By Catherine Moon Frost, American Television & Communications Corp.
Current consumer trends suggest that cable operators must find a way to provide cable subscribers with stereo. Of prime importance in the cable operator decision of how to carry cable stereo is determining how much quality consumers expect from cable stereo. In order to answer this question, ATC and Gillcable undertook a joint study to measure consumer perception of cable stereo quality.
The research results suggest that most consumers will not be able to detect quality differences among alternate stereo delivery systems. This is particularly true for the audio sources most commonly used in cable television programming.
The implication for the cable operator is that quality should be less of a factor in the decision of how to carry cable stereo than the economic and technical restrictions of the individual cable system.