• Legislators grapple with analog TV cut-off date.

• The FCC’s DTV tuner mandate impacts smaller screen sizes in 2005.

• Manufacturers begin to move from two-pronged sales approach to unified solution.

Digital television (DTV) is an umbrella term given to a new class of television sets and monitors that accept the higher-frequency scan rates of digital television broadcast formats to produce, in some cases, images with more than twice the resolution of traditional analog TVs.

CEA defines a DTV display product as a television set (regardless of resolution capability) with an integrated digital ATSC tuner, or a television monitor capable of presenting a picture with at least 480 progressively scanned active vertical lines (480p). At its best a DTV can be classified a high-definition TV (HDTV) display, capable of presenting up to 1080 interlaced or progressively scanned (1080i/1080p) vertical lines on the screen. Most HDTV broadcasts also contain multi-channel (5.1) Dolby Digital surround sound to complete the realism of the viewing experience within a home theater system.

Digital Television Is Born:

The digital television transition began more than 20 years ago when the television broadcasting industry asked the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to reserve unused spectrum for an HDTV system that it would like to develop.

The DTV system in use today emerged in the 1980s from a group of companies working cooperatively through a "Grand Alliance" to unify their various HDTV system proposals. The resulting specification, which was approved by an overseeing Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC) and later approved by the FCC, contained the blueprint for an all-digital hybrid system that allows broadcasters to select their signal output from literally dozens of possible resolution levels and bit rates. The ATSC established a table of 18 such formats that are used most commonly for broadcasting.

*Includes direct-view, flat panel, and projection digital TV’s with integrated digital decoders and
stand­alone digital TV displays.
Source: CEA Market Research, 1/05

DTV: A Mixed Resolution Bag:

A broadcast signal must fit inside a narrow 6 MHz frequency band using a digital compression scheme. DTV sets and monitors typically present any of the 18 digital broadcast formats in one or more of four display formats: 480i, 480p, 720p and 1080i. Each of these formats also may be assigned one of several bit rates. On the receiving end, these formats are assigned the following general classifications based on how they are displayed on TV screens: standard definition television (SDTV, 480i), enhanced definition television (EDTV, 480p) and high-definition (HDTV - 720p or 1080i), respectively. HDTV signals also must present a 16:9 widescreen aspect ratio.

DTV receivers in consumers' homes will receive any of these different broadcast formats and convert them to the format that can be used by the TV display device.

Transition on the Clock:

The government plans for DTV broadcasting target a gradual phasing in of DTV stations leading to the end of analog broadcasting by 2007 provided that 85 percent of U.S. households have digital television receivers. At the outset of digital television broadcasting, the FCC granted every television station one additional 6 MHz channel slot to continue delivering their current analog channels, while simultaneously replicating digital versions during the transition period.

Under the initial plan, broadcasters were to return to the FCC their analog frequencies by the end of 2006, as long as 85 percent of the nation was able to view DTV signals. The spectrum from the returned channels then would be allocated first for the communications needs of emergency services, and the remainder would be auctioned off to wireless service providers and other private parties to help pay down the nation's debt.

However, as the deadline date draws closer, it has become clear that 85 percent of households will not have digital television receivers by the outlined date. Broadcasters and other groups have urged the FCC to ensure that analog broadcasting is not cut off until at least 85 percent of U.S. households have made the transition to DTV receivers. Therefore, the FCC is expected to decide on a revised and final date for the end of analog broadcasting sometime in 2005.

Some FCC commissioners have indicated that ending the transition by the end of the decade would be an appropriate goal. However, some members of Congress continue to push for a 2007 cut-off date and are exploring options to make that work. Completing the DTV transition by 2007 is the first priority of the House Commerce Committee, its leaders said in 2004, vowing to push legislation that would enforce a 2006 transition date for conversion of analog TV signals to digital.

Subsidies for Low-Income Homes Proposed:

A few lawmakers who are eager to speed the transition to digital television have proposed the government help millions of low-income Americans keep their analog TVs working by subsidizing the cost of set-top digital-to-analog converter boxes. According to Government Accounting Office studies, about 21 million homes, or 19 percent of U.S. households, were estimated to get their TV signals using over-the-air antennas. Many of those homes, which have only analog televisions and low incomes, would be threatened with losing television programming if the transition goes through at the end of 2006, as proposed.

Two leading House Energy and Commerce Committee member, Reps. Joe Barton (R-Texas) the chairman, and Fred Upton (R-Mich.), said they might introduce legislation in 2005 that would eliminate the 85 percent provision in order to speed the transition. But to do that, lawmakers said Congress may have to ensure that people who use analog TVs with antennas still can use their sets.

A proposed government subsidy program for at-risk low-income homes was estimated to cost between $460 million and $2 billion, depending on the price of the boxes. Some of the money from the auction of analog TV spectrum could be used to help pay for the converter box subsidy, Barton said.  

Analog Cut­off Decision Expected in 2005:

Former FCC Chairman Michael Powell said in a 2005 International CES keynote dialogue that a final deadline for the transition will be established this year.

One proposal that arose in 2004 called for counting homes with digital cable boxes as DTV-ready households, since cable companies would carry digital broadcast stations and their set-top box equipment would convert those signals to a form that is usable by most television sets. That proposal would greatly accelerate the count toward the 85 percent mark.

Under the standing plan, broadcasters must now ensure that 50 percent of their analog programming is simulcast on a digital channel. The number rose to 75 percent in 2004, and moves to 100 percent in 2005.

The mandate requires broadcasters to deliver a digital channel but does not require them to broadcast an HDTV signal. Still, most broadcasters and networks that have made the digital commitment recognize the value of HDTV and are taking steps to provide at least some HD programming, typically during prime-time viewing hours.

Manufacturers Employ Component DTV Approach:

Since the launch of DTV broadcasting, digital televisions have been sold in two basic configurations:

1. As fully integrated DTV sets that package a digital ATSC tuner and usually an analog NTSC tuner into the electronic chassis of the display.

2. As two-piece components consisting of a separate DTV monitor and a set-top box containing the digital tuner.

Although most analog televisions have been sold as fully integrated TV sets, DTV manufacturers at first focused on the component approach to reduce the comparatively high cost of the DTV displays and receivers as various standards were finalized. To date, this approach has accounted for the majority of DTV sales, but due to federal regulations requiring the phased-in implementation of digital tuners in most television screen sizes by July 2007, the mix will shift in favor of one-piece fully integrated models during 2005.

FCC Mandates Integrated DTVs:
In response to demands by the broadcast industry, the FCC ordered all TV sets 13-inches and larger, and other products that normally carry an analog TV tuner, to include ATSC terrestrial DTV tuners, by July 1, 2007. The mandate outlined a phased-in approach over five years starting with larger screen sets.

Phased-In Tuner Schedule:

The FCC time table calls for DTV tuners to be included in the following: 50 percent of television sets measuring 36-inches and larger by July 1, 2004 and 100 percent by July 1, 2005; 50 percent of sets measuring 24- to 35-inches by July 1, 2005 and 100 percent by July 1, 2006; and 100 percent of sets measuring 13- to 24-inches by July 1, 2007. The mandate also calls for 100 percent of other devices that normally include TV receivers, such as VCRs and digital video recorders (DVRs), to include DTV tuners by July 1, 2007. The FCC says that combinations of DTV monitors and set-top DTV tuners, if marketed together at one price, qualify as integrated sets. Monitor-only displays still can be sold without DTV tuners if they also omit analog ATSC tuners.