CEA is ‘out of touch with the realities of the technical challeng...

of DTV converter boxes (CD Oct 13 p11). NAB hired CEA members LG Electronics and Thomson to develop the prototype, but CEA said NAB/MSTV’s plan would be costly and contain features most consumers don’t need or want. Fritts said NAB was “proud” to stand with CEA members in their effort to ensure consumers receive affordable and reliable access to local TV stations both during and after the DTV transition. Meanwhile, Thomson, which with LG bid successfully in the NAB/MSTV converter-box program, bristled at CEA’s criticism. Its video compression technology “is a key ingredient in the ATSC standard and we have been working since the beginning of the digital TV transition to develop and offer products to suit a wide variety of customer requirements,” the firm said. Vp David Arland said his company was “honored to be selected by MSTV and NAB to work on their project and believe that the market for digital-to-analog set-top boxes will require a selection of options for consumers.” Some consumers will opt for a “simple” DTV converter, as broadcasters envision, and others “will need more feature- rich devices that both decode and output high-definition TV,” Arland said. “We will be ready for the needs of our customers, whether they are network operators, retailers, consumers, or Congress itself.”