A-VSB DTV Standard Said Nearly Set at ATSC
ATSC may set a standard by mid-year for A-VSB digital TV technology developed by Samsung and Rohde & Schwartz, said Samsung Vp-Govt. Relations John Godfrey. Others are less optimistic. “My personal estimate… based upon an assumption that our members want to standardize on it, [is that] before the end of the calendar year, maybe in the 3rd quarter, we will see this technology as maybe a candidate standard,” said ATSC Pres. Mark Richer. Technologies become candidate standards just before ATSC members adopt them as full standards.
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Successful demonstration at CES of A-VSB mobile video capabilities at CES gave it momentum at ATSC, said Richer. “It certainly seems to have caused a lot more excitement,” he said: “That can help drive things faster in a standards committee.” Before ATSC members can adopt A-VSB as a standard, it must undergo field testing at Ottawa’s Communications Research Center, Richer said. “Things are really moving forward, there’s a lot of focus on it. It’s fairly complicated technology,” he said: “It’s not something that we can standardize on overnight.”
One of A-VSB’s chief benefits is its mobile capabilities. The technology uses some of a broadcaster’s available spectrum to “turbo code” video channels, making it easier for mobile TV receivers to receive them. Only specialized receiver chips will be able to receive mobile signals. But non “turbo coded” signals are compatible with legacy DTV receivers, Godfrey said. Ensuring backwards compatibility is a focus of ATSC testing, Richer said: “Mobile is really going to be in the second phase as far as we're concerned.”
A-VSB also has advantages for fixed reception, Godfrey said. TVs with A-VSB receivers will be better at receiving signals in urban areas normally dense with interference, he said: “One place this is going to make a difference [is for] people who live next to a train track” and experience frequent signal interference. Broadcasters are more interested in A-VSB’s mobile uses, he said: “It creates a chance to add value to their over-air asset that they didn’t know they have.” Furthermore, broadcasters can squeeze more video channels into spectrum for mobile devices by using advanced codecs such as H.264, Godfrey said. Mobile broadcasts won’t be backwards compatible with existing DTV sets, “so you might as well use one of the more advanced codecs that weren’t available years ago,” he said.
ATSC has other mobile broadcast options coming down the pike, Richer said: “We are definitely pursuing a mobile solution as well as a handheld solution for ATSC. A-VSB may be the solution or it may be another technology.” NAB supports “flexible applications of DTV technology, like the Samsung A-VSB project,” said Exec. Vp Dennis Wharton: “We're encouraged too that its development is coming through the ATSC process and look forward to its implementation.”