The War For Eyeballs: Communiques From The Front
Communique 1
Roger B. Wyatt


A HDTV Studio Camera: Big Bertha of the Eyeball war

Communique 1: The Guns of November

Ever since Comdex 96, the techno-guns have been firing all across the front. The proceeding months have seen a barrage of announcements, rollouts, standards implementations, pronouncementos, and pontifications, all mixed in among genuine technological advances. Does anyone know whether emissions of hot air are banned by the new chemical weapons treaty?

As most Tech-heads will recall, Andrew Grove, the dapper CEO of Intel, moved the entire tekworld to Defcon 4 when he declared that "We are in a war for eyeballs with television." Digital technology has now become a combat zone. Click here for the Comdex report.

Dapper Andy goes for the eyeballs.

This brash declaration has brought four high-tech industries into the fray. Broadcasting, computing, telecommunications, and consumer electronics are now going mano a mano.

CES 97: The Counter-offensive in the War for Eyeballs

The Winter Consumer Electronics Show (CES) is the annual January confab of the consumer electronics industry. I should say industries. That's because everyone including automobile subwoofer installers from New Jersey to TV set makers from Korea show up at this thing. While not as large as Comdex, CES is just as important. A consumer trade show reveals a snapshot of the present in terms of where the broad mass of middle user technology adopters are. At least one can see where the consumer electronics industry thinks they are. Technologies that a broad spectrum of non-specialist users can both own and use are on display.

Any city that names a street after Howard Hughes has got to be in another reality. Do they read James Ellroy there?

There are no blackout curtains to be seen anywhere in Vegas. Odd, after all consumer electronics is one of the industries that Andrew Grove, primo techno-mullah, aimed his jihad at. Television sets and vcrs attract a lot of those eyeballs Andy is after. I came here looking for the consumer electronic counter-offensive. I found it.

DVD. A year ago that stood for Digital Video Disk. Today it stands for Digital Versatile Disk. Clearly the marketeers have taken charge. Actually both terms are correct in that they describe several meaningful attributes of this new technology.

As Digital Video Disk, DVD is the next iteration of the Videodisc, that late seventies to early eighties interactive video on a laser platform technology, that hung on but never caught on. Anybody out there remember Discovision? Where are my white linen bell bottoms anyway?

With 4.7 gigabytes of data storage DVD has more than enough room for putting a feature film completely on one disk. At 133 minutes (2 hours and 13 minutes) running time it is possible to put a feature film completely on one side. That solves a major problem with videodiscs. While they are a high resolution medium (under the old NTSC standard, that is.), a fully interactive CAV (Constant Angular Velocity) video disc contains only thirty minutes running time. But DVD goes beyond solving old problems with old media. A film on DVD could have multiple versions, PG, R, and Director's Cut versions of the same title along with 8 soundtracks and 32 subtitle tracks as well. When playing, DVD would display only the version that the viewer called for. soundtracks and subtitles mean a film on DVD could be released with up to 40 languages. Hello Global Information Economy.

Material original to DVD could have divergent branching for non-linear storytelling. DVDs could contain interactive films. The public never really understood videodisc interactivity in the early eighties, hence the triumph of videotape. Perhaps after over a decade of computer games like Myst, they might well be ready for what videodisc promised long ago. For that matter a film and the game of the film could be on the same DVD. The potential for marketing strategy based on value added attributes is quite high.

As Digital Versatile Disk, DVD takes on additional attributes. Over the next few years, but starting now, DVD Video, DVD-ROM, DVD Recordable, and DVD Audio all will be coming to market. The same underlying technology will be repurposed for different uses. DVD Video players are starting to appear. They utilize MPEG-2 video compression and Dolby AC-3 audio just like HDTV. For now though it will have 500 lines of resolution like videodisc. HDTV resolution is in the future. There are aspect ratios in DVD. For example, 4:3 which is approximately the current NTSC specification, 16:9 which is HDTV compatible, and 2:1 which is in between Cinemascope and Theatrical Widescreen of contemporary motion pictures. It's also interesting that HDTV also has a variable aspect ratio standard. Goodbye pan and scan mutilation of films on video and hello film purist's delight.

DVD-Video is being launched in the US now.

DVD-Video players are positioned to be the replacement technology for VHS. This is good news for video collectors and video renters. There is no tape to stretch. No vcr will take a bite out of a DVD disk. DVDs will take up less storage space on a shelf. It is cheaper to stamp out discs than it is to dub tapes. All of this is such good news to rental video houses. Blockbuster comes to mind. Might they give away the players? With an initial sale price of $500, the street price of DVD players is expected to drop to $250 for a basic model within a year after release. Good news for viewers.

DVD solves the dirty secret of videotape. Preservation. Video cassettes have at best a fifty, maybe at best a seventy year lifespan. In time, the glue binding the magnetic oxide to the plastic backing dries out and a tape full of memories becomes a pile of oxide signifying nothing. This is true of all tape regardless of format or brand. Dust to dust, they say. DVD like all laser oriented optical media (CDs, Videodiscs, CD-ROMs) has an estimated life span of at least 400 years. Clearly DVD will be a lifeboat technology that will save a lot of videotape based images and sounds.

With DVD around, VHS has become the DOS of video.

The DVD Licenser Consortium, the ten companies that contributed to the standard, have defined four DVD variations. Here's the deal. DVD-5 contains 4.7 gigs in a single-side single-layer structure. DVD-9 contains 8.5 gigs in a single-side dual-layer structure. DVD-10 contains 9.4 gigs in a dual-side single-layer structure. DVD-17 contains 17 gigs in a dual-side dual-layer structure. It's DVD-5 (DVD-Video) that is currently being released. DVD 9 (DVD-ROM) is also getting ready for an airdrop into the marketplace. Dual-layer refers to the technique of inserting a layer of data at some point below the surface of the disk. As the laser beam can focus, it can read data on the surface of the disc, refocus and continue reading data below the surface. Now we have digital palimsets. Cool. One way to think of this standard is that its extensible and very flexible. Another way to think about it is that its a marriage of convenience, providing a veneer of respectability for its partners to do whatever they want. Its very aristocratic from this perspective, rather Continental in its way.

That 9.4 gig storage capacity, or any of the other specifications for that matter, have not gone unnoticed by those who make CD-ROMs. DVD has the storage capacity of 13 CD-ROMs. Very rich and media dense information products will be produced for DVD. Expect DVD-ROM drives in the near now. Recordable DVD-ROMS will extend desktop storage capacities greatly. Digital Cinema makers will have grand opportunities for high resolution desktop filmmaking with recordable DVDs. Look for them in the same timeframe as DVD-ROMs. Cheap Mpeg-2 encoders are coming. Next