As the U.S. production and broadcasting infrastructure begins the change from NTSC to DTV, the immensity of implications, from shot lists to cable TV set-top-box pricing, is just beginning to be felt. Due to the high stakes and major investments required, those players out on the cutting edge are moving slowly to make sure that the DTV boom doesn't turn into a boondoggle.

According to Lynn Claudy, the NAB's senior VP, science and technology, 26 commercial television stations make up a group called the "Early DTV Implementers." Part of their pact is an agreement to file progress reports with the FCC every six months, allowing the commission to keep up with the stations' progress and difficulties.

Included in the list are; WCBS, WNBC (New York), KABC, KNBC, KTLA (L.A.), WMAQ (Chicago), KYW, WCAU, WPVI, WTXF (Philadelphia), KGO, KPIK, KRON (S.F./Oakland), WCVB, WMUR (Boston), WJLA, WRC, WUSA (Washington, DC), KDFW, KXAS, WFAA (Dallas-Ft. Worth), WJBK, WWJ, WXYZ (Detroit), and WSB and WXIA (Atlanta). These stations have pledged to be broadcasting digitally by November, 1998.

In the most recent progress report, some stations indicated troubles getting new or modified towers approved. The report also indicated that only seven of the 26 stations had ordered their transmitters. There was also concern about final DTV channel assignments. A synopsis of that report published by the NAB indicates that the Broadcaster's Caucus (APTS, ALTV, MSTV, NAB, ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC, PBS, Chris Craft and Tribune) recently completed an improved channel allocation plan. Adjacent channel interference among DTV stations, particularly in the Northeast, Great Lakes, and southern California, was cited as the basis for the concern.

Claudy says the FCC build-out plan calls for ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox affiliates in the top 10 markets to be on the air by Spring 1999. By November 1, 1999, the four network affiliate stations in the top 30 markets have to be broadcasting digitally.

"There are no restrictions on the number of program streams, just one free program of equivalent or better quality than the current analog service," says Claudy. "And, there's nothing that says they have to be transmitting an HD signal. It just has to be digital. That means broadcasters could encode and broadcast their NTSC-produced programming. We expect a big roll-out of DTV encoders. Since HDTV service has been in Japan since 1991, we expect a lot of that equipment will be made compatible for this country and shown at NAB '98. It should look quite good because Japanese equipment is entering its fourth stage of evolution."

Tom Beauchamp, chief engineer at WRAL-HD and WRAL-TV in Raleigh, North Carolina, is part of a six-person team dedicated to making DTV, and HDTV, a reality. "We are the first station in the nation to broadcast a digital transmission. That was July 23, 1996. Programming started July 25, 1996, at 3 p.m., and we are still on an experimental license. We've sent 1,400 pages of field test data to the FCC. We have a 90 percent success rate 65 miles out with 100KW side-mounted Andrew ALP Series antenna at 1,736 feet on channel 32. The digital signal is much more robust than the analog NTSC signal, and the digital receivers are better."

WRAL-HD is using a Harris Sigma transmitter, a Mitsubishi MH-1000 digital encoder that converts the HD signal to the ATSC standard, Panasonic D-5 HD tape machines, and Dolby AC-3 encoders for audio. Studio Cameras are JVC KH-100 HD that will soon be updated to 1080i. They use a Snell & Wilcox upconverter and also play D-5 HD to air. Beauchamp uses an Artel 360mbps digital fiber-optic radio system to make the 12-mile trip between their studios and transmitter site.

Not content to stay at home, WRAL broadcast the first HD ACC football game. "We transmitted it by satellite, received it at our tower, retransmitted it on HD channel 32, then used a Zenith demodulator, put it through the decoder and output it on Panasonic and JVC HD monitors for the fans at the stadium to view," says Beauchamp.

"We broadcast a concert in the park with eight HD cameras on Labor Day, 1997, Durham Bulls Class A baseball games, and children's programs. We took the HD Visions production truck to Raleigh and taped the Woodwright show and a cooking show for North Carolina PBS. We're on the air 10 hours a day-longer during tests."

