Dtv: The Revolution in Digital Video [Hardcover]

Jerry Whitaker (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0071350217 | ISBN-13: 978-0071350211 | Publication Date: March 1999 | Edition: 2nd

DTV (Digital Television) is now launching in the U.S. and around the world. This bestseller, the first to cover the new FCC standards, explains DTV basics and technical details in plain English. It gives step-by-step guidance to making the transition to a fully digital facility. The new second edition brings it entirely up to date with emerging regulatory and technological developments. 200 illus.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A "must have" reference for DTV and DVD practitioners November 10, 1998 With a forward by Joe A. Flaherty, this tome covers the history, fundamentals and applications of digital television including transceivers, displays, codecs, compression and measurement. Audio encoding/decoding as well as transmission and implementation issues relating to the ATSC DTV system have their own chapters. A reference section and glossary are included. As a valuable part of the McGraw-Hill Video/Audio Engineering series, this is a "must have" for DTV and new media practitioners alike. - Amazon.com Customer Review --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From the Back Cover

The first edition of DTV: The Revolution in Digital Video unveiled the many new applications for every important innovation in DTV (Digital Television) and high-definition video imaging--the hottest technology to come along since color TV. Since its publication, the world of DTV has transformed at a dizzying rate. Building on the previous edition's runaway success, this state-of-the-art guide once again brings video and broadcasting engineers and technicians up to speed with the all latest developments in DTV. If it's new, and it has to do with changes to standards or advances in technology, you'll find it here in this much-needed, just-in-time primer. DTV, Second Edition, brings you: new FCC details on DTV licensing and applications; the ATSC's Top Down report-a critical inventory of the various equipment systems and their interfaces; The latest SMPTE standards: SMPTE 305M, Serial Data Transport Interface; SMPTE 308M, MPEG-2 4:2:2 Profile at High Level; and SMPTE 310M, Synchronous Serial Interface for MPEG-2 Digital Transport Stream; proposed revisions of two vital SMPTE standards: SMPTE 292M, Bit-Serial Digital Interface for High-Definition Television Systems; and SMPTE 24l7M, 1920x1080 Scanning and Analog and Parallel Digital Interfaces for Multiple Picture Rates; new implementation information relating to the European DVB system; an insightful look at the harmonization of the ATSC DTV system and the European DVB system. Using concept-clarifying examples, schematics, and mathematics, expert author Jerry Whitaker covers everything from applications (professional, medical, military, industrial, telecommunications, computer design, and MIS), to video and audio compression, to receiver systems and display devices, to video measurement techniques. What results is the most current, essential look at DTV yet-one that you'll refer to time and again.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 656 pages
• Publisher: Mcgraw-Hill (Tx); 2nd edition (March 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0071350217
• ISBN-13: 978-0071350211
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 7.5 x 2.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,366,714 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Broad Coverage of the Digital Television Revolution, February 25, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Dtv: The Revolution I Electronic Imaging (Mcgraw-Hill Video/Audio Engineering Series) (Hardcover)

Jerry Whitaker has been in the Radio and Television broadcast industry for many years, and has earned the highest awards in the field. This publication is his first forray into the newly emerging world of digital TV. The field is huge, much more complex and varied than the older world of television and radio transmission. In part the new complexity is due to the role of computers in generating and consuming broadcast imagery. More importantly, modern understanding of image compression and data brodcasting has added additional services and markets which much be addressed by the new system and it have become much more of an undertaking to cover all of these areas in one book.

Mr Whitaker does an admirable job of taking on this task. His summary of the political process leading up to the Grand Alliance is well worth reading for newcomers to the field as well as those who have been involved through the whole process. I found the clear description of the lineage of certain SMPTE standards to be quite useful.

The two chapters on applications and fundamental principles provide some crucial background for the novice in the field, but are probably better covered in books specifically on those areas. For instance, Blair's treatment of fundamentals in the "TV & Radio Engineer's Handbook" is a little more thorough, and would suit a class better than this book.

The section on digital coding is very well written; I'd reccomend this section for anyone considering implementing a digital broadcast facility. The compression chapter supports it well, though again as a textbook on compression one would do better with Jain's book, or possibly one of the many books on JPEG/MPEG.

I was least impressed with the section on production systems. In part, this is due to the rapid advancement in this area, but I found that the lack of discussion of emerging DV standards, some of the issues of image bandwidth, and the discussion of colorimetry to leave a bit to be desired. There is no better summary out there right now, but several authors are working on titles which should better address this area in the near future.

His sections on audio encoding, transmission, and recievers were all quite useful to me as a systems engineer. Specifically, the information on receivers would be useful for technical journalists and consumer sales and marketing professionals in the field, as well as engineers interested in the limitations and possiblities of new display technologies. This section in particular is well written and extremely accurate.

Finally, I found the references to be extremely well done; there is no existing collection of references as thorough as this one. The only minor shortcomming is in the index; the book could have benefitted from a larger index.

This book is a must-have for anyone involved in DTV/HDTV engineering. Despite a few minor shorcomings, it will be a valuable addittion to the practitioner's library.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A "must have" reference for DTV and DVD practitioners, November 10, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Dtv: The Revolution I Electronic Imaging (Mcgraw-Hill Video/Audio Engineering Series) (Hardcover)

With a forward by Joe A. Flaherty, this tome covers the history, fundamentals and applications of digital television including transceivers, displays, codecs, compression and measurement. Audio encoding/decoding as well as transmission and implementation issues relating to the ATSC DTV system have their own chapters. A reference section and glossary are included. As a valuable part of the sometimes spotty McGraw-Hill Video/Audio Engineering series, this is a "must have" for DTV and new media practitioners alike.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Prerequisites of DTV: The revolution in Electronic Imaging, November 18, 2000

By 

James Kruger (Dunnellon, Florida USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dtv: The Revolution in Digital Video (Hardcover)

This book by Jerry Whitaker requires a AAS in electronic Engeneering Technology and/or a understanding of TV, DVD Sattelitte, or Computers to grasp the techniques of digital decoders and encoders. Knowledge of Binary 1's and 0's in different size bytes is essential. Series to parallel conversion and digital to analog conversion is necessary to understand the manipulation of the serial data in the encoders transmission basics, and the compression and expansion of parallel data , with memory manipulation of the order of the frames of the raster. Digital Television Fundamentals:Design and Installation of Video and Audio Systems: by Michael Robin and Michel Poulin is an excellent prerequisite and follow up book to this one. The same requirements of digital data techniques are necessary... This book does not include the new decoder circuits used for transmitting and compressing the digital data, nor the circuitry of the monitors.