Radio 2.0: Is Anybody Listening?
When you're invloved with technology as much as I am, you quickly become the technology resource person for all kinds of questions. About a month ago, a friend asked me what I knew about HD.
I replied "Oh, that's the new TV standard, you need a plasma or an LCD with an HDTV tuner, and..."
"No HD Radio" she queried.
I went off into a disseration of "Sirius and XM radio, you pay a monthly fee, and need a special receiver..."
I then was told that I hadn't hit the nail on the head, and it was none of the above. Quite honestly, I had no idea what HD Radio really was, and hadn't heard of it. I think I'm hardly alone.
With some research, I've figured out that HD Radio is the next stage of radio. The radio broadcasters were not content to let millions of listeners defect to satellite radio, with their advertising dollars. HD Radio is a terrestial based system that uses digital transmitters from atop existing towers, on existing frequencies. Like when cell phones, and television moved from analog to digital, they can fit a lot more information packed into the same signal. They're promising "FM quality" AM radio broadcasts, and "near CD quality" FM broadcasts. There's also potential for more channels, closer together as well as the digital stream limits intereference supposedly. Reportedly, there can be data sent as well with info related to artist info, traffic and weather to be streamed as well. It sounds a lot to me like streamed internet radio, without the internet. I even heard one rumor that the next iPod would have a tuner for this. This is all with no monthly fee like satellite radio.
Sounds great, huh? That's what I thought, already the gears turning and wondering what hardware I would need. Looking around, there is only a handful of companies making receivers. They appear to be still quite expensive, and not exactly trouble free, and crystal clear. Looking at Amazon, the reviews are informative, to say the least. With a $300 receiver, several are saying that the audio quality is no better than regular radio, and generally disappointed.
It looks like there are early adopter "teething pains" that certainly need to get worked through. There are so few users, thus far, that the serious R&D money and expertise hasn't arrived. I think that HD Radio will be great, but it hasn't quite hit the prime time yet. I any of our readership has direct experience with HD Radio, I'd love to hear all about it!
More.
--Jonas
I replied "Oh, that's the new TV standard, you need a plasma or an LCD with an HDTV tuner, and..."
"No HD Radio" she queried.
I went off into a disseration of "Sirius and XM radio, you pay a monthly fee, and need a special receiver..."
I then was told that I hadn't hit the nail on the head, and it was none of the above. Quite honestly, I had no idea what HD Radio really was, and hadn't heard of it. I think I'm hardly alone.
With some research, I've figured out that HD Radio is the next stage of radio. The radio broadcasters were not content to let millions of listeners defect to satellite radio, with their advertising dollars. HD Radio is a terrestial based system that uses digital transmitters from atop existing towers, on existing frequencies. Like when cell phones, and television moved from analog to digital, they can fit a lot more information packed into the same signal. They're promising "FM quality" AM radio broadcasts, and "near CD quality" FM broadcasts. There's also potential for more channels, closer together as well as the digital stream limits intereference supposedly. Reportedly, there can be data sent as well with info related to artist info, traffic and weather to be streamed as well. It sounds a lot to me like streamed internet radio, without the internet. I even heard one rumor that the next iPod would have a tuner for this. This is all with no monthly fee like satellite radio.
Sounds great, huh? That's what I thought, already the gears turning and wondering what hardware I would need. Looking around, there is only a handful of companies making receivers. They appear to be still quite expensive, and not exactly trouble free, and crystal clear. Looking at Amazon, the reviews are informative, to say the least. With a $300 receiver, several are saying that the audio quality is no better than regular radio, and generally disappointed.
It looks like there are early adopter "teething pains" that certainly need to get worked through. There are so few users, thus far, that the serious R&D money and expertise hasn't arrived. I think that HD Radio will be great, but it hasn't quite hit the prime time yet. I any of our readership has direct experience with HD Radio, I'd love to hear all about it!
More.
--Jonas
Digg This
Del.icio.us
posted by digitaldoc at 12:41 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home