Get Ready for ATSC 3.0

[etype2]

Originally Posted by Jeffhs

There once was a joke in computer circles that said a computer (for example; this applies to other technology as well) will be obsolete the second you walk out of the store with it (or get it home). Today, however, that isn't a joke anymore. Technology changes so rapidly that most of it is obsolete (or, again, close to it) shortly after the devices come on the market.

Steve Jobs one half joking said “We redesign the iPhone every three years, so customers will have to prepare for this.”

[Titan1a]

Meanwhile my "valve" components continue to operate without any possibility of EMP damage. Most of my 'puters are Faraday shielded and unplugged.

[etype2]

KFPH’s UNIMAS NOW BROADCASTING ATSC 3.0 IN PHOENIX.

The first to step up to the plate, in what is known as the Phoenix Model Market, is KFPH-CD Channel 35, a local Univision-owned station, in Phoenix, now airing UniMás network programming in ATSC 3.0. Pearl TV Managing Director Anne Schelle made the announcement at the NAB show currently running in Las Vegas.

PBS kids channel 8.4 in Phoenix will be next and currently setting up. Just learned of this today. I can confirm the channel is on the air, but my HD flat panel can’t show it. My recently installed Sony 4K projector is capable of displaying OTA ATSC 3.0 to the best of my knowledge, but I have to install a splitter at the wall to send the rooftop antenna signal. The projector is currently hooked up to display DirecTV and 4K Blu Ray. Will show a screenshot after hook up.

Edit: I have two HDMI inputs on the projector. Looks like I will need a 75 Ohm to HDMI adaptor. I’ve already installed a 75 ohm coax outlet near the projector and the four TV consoles in the back of the room. I’m hoping this will work. If not, we may have to wait for a “black box” adaptor/receiver.

[Chip Chester]

I'm at the NAB convention in Vegas now. 8K displays are everywhere, and are similar in fidelity to looking out an open window... ATSC 3.0 monetization schemes are rampant. Buzzwords include "one encoder per person", as in custom streams to and from everyone on demand. Stock your pantries. Hide your livestock. Bedlam is nigh.

[Jeffhs]

Originally Posted by Chip Chester

I'm at the NAB convention in Vegas now. 8K displays are everywhere, and are similar in fidelity to looking out an open window... ATSC 3.0 monetization schemes are rampant. Buzzwords include "one encoder per person", as in custom streams to and from everyone on demand. Stock your pantries. Hide your livestock. Bedlam is nigh.

Eight-K? I thought 4K was as far as the television industry was willing to go as far as video resolution was concerned. I had read rumors about 8K eventually taking center stage over 4K, but I dismissed it as just that--a rumor.

I guess, however, it isn't just a rumor after all. If the NAB convention has 8K video displays everywhere you look, the industry must be preparing for that level of video resolution to upstage 4K, eventually shoving that format straight into obsolescence--not unlike how high-definition television made analog NTSC TV obsolete.

[etype2]

Originally Posted by Jeffhs

Eight-K? I thought 4K was as far as the television industry was willing to go as far as video resolution was concerned. I had read rumors about 8K eventually taking center stage over 4K, but I dismissed it as just that--a rumor.

I guess, however, it isn't just a rumor after all. If the NAB convention has 8K video displays everywhere you look, the industry must be preparing for that level of video resolution to upstage 4K, eventually shoving that format straight into obsolescence--not unlike how high-definition television made analog NTSC TV obsolete.

Yup. 8 K televisions are now selling in Japan. I read that NHK plans to introduce limited 8K programming by this December and a full rollout in time for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

[etype2]

ATSC 3.0 4K is now broadcasting intermittently in Phoenix by Telamudo and PBS so far on a test basis. 10 broadcasters are participating.
The public can’t see it yet, just the test committee’s. I can see one ATSC 3.0 channel on one of my sets, but the screen is blank.

