Industry HDTV encryption scheme ludicrous
MPAA’s proposal to limit reproduction of broadcasts takes away common amenity

High-Definition Television (HDTV) has been a subject among home theater buffs and broadcasters for several years now. The promise of HDTV is that it will produce near life-like images that will make the current standard television broadcasts seem unbearable.

However, the technology has yet to become mainstream, with only 600,000 digital television sets and monitors being sold last year. It seems that there are numerous obstacles facing the reality of HDTV becoming commonplace in our homes.

First and foremost, the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) is petitioning HDTV manufacturers and television broadcasters to adopt a new policy of making all future HDTV broadcasts encrypted in order to prevent anyone from being able to copy them.

Actually, the MPAA’s encryption plan would allow the average consumer to record HDTV broadcasts, but only at a limited resolution of 600 vertical lines.

To give you an idea of what this means, standard televisions can produce an image with 480 vertical lines. On the other hand, HDTVs have the capability to generate much greater resolutions, like 1,080 vertical lines, that allow for extremely detailed and beautiful television images.

The MPAA’s plan means that anytime you wish to record an HDTV program the way you would any other television show now, you would never be able to obtain the picture quality of the original broadcast.

While encryption sounds reasonable to protect copyrighted material, it is completely ludicrous to establish encryption schemes in the way the MPAA has suggested.

How dare the MPAA prevent anyone from recording his or her favorite TV show in the way it was originally televised?

For crying out loud, consumers do not want a state-of-the-art television that does not offer the capability of being properly recorded; program recording has been one of the most simplistic amenities of television broadcasting for over two decades.

Furthermore, the MPAA’s proposal would not solely apply to HDTV content. Instead, the MPAA wants any device that can produce a digital signal (i.e.; DVD players, satellite receivers) to also feature the same sort of anti-copying protection.

I can understand that the MPAA is looking from the point of view that argues that artists and studios could lose a substantial amount of profit if anyone can make near-perfect quality copies of what is being put on the air. Basically, the MPAA is trying to prevent a situation like what has developed between recording studios and MP3s.

On the contrary, just as album sales are not in any danger of falling because of MP3s, the same effect (or lack thereof) applies to recorded HDTV content.

Besides, even though HDTVs are in less than 5 percent of homes right now, the method proposed to encrypt digital signals, known as the HDCP chip, would render all current HDTVs obsolete, not to mention the DVD players and satellite receivers that many of us already own.

That means that anyone who has already shelled out their hard-earned cash to buy an HDTV or even a DVD player would have a worthless product on their hands.

The MPAA has been widely known for their inept and ridiculous ratings system, and now their reprehensible HDTV scheme only solidifies the fact that the MPAA must finally be put in their place.

HDTV, though, has a lot more to worry about than asinine copyright protection. It seems that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has yet to finalize the digital broadcast standard.

As such, some broadcasters are hoping to capitalize on the uncharted HDTV frontier and recoup some of the tens of millions of dollars it is costing them to switch their equipment over to generate a digital television signal.

Since most new HDTVs are made with a widescreen aspect ratio, sometimes called 16 by 9, a traditional television signal (480 vertical lines) would appear as a square image with grey or black bars on each side (similar to the way a letterboxed film appears with black bars on the top and bottom).

These conniving broadcasters are hoping to transmit a standard television signal and fill up those sidebars with advertisements and so-called “interactive content.” I don’t know about you, but I for one I would certainly not want to watch TV with tons of advertisements bombarding me, beyond the normal set of commercials (which are bad enough).

Last but not least, the fact remains that many television networks are remaining skittish on broadcasting HDTV content, with CBS being the only major network to have most of its primetime lineup available in HDTV.

It’s hard to convince consumers to buy a set costing several thousand dollars when there are only a handful of programs that an HDTV viewer could see .

Thankfully, this last hindrance may change as FCC Chairman William Kennard has been trying to force all broadcasters to switch over to digital signals and give up their analog channels no later than 2006.

If Kennard gets his way, it would make HDTV prices drop and exponentially increase the amount of HDTV programming available.

The hurdles surrounding HDTV acceptance are a formidable challenge. On the other hand, if these problems can be dealt with, HDTV will really revolutionize the way we think of television.

If you want to effect some change and stop the MPAA’s encryption plan, along with preventing broadcasters from filling future programs with unwanted advertisements, express your concerns to Chairman Kennard at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), 445 12th Street SW, Washington, DC 20554, or email him at bkennard@fcc.gov.

Robert Davis is a senior computer science major from Garland.
He can be reached at (rddavis@student.tcu.edu).

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