Get Ready for ATSC 3.0

[Jeffhs]

Sorry, but you are still not answering my question. When ATSC 3.0 is enacted, will it affect streaming video services such as Roku, which is already a "converter box" and gets TV programming over the Internet? I would think all that would be needed with these boxes would be for the software to be upgraded for the new standard; they upgrade themselves daily anyway (with a provision to manually upgrade if desired), so any new software will be in place as soon as it is needed.

I hardly think Roku will go out of business in five years (or whatever) just because some new TV standard has been enacted; as I said, when ATSC 3.0 is the new standard for TV broadcasting, taking over completely from ATSC 1.0, Roku's players will keep up with the technology, with little or no interaction required from viewers. Roku cannot afford to let itself become obsolete, as there are probably millions of these players in use worldwide.

Where this idea that "watching TV will be over" eventually, if Hollywood decides to encrypt video streams, ever got started is beyond me. Most Americans do not understand or care about the technical reasons for scrambling video streams or anything else connected with television, so if this ever happens, there will very likely be a huge backlash. Americans like their TV and do not want the government to mess with it.

I do not believe, either, that Hollywood will start encrypting video any time soon. Tell me this: If Hollywood does decide to encrypt video streams, will they be prepared for the sheer number of viewers who will complain loudly and incessantly? I realize that the change to ATSC 3.0 is nothing more than a huge cash grab, but good grief, this is too much. If Hollywood does decide to encrypt video, how on earth will they expect people to watch television, or whatever it may be called in five years, after the standards change? For that matter, will there even be an "ATSC 3.0" standard, say, ten years from now? I believe the FCC just might enact five new standards in that time, each rendering the previous one obsolete and requiring viewers to buy new TVs or converter boxes each time the standards change. People on fixed incomes won't be able to afford that, and will likely stop watching TV, which the networks, local stations, and Hollywood will not like in the least.

Good grief.

[centralradio]

Originally Posted by Jeffhs

Sorry, but you are still not answering my question. When ATSC 3.0 is enacted, will it affect streaming video services such as Roku, which is already a "converter box" and gets TV programming over the Internet? I would think all that would be needed with these boxes would be for the software to be upgraded for the new standard; they upgrade themselves daily anyway (with a provision to manually upgrade if desired), so any new software will be in place as soon as it is needed.

I hardly think Roku will go out of business in five years (or whatever) just because some new TV standard has been enacted; as I said, when ATSC 3.0 is the new standard for TV broadcasting, taking over completely from ATSC 1.0, Roku's players will keep up with the technology, with little or no interaction required from viewers. Roku cannot afford to let itself become obsolete, as there are probably millions of these players in use worldwide.

Where this idea that "watching TV will be over" eventually, if Hollywood decides to encrypt video streams, ever got started is beyond me. Most Americans do not understand or care about the technical reasons for scrambling video streams or anything else connected with television, so if this ever happens, there will very likely be a huge backlash. Americans like their TV and do not want the government to mess with it.

I do not believe, either, that Hollywood will start encrypting video any time soon. Tell me this: If Hollywood does decide to encrypt video streams, will they be prepared for the sheer number of viewers who will complain loudly and incessantly? I realize that the change to ATSC 3.0 is nothing more than a huge cash grab, but good grief, this is too much. If Hollywood does decide to encrypt video, how on earth will they expect people to watch television, or whatever it may be called in five years, after the standards change? For that matter, will there even be an "ATSC 3.0" standard, say, ten years from now? I believe the FCC just might enact five new standards in that time, each rendering the previous one obsolete and requiring viewers to buy new TVs or converter boxes each time the standards change. People on fixed incomes won't be able to afford that, and will likely stop watching TV, which the networks, local stations, and Hollywood will not like in the least.

Good grief.

Again I dont know much about Roku but maybe there will be flash updates for them to continue working like you said. .If its streaming off the internet It has nothing to do with OTA signals.As far as I know.I do agree with you latter part of your statement.Yes its a game to keep the money ball rolling.Job security for some.Maybe I 'll get a Roku someday but I dont want to pay for any subscription packages from it.

