1. What is the difference between HDTV and regular TV?

HDTV is much higher resolution and quality. Regular TV (same as MPEG-1 or VHS quality) is 352 x 240 screen resolution with a screen format of 4 x 3. HDTV is as much as 1920 x 1080 resolution with a format of 16 x 9.

2. Why would someone want to stream HDTV over an ordinary network?

Most networks today can now support very high bandwidth, such as gigabit ethernet or the Internet2. When bandwidth is less of a concern, quality becomes the primary concern, and HDTV offers the highest quality. Also, for vertical applications such as telemedicine or entertainment, quality can be crucial. For large screen display, such as large events, HDTV is a must.

3. Why can't other streaming companies stream HDTV?

No other company has the expertise in high bit rate streaming that 2netFX does, but there are a few that might eventually be able to server HDTV streams. The real difficulty is developing a player and decoder combination that can play it back on an ordinary PC with no jitter, loss of quality or any frame drops. 2netFX has perfected this with patent pending technologies over a 2 year period.

4. Can you view HDTV streams on an ordinary computer monitor?

Yes! Any ordinary monitor can display HDTV using the 2netFX decoder and player.

5. Will I be able to view HDTV streams over my home network ... in various rooms of my home? What network speed and special equipment will I need to do this.

Yes! Newer home networks can now support 100 Mbps, and what is needed for HDTV is 20 Mbps. There is no special equipment required other than a 2netFX player and decoder running in an ordinary PC.

6. Looking forward, how do you see streaming HDTV fitting in to the concept of home entertainment networking? When will we begin to see consumer products emerge in this arena?

We see this fitting today. Companies like World Wide Packets, Advent Networks, SwitchPoint Networks, etc. are providing fiber/high bandwidth to homes now and are using 2netFX HDTV streaming to deliver high quality content, any home network with 10 Mbps can view DVD quality streaming and with 100 Mbps can view HDTV quality streaming today!

7. How will viewers access and pay for streaming HDTV? Any idea of what these costs will be?

Yes. Service providers will be providing HDTV content to homes as part of their regular billing, or perhaps charging extra for special content. Organizations such as NASA, The Research Channel, the American History Museum and others have unique HDTV content that may become available via streaming to homes sometime in the future.

WILLIAM REED, VICE PRESIDENT OF SALES & MARKETING
20 years technology marketing and sales experience, Director of Systems Business Unit for 8x8, Inc., Vice President and founder of CDI marketing consulting firm, Vice President and co-founder of Paradygm Software (sold to Claris Corp.); Director of Marketing for Sigma Designs. Numerous industry awards, former U.S. Navy SEAL, MBA in Marketing.