JAPAN: HDTV CONVERTER DEVELOPED

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP92M00732R000200050006-5
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 28
• Document Creation Date: December 23, 2016
• Document Release Date: March 28, 2014
• Sequence Number: 6
• Publication Date: March 1, 1989
• Content Type: MEMO

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STAT
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FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
OCA 0692-89
1 March 1989
MEMORANDUM FOR: Chief, Liaison and Requirements Branch
FROM:
FBIS/Science and Technology Center
SUBJECT: Japanese high-definition television developments
Attached is the reporting on Japanese high-definition television
developments collected from the English-language Tokyo press from September
1988 to February 1989. It was prepared with an understanding that the
Subcommittee on Telecommunications and Finance of the House Committee on
Commerce and Finance is holding a hearing on this subject-matter on 8-9
March. I thought you might like to send this information to Legislative
Liaison for their possible distribution on the Hill. Comments and questions
may be directed to
FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
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Ac. hi Fvenin2 News I JEV
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? -----
To Improve Quality of TV Pictures
Japan Times
Daily Yomiuri
Japan Economic Journal
Jiji Press
Kyodo Press
EDTV System to Be Tested
Japan's major TV net-
works will soon begin testing
a new broadcasting system
that should significantly im-
prove the quality of TV pic-
tures.
The system, called Extend-
ed Definition TV (EDTV), is
a compromise of sorts be-
tween broadcasters and sup-
porters of a more advanced
and costly system called
High Definition TV (HDTV).
Consumers will have to pur-
chase new TV sets to get the
benefits of EDTV. But unlike
with HDTV, they can contin-
ue to receive EDTV broad-
casts Using their existing
sets, although the picture will
not be improved.
The Japan- Broadcasting
Corp. ( NHK) will use the
EDTV system to transmit 18
still pictures from its head-
quarters in Tokyo to a station
in Tochigi Prefecture, north-
east of Tokyo, at the end of
regular programming on
Sept. 2.
Other commercial net?
-
works will eventualfy con-
duct similar tests, which will
put them one step closer to
the adoption of the EDTV ?
system. If the experiments
are successful, broadcasting
based on the EDTV system
may be launched next sum-
mer, according to officials at
the Ministry of Posts and Tel-
ecommunications. .
The officials said they hope
EDTV will serve as a bridge
to the more Sophisticated
HDTV system, which propo-
nents hope will be widely
used in the early 21st cen-
tury.
. . . -
? Both systems improve pic-
ture quality by increasing the
number of Scanning lines
that make up :a TV image.
Such lines actually occupy
only half the Space on a tele-
vision screen, although. the
.human eye Is tricked into
seeing a full linage.
,? In HDTV, the number of
scanning lines that are
broadcast is doubled. In
EDTV the current number of
scanning lines are broadcast,
although the 'quality of the
transmission is improved
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through the use of new broad-
cast cameras and other
equipment. Special EDTV
sets will store the scanning
lines in a computer chip and
then project those lines on
the screen in between lines
being transmitted from a TV
station, effectively doubling
the number. Of fines.
Although EDTV sets are
initially expected to cost
about twice as much as --
standard sets, they will even-
tually come down in price,
according to proponents. -
There are now a number of.
improved television broad-
cast systems under develop-
ment in Japan, Europe and
the United States. Many
broadcasters in the United
States and Europe are hesi-
tant to embrace NHK's
HDTV, although it is the
most advanced system de-
veloped so far, mainly be-
cause it will require them to
switch from terrestrial to
satellite broadcasts. HDTV
will also make millions of ex-
isting TV sets obsolete.
?Asahi News Service
. ? ?
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(hl)NHK Promotes High-Definition TV with Olympics
(s1)0W1709063588 Tokyo KYODO in English 0540 GMT 17
Sep 88
ftxt)[Text] Tokyo, Sept. 17 KYODO -- Japan Broadcasting
Corp. (NHK) took advantage of the Seoul Olympics to
promote the use of high-definition television sets,
called next-generation television, officials said
Saturday.
High-definition television, dubbed "high vision" in
Japan, provides higher resolution imagery that projects
a more realistic effect than conventional color TV sets.
In a joint effort, NHK and the Ministry of Posts
and Telecommunications, installed high-definition TV
sets at 81 selected locations nationwide to telecast the
16-day Olympic games opened Saturday, the officials
said.
The 81 locations include concourses of major
Japanese Railways (JR) stations, large department stores
and showrooms of consumer electronics appliance makers.
The festive opening ceremonies of the Olympics were
live to the 81 locations from 9:40 A.M. via a
communications satellite.
Except for the opening and closing ceremonies that
will be telecast live, the Olympic games will be
videotaped, then flown back to Japan and edited into TV
programes two to four hours long that will be aired in
Japan, they added.
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Mainichi Daily News
Japan Times
Daily Yomiuri
Japan Economic Journal
Jiji Press
Kyodo Press
Hitachi to Market Extended Definition TV
Hitachi, Ltd. Will market a 33-inch extended definition
(ED) television on Dec. 20, the company has announced. Con-
sumer electronics makers are expecting sales of the TVs to
heat up from the end of this year nearing the start of ED tel-
evision broadcasting scheduled in April next year. The ED
TV will be launched to counter the high definition TV, pro-
MOted by Japan Broadcasting Corp. ED TV can screen con-
ventional TV programs with clearer definition. Hitachi's new
TV, C33-ED1, Will Cost 1450,000 a unit. ,
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Asahi Evening News
Mlainichi Daily News
Japan Times
Daily Yomiuri
Japan Economic Journal
Jiji Press
Kyodo Press
Japan, EC to Discuss fil:41/ Standards
- Japan will have bilateral talks with the European Com-
munity (EC) on setting standards for high-definition TV
(HDTV) in London Thursday. Japan expects difficulty in set-
ting an international standard and intends to convince the
EC that its desire to set a common standard is not for the
purpose of securing Japanese HDTV sales in the world mar-
ket. The EC has been developing an HDTV with a different
? standard and the United States also expects to set their own
standards. The Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications,
Sony and the Japan Broadcasting -Corp. (NHK) will attend
the talks from Japan, and the EC secretariat, representatives
of EC member countries and major electrical appliance mak-
ers, including Philips, Will attend from the EC.
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Asahi Evening News
Mainichi Daily News
Japan Times / rt?
Daily Yomiuri
Japan Economic Journal
Jiji Press
Kyodo Press
P/3
Japan, Europe to seek accord
on high-definition television
LONDON (Kyodo) Japan and
the European Community
agreed Thursday to work out
unified international techni-
cal guidelines for high-defini-
tion television (HDTV), a
Japanese official said.
The accord was reached by
working-level officials from
both sides at the EC's London
office, the official said. The
working-level talks were the
second ones held after a
?
series in Tokyo March 9.
Both sides recognized the
extreme difficulty of working
out unified guidelines. .
The accord came several
weeks after the U.S. Federal
Communications Committee
set technical guidelines for
HDTV_ in Which foreign Sys-
tems would have. to be mod-
ified to be viable in the lucra-
tive U.S. market. ?.
HDTV provides much shar-
per television images than
conventional color_ TV...
The
The HDTV technology prn-
vides -higher picture resolu-
tion than current television.
technology by increasing the
number of lines that comprise
FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
the total image. Japanese
HDTV uses 1,125 lines, up
from the conventional 525
lines.
