Full Channel Mobile DTV Systems Introduced at NAB
LAS VEGAS -- Another, smaller standards battle is shaping up at the Advanced TV Systems Committee between Samsung and LG. Each has helped develop technology that lets TV broadcasters devote their entire DTV channel to mobile service. ATSC is working to standardize the technology in an update to its mobile DTV standard, which caps the amount of bandwidth a station can devote to mobile service. Not all broadcasters are interested in devoting their entire channel to mobile, but some of the 700 MHz spectrum auction winners are, said Ion Media CEO Brandon Burgess. “We would not go anywhere near full channel, HD is important,” he said. “Qualcomm won’t admit it but they're studying it, and Dish is doing more than studying it."ATSC wants to move quickly in adopting the new standard, said Jay Adrick, vice president of Harris Corp., which is working with LG on its full channel system. Now that both Harris with LG and Samsung have systems on display, ATSC should test and evaluate them before making a decision, he said. “There ought to be evaluation and testing with real working systems,” he said. “It’s one thing to have a proposal and read it and interpret it. It’s another to really put it through its paces.” Beyond 700 MHz spectrum holders, international broadcasters are also interested in the new technology, Adrick said. “They're not bound by the same rules we have with the FCC.""It’s terrific news that Samsung and LG have come to NAB with working hardware implementations,” said Mark Aitken, Sinclair director of advanced technology and chairman of the ATSC group overseeing mobile DTV work. Getting non-traditional broadcasters involved with ATSC mobile services will benefit TV stations who want to introduce mobile service, he said. “We see that driving more chips into the market place and creating a higher opportunity for broadcasters."Samsung’s demonstration on the NAB floor showed a prototype receiver and modulator broadcasting 20 different programming streams on a single DTV channel. The new system should also result in better mobile reception because it adds training data -- bits of data that the equalizer in the receiver can synchronize with -- that the original mobile DTV standard lacks, said Junehee Lee, principal engineer with Samsung. The new system, which both companies call Scalable Full Channel Mobile Mode, or SFCMM, is not a big departure from the original mobile DTV standard, said John Godfrey, Samsung vice president of government and public affairs.NAB DTV Notebook …A consumer showcase of mobile DTV in Washington will begin May 3, the Open Mobile Video Coalition said Monday. Stations in the market have been broadcasting for weeks, and relatives and friends of employees of group members have been testing devices, but OMVC will begin recruiting consumers next week, said Executive Director Anne Schelle. The showcase will feature a mix of broadcast and cable programming, said Brandon Burgess, Ion Media’s CEO and the coalition’s chairman. “We're going to get some sober feedback about what works and what doesn’t work."
--Broadcasters in Detroit turned on mobile DTV service at Scripps and Post-Newsweek stations, the Open Mobile Video Coalition said. Such efforts by broadcasters will be critical to raise awareness of the service, said James Clardy, technology strategist with Dell. “Collaborations among broadcasters in hot spots in key cities like Detroit, Dallas and Minneapolis” where many potential partners have their headquarters will help speed adoption, he said. “If these guys can’t see it in their backyard, they're not going to believe it exists."