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Old 11-28-2017, 10:28 PM
centralradio centralradio is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jeffhs View Post
The system has been "fixed" already, and the so-called fix was a disaster, IMHO. Whatever was or was not done to AM or FM radio today doesn't matter in the least to me, as I don't listen to radio much anymore. In my area near Cleveland, all anyone can hear from one end of the radio dial to the other is noise. That is, I get plenty of stations, but their idea of music isn't mine.

The stations also carry more commercials than I think they need to, a problem we didn't have 30-40+ years ago when there were definite, strict regulations as to how many commercials any radio or TV station could run in any given hour. When the FCC did away with those rules in the '80s, the stations were (and are, to this day) free to run as many commercials as they want or feel they need. There is at least one FM station in Cleveland that runs commercials and even infomercials (!) all night long, from midnight Saturday until about six o'clock Sunday morning. This has been going on at that station, and most others in this area (including TV stations), for quite some time; this is also why TV stations no longer sign off at 2-3 a.m. local time as they once did.

As to HD (digital) AM and FM radio, I don't know who actually listens to those stations, as there aren't that many radios (except perhaps car stereo systems) that can receive these HD stations anyway. I have a feeling that HD radio will eventually die a quiet death, as did quadraphonic (four-channel) stereo sound broadcasting. There is such a thing as 5.1-channel stereo (CBS-TV is now or was using this system a few years ago, while NBC and ABC may or may not be currently transmitting their programs' audio in MTS stereo; I remember NBC's MTS stereo system, begun in 1986 or so, in which the beginning of every show the network telecast in stereo sound had a disclaimer on the screen: "In ((stereo)) where available", but most MTS stereo TV sound is just that, stereo sound broadcast from TV stations and received, for the most part, over TVs with small transistor-radio speakers, either at both sides of the LCD panel or, as in my own flat-screen set, mounted so that the speakers talk to the shelf or stand the TV is mounted on, not to the viewer.

My point is that four-channel stereo was a flop, as will be HD radio if it survives long enough. I agree that if the system (in this case, the ATSC television standard) isn't broken no one has any right to fix it, but the TV industry has been constantly trying to "reinvent the wheel" for years in the name of making more money (!), a practice that eventually will reach a point of diminishing or even no returns; after all, there is just so much anyone (or any group) can do with TV signals. HDTV itself isn't bad, as it provides viewers with sharper, clearer pictures (shaped like the original broadcast picture, as all HDTVs have square screens) than NTSC analog could ever have delivered, not to mention more channels; however, as I said, I feel eventually the industry is going to run out of ideas, as there is only so much anyone (or any organization, industry, etc.) can do to improve anything. I once read a pie-in-the-sky prediction (I don't remember where) that a system or systems are currently being researched that may eventually enable humans to watch television in their eyes (!), of all places.

I am all for improvements if they will actually make our ATSC TV system better than it is now, but as far as improvements simply for the sake of improvements are concerned, no. I was against HDTV at first, as I do not adjust well to change; however, when I saw how much better my TV picture was on a flat screen, I changed my tune in a hurry and bought a 19-inch flat-screen TV in 2011. I did not care at first for ATSC 3.0; I eventually realized, however, that it will only affect OTA TV reception, not cable, satellite or streaming video (the last being how I watch TV these days). I don't want another converter box on my TV (my Roku player, with the Spectrum TV app, is plenty good enough for me and is, along with DVDs, how I watch TV, now and in the foreseeable future), not to mention an extra charge on my cable bill. I sometimes wish I could do away with my cable account altogether (which would save me quite a bit), but if I did, the Spectrum app on my Roku would no longer receive local TV channels--another not-so-subtle money grab by Spectrum (formerly Time Warner Cable). The company recently converted all its cable systems in this area to full digital, requiring a cable box or streaming-video box to receive anything; yup, you guessed it, yet another cash grab. I would go back to using an OTA antenna were it not for a pesky reception problem I have here; fortunately, my Roku player has solved this problem, and the results are so pleasing I haven't looked back.
Thank you Jeff for the great post.I understand what you are saying.
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