linuxaudio.org

On Jan 15, 2008 9:18 AM, The Other  wrote:

quoted text
> Hello All,

>

> What is HD radio?  A local radio station is advertising they are the

> first HD radio station in my listening area.  Is HD supposed to mean

> High Definition?

no, that's a clever rhetorical trick, meant to capitalize on the

success (?) of HDTV, which does, in fact, provide more dots.
> Now this make sense to me.  Rather than having a radio broadcasted

quoted text
> recording go for "LOUD", the powers-that-be in radio broadcasting have

> finally discovered that the radio audience actually prefers to hear

> the subtlety in the music.

that's overly optimistic, and far from the mark.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HD_Radio
simply, it adds a few program streams to the broadcast by digitally

encoding and compressing (data-wise, not dynamically) them into the

unused bits of an AM/FM station's designated portion of spectrum.
this means that, instead of broadcasting one set of programs, a

station can broadcast two or three sets simultaneously.
it requires upgrades to the transmitters that cost major moolah, and

it requires a new receiver at home / in car / on person.
i'd be dumbfounded that the FCC went for a completely proprietary

system, if i weren't already so accustomed to consistently disagreeing

with their decisions.  unlicensed spectrum, such as the ranges used

for wifi and garage door openers, is where it's at.
> Took the powers-that-be long enough.  Now if they would just use the

quoted text
> same techniques for television commercials.  I *hate* it when the

> commercial is louder than the television program.

i don't - the stupidly excessive dynamic compression of commercials is

one of the indicators do-it-yourself PVRs (mythtv, sagetv, etc.) use

to flag and remove commercial breaks for me.
big business' ways shall be their own undoing.  proceed as normally. :)
--

daneasley@gmail.com

http://burntpossum.com

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