Mobile DTV Readied For NAB

By Greg Tarr -- TWICE, 4/10/2008

Las Vegas — LG Electronics and Harris will demonstrate their MPH in-band mobile digital television system at the upcoming National Association of Broadcasters convention, to be held here this weekend, in advance of the selection of a national mobile DTV standard.

Meanwhile, rival Samsung and its partners will also demonstrate their competing Advanced Vestigial Side Band (A-VSB) system for mobile DTV at the show.

LG and Harris said Wednesday that their MPH system “is both deployment-ready and uniquely suited to rapid marketplace adoption by the nation’s broadcasters.”

The system was developed by LG’s research and development subsidiary Zenith, and Harris, to provide “robust over-the-air DTV signals to mobile, pedestrian and handheld devices.”

The approach allows consumers to watch their favorite programs from local broadcasters, as well as local news, weather and traffic information, even when traveling in fast-moving vehicles or using handheld devices away from home.

Harris plans to showcase the system at the NAB show this weekend. Among other things, Harris is launching new MPH broadcast equipment for broadcasters to deploy MPH mobile DTV services quickly.

LG Electronics said it expects to introduce a range of MPH-based consumer devices by next year. These will include everything from handheld digital TVs and mobile phones to DTV-ready notebook computers.

The companies are telling broadcasters that mobile DTV could create new revenue streams, amounting up to $2 billion a year by 2012 if a standard is universally adopted.

The MPH in-band mobile DTV technology builds on two key ATSC standards — an Enhanced VSB (E-VSB) system and 8-VSB (Vestigial Side Band), which were both developed by LG.

The MPH system is competing against the Advanced Vestigial Sideband (A-VSB) system backed by Samsung Electronics, Rohde & Schwarz, SES-American, MobiTV and Nokia.

That system, which will be demonstrated at NAB, is said to offer a potentially low-cost upgrade option for broadcasters. A-VSB would enable stations to broadcast HD signals.

The LG/Harris system is competing against the Samsung’s

The Open Mobile Video Coalition (OMVC), an alliance of U.S. commercial and public broadcasters, is promoting the development and early deployment of mobile DTV, and the Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC) is expected to select a single winning standard by early 2009.