Audio Video News

Despite the apparent eagerness of consumer electronics manufacturers to bring out new, improved, and much cheaper high-definition television equipment, the situation behind the scenes is anything but rosy. Satellite services are coming on board with the new format at an encouraging rate, but cable companies, who deliver most of the television signals to most American viewers, have been dragging their feet for years. Reluctance to adapt digital transmission because of its bandwidth demands has hindered the rollout of the new system by as much as five years, according to some estimates.

More than 100 stations offer at least some DTV programming, but most viewers can't see it because the current crop of DTV receivers can't connect to cable—the result of wrangling over technology and copyright issues. Even worse is the fact that most cable converter boxes cancel out the improvements brought about by digital broadcasting.

Enough is enough, in the opinion of Federal Communications Commission chairman William Kennard, who has told attendees at the Consumer Electronics Show that it is time to agree on some standards, or have them imposed by Washington.

"Your time and our patience are running out," Mr. Kennard said in a prepared speech. "The commission has tried to let you solve this problem. We have been goading and nagging. But so far you have not finished the job. The American public will not let the commission wait much longer for you to agree on standards, and the law gives the commission clear responsibility to act if you do not." Kennard has directed the FCC to propose rules on compatibility standards, and said he would move toward making those rules law if he doesn't see significant progress toward interactive digital television by April.