Japanese companies are
already demonstrating HDTV
technology to the public via
telecasts of the Seoul Olym-
pics over 205 HDTV sets in-
stalled at 81 locations, such as
the concourses of Japan Rail-
way stations.
? The delegates told the EC
Japan plans to initiate public
HDTV broadcasts in two
year's time.
The EC, which has de-
veloped its own HDTV tech-
nology, said it planned to im-
prove its technology. _
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'
UNCLAS 4A
PASS: ATTN BBC MEASHAM/FRANCIS/OFFORD
COPY TO ESG, MOD (2)
(h1)Japan:-HDTY Converter Developed
(s1)0W0410184188 Tokyo KYODO in English 1329 GMT 4 Oct
88
(txt)[Text] Tokyo, Oct. 4 KYODO -- Japan Broadcasting
Corp. (NHK) on Tuesday announced the development of a
converter that enables high-definition TV (HDTV)
programs to be viewed with conventional TVS.
An NHK spokesman said that Sanyo Electric Co. and
Mitsubishi Electric Corp. have cooperated with NHK in
the development of the MUSE/NTSC converter.
NHK has developed an HDTV system using the MUSE
(multiple subnyquist sampling encoding) formula for
transmitting signals. This system is called "Hi-
Vision." NHK made a test HDTV broadcast of the Seoul
Olympics from Sept. 17 to Oct. 3. The corporation plans
to start a full-scale HDTV broadcast two years later,
using a broadcasting satellite, BS-3, to be launched two
years later.
The newly developed converter converts MUSE
signals, to be used in NHK's HDTV broadcast, into NTSC
(U.S. National Television System Committee) signals,
used in conventional U.S., Japanese and other TV
broadcasts, the spokesman said.
He said that one can view a Hi-Vision program by
attaching the converter, a satellite antenna and a tuner
to a conventional TV set. He added, however, that the
quality of the Hi-Vision picture appearing on the screen
of a conventional TV set is naturally no better than
that of conventional TV pictures.
He said that the conventional TV set with a built-
in MUSE/NTSC converter or an independent MSSE/NTSC
converter would probably be marketed.
Sanyo and Mitsubishi are preparing to produce the
LSI circuits of the converter by next spring so that it
can be commercialized later in 1989.
The price of the converter has yet to be
determined, but will probably be in the 10,000-20,000
yen range, according to NHK.
(ENDALL) 041329 PURHAR DISK CG 04/1844Z OCT
BT
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ryz% UJt UNLI
Asahi Evening News
Mainichi Daily News
Japan Times
Daily Yomiuri
7
Japan Economic Economic Journal
Jiji Press
Kyodo Press
Electronics Show Spotlights EDTV
Japan's electronics wiz-
ards showed off extended
definition televisions, cam-
eras that make film obsolete
and other . high-tech -toys
Thursday, the start of
Japan's annual electronics
show.
But visitors will need fat
pocketbooks if they want to
do more than look, because
the high yen has put this
year's high tech beyond the
reach of most..
More
'
More than 400,000 visitors
are expected at the six-day
exhibition which covers ev-
erything electronic from
fuses to flat-screen TVs.
-All eyes were focused on
extended definition televi-
sions (EDTVs) which indus-
try analysts expect to be-
come standard fare in five or
SIX years. ? .
.EDTV receivers are im-
proved versions of digital tel-
evisions marketed the
mid-1980s. These sets exploit
advances in digital ,signal
processing and semiconduc-
tor memory to effectively
double the number of hori-
zontal scan lines.
Unlike the .digital TVs,
hoWever, EDTV sets can also
receive specially encoded
EDTV broadcasts which Ja-.
pan plans to begin some time
in 1989. The new broadcasts,
which will require new studio
equipment, can be seen on
- normal sets without any im-
provement in picture quality.
But the EDTV set dis-
played by Panasonic retails
at a hefty i388,000 ($2,900).
Electronic still cameras
that record images on video
floppy discs instead of film
also attracted throngs at the
show.
These cameras have been
sold for several years, but
have appealed to only a
small, professional audience
because of their high cost and
poor performance compared
to film cameras. Now they
deliver similar 'picture-
quality to that of the conven-
tional television used to dis-
play the image. ,'?
..And their prices are
lower?if still beyond the
weekend photographer's
likely budget. Sony's Mavica
still video camera, among
the cheapest, retails for.
7 169,800 ($525), and the adap-
tor necessary to link the cam-
era to the display TV sells for
Y30,000 ($225).
? ? ?
-
All the major TV makers
also displayed Japan's high
definition Tv (HDTV) sys-
tem known as Hi-Vision, even
more advanced technology
then EDTV. It boasts screen
quality comparable to 35mm
film. But the main emphasis
appears to be on the EDTV.
? "Japan is backing off from
its all-out push for its HDTV
format and putting more em-
phasis on EDTV because the
manufacturers want to get
_things going as soon as pos-
sible," said industry analyst
Darryl Whitten, vice presi-
dent of Prudential-Bache Se-
curities. .
The switch reflects last
month's decision by the U.S.
Federal Communications
Commission to require the
adoption of an HDTV broad-
cast system compatible with
current receivers. The Euro-
pean Community has also
urged a system that would
not render current sets obso-
lete, Whitten said.
Hi-Vision broadcasts, set to
begin in Japan in 1990, would
be received on special sets
only. ' . --Reuter
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Maini chi Daily News
Japan Times
Daily Yomiuri
Japan Economic Journal lib. gEr
Ji j i Press
Kyodo Press
US. stand on HDTV miffs Japan
By Makoto Hirano
NIMCIN KEIZAI SHIMBUN STAFF WRITER
The Ministry of Posts and
Telecommunications (MPT)
and Japan Broadcasting Corp.
(NHK), a public company, are
a bit upset because the U.S.
government came out with an
independent approach on the
adoption of a standard for high-
definition television (HDTV).
At one point, it appeared as
though the U.S. would go for
Hi-Vision, an NHK version of
next-generation TV, unlike the
European Community (EC)
which is clearly going its own
way. However, the Americans
have recently shown interest in
a different system.
Surprising news
On Sept. 2, when MPT and
NHK were busy .preparing to
test the Hi-Vision system during
the Seoul Olympics, a piece of
news arrived from Washington.
The news centered on the
provisional decision of the U.S.
Federal Communications Com-
mission (FCC) stating that the
U.S. prefers a terrestrial-based
HDTV standard to a satellite-
based one and that it required
compatibility of the HDTV sys-
tem with conventional models.
In a press interview on the
same day, Seikichi Sakakibara,
chief of the technology section
of the ministry's broadcast ad-
ministration bureau, suppressed
any sign of surprise.
As he put it, the FCC did not
entirely rule out the possibility
of accepting NHIC.'s proposed
screen of 1,125 scanning lines
and 60 Hz field frequency for
ground studios, while refraining
from talking about the satellite-
based format. Unfortunately,
the Japanese 1,125-line system
does not fit the U.S. interest in
a system compatible with double
the 525 scanning lines of today's
American TV signals.
Compatibility -
Kenji Hod, head of Sony
Corp.'s HD Technology Center,
said the U.S. could well stay
away from the Japanese method.
'Behind the recent
FCC move is the
great commercial
potential of HDTV'
In fact, a leading US. consumer
electronics maker appears ready
to take to 1,050 scanning lines.
