Microsoft Corporation
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!ATF FILED
January 25, 1996
BY HAND DELIVERY
William F. Caton
Acting Secretary
Federal Communications Commission
1919 M Street, N.W., Room 222
Washington, D.C. 20554
Afictosott
JAN 25 1996
FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMiSSIO
OfFICE Of sesRETARY
Re: Ex Parte Presentation In the Matter ofAdvanced Television Systems
and Their Impact Upon the Existing Television Broadcast Service
MM Docket No. 87-268
Dear Mr. Caton:
On Monday, January 22, 1996, Jay Torborg, Director ofGraphics and Multimedia for
Microsoft, Alva Ray Smith, a Graphics Fellow at Microsoft, and I met with Commission staffto
discuss advanced television issues. Attending that meeting from the Commission were Donald
Gips, Florence Setzer, and Mark Corbitt ofthe Office ofPlans and Policy; Joseph Farrell, the
Commission's ChiefEconomist; Bruce Franca, Robert Bromery, and Allen Stillwell ofthe
Office ofEngineering and Technology; Bill Johnson ofthe Cable Services Bureau; and Steven
Selwin ofthe International Bureau.
Specifically, we discussed the various technical issues associated with advanced or digital
television and the computer industry's interest in ensuring full convergence ofthe television and
personal computer platforms. To facilitate that discussion, we relied on a series ofoverhead
slides and provided Commission staffwith hard copies ofthose slides. An original and one copy
are attached.
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Microsoft Corporation is an equal opportunity employer.
Ifyou have any questions or need any additional information please feel free to contact
me at (202) 895-2169.
SinCerelY~IiAA-j,./f;
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Enclosures
cc: Donald Gips, Office ofPlans and Policy
Florence Setzer, Office ofPlans and Policy
Mark Corbitt, Office ofPlans and Policy
Joseph Farrell, Office ofPlans and Policy
Bill Johnson, Cable Services Bureau
Steven Selwin, International Bureau
Bruce Franca, Office ofEngineering and Technology
Robert Bromery, Office ofEngineering and Technology
Allen Stillwell, Office ofEngineering and Technology
EXPARTE PRESENTATION
DOCKET # MM 87-268
ORIGINAL AND ONE COPY SUBMITTED TO
THE SECRETARY
Advueed Television
THE CONVERGENCE OF
PERSONAL COMPUTERS Be TELEVISION
Jay Torborg
Director, Graphics and Multimedia
Alvy Ray Smith
Graphics Fellow
Advanced Television
COMPUTERINDUSTRVINTEREST
.:. Late comer to ATV process
PC peIformance has increased 50 to 100 times since
ACATS formed
PC growth in US consumer market dramatic in past 3
yrs.
PCs only now capable ofhandling high quality video
.:. Interactive programming
Internet grown faster than anyone's expectations
Information bandwidth most significant impediment to
even greater growth
1
AdvaDced TelevisioD
MICROSOFT INTEREST
.:. Already working with cable, telco, and DBS
market
.:. Enabling interactive content using PC technology
Interactive TV is a subset of PC
lTV technology evolving with PC technology
.:. Full convergence in the near term (non-terrestrial)
PC and TV functionality provided by common platform
Interoperability of consumer electronic devices with
PCs - 1394, large screen hi-res monitors
1/20196
AdvaDeed TelevisioD
WHAT IS ADVANCED TV?
.:. Traditional view:
Digital broadcast technology to improve quality and
quantity oflinear video and audio material
.:. Microsoft's view:
New high bandwidth distribution medium for the
broadcast of data
Allows wide spread availability ofrich content
Content can be linear and interactive video, audio, 20
and 3D graphics, text, programs, and other data
1/20196
2
1120196
Advuced Television
DEMONSTRATION
.:. Mock-up ofbroadcast which combines
conventional television elements and interactive
elements
.:. Originally designed for SVGA progressive scan
computer display
1120196
Advuced Television
INTEROPERABILITY
.:. PC controls display ofvideo on TV monitor
Typical ofPC based video editing, kiosks, multimedia
.:. TV video displayed in window on PC monitor
Common with multimedia titles; live broadcast video
supported on PCs with additional hardware
.:. TV and PC programs share data - true
interoperability, possible now
Working prototypes at Microsoft
Complete high-end consumer PC, DBS receiver, 32 inch
progressive scan display - will sell for well under $3000
6
3
Advanced Television
WHY CONVERGENCE?
