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fcclogo PUBLIC NOTICE

Federal Communications Commission
445 12th St., SW
Washington, D.C. 20554
News media information 202 / 418-0500
Fax-On-Demand 202 / 418-2830
Internet: http://www.fcc.gov
TTY: 202/418-2555



April 21, 1999


Commission's Office of Engineering and Technology Announces Roundtable on DTV Receiver Compatibility With Cable Television Service


The Commission's Office of Engineering and Technology, in cooperation with the Office of Plans and Policy, will host a roundtable to discuss technical issues and progress towards development of standards related to compatibility between digital television (DTV) services provided by cable and other video distribution services and consumer electronics equipment. The topics be addressed are:

Interface Solutions for "Set-top" Devices Used with DTV Receivers and Other Equipment
  • Connections and interfaces (IEEE 1394 connector, RF and baseband analog connections, and new connections and interfaces)
  • Copy protection (copy protection problem, proposed solutions, industry efforts to achieve a resolution)

Compatibility Solutions for Digital Cable Ready Receivers and Other Equipment

  • Efforts to develop standards for digital cable ready television receivers and other equipment
  • New uses of standard digital cable interfaces beyond basic television reception and display
  • Copyright protection for cable ready equipment.

These roundtable discussions will permit representatives from the cable, broadcast, program production, and consumer electronics industries to address the technical issues with respect to these topics and progress that has been made to developing voluntary industry standards for compatibility in each area of discussion.

Date/Time: Thursday, May 20, 1999
9:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.

Location: Federal Communications Commission
Commission Meeting Room
445 12th Street, S.W.
Washington, D.C. 20554

The staff will be finalizing the panelists who will participate in this roundtable in the next several weeks. Parties interested in participating should contact the staff members indicated below.

The roundtable panels are open to the public and seating will be available on a first come, first- served basis. If time permits, audience members will be encouraged to ask questions of the roundtable participants. The roundtable panels will also be carried live on the Internet. Internet users may listen to the real-time audio feed of the roundtables by accessing the FCC Internet Audio Broadcast Home Page. Step-by-step instructions on how to listen will to the audio broadcast, as well as information regarding the equipment and software needed, are available on the FCC Internet Audio Broadcast Home Page at www.fcc.gov/realaudio. The internet broadcast also will be available in the Commission's RealAudio archives on completion of the meeting, at the same Home Page. For information on obtaining a videotape of the roundtables, please contact the Commission's Audio-Visual Office at (202) 418-0460. Audio and video tapes of the roundtables may also be purchased from Infocus, 331 Victory Drive, Herndon, VA 20170, by calling Infocus at (703) 834-0100 or by FAXing a request to Infocus at (703) 834-0111.

For additional information contact: Alan Stillwell, at (202) 418-2470, astillwell@fcc.gov, or Amy Nathan, at (202) 418-2030, anathan@fcc.gov.

- FCC -