At the general meeting of the
Consultative Committee on In-
ternational Radio (CCIR) in
May 1986, the EC refrained
from agreeing to use the Japa-
nese standard. Not surprisingly,
the Japanese showed no interest
in a European system. On the
contrary, for at least two years
the U.S. and Canada apparently
showed some signs of interest in
the Japanese HDTV standards.
America's Society of Motion
Picture and Television Engi-
neers decided to recommend the
Japanese standard. The Amen--
can National Standards Insti-
tute was also about to register it.
"Behind the recent FCC
move is the great commercial
potential of HDTV and related
equipment". said Katsumi Oh-
suga, chief of the ministry's Hi-
Vision promotion office.
"The FCC's recent an-
nouncement naturally reflects
the hopes of American con-
sumer electronics makers to re-
gain lost ground with their own
HDTV system," Ohsuga noted.
At the general meeting of
CCIR scheduled for May 1990,
the standards of HDTV will be
finalized.
The FCC, which has con-
sumer interests in mind, favors
a compatible system so that peo-
ple will not have to buy new sets
to receive the signals. .
With the proposed American
system people could keep their
old sets (with 525 lines) and
receive 1,050-type HDTV sig-
nals, although they would not
obtain the better picture. How-
ever, the Japanese system opts
for everyone buying a new set.
Currently, eleven Japanese
consumer electronics makers are
planning to produce HDTV sets,
with each spending billions of
yen on development efforts.
American supporters
Naturally, Japanese special-
ists who back the NHK system
maintain that Japan's Hi-Vision
system is capable of finding
steady supporters in the U.S.,
including a few Hollywood
movie companies.
The Japanese viewpoint is'
that a single standard of the new
TV system should be adopted so
that hardware and software
makers can thrive. MPT offi-
cials, lobbying hard for the
NIIK system, do not appear to
be discouraged, as they pin great
hopes on further bargaining with
the FCC: The FCC, hoWever,
has no history of bargaining.
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Asahi Evening News
Mainichi Daily News
Japan Times
Daily Yomiuri
Japan Economic Journal, pcj?
Jiji Press 00
Kyodo Press ta3
NEC makes HDTV
breakthrough
NEC Corp. has developed
technology to convert signals
formulated for the proposed
high-definition television system
to those receivable by the system
currently available. The technol-
ogy divides a high-definition im-
age into 12 segments, three rows
and four files, thus being suitable
for a makeshift "large screen"
consisting of 12 cathode ray.
tubes (CRTs).
NEC will commercialize the
system next spring, targeting its
use in industry for exhibitions
and displays, a company spokes-
man said.
(The NIKKEI-M, Sept 28, P9)
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Mainichi Daily News' f?
Japan Times
Daily Yomiuri
Japan Economic Journal
Jiji Press
Kyodo Press
Japan- Determined to Stick With
Its HDTV
BY Fumio lgarashi
Asahi Shimbun Reporter
Developers of Japan's ver-
sion of high-definition video
remain optimistic that their
technology will prevail, and
a nationwide promotion cam-
paign keyed to TV coverage
of the Seoul Olympic Games
is helping brighten that im-
age.
Analysts who follow the
consumer electronics indus-
try see a somewhat darker
picture, however, arguing
that a recent ruling by the
U.S. Federal Communica-
tions Commission (FCC)
makes it less likely that an
international standard on
high-definition television can
become reality.
High-definition TV is in-
tended to provide a video im-
age virtually without distor-
tion or visible lines, with clar-
ity and depth almost on a par
with a motion picture shot
with 35mm. film.
The FCC ruled that any
high-definition video technol-
ogy applied in the United
States must be compatible
with the present broadcast
scanning method, known as
NTSC, and must be able to be
used with over-the-air broad-
cast equipment, rather than
requiring special broad-band
frequencies from satellites.
The Japanese version of
high-definition video, called
Hi-Vision, is not compatible
with any present telecasting
technology, and is intended
primarily for transmission
via satellite.
The method was developed
over the past 18 years in Ja-
pan as a joint project led by
NHK (Japan Broadcasting
Corp.), with participation of
some of Japan's largest
consumer-electronics manu-
facturers, and had been sup-
ported by broadcast engi-
neers and industry experts
worldwide. After consulta-
tions with the American mo-
tion picture industry, the
proportions of the screen for
HDTV, called the aspect ra-
tio, or the relationship of
screen width to screen
height, were modified to
match those of a Vista Vision
motion picture image.
Expo Debut
Hi-Vision was premiered to
the general public in Japan
at the Tsukuba Science Expo
1985, when it was widely her-
alded as the most important
development in video tech-
nology since the transition
from black-and-white TV to
color in the early 19605.
With technical modifica-
tions, the current Hi-Vision
was used for live coverage of
the Seoul Olympiad, beamed
to Japan to be shown on large
screens at department stores
and other high-traffic areas
throughout Japan. Japan
plans to have Hi-Vision
broadcasts on a regular
schedule by mid-1990, by
which time a third telecom-
munications satellite is to be
placed in orbit to provide
coverage for most of the
Japanese archipelago.
FCC Decision a Blow
But some critics say the
FCC decision, coming as it
did just before the Olympics,
was a blow to the medium,
and to NHK's effort to win in-
ternational acceptance of its
technology as the single
standard.
"I think the decision hurt
the NHK project considera-
bly, since it came at such a
time, right before the start of
Olympic broadcasts, said
Sadanobu Aoki, a broadcast
industry critic.
It has not hurt the public
acceptance of Hi-Vision in
Japan, judging from the
crowds which regularly gath-
ered around the displays to
watch daily Olympic high-
lights. Indeed, the industry in
Japan is already applying Hi-
Vision technology for profes-
sional and commercial video
production, to shoot daily
rushes for motion pictures,
and to provide realistic video
images for such special uses
as flight-simulation equip-
ment.
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But the consumer electron-
ics Industry?Japan's most
active manufacturing sector
measured by annual growth
of production value?has
higher goals, eyeing what the
Ministry of Posts and Tele-
communications estimates
as a potential 13.4 trillion (S25
billion), considering the ap-
plications in videodisc play-
ers, VTRs and TV sets.
Unification of standards
would be crucial for the in-
dustry, primarily because
the broadcast technology in-
volves a more complex,
hence expensive, hardware
which must be produced in
quantity to be commercially
viable. The key, in the minds
of industry authorities, engi-
neers and critics alike, is in
controlling that market po-
tential.
"The United States seeks
compatibility with the exist-
ing TV system because it re-
calls the confusion it once ex-
perienced by adopting an in-
compatible system at the
time of the first color tele-
casts," said Aoki. "It is
wrong to push Hi-Vision so
hard without considering
compatibility."
Compatibility would mean
compatibility not only with
the NTSC standard used in
the United States, Japan,
Korea and some other coun-
tries, but also with PAL and
SECAM variants used in
South America, China, South-
east Asia and most of Eu-
rope. The systems vary
slightly in the number of
scanning lines required to
(0
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Asahi Evening News
Mainichi Daily News ?
Japan Times
Daily Yomiuri
Japan Economic Journal
Jiji Press
Kyodo Press
build an image on a televi-
sion screen. NTSC -has 525
lines, while PAL and SECAM
have 625 lines.
European Challenge
A move to counter the Hi-
Vision standardization drive
was initiated by France for
Europe, in effect doubling
the number of scanning lines
of PAL-SECAM in a system
called HD-MAC. The interna-
tional body which approves
broadcast standards has
given the Europeans addi-
tional time to develop its ver-
sion of high-definition video.
