The Change Mariner

Digital broadcasts mark fledgling debut in Japan

JapanTimes:
With signs that say "Digital is coming!" hanging in stores packed with new TV models promising dazzling imagery, Tokyo's bustling electronics shopping district in Akihabara is one place in Japan that's gung-ho about digital television broadcasting that began Monday.

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi (at microphone) and representatives of Japan's key TV broadcasters mark the start of terrestrial digital broadcasting.

But the buzz has yet to catch on elsewhere.

Digital broadcasting will still reach just parts of three major cities, and potential viewers are estimated at 12 million households. But with reception for some channels poor because of Japan's mountainous and cramped terrain, the tally may be half that -- and actual viewers even fewer, at about 300,000.

The government is determined to make digital broadcasting the nation's standard, and has vowed to phase out analog broadcasting by 2011. So officials say digital TV, despite its likely slow start, is here to stay.

The economic perks are expected to total 200 trillion yen over the next decade, according to the telecommunications ministry, as people rush out to buy digital TVs, broadcasters invest in equipment and new kinds of services blossom.

The government is investing 180 billion yen to help get the system started, and is targeting the end of 2006 for making it available nationwide.

The air waves for analog TVs and digital TVs are basically similar. But using digital signals allows for relaying larger amounts of information. A digital TV has twice as many lines on a screen to create images as an analog TV, delivering a more vivid and theaterlike picture. Digital broadcasting can also relay hundreds of channels in less dazzling video quality.

Another feature of digital TVs is viewer participation, including surveys, contest balloting or educational programs, although such programs were scarce Monday. The television can also receive data that pop up as words on the screen, including player statistics for a baseball game, or local news headlines and weather reports targeting specific areas.

In the future, commuters will be watching digital TV programs on mobile phones and other hand-held devices, although a disagreement over patents has delayed that launch in Japan.

The advent of digital TV is symbolic of a larger move toward "a network society" that delivers information catered to each individual instead of a dominant mass media that acts as opinion leader, said Tatsuo Inamasu, a professor at Hosei University in Tokyo.

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