Digital Media

The rise of 3D technology for movies and television will force a change in how directors tell stories.

Say good-bye to gut-wrenching drops off cliffs and swoops through asteroid fields to call attention to 3D effects. Be prepared for directors to use slower pans, less cutting, and more deliberate camera moves to blend the technology into the story. These new 3D movies may look boring in 2D, but they'll end up feeling more engaging when seen in three dimensions.

"Unfortunately, the history of 3D is bad 3D," says Sandy Climan, CEO of 3ality, a company that makes, as he calls it, "end-to-end technologies from image capture to processing" for three-dimensional entertainment. The technology hasn't been up to snuff until recently, he says. He claims his company's tech is leagues better, naturally. But the art hasn't advanced, either, and no amount of technology can fix that. Directors need new rules.

The film, 'Up,' was released in 3D as well as 2D.

(Credit: Pixar Animation Studios)

I talked with Climan about the changes coming to cinematography and television in the move to 3D, as well as to Didier Debons and Isabelle de Montagu, CEO and business development manager of 3DTV Solutions, which makes 3D video recording products, and Tuyen Pham, CEO of A-volute, a 3D audio encoding company. The short takeaway: if you're in the video or entertainment business, forget what you know about directing and editing. 3D changes everything.

Think 3D is a gimmick and that professional cinematographers and television directors don't take it seriously? Financials, Climan says, dispute this. 3D films in 3D theaters gross two to five times what the 2D versions of those films do. Commercials in 3D yield better recall rates. And it's not just the novelty factor, Climan says. If so, the trend would have faded. Grosses for 3D films are growing.

"The family movie business has largely moved to 3D," Climan continues, pointing to films like "Journey to the Center of the Earth," "Coraline," and "Up"--the last two having being taken far more seriously than standard 3D matinee fare. On the grownup front, Climan says that for sports and concerts, there's nothing like the 3D movie or TV experience. The upcoming James Cameron film, "Avatar" is a 3D production and is expected to be a watershed for mainstream 3D entertainment.

For now, the growth of 3D looks inevitable. The next step for the medium, after family films and fantastic blockbusters, is for 3D to move into independent and artisan films. Climan thinks the technology is becoming straightforward enough to make that likely.

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Congratulations! You've successfully made the switch from analog to digital TV. So is it good-bye to rabbit ears? Not quite!

Retro TV antennas may not bring in a perfect picture, but they can bring back some great memories.

(Credit: CBS)

Whatever your view of television, be it couch potato casual or flat-screen fanatic, Friday was a special occasion. And even if you didn't give it the kind of warm reception some Chicago students did on Friday night, complete with champagne toasts, you knew it was the end of an era, if for no other reason than all those incessant reminders we've been giving you, like "The Big Switch From Analog To Digital TV" or "Flipping The Switch To Digital TV".

In these days of cable and satellite, you probably thought it was time for a requiem for the old rabbit ears. Not so fast.

"The antenna is alive and well," said Michael Godar, who runs one of the nation's few handmade antenna companies out of a TV repair shop in Gilbert, Ariz.

And he says that, even at the dawn of the Digital Age, there's plenty of life in that old antenna.

"There was almost a sport (in) adjusting your antenna on your TV," Sieberg said.

"Oh yeah, battling it--you know, especially when you had a remote control," Godar laughed. "You'd change the channel and then get up, adjust the antenna!"

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Are you ready to go digital? Almost 3 million American homes may not be...yet.

Friday is the deadline for the country's move from analog to digital TV. At that point, most analog signals will be shut off. But 2.8 million homes still lack the necessary equipment to receive digital transmissions, says a report released Wednesday by Nielsen.

The number of homes not ready for DTV represents 2.5 percent of the TV market. The report notes that younger, African American, and Hispanic households are disproportionately unready, while the elderly are the most ready.

Geographically, the greatest number of unprepared homes are in the Western U.S., where cable isn't as prevalent as in other parts of the country, says Nielsen. The highest number of ready viewers are in the Eastern U.S.

The digital switchover was originally set for February. But with too many people still unprepared, the government delayed the move. Without a digital TV, cable or satellite connection, or a converter box, viewers won't be able to tune into their favorite shows.

Nielsen is optimistic, though, noting that the delay from February to June gave more people time to get ready. And those still not prepared are expected to catch up.

