DTV Progress?

Under harsh FCC threats cable TV and consumer electronics industry representatives have agreed to a tentative plan that would enable digital cable set-top boxes to deliver signals to HDTV sets through IEEE 1394 FireWireÆ technology. The industries are aiming for a mid-1999 implementation, which would involve standardization of a common FireWire digital interface on both digital TVs and compatible set-top boxes. Representatives stress that the plan still needs extensive fine-tuning, plus the approval of copyright holders such as the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), on behalf of its member studios/producers.In other news, Time Warner Cable, the largest cable TV operator, has agreed to retransmit all the HDTV signals of CBS-owned TV stations. While the impact of the Time Warner/CBS deal will be limited to a handful of regions where CBS owns TV stations (notably metro New York City), the agreement could signal a resolution of the differences in position between the cable TV industry and broadcasters over the ""must-carry"" issue that has deterred DTV progress. This is an important development because it addresses the question of how cable households (about two-thirds of all U.S. homes) will receive broadcast stationsí digital TV transmissions. The FCC has yet to determine whether the ""must-carry"" rules, which currently require cable systems to retransmit all local analog TV channels, extend to new digital channels. The National Cable TV Association (NCTA) has launched a lobbying campaign to bolster its staunch opposition to digital must-carry rules. The campaignís message is that the must-carry requirements are ""Unfair. Un-Constitutional. Un-American.""As if the common digital interface and must-carry issues are not challenging enough, there is still the technical obstacle to cable retransmission of broadcast DTV channels. The cable TV industry has standardized on Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (QAM) for its digital transmission but none of todayís HDTV sets can decode QAM. Such unresolved technological issues and standards signal a ""caution"" alert to consumers wanting to purchase D/HDTV sets not yet compliant with whatever interface and digital cable retransmission standards that are required to fully deliver the promise of digital television.