The FCC Thurs. rejected a petition by a supplier of video systems...

But the Commission gave the company an extra year to comply. PDI Communications Systems of Springboro, O., doesn’t make or sell TVs for “general” consumer use, but is “in the niche industry” of supplying video entertainment systems for health facilities “that require specialized systems meeting demanding safety requirements,” it told the FCC in its petition. Requiring PDI to include DTV tuners in its systems “would not advance the policy goals that the Commission set forth” in its DTV tuner order, PDI said. PDI monitors aren’t consumer products and thus can’t spur consumer demand, it said. The FCC found no “merit” in that argument. Yes, PDI viewing units differ from most TV receivers with screens smaller than 13” “in that they are designed to receive service from a separate antenna connected through a cable rather than an attached antenna,” the FCC said. But that doesn’t “alter the fact that the PDI units would not be able to receive off-the-air TV signals when analog TV service ends unless they include a DTV tuner,” the FCC said: “If the PDI viewing units are not able to receive digital TV service after the transition ends, those patients who view off-the- air TV signals on them, as well as the health care providers who own and operate the systems, will lose the benefits of that service. In this regard, we recognize that when analog TV service ends those PDI systems that are configured with analog only viewing units will not be able to offer off-the- air TV service. Applying the DTV tuner requirement to new viewing units will include the PDI systems in the transition process and minimize the number of viewing units that will need to be replaced when analog service ends.” LG, which has supplied video monitors to PDI, opposed the petition and was alone in filing comments for or against.