What IS after ATSC

[Jeffhs]

Originally Posted by Ed in Tx

You can relax.

"...every TV station that converts to ATSC 3.0 will be required to continue to provide ATSC 1.0 service."

Read the whole article HERE

That is the best news I've heard (read) all day. I don't want to have to convert my TV to yet another broadcast standard if it isn't absolutely necessary.

I am not against progress, but this business of the TV industry "reinventing the wheel" every so often (DTV, then 4K, then eventually 8K..., and now ATSC 3.0) makes me wonder. I like DTV because of its much sharper picture and more channels (by way of subchannels of existing stations), but some of these other innovations....sheeesh! Ever-larger screens, curved screens, and, again, ATSC 3.0, to name but three. At least the FCC is requiring (not simply asking or allowing) TV stations to operate using the ATSC 1.0 standard along side of the newer one; this should calm viewers' fears that their new flat-screen HDTV will be rendered obsolete when the new standard takes effect. It won't happen. That is, there will be a new broadcast standard, but the nation's TV stations and networks, which have already spent millions (!) on upgrading their transmitters, studios and antennas for DTV, will not necessarily have to switch to ATSC 3.0 unless they desire to do so. Even if and/or when they do make the switch, however, viewers need not worry about the change rendering their expensive HDTVs obsolete in the blink of an eye, as DTV itself did to NTSC CRT TVs.

[old_tv_nut]

Originally Posted by Jeffhs

... in the blink of an eye, as DTV itself did to NTSC CRT TVs.

Actually, there was an 8-year long transition before the analog cutoff. Eventually, there will be a similar transition to ATSC 3.0 only (except that it may be different dates for different stations), but I expect people will not pay attention until the last few months, just as they didn't pay attention to the analog shutdown date until it was almost too late. As before, this will make no practical difference for pay service subscribers.

[dr.ido]

Originally Posted by Jeffhs

That is the best news I've heard (read) all day. I don't want to have to convert my TV to yet another broadcast standard if it isn't absolutely necessary.

If the transition is handled like the current transition here (Australia) from MPEG2 to H264 you will probably be forced to upgrade the converter boxes sooner rather than later. I've scrapped all of my MPEG2 only boxes as they are basically useless now.

Yes, every channel still broadcasts it's main channel in SD MPEG2 that even the oldest 1st generation converter boxes and digital TVs can still receive - however the bit rate keeps dropping and it is reaching the point that it is unwatchable. The last of the HD MPEG2 channels converted to H264 recently. I think some stations are dynamically adjusting the bitrate depending on what considered higher priority as sometimes some channels look fine, but at others they look like youtube at 360p.

I watch more youtube than I do OTA TV, so it doesn't really effect my own viewing that much. It just makes it harder to sell used TVs.

[Jeffhs]

Originally Posted by dr.ido

If the transition is handled like the current transition here (Australia) from MPEG2 to H264 you will probably be forced to upgrade the converter boxes sooner rather than later. I've scrapped all of my MPEG2 only boxes as they are basically useless now.

Yes, every channel still broadcasts it's main channel in SD MPEG2 that even the oldest 1st generation converter boxes and digital TVs can still receive - however the bit rate keeps dropping and it is reaching the point that it is unwatchable. The last of the HD MPEG2 channels converted to H264 recently. I think some stations are dynamically adjusting the bitrate depending on what considered higher priority as sometimes some channels look fine, but at others they look like youtube at 360p.

I watch more youtube than I do OTA TV, so it doesn't really effect my own viewing that much. It just makes it harder to sell used TVs.

I don't watch OTA TV anymore, preferring to watch the local TV stations via streaming video, with a Roku player connected to my flat screen. I don't see these players being made obsolete by new standards, ATSC 3.0 or any other, when those standards change; the players will just be upgraded to newer software. Roku players already update their firmware daily, so that won't be a problem if and/or when ATSC 3.0 replaces the current standard. Even at that, US television stations will be required to carry both formats indefinitely, so no one will be left without TV when the new standard takes effect--unlike the DTV switch, which had plenty of people all but scared to death that they would lose their TV reception on June 12, 2009.

Blame the local TV stations for this (the aggressive advertising for the DTV switch). I remember vividly (I won't forget it anytime soon) when the CBS TV affiliate in Cleveland began advertising for what it called "The Big Switch", that is, the switch from analog to digital television. "Your TV will go black on June 12 (2009) if you don't upgrade to HDTV!" the announcement all but screamed at viewers across northeastern Ohio; the announcement was repeated over and over again for weeks afterward, at every opportunity the TV station had: during commercial breaks, station breaks, name it. I never saw such an aggressive advertising campaign on TV in my life.

As for programming, I have a subscription to Netflix, so I can watch any program in its library I don't already have on DVD or VHS. My Roku player has an icon on its home screen that takes the viewer directly to Netflix (I canceled my 3-DVD delivery plan some time ago in favor of streaming directly from Netflix), so accessing the channel is no problem. I could probably, even certainly, put an icon on that screen for YouTube as well. I am sufficiently put out (to put it mildly) by the grade-ZZZ fare on network TV that I have little use for OTA television, in this age of streaming video.

My hat is off to the developers of the Roku streaming-video player, as it is an idea whose time has come; in fact, IMHO, it is long, long overdue. This little box has changed forever how I watch TV. I still have a cable connection, but only so that the Spectrum TV app on my Roku will receive local TV, which I do watch occasionally--mostly for news and for the retro subchannels of channels 8 and 19 (Antenna TV and MeTV, respectively), as well as certain programs on subchannels of the PBS affiliate in Cleveland.

[Adlershof]

Originally Posted by dr.ido

If the transition is handled like the current transition here (Australia) from MPEG2 to H264 you will probably be forced to upgrade the converter boxes sooner rather than later. I've scrapped all of my MPEG2 only boxes as they are basically useless now.

Yes, every channel still broadcasts it's main channel in SD MPEG2 that even the oldest 1st generation converter boxes and digital TVs can still receive

Not even this in Germany. Just one big switch per transmitter location: DVB-T with MPEG-2 off, DVB-T2 with H.265 (not 264 here) on. Existing boxes or built-in decoders get no signal anymore.