Vinyl Sales Rise 89% – The classic sounds (and perhaps the physical attributes) of vinyl are gaining in popularity even as new digital technologies seek to replace it. In 2008, according to Nielson SoundScan, vinyl record sales totaled 1.88 million units – 89% more than the previous year. Over 670,000 albums have been sold so far in 2009. In many cities more LP stores are opening and business is booming with collectors and casual listeners alike. Record sales are pushing manufacturers to offer turntables and accessories, which also helps record sales in a feedback loop. USB turntables are a hot new product, enabling those with only a computer to enjoy vinyl too. Vinyl seems to be making up a portion of CD sales losses due to download services. The music industry has taken notice and major labels are now remastering versions of their best-selling albums complete with original artwork. The average cost of a CD is $14 and a vinyl non-audiophile LP averages about $23. Best Buy is reportedly mulling over a push to sell vinyl LPs in all of its 1020 stores nationwide. They are running a test in 100 stores, devoting about eight feet of space to displaying 200 vinyl albums. Total vinyl sales exceed the total of all hi-res digital discs, including SACD.
Broadcast White Spaces – In the U.S. the term white spaces has gained prominence in telecommunications since the FCC ruled that unlicensed devices such as wireless microphones could make use of the frequencies allocated to broadcasting but not used locally if they guaranteed they did not interfere with assigned broadcasts. The term has taken on new importance with the upcoming June 12 final changeover from analog to digital telecasting. (Digital signals take up a narrower portion of the spectrum, thus freeing up more white space.) In the U.S. the abandoned frequencies will be mostly in the upper UHF band, while in the rest of the world the abandoned TV channels are VHF – there the white spaces are being reallocated to the digital radio standards DAB, DAB+ and DMB.
The White Spaces Coalition consists of eight technology companies who plan to deliver high speed broadband internet access to consumers in the U.S. via the existing white spaces. They include Microsoft, Google, Dell, HP, Intel, Philips, Earthlink and Samsung. They plan to use the present TV channels 2 thru 51, and they expect speeds of 80 Mbps and above, with 400 to 800 Mbps for short-range networking. The FCC has tested some of the preliminary devices and last November unanimously approved the unlicensed use of white spaces by what they refer to as TV Band Devices. However, they most follow an FCC-mandated database of regulations. In February the National Association of Broadcasters and the Association for Maximum Service TV asked a Federal court to shut down the FCC authorization of the use of white spaces. Further development on the White Spaces wi-fi project and its relationship to the Wi-Max project will probably have to wait until after the June 12 transition. For more details check the Wikipedia page on White Spaces.
HDTV Color Problems – According to HD video guru Joe Kane, all professional video cameras put out RGB signals which are converted to component video for further processing and distribution, including broadcast. The is one formula for analog and SD digital video and another for HD digital video. These describe how much of each primary color (red, green & blue) make up the luminance part of the component signal. Because of the different equations, a problem can occur when SD video is upconverted for display as HD – the display sees an HD signal and applies HD equations, which will only be correct if the right transformation matrix was used in upconversion – which doesn’t often happen. Thus you get incorrect colors. Kane also advises to always use the HDMI connection if possible since it transmits to the display more bandwidth for each of the component video signals, delivering higher image quality than using a component video cable.
