost in digital anomalies and might even be emphasized. 2 - Your DVD player should be set to 16:9 mode in either 480 or 1080 if available, (i or p scanning optional), to see those DVDs made in widescreen mode. These are NOT HD DVDs. Only those marked HD or Blue-ray are in HD and must be played on an HD or BR player. Some DVD players also force stretch 4:3 pictures to 16:9 when the HDMI output is used. Your 4:3 mode has 2 submodes, "Pan and Scan", which only shows the center of a 16:9 picture on a 4:3 set, and "Letterbox" which shows a 16:9 picture, but reduced to fit on a 4:3 screen, the top & bottom are blacked out. 3 - Not all stations and networks have 100% 16:9/HD and those that can run 16:9 commercials in HD may charge extra for them. Most TV stop sets are in SDTV, (480i), and that means the 16:9 spots are in letterbox, see above. 4 - In the transcoding of SDTV shows into HDTV, the grain of the film stock may be enhanced as small snowy objects, particularly noticeable if the station transmits at 720p. 5 - Maybe yes and maybe no. Most of the no longer used VHF TV frequencies will be turned over to public safety, unfortunately for the scanner scum most will be digital. _______________________________________________ Swlfest mailing list [email protected] http://montreal.kotalampi.com/mailman/listinfo/swlfest To unsubscribe: Send an E-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED], or visit the URL shown above. For more information on the Fest, visit: http://www.swlfest.com http://swlfest.blogspot.com