For the industry, that means
more waiting to determine
which of several possibilities
might win out in different
markets.
"At this time. I think it's al-
most impossible to unify the
Japanese and European
standards," said Takayasu
Yamazaki,- chief ?of NHK's
New Media Promotion De-
partment. "It is no longer a
question of which is better,
but a fear that Japan would
dominate the world market
agtin if they approve of the
system."
Japan grew to become the
world's largest supplier of
color televisions, a position it
continues to hold. But even in
the United States, which, un-
til three years ago, had em-
braced the modified Hi-
Vision standard for broad-
casting, and which had
agreed in August 1987 to
adopt, engineers have begun
to waver in their support. As
one official from Japan's
Posts and Telecommunica-
tions Ministry said privately,
"There have been several
last-minute maneuvers in an
attempt to bury the Japanese
proposal at any cost."
Pressure on U.S.
Junichi Ishida, deputy di-
rector of the NHK Research
Center, where most of the
seminal HDTV work was
done, put it more bluntly:
"Some U.S. electronics
makers have been under
pressure from European
manufacturers since
France's Thomson-Brandt
bought out RCA Corp.'s ( tel-
evision business). Europeans
are trying to destroy the
programming standards to
try to obstruct Japan. Even
the technical world has been
affected by politics and has
bowed," Ishida said.
Some Japanese manufac-
turers say NHK and govern-
ment officials may have been
too hasty or too earnest in
promoting Hi-Vision world-
wide. An executive of one of
Japan's largest consumer
electronics manufacturers,
who asked not to be identified
more specifically, said, "I
think their approach to make
it a fait accompli and make
(everyone else) accept it is
too much. Then they could
say, 'Then why don't you do
it yourself.' Japanese VCRs
have dominated the world,
but when it comes to televi-
sion. neither Europe nor the
United States have any inten-
tion of abdicating."
For Akira Hirota, chief of
the Video Research Center
for JVC Corp., one of Japan's
original TV developers, high-
definition video is now in "an
era of chaos. It is equally a
period of concern, according
to Kenji Hori, Hirota's coun-
terpart at Sony Corp.. who
said, "For the manufacturer,
it is more important to know
whether there will be a mar-
ket. rather than what stand-
ard it will use,"
But waiting out the indus-
try abroad has not meant
Japanese manufacturers are
doing nothing. As Takehiko
Koto, director of Toshiba's
New Media Promotion De-
partment, explained, "For
the time being, we are mak-
ing preparations on the as-
sumption that Hi-Vision will
at least be inaugurated via
satellite in Japan. We just
have to take the word of NHK
and the ( telecommunica-
tions) ministry."
?Asahi News Service
Bureau OKs NHK Format
The American National
Standards Institution (ANSI)
has endorsed the high-
definition television technol-
ogy developed by the Japan
Broadcasting Corp. (NHK)
as a standard for U.S. TV stu-
dios, NHK officials have an-
nounced.
However, the U.S. Federal
Communications Commis-
sion in September made a
preliminary decision- to re-
FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
ject the NHK-developed tech-
nology as a format for trans-
mitting high-resolution im-
ages.
ANSI is an industry re-
search bureau.
The ANSI decision came
after a six-month study of
NHK's technology. The study
was launched in April after
ANSI received a request by
the U.S. Society of Motion
Picture and Television Engi-
neer to adopt the NHK for-
mat as the U.S. standard.
The endorsement, though
not compelling, means the
NHK method is likely to be
adopted widely in the U.S. TV
industry, the officials said.
Despite the FCC rejection,
NHK is confident about the
technology, saying High-
Vision can be rendered com-
patible with conventional TV
by using an adaptor to con-
form with the FCC require-
ment, the officials said.
npr.lassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2014/03/28: CIA-RDP92M00732R000200050006-5
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FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Asahi Evening News
Mainichi Daily News
Japan Times
Daily Yomiuri
Japan Economic Jcurnal OC,r?
Ji j i Press
Kyodo Press
TTNet plans to transmit HDTV
via firm's fiber optic cables
Tokyo Telecommunication
Network Co. (TTNet), a new
regional common carrier affili-
ated with Tokyo Electric Power
Co., Oct. 4 will apply a high-
definition TV format for image
transniissioh via optical-fiber ca-
bles on an experimental basis.
The company hopes to enter the
HDTV telecom services market
with its newly developed analog
transmitter for optical fiber
transmissions.
In the experiment, TTNet
plans to transmit image signals
on a high-definition picture
scanning format that was pro-
posed by Japan Broadcasting
Corp. (NHK), called Hi-Vision.
NHK, the sole public broadcast-
ing company in Japan, plans to
start satellite broadcasting with
the Hi-Vision format in 1990.
ITNet expects to use the format
for cable TVs and other image
telecommunications via fiber
optic cables.
Usually, common carriers for
Such optical 'transmissions use
digital signals, which suffer less
from decay during long-distance
transmissions than analog sig-
nals, although the cost is high.
ITNet claims that it has devel-
oped a new analog transmitter
jointly with Tokyo Electric
Power Co. and NEC Corp.,
which features less decay.
TTNet, a new common car-
rier, serves nine prefectures
around Tokyo, which is serviced
by the power utility.
(NI, Oct. 4, PI)
FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
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Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2014/03/28 CIA-RDP92M00732R000200050006-5
FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Asahi Evening News
Mainichi Daily News
Japan Times
Daily Yomiuri
Japan Economic Journal/S-0a?
Jiji Press
Kyodo Press Pe7
? NHK makes converter
for Hi-Vision TV
Japan Broadcasting Corp.
(NHK) has jointly developed a
television converter with Sanyo
Electric Co. and Mitsubishi
Electric Corp. The new con-
verter enables users to receive
television images for NHK's Hi-
Vision with conventional televi-
sion sets. The companies expect
to commercialize the converter
by next spring. NHK's system
is one of several for high-defini-
tion TVs in the world.
(The NIKKEI-M, Oct. 5, P8)
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tvening News
Mainichi Daily News
Japan Times
Daily Yomiuri
Japan Economic Journal.
j i Press
Kyodo Press
Firms are ready to meet any
HDTV format
By Hisayuki Mitsusada
JAPAN ECONOMIC JOURNAL STAFF WRITER
Despite dimming prospects
that a single global standard for
the next-generation of television
will be adopted, the Japanese
government and electronics
manufacturers remain un-
daunted by recent international
moves.
The U.S. Federal Communi-
cations Commission, -which
oversees radio transmission
standards, adopted a "go it
alone" stance when it made a
preliminary decision on high-
definition television (HDTV)
last month, many observers say.
Japan had hoped the U.S.
would adopt its Hi-Vision
HDTV system, developed by
NHK; Japan's public service
broadcasting company.
No ruling out
To Japanese companies and
government officials, however,
the U.S. move neither preludes
firms' future involvement in
making HDTV sets for the
American market nor com-
pletely rules out adoption of the
Japanese format.
They hope they can also make
HDTV sets for the European
market. There, the. European
Community is planning its own
format, called HD-MAC.
"Whatever the format, we are
technically ready to respond,"
said Sony Corp. Vice President
Masahiko Morizono.
Added Hiroyasu Tatsumi, a
corporate planning manager at
Matsushita Electric Industrial
Co., "Although a common stan-
dard is certainly desirable, we
were anticipating this (FCC's
decision) development."
