Economic Characterization of HDTV development：高清电视发展的经济特性.doc

HDTV development: Economic Characterization
Introduction
Some 20 years has passed since NHK's analog MUSE development; digital HDTV has now gathered worldwide momentum. The number of countries having 10% or more TVH's watching HDTV is still just a handful; some lament that HDTV is a rich man’s game. However technological advances have rendered HDTV more affordable than before. HDTV differs from other home electronics as a large HD display is expensive. Mature digital HDTV and IP technologies are showing up in the new digital age (Ref. 1, 2) but HDTV development remains plex issue. Economic and other factors are discussed to unveil this hitherto puzzling development.
HDTV Development, Today
HDTV progress is described elsewhere; it is relevant to have a brief look at the current status. Table 1 is based on readily available data eg from ; they may need verification. Currently 3 HDTV/ DTT transmission systems exist: ATSC of USA, DVB-T of Europe and ISDB-T of Japan. For production, formats are well established, eg 1080/50i, 720/50p etc.; modern facilities cater for selectable formats and a low-cost format, HDV, in 1080i or 720p, has emerged. This format, akin to DV in the SDTV world, is performance-limited (8-bit, 4:2:0) but it could help less-endowed broadcasters. Many Asia-Pacific countries are lagging behind; millions of people are still watching B/W television. Could HDTV b