While there are no ATSC 3.0 sets at this year’s CES 2018, an opening day announcement by the Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC) will help pave the way for the introduction of “Next Gen TV” products at next year’s event.
Mark Richer, president of the ATSC, confirmed that final balloting on the full set of ATSC 3.0 standards is now complete and the full standard set is now released. Along with FCC approval late last year, this begins the final march by broadcasters to begin ATSC 3.0 transmissions that, in turn, will then be received on new sets and on existing sets via converters and gateway adapters.
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Gary Shapiro, president and CEO of the Consumer Technology Association, pointed to Next Gen TV, powered by ATSC 3.0, as being able to “offer a breathtakingly immersive viewing experience with access to an array of innovative and interactive information services.” Echoing that thought, both ATSC’s Richer and Gordon Smith, President and CEO of the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) pointed to ATSC 3.0’s IP based system as bridging the worlds of over-the-air (OTA) and streaming over-the-top (OTA) with a full suite of interactive and personalized services.
ATSC 3.0 provides broadcasters with a broad range of new market opportunities through enhanced transmission and reception functionality. Along with opening the door to the delivery of 4K/UHD, immersive audio, and interactive services, the mix of Internet and broadcast connectivity that the 20 individual standards enables innovations such as an advanced emergency alert notification and public information system. The robust transmission will also make mobile reception a reality.
ATSC 3.0 is already in use in South Korea and will be used for 4K/UHD broadcasting of next month’s Winter Olympic Games in PyeongChang. With the standards for the US now complete, continued work at pilot test stations working towards full market availability here within the next 12 to 36 months.
