ATSC approved a new recommended practice for transport stream verification, called A/78, it said. The practice will probably become “basis for DTV transport stream monitoring strategies,” ATSC Pres. Mark Richer said in a news release. Triveni Digital’s Richard Chernock led the work on A/78, ATSC said.
Mobile DTV to notebook PCs will take off internationally in 2007-2008, said Ernest Tsui, Intel DTV architect. “Right now is the time to prepare the platform,” Tsui said last week at the Intel Developers Forum (IDF) in San Francisco. “2007 and 2008 will be where the hockey stick really starts to take off, not only for the U.S.” but also Europe and China, gearing up for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, he said: “Broadcast sports events… where everybody’s watching is really going to spur this mobile DTV growth.” No longer will a fan need to miss a game while shopping with a spouse, Tsui said. In contrast to cellphones’ tiny displays, a notebook screen viewed at normal distance fills the eye as much as a 50” TV from 8’, he said: “It basically is filling up your field of view, and it’s a very good display, so it’s equivalent to your high-definition screen at home,” Tsui said. Notebook TV is enabled by better battery life, he said. Laptops will get broadcasts over WiMAX and cellular networks, though cellular reception creates interference risks, Tsui said. Even at 320x240 resolution, 8 min. of video eats bandwidth equivalent to 240 min. of cellphone talk time, so mobile carriers will build broadcast networks to avoid swamping their cell systems, he said. The mobile DTV technology in handhelds won’t suffice in notebooks, which can’t be repositioned as easily to improve reception, Tsui said. The technology also must coexist with a notebook’s other wireless technologies, he said. A particular challenge is dealing, via receiver filtering, with a choice of cutting off GSM or the upper 10-20 UHF channels, Tsui said. He focused largely on Asia in his remarks, the last in a series at successive IDFs on mobile DTV around the world. Few projections are available, but Intel expects the medium’s growth in the region to track the huge growth expected in mobile TV handsets, he said. Tsui’s own spot tests riding around in Tokyo, Shanghai and Taipei registered signal-to- noise ratios of 34-38 dB, considerably better than the 10-15 needed, he said; this shows “you can get adequate signal levels” even with a small antenna. China’s recently adopted DMB-T/H standard offers even higher mobility than Japan’s ISDB-T and S. Korea’s T-DMB -- in contrast to the U.S.’s ATSC, which allows none, he said. And China’s standard supports full 1080i HDTV up to about 60 mph, unlike the QVGA normally enabled by its neighbors’, Tsui said. “Enhanced ATSC will try to improve mobility, but it’s still not OFDM [orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing], and that’s sort of one of the prerequisites” of mobile HD, he said.
After several market tests, TiVo is preparing its Series3 HD PVR for Sept. delivery, retailers told our affiliate Consumer Electronics Daily. Pricing is expected to be released within 2 weeks, dealers said. The Series3 PVR accommodates 2 CableCARDs and has dual ATSC tuners and storage capacity for recording up to 300 hours and 25-30 hours of SD and HD video, respectively. In an ex parte filing with the FCC last month, TiVo urged cable firms to “make any necessary preparations” to support customers who request 2 CableCARDs for Series3s. TiVo has heard of cable installers “refusing to install or support” CableCARDs in the field, the company said: “We wanted to proactively educate MSOs about this product before it is widely distributed to prevent any misunderstandings like this from occurring in the future.” TiVo has forged alliances with cable operators -- notably Comcast, which is expected to start downloading the PVR platform to Motorola’s DCT-6214 set-top box this year.
LG Electronics will deliver a prototype DTV converter box to MSTV-NAB in Sept. 1/3 the original’s size and integrating most ATSC tuning and reception functions on a single chip, an LG spokesman told us at N.Y. news briefing. The device goes a long way toward meeting the goal of a DTV converter box costing $50 or less by the Feb. 2009 analog cutoff, the spokesman said. The box, which LG plans to self- certify as eligible for the NTIA’s $40 coupon program, has separate ROM and RAM plus a video input and RF 3/4 channel output. It may add a smart antenna output to accommodate a powered or unidirectional DTV antenna, the spokesman said. The box is being developed based on expected demand for 20-40 million units, not all will require a new antenna, he spokesman said. The box will ship in 2008, when the coupon program kicks in.
Only a household relying exclusively on over-the-air analog TV reception would qualify for a $40 coupon voucher redeemable toward purchase of a “certified” bare-bones DTV converter box under the long-awaited NTIA rulemaking released Mon. and scheduled for Federal Register publication today (Tues.). The agency was charged by Congress in DTV transition legislation with running the $1.5-billion subsidy program in advance of the Feb. 2009 analog cutoff. Comments on NTIA’s proposed rules are due in 60 days.
The hybrid Brazilian-Japanese DTV standard emerging from an agreement between those 2 countries probably won’t be adopted by any other Latin American countries, said Peter MacAvock, exec. dir-DVB Project. Details of the standard are still emerging, but observers believe it will incorporate aspects of Brazilian and Japanese technology, MacAvock said: “Our impression is it’s basically a system that cherry picks the Japanese system… That’s fine, but that’s no longer an international standard.”
Broadcasters will study ways they can get involved with the consumer electronics industry, hoping to put DTV and radio receivers in devices such as iPods, cellphones and laptop computers, said Edward Munson, vp-TV for Lin TV. Munson heads an NAB task force, comprised of TV and radio executives on the NAB board, on technology advocacy that will look at the best way to bring broadcasters and device makers together. “We've not had a seat at the table,” as companies develop portable media devices, he said.
LAS VEGAS -- FCC Chmn. Martin wants cable to carry all of TV stations’ digital signals, backing broadcasters’ desire for multicast must-carry and marking his latest departure from his predecessor. Martin told NAB here he'd like the FCC to review a 2005 ruling under Chmn. Michael Powell, who said must-carry would violate cable operators’ First Amendment rights (CD Feb 11/05 p1). “That was one of the missed opportunities for the Commission,” Martin said in a Tues. keynote. “If a majority was willing to relook at that, I think that would be a good opportunity.”
Year-to-date DTV shipments passed 3 million units in week 13 ended March 31, CEA said. This is the earliest DTV has hit that mark in any year since its introduction. The 3,068,030 DTV units shipped as of March 31 include direct- view, LCD and rear-projection and plasma models, plus analog TVs fitted with built-in ATSC tuners under an FCC mandate for all sets 25” and larger. Shipments of analog-only sets in the year’s first 13 weeks were down almost 1/2, to 2,352,969 from 4,561,850 in the same year-earlier period, CEA reported.
Brazil may be near a decision on a DTV standard, ending the last big battle for market share among DTV standards from the U.S. (ATSC), Europe (DVB) and Japan (ISDB). A delegation led by Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim Thurs. signed a memorandum of understanding for Japan to help Brazil develop a “Japanese-Brazilian system” for DTV, AFP reported. But a final decision on the standard would be up to Brazilian President Luiz Inacio da Silva, Amorim said.