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The European Commission (EC) now is actively promoting HD-MAC as a world
standard. Last November, it allocated ECU 45 million to a Brussels consortium,
European Company for the Research and Promotion of HDTV (ECRP), to be set up in
July 1989 in conjunction with 30 European manufacturers. ECRP will promote HD-MAC
as a world-class standard to the CCIR (International Radio Consultative Committee)
and, more specifically, to those East European countries that presently use SECAM.
European consumer manufacturers will benefit from other EC-related programs such as
Megaproject with its 4- and 16-Mbit DRAMs and Jessi with its submicron processes and
related CAD tools for DSPs and ASICs.
The Commission's central argument for not accepting the 60Hz MUSE transmission
standard in Europe is that the standard is incompatible with current 50Hz PAL and
SECAM standards. It argues that accepting MUSE would require huge investments
simultaneously from three parties:
• Program makers would be required to purchase new MUSE recording and
editing equipment.
• Broadcasters would need to invest in new transmission equipment.
• Consumers would need to purchase a new receiver to watch MUSE HDTV
broadcasts. Consumers also would need to own another PAL, SECAM, or MAC
receiver to access the many non-MUSE broadcasts.
THE SPIN-OFFS
To appreciate the full impact that HDTV will bring, it is necessary to identify the
many other applications that will benefit from HDTV innovations in signal processing, IC,
and display technologies. They include the following:
Video recorders (professional and consumer)
Still and motion video cameras (professional and consumer)
Video disk players (consumer)
Computer displays (industrial, consumer, and military)
Image processing engines (industrial and military)
These secondary markets will be strongly synchronized with the emergence of reasonably
priced HDTV receivers, and each is likely to equal the receiver market in size.
ESAM Newsletter © 1989 Dataquest Incorporated February