Canais de HD2 silenciosos

«(...) Each time, I'd tuned the Recepter to the "HD2" channel of a local radio station -- but the station had allowed this second, digital-only broadcast to go silent for no apparent reason. The first offender was WTOP; instead of its HD2 feed's usual pleasant classical music, I heard silence. Rather, I heard nothing -- with no music to awake me, I enjoyed an extra hour of blissful shut-eye.

WAMU pulled the same stunt a couple of weeks later, silencing its second channel.

Much as I enjoyed my bonus nap time, this kind of thing does not bode well for HD radio's future. If the radio stations offering HD2 broadcasts (all of whom have shelled out some non-trivial cash to do so) can't be bothered to keep them on their air full-time, why should anybody at home bother risking their cash on this technology?

HD radio does have other selling points, but they hardly compete with the dramatic expansion of listening choices that HD2 broadcasts could bring. Digital FM just doesn't sound that much better than analog. Digital AM does, but it's too hard to find and is still limited to daylight hours.»

fonte: «HD Radio Needs Wake-Up Call» 19/6/06, Washington Post