According to government of-
ficials, there are numerous rea-
sons to be excited about HDTV,
whatever formats become the
norm.
Fist, the Ministry of Posts
and Telecommunications notes
that the FCC only sets transmis-
sion standards, and it is up to
private firms to decide on a
picture format, called the studio
standard.
Second, the FCC is still
studying three Japanese ways of
transmitting HDTV programs
for use on TV sets now in use.
Third, while U.S. electronic
makers eye competition with
Japan, U.S. motion picture pro-
ducers want to adopt the Japa-
nese picture format.
Fourth, .the potential market
is enormous. Today, about 150
million television sets are in use
in Europe, 70 million in Japan
and 200 million sets in the U.S.
A ministry panel expects the
HDTV market to grow to Y3.3
trillion a year by the year '2000
in Japan alone.
Compatibility
In essence, the FCC wants
U.S. HDTV to be compatible
with existing television sets and
to use ground stations to beam
TV shows into viewers' homes.
This is a major policy difference
with Japan and Europe, both of
which propose transmissions di-
rect from satellites.
One major format difference
between Japan and Europe is the
number of scanning lines per
screen. The NHK format uses
1,125 scanning lines while the
EC system uses 1,250 scanning
lines.
Also, the Japanese HDTV
has a field frequency of 60 Hz,
meaning that moving images are
created by switching pictures 60
times a second. The EC system
uses 50 Hz.
Japan's format has been de-
signed for many uses ? for TV,
as a basic picture format for
printing and for making motion
pictures. And at the 1986 meet-
ing of the Consultative Commit-
tee on International Radio, an
arm of the International Tele-
communications Union, Japan
had hoped to make Hi-Vision
the international standard.
.But Europeans blocked that
plan, forcing the telecommuni-
FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
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rnn ,r'rrrr T v-? ,-, ? , ?
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Asahi Evening sews
Mainichi Daily News
Japan Times
Daily Yomiuri
Japan Economic Journai,42. 6t,r
Ji j i Press
Kyodo Press
^
A crowd at an electronics show in Tokyo watches a Hi-Vision
broadcast from the
Seoul Olympics.
cations union to defer a decision
until 1990.
The two sides also failed to
reach compromise in bilateral
talks held in late September in
Britain.
Japanese threat
Both Europe and U.S. manu-
facturers are concerned the Jap-
anese will overwhelm their mar-
kets if a Japanese standard is
adopted.
Japan's system is already in
operation, with the major prob-
lem being the cost of manufac-
ture. At present, a set would cost
as much as Y10 million, accord-
ing to a manufacturer. And al-
though the ministry and NHK
want the price to be lowered to
FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Pc-
about Y500,000 by 1992, most
manufacturers doubt they can
reach this goal.
Recently, NHK broadcast
the Seoul Olympics on more
than 80 Hi-Vision screens in
public places throughout Japan,
in cooperation with about a
dozen electronics makers, in-
cluding Sony, Matsushita Elec-
tric Industrial and Victor Co. of
Japan (JVC).
Now, EC is trying to catch
up, saying its system will be
ready for practical use by 1992.
The Europeans demonstrated
their first prototype of the MAC
system, which will become the
base for the finer HD-MAC.
system, in an electronics show in
Britain timed for the bilateral
talks.
Europeans are promoting
their system by stressing its
compatibility with current TVs.
However, the Japanese say their
HDTV offers a better picture
and is closer to completion.
Belatedly, Americans began
to devise their own systems,
seeing a chance to regain lost
ground in the consumer elec-
tronics field.
But unlike Japan and Europe,
several different versions are be-
ing developed, including the Ad-
vanced Compatible Television
of the David Starnoff Research
Center and the Glen system of
the New York Institute of
Technology.
fr
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Asani Evening News
Niainichi Daily News
Japan Times
Daily Yomiuri
Japan Economic Journa142,1. Ocr-
Ji j i Press
Kyodo Press
PS
Single HDTV standard unlikely;
Hi-Vision converters developed
What are HDTV's short-and
long-term prospects? Is Japan's
Hi-Vision format likely to be-
come a world standard?
In a recent interview with
Hisayuki Mitsusada of The Ja-
pan Economic Journal. Seikichi
Sakakibara, engineering division
director of the Ministry of Posts
and Telecommunications. ad-
dressed HDTV's future. Sakaki-
bara recently participated in
talks with the EC
JEJ: What is the prospect for
reaching a single standard with
the EC?
Sakakibara: It seems very dif-
ficult. When we have developed
our respective technologies this
far, it becomes hard to give in.
I felt that they are aware our
system is superior in picture
quality. An official from an EC
nation personally told me they
might double the field frequency
to eliminate flicker, which their
official version cannot avoid.
JEJ: The U.S. Federal Com-
munications Commission's pre-
liminary decision in September
seems to indicate the U.S.
switched from supporting Japan
to a separate course. .
Sakakibara: That is not cor-
rect. HDTV standards have two
aspects. One is the studio stan-
dard and the other is the trans-
mission standard.
The FCC decision concerns
only ihe Ls.V..1.*, and the use of
earth-based transmissioa _
been the U.S. policy from the
very beginning.
As for the studio standard,
Seikichi Sakakibara
which in the U.S. only the pri-
vate sector decides, the Ameri-
can National Standard Institute
recently decided to support the
Japanese standard, following the
Society of Motion Picture and
Television Engineers, which has
been our supporter all along.
JEJ: Both Europe and the
US. stress compatibility with
the existing system. How will
Japan respond to this?
Salcakibara: As for Europe,
their HD-MAC is not compat-
ible with current European TVs.
It is only compatible with the
new MAC satellite broadcast
they are now trying to start.
As for us, converter techno-
logy is already available for re-
ceiving Hi-Vision on conven-
tional sets. When mass pro-
duced, it will cost only V13,000
($100) for a maker to add that
feature to a TV set.
? T
So the Japanese system offers
more compatibility than theEC
version.
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Eaily
Yomiuri
Japan Economic Jourilai
Jiji Press
Kyodo Press
'Hi-fl TV': Opportunity knocks
Approximately once every decade, a new con-
sumer electronics technology emerges on the
international scene and provides an immense
opportunity to companies that have prepared
to manufacture the related products. In the
early 1980s, the big consumer electronics hit was the
videocassette recorder (VCR). Although demand has ta-
pered off, many Japanese and some European companies
did very well with it. Regrettably for them, American
manufacturers passed up the opportunity to produce home-
use VCRs, even though the basic technology itself ? for
large, professional-model videotape recorders ? was in-
vented in the U.S.
The major opportunity now facing the global electronics
industry is high-definition television (HDTV, sometimes
also called Hi-fi TV) and compatible videocassette record-
ers for it. Japan Broadcasting Corp. (Nippon Hoso Kyokai,
or NHK) has been at the forefront of innovative research on
this improved television technology for more than 15 years,
and this country's electronics manufacturers are already
well-positioned in the developing field.
HDTV has excited worldwide interest because it produces
an image that is brighter, sharper and more detailed, more
realistic in every way than even the best of today's TV sets.
It achieves this in part through the use of twice as many
scanning lines; the proportions of the image are also differ-
ent. Many saw their first proof of its marked superiority on
the demonstration sets displayed in key public locations
here during the Seoul Olympic Games.
