THE PRO PERSPECTIVE: APRIL 9, 2008
Choosing Sides
It seems these days that, no matter which way you turn, there’s two people passionately arguing against or for something. Democratic candidates, Republican candidates, the war in Iraq, and health care are just some of the political issues everyone’s debating in this election year. There’s no middle ground — you have to pick one position or the other, lest you be seen as a “waffler” or “indecisive.”
The same sort of thing is going on in the consumer and professional electronics industries. We’ve got folks debating which blue laser format is better (Blu-ray vs. HD DVD), which flat panel display technology has the edge (LCD vs. plasma), which projection technology is superior (3LCD vs. DLP), and even which digital display interface will be the best solution going forward (HDMI vs. DisplayPort).
In the broadcast industry, the progressive vs. interlaced HDTV battle came to a draw, as CBS, NBC, PBS, and many other major cable and satellite networks adopted the 1080i format for broadcast, while ABC, ESPN, FOX, and ION selected 720p. Both are compatible with HDTV sets, a textbook example of peaceful coexistence.
In our own industry, one of those “us vs. them” battles was actually resolved in a civilized fashion to the benefit of all parties involved. Industry trade association giant ICIA persuaded the smaller but still formidable NSCA to consolidate their two trade shows into one; a common sense, obvious-to-everyone solution that brought forth cries of “hallelujah!” from manufacturers, rep, and members of the press.
But you can be sure that the ICIA-NSCA agreement was the exception, and not the rule. Some of these battles will only be decided by market forces. Still others will require more political solutions. It’s a sure bet that most will drag on longer than any of us would like.
Was it always like this? Weren’t people more accommodating back in the day? From the standpoint of politics, no. Those fights have been taking place for centuries and it’s not realistic to expect them to change any time soon.
On the other hand, many of these fights over display, interface, and storage formats could be avoided, if it wasn’t for the substantial capital investment that so many manufacturers have made in their pet projects and the possible profits to be realized.
Years ago, standards committees got together to discuss these matters. They held meetings, did research, wrote papers, put forth proposed standards, and eventually adopted them, leading to things like the NTSC and ATSC television systems used in this country.
Those committees are still active, but it’s questionable if they carry as much clout as they used to outside of niche markets. How many readers have purchased a new HDTV, or a blue laser player, and read or heard about Deep Color and xvYCC? Both are proposed systems to allow the encoding and display of wider color gamuts than those currently used for broadcast video and red and blue laser DVDs.
The reasoning behind these proposed standards is that the microdisplay, LCD, and plasma light modulators used in today’s HDTVs and HD monitors are quite capable of showing millions more colors than can be rendered in the CRT-based ITU BT.709 color space. Indeed, Mitsubishi’s new laser-powered rear-projection DLP that was shown at CES 2008 potentially has the widest gamut of all.
The only problem with these proposed wider color spaces is that they are of little value unless packaged media or other content is encoded into them. Presently, none is. And that’s because the people who work in the broadcast and motion picture industries don’t use either of these color spaces as a production and post-production reference.
Every high-definition television program you watch via cable, satellite, or through a terrestrial broadcast is encoded to the BT.709 color space (or should be). Standard definition shows are coded to the REC.601 color space, itself an outgrowth of SMPTE-C, developed by consensus through an internationally recognized engineering body.
The other color space that carries some weight in the world of motion pictures is the Digital Cinema Initiatives (DCI) standard gamut, which is wider than BT-709 because its colors are derived from filtered light, not phosphors. The DCI standard (available for download at http://www.dcimovies.com/specification/index.tt2) is something that the average post-production house will have some acquaintance with, particularly those who prepare digital cinema masters.
DCI was truly a consensus standard, developed by numerous meetings of groups like SMPTE’s DC.28 committee over several years. However, it’s a good bet that the vast numbers of HDTV viewers in this country have no idea what DCI stands for, nor that it too can provide the wide, punchy color gamut that xvYCC and Deep Color promise to deliver to your brand-new LCD or DLP.
The Blu-ray vs. HD DVD skirmish is a good example of marketing and manufacturing clout gaining the upper hand over consensus. The Blu-ray blue laser DVD format, which was largely developed by Sony and which is marketed by them commercially as XDCAM and XDCAM HD, finally drove HD DVD from the market by exclusively locking up several prominent movie studios and media companies like 20th Century Fox, Disney, and Warner Home Media.
On the other hand, the late HD DVD, developed by Toshiba, was actually approved by consensus by the DVD Forum, an international association of “hardware manufacturers, software firms, content providers and other users of Digital Versatile Discs,” according to their Web site. The DVD Forum goes on to say that “HD DVD is the only next-generation format approved by the DVD Forum, which functions as the official international DVD standard development body for all technologies bearing the authorized DVD and HD DVD logos.”
All fine and dandy, except that Sony is listed as a founding member of the DVD Forum, along with fellow Blu-ray advocates Matsushita (Panasonic) and Pioneer. Apparently, consensus is a good thing, as long as it doesn’t affect the bottom line. (Oddly enough, Sony and Toshiba were two of the strongest advocates 10 years back for the emerging red-laser DVD format!)
As for HDMI and DisplayPort, it’s déjà vu all over again. HDMI, which evolved from DVI, is licensed and administered by HDMI Licensing LLC, an offshoot of Silicon Image. The latter was an original partner in the development of DVI, along with Intel, Hewlett Packard, Fujitsu, NEC, IBM, and Compaq (now part of HP).
Along the way, the DVI interface evolved into HDMI for the consumer challenge and Silicon Image became the kingmaker in the consumer digital interface world. Simultaneously, the folks at VESA (Video Electronics Standards Association) were holding meetings, proposing standards, drafting papers, and reaching consensus on their vision of the next-generation display interface, DisplayPort.
In essence, Silicon Image “pulled a Sony” by quickly developing an interface in-house that solved CE manufacturer’s needs for a secure, intelligent high-bandwidth video and audio connection as the HDTV marketplace took off. There was little need for meetings and no consensus required — simply evolve single-link DVI to a new connector, add an audio interface, and start printing up those licenses.
The VESA process was more deliberative and indifferent to hot market trends. There are several dozens of patents associated with DisplayPort, something that might give manufacturers pause as they ponder a tangle of licensing agreements and royalty payments. In the meantime, HDMI has essentially become the default standard for all consumer displays, media players, and set-top receivers.
It’s a sure bet we haven’t seen the end of these “us vs. them” battles yet. The companies that win stand to reap windfalls, while those that lose face calamitous consequences. But it all makes for good theater, I guess…
Copyright ©2008 Peter H. Putman / Hanley-Wood Publications. All mechanical and electronic rights are reserved. This article also appears in the April 2008 issue of Pro AV magazine.