"Since February, when the U.S. government postponed the transition for three months, the number of households that are completely unready has been cut in half - from 5.8 million to 2.8 million homes," said Sara Erichson, president of media client services at Nielsen. "Given the importance that television plays in the day-to-day life of most people, we expect that the most of the remaining unready homes will take the necessary steps to get ready once the stations make the final switch to digital transmission. We will continue to follow this trend closely."

From the government's end, the Federal Communications Commission expects some bumps in the road, but is optimistic.

The nationwide transition to digital TV is just 30 days away, and Federal Communications Commission officials are feeling much more positive about the switch than they were leading up to the previous deadline in February.

On Wednesday, the FCC received updates from various agencies helping to prepare for the new June 12 deadline for the switch to digital TV. In addition to adding more money to the converter box coupon program, efforts are already under way to get AmeriCorps volunteers to go into people's homes and help with converter box installation. Clinics have also been set up in hot-spot regions to help educate people about the program and to help them figure out how to install converter boxes and antennas.

Already some 170,000 homes have gone through one of these programs to have their converter boxes installed. The acting chairman of the FCC, Michael Copps, said he is impressed by the coordinated effort that is under way.

"In January I feared about where we were headed with this transition," he said. "But it has turned into an inspiring and enjoyable experience to see how these different agencies can work together. "

While Copps said he believes that Americans are better prepared now for the transition to digital television than they were prior to the February 17 deadline, he said that there will still be some people who will see blank TV screens on June 12, when all TV stations will be broadcasting in digital.

"Even though we are better prepared this time," he said. "There will still be disruptions for some consumers. And candor compels us to inform viewers of these issues."

To deal with the many people who might lose TV signals in June, the FCC has set up 4,000 call centers and is beefing up staffing to answer consumer phone calls. Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein pointed out during the FCC's meeting that only 15 percent of households in the U.S. were affected when some broadcasters transitioned to all digital broadcasts on the original February 17 deadline.

Anticipating complaints
He also anticipates a flood of complaints from consumers who are not prepared for the transition. But he is also optimistic about the progress the agency has made over the past three months.

"We've gotten to the 30-day countdown before," he said. "And I have to say I was a lot more nervous before than I am this time."

In an effort to help identify trouble spots before the hard deadline of June 12, the FCC is planning a soft-test of the digital switch on May 21. On that date, all broadcasters will be asked to switch to digital-only broadcast for a few minutes. People who have older TVs that have not been equipped with a converter box will be able to tell whether they are prepared to receive digital programming.

"This will be like a DTV stress test for consumers," Adelstein said. "Let's hope we do better than the banks did in their stress tests."

Three months ago, 6.5 million households were unprepared for the switch to digital TV, according to research firm Nielsen. At that time Congress voted to delay the transition from February to June. Now it's believed that the number of people who are unprepared for the transition is less than half that number, or roughly 3.5 million households.

Most of these people are either elderly, in a minority group, poor, or living in rural areas. The FCC and other agencies helping with the transition have been targeting these at-risk households to ensure they are prepared.

While most people are now aware of the transition to digital, the problem now is helping people get converter boxes to allow older TVs to receive digital signals and to help install that equipment. Coupons are available under a government program to help pay for converter boxes, which cost $40 to $80. But earlier this year, more than 4 million people were on a waiting list for the coupons after the government ran out of money to fund the program.

With new funding under the $787 billion economic stimulus bill, the backlog is now gone. And the group administering the program says it has enough money to provide the necessary coupons.

Viewers who watch TV via cable or satellite will not need a converter box and won't have to do anything to prepare for the digital transition.

Just last week, President Obama signed the DTV Delay Act into law. But despite appearances, the delay isn't mandatory: about one-third (650-plus) of the nation's TV stations will be pulling the plug on their analog towers by the end of Tuesday. The remaining stations will be taking advantage of the new legislation, transitioning to digital between March 14 and June 12.

Which stations are switching early? An updated document at the FCC's DTV Web site will let you know which (if any) stations are in your area (PDF). Here in New York--as in most large metro areas--no stations are transitioning early. But those of you with antennas in smaller or rural markets may begin to see stations blink out in the next 24 hours, if they haven't already.

Remember: anyone with cable, fiber, or satellite TV service shouldn't see any disruption in service. Likewise, anyone with an antenna attached to their DTV or DTV converter box should be up and running on the digital versions of their local stations. (See a side-by-side comparison of analog and digital broadcasts during New York City's October 2008 analog shut-off test, for example.)