Beauchamp says the station is committed to 16:9 (1080i) HD and the changes it's required. "We've found we need a little more light than with existing cameras. All of the 'sins' of the anchor's desks are shown vividly on HD. In football, end zone shots are wonderful. There's six times more data in the picture than SDTV. The more you look at it the more you see and appreciate the depth of field and life-like pictures. People say its almost like 3-D."

Beauchamp suggests videographers and producers keep an open mind when setting up shots. "Look for ways to use the 16:9 aspect ratio and increased resolution. Position cameras where you never thought before. Our experience with baseball games has taught us that you don't want to pan HD cameras. Instead, it's better to set them up and let the action come into view. Otherwise, you'll need a seatbelt on you're recliner and an airsick bag.Duke University is getting grants to study this problem, what the limits are and how people will deal with it."

One of WRAL-HD's latest projects is an HD edit suite. "We're using a Panasonic AV-HS1200, 10-input switcher with built-in DVE, four Panasonic D-5 HD machines and Panasonic AJ-HD2000 standalone HD video cassette recorder/players. We're still working on which video editor and the audio. The audio transmission spec for HDTV calls for five channels of 5-20kHz audio. Most videotape machines only have four channels. The industry is still working on that."

KOMO in Seattle is another fast starter, laying claim to the title of third station in the country to launch digital HDTV transmission. KOMO's HDTV transmission uses a Larcan Landmark Series digital transmitter, Dielectric Communications antenna and Zenith digital modulation, demodulation, and decoding equipment. Pat Holland is VP and director of engineering.

"We're waiting for the FCC to act on our application for an HDTV license. Since we're close to the Canadian border, we're also subject to cross border problems. We originally applied for channels 30, 43 and 47, but ended up on channel 38. We are reinforcing our tower to handle the load of the new antenna. The Larcan transmitter will be delivered by late December '97 and we expect to have it at full power early in '98, right after FCC approval."

Like WRAL-HD, KOMO plans to transmit a single stream of fully compliant HDTV. "We don't expect to see HD production equipment available for a while in broadcast. Most stations will be looking at transitional equipment that converts NTSC to digital. Most of the manufacturers are being very quiet about what they've got, saying they will lift the veil at NAB '98. The cameras we've seen are close, but they're not the Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC) standard except for their scanning format. In the interim we'll be transmitting some sort of digitized NTSC."

Holland expects the networks to provide the mainstay HD programming. "The networks are proposing to provide HD video by the middle to the Fall of '98. I expect they'll do something in prime time."

John Duggin, president and CEO of Digital Systems Technology, a systems integration company, has almost completed the DTV work at KITV, a Hearst/Argyle ABC affiliate in Hawaii, and will soon begin work at Hearst/Argyle's WLWT in Cincinnati. "They've built a totally new facility at One Archer Plaza in Hawaii. They were going to rebuild the Hawaii facility anyway, so in '96 they decided to make it a digital plant. The cost was in excess of $5 million for the audio and video systems. With TV news and an all-digital facility you're looking at $4.5-$5.5 million, plus transmitter and antennas for mid-sized markets. Up that 25 percent for top 20 markets."

"Even though it wasn't a top 10 market, Argyle wanted to go first drawer all the way," says Duggin. "They hiccuped on the new Philips LDK20 digital cameras. Those are about $175,000 with glass [lens]. They stayed with their original cameras because they weren't that old. I'm assuming by the time they get on the air, the digital cameras may be back on the list."

Although there's a lot of analog HD equipment, he says finding digital HD is not easy. "We have a Snell & Wilcox HD5100 upconverter that takes serial digital 601 up to Digital 16:9. We put in JVC Digital-S tape decks, and they're using a Philips Media Pool for a central server. They also put in a Philips Diamond digital production switcher, Venus digital router and a Philips Saturn digital switcher in master control Philips also has TokenMux: a real-time program encoder and transport stream multiplexer that can handle one stream of video and Dolby stereo. They've been using Tektronix's digital test equipment." The station is keeping their audio in the analog domain with Neve 55S consoles, and encoding it before broadcast.

Duggin says KITV bought a Larcan transmitter direct and two smaller water-cooled Itelco (Italian Telephone Company) transmitters to cover the smaller outward islands. To keep the project on schedule, Duggin's firm did much of the preliminary work off-site and flew it in on a 747. "That alone can save the customer maybe 50 percent. If we had waited for KITV to finish with their new building, we would have been six months behind schedule. They signed off on it here last August. We'll be on-site two or three months maximum, and they will be broadcasting in full digital HD."

