P. Forman & R.W. SaintJohn (Sc. Am. 35-40)
history
- 1939 -- New York World Fair -- formal debut of television broadcast
the receiver at the RCA Pavillon was way ahead of its time,
it was a combination of television - radio - recorder - playback -
facsimile - projector ...
(that in hindsight suggests that we humans have a fundamental
desire to merge all media in one entity)
digital convergence
the union of audio, video and data communication into
a single source, received on a single device, delivered
by a single connection
predicted for decades, convergence is finally emerging, albeit in a haphazard fashion
subsidiary convergences
- content -- audio, video, data
- platform -- PC, TV, internet, game machine
- distribution -- how it gets to your platform
If compatibility standards and data protection schemas can
be worked out, all d-entertainment will converge into a single
source that can shine into your life on any screen, whereever you are ...
Observation: the number of competing standards and architectures
is enormous!
Observations
- interactive television (1970) -- people did not want to communicate back to the broadcaster
- enhanced television --
- Disney -- Who wants to be a millionaire
- Big Brother -- ...
The convergence of digital content, broadcast distribution and display platforms create the big convergence of d-entertainment and information with feedback supporting human interactivity.
convergence
- content -- 2D/3D graphics, data, video, audio
- distribution -- broadcast, wireless, DVD, internet, satelite, cable
- platform -- PC, television, game machine, wireless data pad, mobile phone
digital television
- enhanced resolution
- multiplication of channels
- interactive television
Standards
- US -- 8-VSB (vestigial side-band) -- not for antennas
- EU -- COFOM (coded orthogonal frequency) -- antennas, cable, satelite
digital television (2)
- HDTV -- high definition television
- SDTV -- standard definition television
- ITV -- interactive television
set top boxes
- BlueSky (UK), PrimeCon (D) -- HTML, XML (X3D)
(standard) codecs for d-TV
- MPEG-2 -- from Motion Picture Expert group
- MPEG-4 -- high quality streaming d-video on Internet
a killer d-TV appliance ...
- DVD player/recorder -- 4M in 2 years, 2h of MPEF-2 video
- personal television -- TiVo, Replay-TV (MPEG-2 cache)
- game machine -- Sony PS 2
Observation
streaming media -- poor resolution
TV or PC
The roadblock to the Entertainment PC could be
the PC itself. Even a cheap TV doesn't crash or freeze.
The best computers still do.
The Entertainment TV
It might make sense to adopt a programmable PC that can support
competing TV standards, rather than construct a stack of TV peripherals.
Problems
- thin clients (Sun/Java) vs fat clients (MS/Intel:Dell,Compaq)
- Internet (IP) is not robust -- QoS
- proprietary architectures and codecs -- RealVideo, QuickTime, Windows media
distribution
- telephone network -- 0.5 - 2 Mbps -> 60 Mpbs (2.5km)
- broadcast TV -- 6 MHz / 19 Mbps (4 channels MPEG HDTV)
- cable TV -- hybrid fiber-optic coaxial cable 6 Mbps
- fixed wireless -- 2 Mbps (radiotowers + rooftop antenna), phones/handhelds
- satellite -- downloads to 100kbps, modem for uploads ...
digital convergence
What will we do with convergence once we have it?
ubiqutous computing
- smart houses
- smart clothes
- smart world
emergence
We Will Watch