Meanwhile, some analog stations will be running a "night light" service for the next few weeks--basically a public-service announcement confirming that antenna viewers need to get a DTV converter box if they wish to continue receiving the channel. (My take: if the FCC had mandated a more aggressive version of this sort of on-screen reminder months ago, people would've been better informed, and no delay would've been necessary.)

Anyone who still has questions can read the in-depth CNET Guide to the DTV Transition.

Frustrated or confused by the nondelay delay of the DTV switch? Sound off below.

Despite a regulator-approved delay to the nationwide digital TV switchover, more than a third of the nation's TV stations plan to begin broadcasting completely in digital next week.

The Federal Communications Commission on Tuesday released a list of 681 of the nation's 1,800 or so TV stations that plan to make the switch by February 17. TV stations were required to notify the FCC by Monday if they planned to turn off their analog TV signal on February 17.

Earlier this month, the House of Representatives passed a bill that moves the deadline for transitioning TV broadcast from analog to digital from February 17 to June 12. The Senate has also passed a similar bill. President Obama is expected to sign it into law shortly. However, a compromise provision allows broadcasters to transition to all-digital broadcasts early if they get permission from the FCC.

Congress approved the delay out of concern that 20 million people, most of whom are poor, elderly, and living in rural parts of the country, were not prepared for the transition after the government ran out of the $40 coupons it was issuing to help defray the cost of the converter boxes necessary to allow older TVs to get digital signals.

Stations have been preparing to cut off their analog broadcasts for the February 17 deadline for months. Leaving the analog signals on will likely cost them more money as they are required to pay for the additional electricity and facility costs of running multiple transmitters. Most stations have already been airing some programming in digital.

The major broadcast networks, including ABC, CBS, Fox, and NBC/Telemundo, have all agreed that their owned and operated stations would continue to broadcast in analog until the new DTV transition date.

To see which local stations plan to switch on or before February 17, check the list released by the FCC (PDF). The column labeled Nite Lite indicates whether the station plans to keep its analog signal going for 30 days past the February 17 analog cut-off date in order to provide emergency and DTV education information.

Over a quarter of all full-power broadcast TV stations could cut off their analog TV service on or before February 17 even though the official deadline has been extended another four months, according to the Federal Communications Commission.

Already 143 full-power TV stations have terminated broadcasting their analog signal. And another 60 stations have already informed the FCC that they would like to terminate broadcasting in analog before February 17. As of February 2, when acting FCC Chairman Michael Copps sent a letter to Congress urging them to delay the transition, another 276 broadcasters had told the FCC they intended to shut off their analog transmitters on February 17.

If all these TV stations go through with their plans, roughly 27 percent of the 1,796 full-power TV broadcasters in the U.S. will be broadcasting only in digital.

What does this mean for over-the-air TV viewers? Well, the FCC hopes that it won't disrupt TV viewing much. But for consumers who don't have a digital tuner built into their TV or haven't hooked up a digital converter box to their old TV, it could mean that they'll have fewer TV channels to watch.

Earlier this week, the House of Representatives passed a bill that moves the deadline for transitioning TV broadcast from analog to digital from February 17 to June 12. The Senate has also passed a bill pushing the date of the transition back to June 12. President Obama is expected to sign it into law shortly. As part of a compromise to get the bills through Congress, lawmakers added a provision that allows broadcasters to transition to all-digital broadcasts early .

The FCC met Thursday to discuss the process for allowing TV broadcasters to move to all-digital broadcasting early. Broadcasters must inform the FCC by 12 a.m. EST on February 10 if they intend to cut off their analog TV signal. And at that time, the FCC will have a better understanding of how many TV stations will actually go to all-digital broadcasts on or before February 17.

The agency has said it will likely allow most of these broadcasters that would like to transition to all digital early to do so, but Copps said that the agency reserves the right to deny broadcasters from switching early if it doesn't serve the public interest. Specifically, the FCC will try to make sure that in areas where a large number of people are not ready that there are some TV stations still transmitting analog signals until the June 12 deadline. The agency will also make sure that TV stations that are transitioning early are not interfering with other TV broadcasters, using their old analog channels.

TV stations that wish to switch to all-digital transmission on February 17 will have to provide ample notification to the public between now and then, an FCC spokesman said.