The American Federal Communications Commission
(FCC) has acknowledged that the new technology is semi-
nal and represents an opportunity for U.S. manufacturers
to re-enter the consumer electronics field. But the Amer-
ican firms so far seem unwilling to take any great risk on
HDTV, apparently deterred by the prospect of several
years of large-scale financial outlays before profits begin to
be generated. The corporate resources required will indeed
be considerable since consumers may need persuading be-
fore switching from standard sets to expensive new equip-
ment.
A refusal to develop and produce home-use HDTV units
by U.S. manufacturers, however, will add to the American
international trade deficit. In contrast, the Europeans ? in
both public and private sectors ? have formed a consor-
tium to develop systems for the new TV. Despite the com-
petitiveness among them, U.S. firms perhaps should consid;
er a similar move, something like the Sematech group
venture now working on semiconductor technology.
Some American government officials apparently recog-
nize the desirability of involving the public sector to help
rejuvenate the U.S. consumer electronics industry through
the new know-how. The question appears to be how to
implement such a step.
Within another few years, Japan expects to have in orbit a
pair of advanced broadcasting satellites, its BS-3 series,
capable of sending HDTV signals throughout the Japanese
islands. The new television also will make use of fiber optic
and other associated electronic systems, especially for
transmission to cable networks in urban areas.
Although both the U.S. and Europe have decided against
direct adoption of the NHK Muse format for their own
HDTV systems, our major electronics product manufactur-
ers will, of course, be able to produce sets and related
equipment for any market. They are aware, for instance,
that receiving sets for HDTV-based systems will probably
also be utilized in the future as computer screens and will
have further uses beyond merely conveying entertainment,
sports and news programs.
The electronics industry throughout the world is, of
course, increasingly aware of the many opportunities that
HDTV will present for supplying state-of-the-art compo-
nents of all kinds. We will watch with growing interest
whether the U.S. and Europe do indeed develop their own
technologies for the new television and thus contribute to a
reduction in trade friction in the global consumer electron-
ics business or elect to use equipment produced abroad.
7
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?
Asahi Evening News
Mainichi Daily News
Japan Times
if?
Daily Yomiuri
Japan Economic Journal
Jiji Press
Kyodo Press
High-Definition TV Broadcasts
Scheduled to Begin Next April
Japan Broadcasting Corp.
(NHK) will begin experimen-
tal broadcasting of high-
definition television (HDTV)
?which provides far sharp-
er images than conventional
Tv?in April, 20 months
ahead of schedule.
Few ordinary Japanese
will be able to benefit from
the increased quality of the
broadcasts, however, unless
they go to community cen-
ters in 40 to 50 cities where
NHK plans to locate special
TVs capable of showing the
improved images provided
by the system, called Hi-
Vision. Such TVs now cost VO
million.
NHK said it decided to
move up the start of its Hi-
Vision broadcasts, which are
transmitted by satellite, be-
cause of the success of dem-
onstration broadcasts con-
ducted during the Seoul
Olympics.
The 1 million Japanese
households with satellite re-
ceivers will be able to receive
the Hi-Vision broadcasts, but
only after spending V100,000
for a special converter. Even
then, such viewers will not
receive a better picture than
they would with convention-
al broadcasts.
"I wouldn't treat this as
anything really innovative or
as being a big jump," said
Yoshiko Hara, managing ed-
itor of the Japanese Industry
Newsletter, an electronics in-
dustry trade publication.
"This is just one stop along
the way."
The decision by NHK
comes after several setbacks
in the United States and Eu-
rope to its hopes that Hi-
Vision will be adopted as an
international standard for
HDTV. Europe is moving for-
ward with its own HDTV sys-
tem and the U.S. Federal
Communications Commis-
sion has recommended that
whatever system the United
States adopts be compatible
with existing terrestrial
broadcasting systems. Hi-
Vision must be broadcast by
satellite for its full benefits to
be realized.
A spokesman for one TV
manufacturer said NHK may
have moved up its Hi-Vision
broadcasts in an effort to pro-
mote the system overseas.
No other country has begun
HDTV broadcasts.
Conventional TV images
are composed of 350 to 525
separate lines. Images
broadcast using Hi-Vision
are much sharper and clear-
er because they are made up
of 1,125 lines. The quality of
Hi-Vision pictures has been
compared to that of 35 mm
film.
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?Asahi News Service
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VNLI
Asahi Evening News
Mainichi Daily News
Japan Times
aviN. dLiUJC
Daily Yomiuri
Wcv-
f's1
Japan Economic Journal
Jiji Press
Kyodo Press
Japan Pushing HDTV Technology For World Use
By Hidesuke Nagashima
Kyodo News Service
Japan is pushing its own high-
definition television (HDTV)
technologies for adoption as a
common international standard
amid an intense "battle of for-
mats" with the United States and
Western Europe.
HDTV is designed to show on
a wide screen much sharper and
more detailed television pictures
than the current systems.
The outlook for international
standardization of HDTV for-
mats is far from clear, however,
as Japan, the U.S. and the Euro-
pean Community (EC) are each
developing their own tech-
nologies.
Despite some recent setbacks,
the Japanese government con-
tinues to plug the home-
developed HDTV system for
global use. The Ministry of Posts
and Telecommunications is coor-
dinating efforts for promotion of
the Japanese "Hi Vision" sys-
tem, developed under the leader-
ship of the Japan Broadcasting
Corp. (NHK).
Japanese officials say Hi Vi-
sion, based on the "MUSE"
broadcast standard, is the most
technically advanced among the
proposed HDTV technologies.
Japan, running well ahead of -
the U.S. and the EC in develop-
ing HDTV, plans to start trans-
mitting HDTV programs by a
satellite to be orbited in 1990.
The EC's proposed HDTV sys-
tem, known as HD-MAC, will
also use a satellite, while sever-
al different U.S. HDTV versions
being developed all center on
ground-based broadcasts.
Efforts for international unifi-
cation of formats for the new
generation of television have so
far been unsuccessful. The Con-
sultative Committee on Interna-
tional Radio (CCIR), in a 1986
meeting on unifying HDTV for-
mats, failed to reach agreement
and deferred a decision on the
question until 1990.
The U.S. Federal Communica-
tions Commission (FCC) in Sep-
tember made a preliminary
ruling that favored U.S. HDTV
technologies over the Japanese-
developed system. Japanese and
EC officials attending a London
conference, meanwhile, failed to
reach agreement on unifying
HDTV formats.
The FCC guidelines would re-
quire broadcasters to transmit
high-definition signals at the cur-
rently used TV frequencies from
earth-based stations so that con-
ventional TV sets would not be-
come obsolete. Consumers,
however, would have to buy a
new receiver to see a high-
definition picture.
Japan's satellite-based MUSE
Hi Vision system in itself is not
compatible with the FCC guide-
lines calling for ground-based
transmissions. The Japanese
government contends, however,
that the FCC decision does not
exclude Japan from the U.S.
market.
"The decision by no means
rules out Japanese technologies
because Japan has also proposed
the "MUSE Family advanced
television system which is com-
patible with the preliminary FCC
specifications," said Katsumi
Osuga, director of the Hi Vision
Promotion Office at the Ministry
of Posts and Telecommuni-
cations.
The system would have high-
definition signals nestling inside
conventional earth-transmitted
TV signals so that any TV set
could receive HDTV broadcasts.