[WISCOJIM]

Originally Posted by Jeffhs

Sorry, but you are still not answering my question.

You worry way too much over things you have no control over. Enjoy what you have now, and quit worrying over questions that have no answers.

.

[andy]

...

[old_tv_nut]

Originally Posted by Jeffhs

Sorry, but you are still not answering my question. When ATSC 3.0 is enacted, will it affect streaming video services such as Roku, which is already a "converter box" and gets TV programming over the Internet?

The ATSC 3.0 standard only changes the way TV is broadcast over the air. On-line streaming is and has always been an entirely separate technology. NO change to the OTA standard will directly affect streaming. It's entirely separate technology.

However, there are peripheral effects. ATSC 3.0 includes features for auxiliary streams, for example. This could be data to make clickable icons as part of the program, or provide multiple selectable camera angles in sports. The question then becomes if the streaming services will carry any of the ancillary data, not if they will carry the main program or not, which will still be determined by economic/profit considerations, just as today a cable system may carry only a station's main program and not its subchannels. ATSC 3.0 also has very flexible trade-offs of data rate vs. signal robustness in the broadcast signal, so a single transmitter can emit multiple programs (like ATSC 1.0 does) except that the video resolution and signal robustness may be very different for a stream intended for mobile reception vs. an ultra high definition stream intended for use only with a good antenna. Again, when stations are broadcasting multiple streams, a streaming service may carry only certain ones, and might, for example, down-res ultra HD to regular HD.

Since the interface from the streaming service to your streaming box is QAM, carrying internet protocol data, and the interface from the box to your TV is a HDMI cable, neither of these is affected at all by the signal format that is broadcast through the air.

What gets transferred from over-the-air stations to streaming services will continue to be determined by business considerations, not technical ones.

[Jeffhs]

Originally Posted by old_tv_nut

The ATSC 3.0 standard only changes the way TV is broadcast over the air. On-line streaming is and has always been an entirely separate technology. NO change to the OTA standard will directly affect streaming. It's entirely separate technology.

However, there are peripheral effects. ATSC 3.0 includes features for auxiliary streams, for example. This could be data to make clickable icons as part of the program, or provide multiple selectable camera angles in sports. The question then becomes if the streaming services will carry any of the ancillary data, not if they will carry the main program or not, which will still be determined by economic/profit considerations, just as today a cable system may carry only a station's main program and not its subchannels. ATSC 3.0 also has very flexible trade-offs of data rate vs. signal robustness in the broadcast signal, so a single transmitter can emit multiple programs (like ATSC 1.0 does) except that the video resolution and signal robustness may be very different for a stream intended for mobile reception vs. an ultra high definition stream intended for use only with a good antenna. Again, when stations are broadcasting multiple streams, a streaming service may carry only certain ones, and might, for example, down-res ultra HD to regular HD.

Since the interface from the streaming service to your streaming box is QAM, carrying internet protocol data, and the interface from the box to your TV is a HDMI cable, neither of these is affected at all by the signal format that is broadcast through the air.

What gets transferred from over-the-air stations to streaming services will continue to be determined by business considerations, not technical ones.

Thank you for your explanation of ATSC 3.0. I realize the standard will not take effect until at least five years from now, but I was simply concerned, much more than I should have been, that I might have to get a new TV when the standard does take over from the current one (ATSC 1.0). My present 19-inch flat screen is almost seven years old and is used daily; it has given me such excellent service (no repairs of any kind required in all that time, and it still gives me an excellent picture using my Roku player, LG DVD player and Panasonic VCR, to say nothing of standard HD TV broadcasts) that I am not even thinking of replacing it at this point in time. My flat screen TV is an Insignia, the house brand of Best Buy. These TVs are by no means top of the line in flat screens, but they are, IMO, very good sets, and I would not hesitate to buy another if I should need to replace mine or just want a larger screen down the road.