Copps has encouraged as many TV stations as possible to continue transmitting analog signals until the new deadline of June 12. The nation's largest broadcasters--ABC, CBS, Fox, and NBC/Telemundo--have all agreed that their owned and operated stations would continue to broadcast in analog until the new DTV transition.

Stations have been preparing to cut off their analog broadcasts for the February 17 deadline for months. Several TV stations throughout the country have tested switching off their analog transmission to make sure they are prepared as well as to make sure viewers are prepared.

TV broadcasters are making the switch to digital to free up valuable wireless spectrum. About 61 percent of all full-power broadcast TV stations are transmitting both analog and digital signals. Leaving the analog signals on until the new deadline of June 12 will cost them more money as they are required to pay for the additional electricity and facility costs of running multiple transmitters.

Congress passed the new legislation to delay the deadline because legislators and consumer advocates are concerned that 20 million people--most of whom are poor, elderly, and living in rural parts of the country--are not prepared for the transition; the government ran out of the $40 coupons it was issuing to help defray the cost of the converter boxes necessary to allow older TVs to get digital signals. There have also been reports that many consumers, who have already gotten converter boxes, are not able to connect them properly to their TVs.

The Federal Communications Commission helped clarify Thursday how it will handle requests from broadcasters to turn off their analog TV signals before the new June 12 deadline.

Acting FCC Chairman Michael Copps said during an open meeting that the agency would carefully evaluate which stations can turn off their analog signals before the June 12 deadline. The FCC will likely allow some stations to make the switch early, but it will try to ensure that not every station in a community makes the switch early, leaving unprepared viewers with no access to over-the-air TV.

"We reserve the right to deny those requests if we find that it would not serve the public interest or if it would frustrate Congress' goal of giving consumers adequate time to prepare," Copps said.

Copps also said during the meeting that the major broadcast networks, including ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC/Telemundo, have all agreed that their owned and operated stations would continue to broadcast in analog until the new DTV transition date of June 12.

Earlier this week, the House of Representatives passed a bill that moves the deadline for transitioning TV broadcast from analog to digital from February 17 to June 12. The Senate has also passed a bill pushing the date of the transition back to June 12. President Obama is expected to sign it into law shortly. As part of a compromise to get the bills through Congress, lawmakers added a provision that allows broadcasters to transition to all-digital broadcasts early if they get permission from the FCC.

Copps said Thursday that TV stations must notify the FCC by Monday February 9, if they plan to turn off their analog TV signal on February 17.

Stations have been preparing to cut off their analog broadcasts for the February 17 deadline for months. Leaving the analog signals on will likely cost them more money as they are required to pay for the additional electricity and facility costs of running multiple transmitters. Most stations have already been airing some programming in digital.

Congress passed the new legislation to delay the deadline, because legislators and consumer advocates were concerned that 20 million people, most of whom are poor, elderly, and living in rural parts of the country, were not prepared for the transition after the government ran out of the $40 coupons it was issuing to help defray the cost of the converter boxes necessary to allow older TVs to get digital signals. There have also been reports that many consumers, who have already gotten converter boxes, are not able to connect them properly to their TVs.

The legislation delays the mandated switchover to all digital broadcasts another four months. Chairman Copps said he hopes that the additional time could be used to improve government outreach to help prepare for the transition.

An additional $650,000 is expected to be granted through the government's economic stimulus bill to complete the funding of the coupon program.

While the delay will give the government and other organizations more time to help prepare consumers, it could also confuse consumers who have already heard of the February 17 deadline. What's more with some broadcasters continuing to broadcast their analog signals and others switching to digital, some consumers could still lose access to some TV stations before they are ready.

National Association of Broadcasters said it will begin airing revised viewer alerts with the new date.

Though DTV converter boxes are stacked up in most electronics stores, there are not enough guaranteed government coupons for them since the funds for the program began to run out.

(Credit: DTV2009.org)

With the scheduled transition to DTV broadcasting fast approaching (slated for February 17), one company is encouraging us to share the wealth. Retrevo's Good Neighbor Coupon Exchange Program links up those who have unused converter box coupons with those who are in need of them.

On Retrevo's DTV site, you simply choose whether you have a coupon to give or if you need one. Enter an e-mail address and a ZIP code and Retrevo will connect people living near each other so they can exchange. (Note: the person you are connected with will have your e-mail address, so consider that ahead of time.)

You can choose to give or receive your coupon through the mail or via an in-person exchange, but the only thing that can change hands is the coupons themselves--no buying or selling allowed.