Osuga also said the FCC deci-
sion concerns only a transmis-
sion standard, which must be
considered separately from a
studio production standard.
He noted that the American
National Standards Institute
(ANSI) recently approved Hi
Vision for studio applications,
adding, 'That was highly en-
couraging for Japan." The stan-
dard is not binding and does not
exclude other high-definition sys-
tems. The ANSI had been con-
sidering an application by U.S.
film makers for using the
Japanese system which has ad-
vantages in speed, ease of edit-
ing and adaptability to special
effects.
FOR OFFIcIAL USE ONLY
Japanese manufacturers are
also ready to enter the global
HDTV market, regardless of the
outcome of the battle of formats.
"We are technically ready to
deal with any format that may be
adopted overseas," said Sony
Corp. spokesman Koichi Yu-
zukura. "We have not made any
specific production plans for
HDTV equipment, though, pend-
ing decisions on HDTV formats
overseas."
Other companies such as Ma-
tsushita Electric Industrial Co.,
the home electronics giant mar-
keting under the "Panasonic"
brand, also say they are ready to
meet different HDTV specifica-
tions that may be adopted in the
U.S. or the EC. -
For the Japanese market, the
manufacturers are gearing up to
build MUSE-compatible TV sets,
videocassette recorders and
videodisk players.
One major problem in develop-
ing HDTV is the cost of the
receiver. At present, a MUSE-
compatible receiver would cost
about 10 million yen, but both the
government and manufacturers
hope that the price will eventu-
ally be lowered to about 500,000
yen through mass production.
The outcome of the interna-
tional competition over HDTV is
critical for the global electronics
industry. At stake are potential
HDTV sales estimated to grow to
40 billion dollars a year world-
wide in the next decade.
HDTV is also expected to have
a major "ripple effect" on high
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Asahi Evening News
MAinichi Daily
Japan Times
Daily Yomiuri
Japan Economic Journal.
Jiji Press
Kyodo Press
technology such as memory
chips, software, television broad-
casting, medical and military
imaging, printing, movie making
and computer digital image-
processing.
Some industry estimates show
that HDTV sets for home and in-
dustrial use will generate 400 bil-
lion yen worth of new business a
year in Japan alone for the semi-
conductor industry by the year
2000.
HDTV development began in
the 1960s, when NIIK engineers
started developing a state-of-the-
art system in hopes of unifying
the world's TV systems into a
single standard.
NHK gave up compatibility
with current TV equipment be-
cause of the technical limitations
of the present systems.
FOR OFFIC!AL IJL ONLY
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Asahi Evening News
kainichi Daily News
Japan Times
Daily Yomiuri
Japan Economic jcurnal /Ake,.
Jiji Press
Kyodo Press
NTT to unveil unit
for HDTV transmksion
Nippon Telegraph & Tele-
phone Corp. will unveil an opti-
cal-fiber cable system for
ground-based transmission of
high-definition television video
signals. The telecommunica-
tions giant will also experiment
with long-distance transmission
for the first time using the
system.
NTT sources claim that the
system, which it developed
jointly with NEC Corp., is capa-
ble of sending HDTV videos
with the world's most efficient
transmission.
The system adopts a unique
signal compression method to
send HDTV videos at a trans-
mission rate of only 100 mega-
bits per second ? one-twelfth
the amount needed without the
signal compressor, the sources
said. One megabit equals one
million bits.
(The NIKKEI-M, Nov. 19, P8)
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Asahi Evening News
Mainichi Daily News
Japan Times
Daily Yomiuri
Japan Economic Journal Art Der
Ji j i Press
Kyodo Press
NHK, European firms
meet to talk HDTV
Japan Broadcasting Corp.
(NHK) is expected to discuss
standards for high-definition
television with N.V. Philips'
Gloeilampenfabrieken of the
Netherlands and Thomson S.A.
of France for the first time,
meeting in Paris in January
1989.
The Japanese broadcasting
company and European TV
manufacturers, led by Philips
and Thomson, hold differing
views on standards for HDTV.
A special meeting of the interna-
tional radio-communications
consultative committee will be
held next May to discuss HDTV
standards.
he NIKKEI-M, Dec. 12, P9)
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ajv
4
TiTr;cs 6;i4e) "ifiC),(/
Eaily Yomiurl
Japan Economic journal
Jiji Press
Kyodo Press
Commercial TV readying better-quality images;
costs, technical snags may delay NHK Hi-Vision
By TAKASHI KITAZUME
STAFF WRITER
1989 is expected to bring an
added dimension to the world
of television broadcasting,
but there are still several
kinks to be worked out in high-
definition television (HDTV),
and it will be several years
before it becomes a familiar
household item.
The nation's zommercial
broadcasters and the public-
ly-owned NHK (Japn Broad-
casting Corp.) have each de-
veloped a different method of
improving the picture and
sound quality of TV broad-
casts.
Extended-definition televi-
sion (EDTV or, as the com-
mercial broadcasters call it,
Clear-Vision), is an extended
form of the broadcasting
method used in Japan and the
U.S. today. Clear-Vision
broadcasts are scheduled to
start this summer.
The system is compatible
with the current one. An
EDTV program can thus be
watched on a conventional
television set, although a
large portion of the improve-
ment in picture quality is
attained only on a new EDTV
receiver.
Higher resolution
Under the current broad-
casting format, only half the
525 scanning lines are actual-
ly indicated on the display of a
conventional TV receiver. But
an EDTV receilver shows each
of the 525 lines, so the viewer
can enjoy flicker-free pic-
tures with higher resolution,
according to Shunichiro
Kudo, deputy chief of the
planning division of the Na-
tional Association of Com-
mercial Broadcasters in
Japan.
In addition to upgrading
! cameras and other studio
equipment, broadcasters will
insert a ghost-canceler signal?
into their programs, which re-
ceivers will process to elimi-
nate ghost images, he said.
High-Vision, the high-de-
finition television (HDTV)
system developed by NHK, is
based on a format not com-
patible with the current
, broadcasting system. A High-
Vision program can be seen
on a conventional TV set
equipped with a converter,
but only at the expense of
most of the improvements in
picture quality.
Satellite transmission
Unlike programs broadcast
under the current system ?
which is called NTSC, after
the United States' National
Television System Committee
? or those for EDTV, Hi-Vi-
sion programs will be trans-
mitted from broadcasting
satellites.
Hi-Vision has 1,125 scanning
lines, more than double the
number for NTSC, and the
aspect ratio (ratio of width
versus height of a TV display)
will expand from the NTSC's
4:3 to 16:9, according to
Genichi Hashimoto, deputy
director of NHK's public rela-
tions bureau. ,
The amount of information
carried on a Hi-Vision picture
will be five times that of an
NTSC picture, and the quality
will almost equal that of
35mm movies, he said. The
expansion of the aspect ratio
will also mean a wider pers-
pective and greater presence
for viewers, he said.
NHK has already given
many public demonstrations
of Hi-Vision broadcasting, in-
cluding the live coverage of
the Seoul Olympic Games
seen on displays placed in the
streets last fall.
It plans to start ex-
perimental broadcasts on a
daily basis in April, about a
year earlier than originally
planned. Regular broadcast-
ing is expected to start some-
time in 1990, after the launch-
ing of Broadcasting Satellite.
3, according to Hashimoto.
These developments, of
course, are expected to bring
new opportunities for the na-
tion's electronic industry as a
whole and help it offer prod-
ucts with higher profit
margins.
