Technology that refuses to die

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The problem is that higher resolution = lower range.

DTV in the US has a max range of 200 miles (average). If you live in mountains, cut that by over 50%. Without a strong signal, you don't get jack. Analog had a longer range because you could get an acceptable picture at a much weaker signal strength.

Rural areas always suffer unless they upgrade infrastructure, and frankly, the service providers don't see enough $$$ to justify it. So, if government doesn't subsidize it, it won't happen.

Radio won't die because it's a cheap and proven media. For many purposes, phasing it out would be a disaster for public safety concerns.

I live approx. 50 miles [as the crow flies] from my nearest PBS station [KCTS-9, seattle] and even with a signal-boosted deep fringe antenna [aimed right at the broadcast tower clusters] mounted atop a tree 100' above the ground, I still get only intermittent reception.

Before the switch to digital high definition I got this horrible analog picture full of snow. But when I bought my first high definition television in 2004 I was able to watch the Olympics for free in stunning high definition. What most people called obsolete technology was in actuality a major advancement in high technology. At that time in 2004 most of the cable and satellite refused to offer any high definition service.

you were fortunate to live within the DTV reception area.

When the new ultra-high definition broadcasting specifications are finalized, free digital broadcasting will be expanded to mobile devices. So how will this be possible if the naysayers tell everyone you need a rooftop antenna ?

can you tell me how this is going to work?

New broadcasting towers will have to be built but wait a minute over the air broadcasting is obsolete right ? I guess all those IPAD users will have to carry around bulky satellite dishes or purchase miles of cable.

OTA broadcasting is important for national security, it cannot be allowed to wither away. it is akin to morse code for the digital age, a fallback in emergencies.

Fear not. OTA radio broadcasts are not going away anytime soon. Radio is alive and well. OTA T;V. may be in trouble though.

ruveyn

Without over the air broadcasting we would not have high definition televisions.

Back in the 1980's broadcasters could have cared less about high definition television until their bandwidth was threatened to be auctioned off to the cell phone companies. Broadcasters immediately proposed high definition television simply to hog as much bandwidth as possible. Today broadcasters are proposing 200 inch ultra-high definition displays with insane amounts of resolution just so they can keep their bandwidth.

OTA tv got into logistical trouble with the required migration away from analog towards digital, which requires taller antenna towers for equivalent coverage. somebody shoulda thought of a better way.

What killed over the air broadcasting was that ten years ago a high definition television was not required to have a digital tuner which effectively made these televisions worthless and a waste of money.

When the government provided digital tuners the government conspired to destroy free over the air television by making it illegal for these digital tuners to output a high definition signal. These boxes would actually scramble the picture with black interlace scanning lines so that picture quality would be further destroyed.

Today all televisions are sold with free high definition tuners but this may be too late to save free television.

Videotape is a technology that refuses to die. I have over a hundred high definition video tapes and I still use videotape to record events.

It is called cable t.v. and direct broadcast t.v. which uses satellites

ruveyn

Cable and satellite TV does not count because it is not free.

prob with cable is that it requires installation of cable equipment and is not free as OTA tv is. the FCC's job was to maintain public airwaves, including free OTA tv for everyman and not just folks with money. free DB [sat] tv probably could be made to work as a replacement for terrestrial broadcast free tv, but requires lots more technical expertise on the part of the end user. there could just be commercial feeds [just like there are commercial feeds in regular OTA tv] to pay for it.