.:. Leverage U.S. industry dominance in software
Provide new market opportunities for the distribution of
content created by U.S. companies
.:. Provide opportunity for U.S. companies to enter
consumer electronics market space
.:. Make television more engaging
Educational as well as entertaining -less ofa passive
expenence
1/20196
Advanced Television
OUR PROPOSAL
.:. Advanced TV is an information carrier
.:. Government should regulate data transport
Spectrum allocation, modulation standards, network
protocols
.:. Industry should control content
Data protocols, compression technology, display
formats
1/20/96
7
4
Advanced Television
ACATS
.:. Proven that advanced digital television is feasible
.:. Valuable experiments to detennine best
modulation scheme and error correction protocol
.:. Propose a fixed standard
All formats defined
Only what we know how to easily do today
1/20/96
Advanced Television
ACATS PROPOSED STANDARD
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1/20/96
}
Recommend no government
regulation
Recommend IP on ATM
}
Recommend ACATS proposed
approach be approved
10
5
Advanced Television
COMPUTER INDUSTRY CONCERNS
.:. Focused on specific video compatibility issues
.:. ACATS has proposed standard video formats
None are optimal for computers
All formats must be supported by receiver - too many
formats
High quality format conversion not practical
.:. No room for improvements as technology becomes
available
1120/96
Advanced Television
DIGITAL PROGRESS
.:. Performance at least doubling every 1. S years,
quadrupling every 3 years
.:. Since ACATS committee formed, PCs have
increased in every way, but cost, by over SOx
At constant cost to user, SOx more memory, SOx faster
.:. 8 years from now, another factor of SOx (2S00x
since 1987!)
1/20/96
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12
6
Advanced Television
PREDICTIONS
.:. lOx is difficult to predict; lOOOx is almost
impossible
.:. Since 1987, simple sound and pictures have
become possible on pes
.:. By~2003,can compute video in real-time!
.:. Mistake to define/constrain a digital process (e.g.,
communication) by today's understanding
1/20/96
Advanced Television
CASE IN POINT
.:. The Internet: Minimal specification (transport
protocol) many years ago
.:. Thousands ofbusinesses have utilized the spec
20 yr. ago we had no idea ofNetscape, World Wide
Web, MSN, AOL, etc.
?:. Internet has evolved with the technology
Easily accessible by millions of consumers
.:. Lesson for the digital spectrum: minimal
specification makes sense
)/20:96
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14
7
Advanced Television
INTERNET MODEL
.:. Digital TV can be extension of Internet
.:. As with the Internet, specify the transport, not the
type ofdata
.:. TV becomes one application/user ofthis system
The TV industry further specifies the national standard
for linear media data protocols
But does not affect how other industries choose to use
.:. Consumers decide what uses ofthe new system are
interesting
1120/96
Advanced Television
TRANSPORT PROTOCOL
.:. ACATS proposes MPEG transport
Well suited for MPEG content, not ideal for other
content
Doesn't leverage industry standard networking
technology
Low volumes for switches and routers will result in
significant cost premium for equipment
Channel spectrum allocated up front - cannot be
dynamically adjusted
1/20/96
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16
8
Advanced Television
TRANSPORT PROTOCOL
.:. Recommend Internet Protocol using ATM
transport
General purpose - provides interoperability with
existing computer standards
Can support MPEG data protocols, as well as other
applications
Industry standard - leverages cost effective technology
Dynamic bandwidth allocation - provides better use of
available spectrum
]/20/96
Advanced Television
DISPLAY FORMATS
\7
.:. Everyone agrees that 70+ Hz progressive scan
would be optimal
.:. Not yet feasible at HDTV resolution within 6 Mhz
channel
.:. ACATS solution:
Define many different formats, all ofwhich are practical
today, to address different kinds of content
Pass the cost offormat conversion to the consumer
\/20/96 \8
9
Advanced Television
No CONVERGENCE
.:. All ACATS formats optimized for linear motion
video
None are well suited to PC multimedia or Internet
content
.:. Digital TVs will have to be optimized for passive
TV video as defined by these formats
.:. No hope ofconvergence
]120196
AdvaDced TelevisioD
NON-TERRESTRIAL BROADCAST
.:. Other broadcast industries (cable, etc.) will not be
hampered by the same restrictions
.:. Will evolve to leverage advancing technologies
.:. Over-regulated terrestrial broadcast industry will
fall behind the technology curve
Will require government subsidies to remain
competitive
J9
]/20/96 20
10
Advanced Television
ENABLING TECHNOLOGIES
.:. Internet
Data protocols advancing constantly
Download support for new protocols to receiver
.:. Media DSPs
.:. Dynamic regulation
Match presentation to local processing capabilities
.:. Compression technology
Image segmentation, wavelet and fractal coding
11201%
Advanced Television
CONCLUSIONS
.:. Digital TV offers tremendous opportunities to enable
high bandwidth delivery ofinteresting content to the
broadest population
.:. Digital technology changing at a rapid pace
FCC should limit regulations to enable leveraging ofthis
technology
.:. U.S. businesses poised to leverage convergence of
digital TV and computers
.:. Consumers will benefit from more interesting content
and easy migration to new technologies
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