FOR OFFIC! (..SLY
Limitations visible
In fact, the EDTV project
arises partly from the frustra-
tion of TV set makers. Even if
they want to sell large-screen
sets, an enhanced display
would only reveal the limita-
tions of conventional TV
broadcasting, according to
Kudo of NACB.
Encouraged by the recent
increasing demand for large-
display TVs, Japan's leading
consumer electronics manu-
facturers have begun market-
ing such sets designed to re-
ceive EDTV broadcasts. They
expect the system to expand
further the market for large-
screen sets.
The introduction of EDTV
programs will also help boost
sales of higher-quality
videotape recorders such as
the Super-VHS machines,
Kudo said.
The more sophisticated pic-
ture-processing technology of
HDTV opens a huge potential
for suppliers of high-tech
components and devices,
especially the very-large-
scale-integration (VLSI)
memory chips needed for the
new receivers.
a3
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e ?
^
Industry repercussions
The effects of HDTV on re-
lated electronic industries are
illustrated in a recent report
by the American Electronics
Association. It concluded that
a delay in the development of
HDTV will substantially re-
duce U.S. manufacturers'
share in such high-tech fields
as personal computers and
semiconductors.
This is the reason, industry
sources say, that European
and American electronics
companies are resisting a
global standardization of
HDTV formats based on
Japan's Hi-Vision system ?
they fear it would lead to dom-
ination of the world HDTV
market by Japanese sup-
pliers.
The question is how soon
these new broadcasting
methods will take root.
EDTV sets so far cost near-
ly twice as much as conven-
tional TV sets with screens of
the same size. This is chiefly
due to the increased use of
memory chips, and the price
gap will shrink as the chips
become cheaper through
mass production, Kudo said.
EDTV phased in
Starting in the summer,
commercial broadcasters will
air a few hours of EDTV each
day and gradually replace
NTSC programs with EDTV
as they replaced black-and-
white broadcasts. with color
Lai'v icmlurl
ia,7an Economic jourRal
Ji j i Press
''p
kyodo Press
TV, he said.
The spread of Hi-Vision,
NHK's Hashimoto said, de-
pends on the development of a
low-cost HDTV set and a
steady supply of HDTV pro-
grams that showcase it.
At present, a Hi-Vision re-
ceiver set is said to cost about
Y20 million. In addition, it is
still too heavy, bulky and elec-
tric i t y -co ns uming to be
brought into the ordinary Jap-
anese house, Hashimoto
admitted.
These problems can be
solved by replacing the com-
plicated circuits in the cur-
rent Hi-Vision receiver with
VLSI chips as much as possi-
ble, he said. A technological
breakthrough in the develop-
ment of a much thinner dis-
play, using either liquid crys-
tals or plasma, would solve
the problem of space, and the
per-unit cost will decline as
production scale rises, he
added.
Consumer debut
NHK and the Ministry of
Posts and Telecommunica-
tions expect that the first con-
sumer-use Hi-Vision receiver
will be marketed as early as
1990 at a price of Y500,000.
However, many observers, in-
cluding set makers, suspect
that they are being too opti-
mistic.
Moreover, introducing Hi-
Vision represents an enor-
mous investment for broad-
casting companies, perhaps
of tens of billions of yen. Ex-
isting video cameras and
other studio equipment will
have to be replaced with
HDTV-format equipment cos-
ting roughly twice as much as
conventional machines.
"A commercial broadcast-
ing company will not dare to
make such investments un-
less it is completely assured
that Hi-Vision is a paying
business," Kudo of NACB
said.
FOR OFFI (7 1AL '.JL
A5L
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vnn etneTrTAT !Ton nkrrv
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itbdill zverung news
Mainichi Daily News
Japan Times
Daily Yomiuri
Japan Economic Journal
Jiji Press
Kyodo Press
JaDan High Tech Review Jan 89 p 9
1
Breakthrough May Let Japan Go Own Way in HDTV
Japanese R&D on high definition television (HDTV) has
reached a state where drastic reductions in receiver prices are
likely in about two years. The prospect may tempt Japan to
implement HDTV earlier than originally anticipated.
Last month,. Nihon Hoso Kyokai (Japan Broadcasting Corp., or
NHK) and six electronics manufacturers -- NEC, Matsushita
Electric Industrial, Toshiba, Sony, Hitachi, and Sharp -- jointly
developed signal decoding large-scale integration (LSI) chips,
which will cut the size and cost of HDTV receiver sets by
reducing the number of components in the televisions. Lower-
priced HDTV sets, in turn, will stimulate customers' interest,
leading to higher output, mass production, economies of scale,
and therefore further price reductions.
The satellite signal decoder used with HDTVs has been the
major roadblock in pricing. Today it takes up an area the size
of a bookcase because the decoder has to contain more than 1,000
integrated circuits (ICs). The equipment restores highly data-
compressed signals from satellites and is expected -- in its
present form -- to cost about $80,000 per unit.
The breakthrough will permit replacing these ICs with less
than 100 new LSI chips, thus reducing the size of a decoder to
one-tenth of the space taken by a bookcase. The six manufac-
turers are evaluating performances of the LSI chips and are
starting to build experimental decoders for completion by June.
If they succeed, they will add to the level of integration
of the circuits so as to build receiver sets with built-in
decoders. Then the price of an HDTV with 30-inch display will
be set at about $4,000, which is the amount for which both
Japan's Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications and NHK are
aiming.
Last year, the Japanese encountered resistance to their
proposals for HDTV technical standards from the United States and
Western Europe. Japanese perceive that these nations fear being
left behind in the race for state-of-the-art technology.
If Japanese HDTV makers were unable to penetrate foreign
markets because of differing TV standards, they still probably
would produce the sets because of the many spinoffs likely to be
obtained from the technology.
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prID (Ty-TAT I1 nmrv
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r nza4L.a. VLJ.L1 OCWJ
?
^ Mainichi Daily News
Japan Times
Daily Yomiuri
Japan Economic Journal
Jiji Press
Kyodo Press
Japan High Tech Review Jan R9
p9-10
The technology can be readily applied to movie-making,
printing, or the defense industry because of the high quality of
picture reproduction. Though the implications of using HDTV
technology for defense have not been widely discussed, the new,
higher quality image-sensing and display technologies are viewed
as prime candidates for transfer to military applications.
Not only will these technologies provide new, solid markets
for advanced microchips, displays, and other peripherals, but
they will offer growing business for electronics makers in
general. The replacement of the world's (or even Japan's) stock
of conventional televisions with the advanced HDTV models will
involve expenditures of billions of dollars.
More importantly for firms like NEC, Fujitsu, and Mitsubishi
Electric, HDTV provides new opportunities to enter the home TV
market. These "drab" companies, despite their advanced technol-
ogy in satellite communications fields, have so far failed to
make a dent in TV and other home appliance markets.
Already, NEC Home Electronics and Fujitsu General have been
competing in Japan's budding satellite broadcast market, with
each securing a 30 percent market share among the 1.25 million
dishes already installed. Observers point out that these two
companies are active in the business not because of the current
sales level -- 40,000 to 50,000 units per month -- but because of
the prospect of HDTV in a few years.
"Showing their (colors) and gaining customer recognition
are all that they are after," an observer said.
With bright market prospects and strong corporate backing,
the introduction of HDTV in Japan appears to be a matter of when
rather than whether.
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