At Tape House Editorial in New York, VP and Spirit DataCine director John Dowdell is already heavily involved with creating HD programming to fill the digital HD programming funnel. "We have the only Philips Spirit telecine that can scan at 2K lines for 525 or HD (1920 x 1080). We gave a demo at the last SMPTE meeting. We record to the Panasonic D-5 HD, which uses 5:1 JPEG compression. We've built an edit room using three Panasonic D-5 HD decks and a Panasonic AV-HD1200 HD switcher. CBS is the only other facility to have one of those right now. It's totally digital in the true HD system with built-in DVE for page turns, blow ups, etc. We can feed and edit full-resolution HD. Barry Rebo Associates lent us their Rebo Store for HD type and graphics."

Dowdell says some of their HD work has been for the ATSC. "We prepared the HD presentation they used at the last NAB and subsequently around the world. That was graphics and a film-to-tape transfer of The English Patient. We've also done several projects for Kodak to show how great their film looks in HD and some seminars for the ANA (Association of National Advertisers) to show how beautiful everything looks." Other editorial clients have included New Line Cinema for Robert Altman's The Player, Nightmare on Elm Street, and a Ninja Turtles title. "They wanted to remaster it for DVD. So we retransferred it to fine NTSC and PAL and did a third pass in HD to D-5. For HBO we transferred some Gotti footage. HBO expects to be broadcasting HD by this Fall." Dowdell says the offline work is done on Avids, and those EDLs are used in the digital HD edits.

In response to CBS experiments with super 16 transfers to HD, he notes, "I hear CBS didn't like the way it looked, but they didn't use a Spirit. Super 16 transfers beautifully on the Spirit because of the superior optical system which captures at 2K. You might see a little grain structure, but the Spirit is the only way to capture it correctly. We saw a 35mm broadcast of The English Patient intercut with Kodak elements and it looked superb broadcast 40:1 on a 16 x 9-foot screen. Now we're working with PBS and Kodak to find out what super 16 looks like on the air after D-5 with its lossless compression and MPEG-2 with its 40:1 compression."

ATSC executive director Craig Tanner says the production and postproduction communities can plan on shooting film at 24 or 30 fps. "Since there presently isn't a 1920 x 1080 camera, you can shoot on film and transfer to tape at 1920 x 1080, knowing that it will be progressive scan. Production companies who have been getting an economical ride with super 16 will have to pull up to 35mm because the present super 16 film stock doesn't measure up to 1280 x 720. For those shops, that means retooling to 35mm with its higher production costs or stepping up to the plate for new gear like the Sony HD camera."

According to Tanner, the three present delivery formats are: a version of Panasonic's 10-bit D-5 with 2-3:1 compression deliverable as a cassette, Sony's HDD1000 uncompressed reel-to-reel, and Toshiba's D6 uncompressed cassette. Tanner's advice for the production community is to shoot HD and downconvert as needed. "Snell & Wilcox and other manufacturers now have boxes that will take 1920 x 1080 and convert it down to 1280 x 720 and 704 x 480 progressive or interlaced."

Equipment manufacturers appear to be the big winners in the race. Harris' Neal Stein notes. "In July '97, a Harris transmitter became the first in the United States to broadcast commercial digital television signals. We have WETA, WHD at the Washington DC NBC affiliate and the DC Tribune station. We have a contract to supply all Tribune Stations. Of the seven experimental stations [KCTS, Oregon PBS, WHD, WETA, WCBS NY, WRAL] six are using Harris transmitters."

ACME, a station group holding company consisting of The Warner Bros. Television network affiliates, will use Comark to provide its HDTV upgrades. ACME has already placed firm orders for transmitter systems at KWBP-TV in Salem, Oregon, and KZAR-TV 16 in Provo, Utah. Comark says they'll also be supplying digital build-outs for Fox, Jefferson Pilot, LeSea, LIN, NBC, Paxson, Shockley, Sinclair and WGBH/Boston-with commitments for more than 150 TV transmitters. Any way you look at it, NAB '98 will be quite a show.