[Jeffhs]

I haven't yet heard or read anything about ATSC 3.0 tests in Cleveland, but that could change at any time. As I write this, all seven Cleveland TV stations are still operating under the ATSC 1.0 standard; none of them have made any tests or have announced that they are going to switch to ATSC 3.0 any time soon. The Phoenix area is much larger than the Cleveland TV market, though, so it makes sense that the former would be one of the first markets to run tests of ATSC 3.0. However, I would have expected the Los Angeles market, which is much larger than Phoenix, to have been the first market to test the new standard. Why was Phoenix chosen as the first test area? As I said, it would have made more sense to test the standard in L.A. or New York City since, again, these markets are much larger than any other television market in the US.

[SpaceAge]

Originally Posted by Jeffhs

I haven't yet heard or read anything about ATSC 3.0 tests in Cleveland, but that could change at any time. As I write this, all seven Cleveland TV stations are still operating under the ATSC 1.0 standard; none of them have made any tests or have announced that they are going to switch to ATSC 3.0 any time soon. The Phoenix area is much larger than the Cleveland TV market, though, so it makes sense that the former would be one of the first markets to run tests of ATSC 3.0. However, I would have expected the Los Angeles market, which is much larger than Phoenix, to have been the first market to test the new standard. Why was Phoenix chosen as the first test area? As I said, it would have made more sense to test the standard in L.A. or New York City since, again, these markets are much larger than any other television market in the US.

AFAIK no one among the general public, in large markets or otherwise, currently has a television capable of receiving the new signals. The first TV station in the US to broadcast a digital ATSC signal was WRAL in Raleigh, North Carolina in 1996. Read about it here. Not exactly a huge market, but the article even says HDTVs were not available to be purchased until 1998, so it didn't matter. I don't understand why you think it would make more sense for the testing to take place in LA or NY. Once this new standard is ready to go mainstream, I am sure the large markets won't be left behind.

[etype2]

Originally Posted by Jeffhs

Why was Phoenix chosen as the first test area

Quoting from the original press release:

“There were a few reasons Phoenix, with more than 20 percent of its 1.8 million TV viewers receiving OTA television, was chosen for the model market project, she said.

“First, we are already testing together for the Verance watermark test,” said Schelle. Another factor was separate ATSC 3.0 interactivity testing Pearl TV has been involved with in the market.

Additionally, the consortium has a good relationship with cable operators in Phoenix, which makes it easier to test MVPD interoperability, she said.

Finally, only a couple of the stations participating in program will be changing channel assignments as part of the FCC TV spectrum repack and those stations are assigned to Phase 1 of the repack, she said. That made it relatively uncomplicated to get an early start in Phoenix.

Participating stations include:

· KNXV (Channel 15), E.W. Scripps Company’s ABC affiliate;

· KSAZ (Channel 10), Fox Television Station’s Fox station;

· KUTP (Channel 26), Fox Television Station’s MyTV Network;

· KPHO (Channel 17), Meredith Local Media Group’s CBS affiliate;

· KTVK (Channel 24), Meredith Local Media Group’s independent;

· KASW (Channel 49), Nexstar Media Group’s CW Network affiliate;

· KTAZ (Channel 39), Telemundo Station Group’s Telemundo station

· KPNX (Channel 12), Tegna’s NBC affiliate;

· KFPH-CD (Channel 35), Univision’s UniMas station; and

· KTVW-DT (Channel 33), Univision.

Phoenix will serve as a testbed for the business models and the consumer testing needed to prepare go-to-market strategies for next-generation television, said Schelle.”

[Robert Grant]

Originally Posted by Jeffhs

. Why was Phoenix chosen as the first test area? As I said, it would have made more sense to test the standard in L.A. or New York City since, again, these markets are much larger than any other television market in the US.

Phoenix was a good choice because of its isolation. This provided the availability of channels for ATSC 3.O testing.

Compare to Cleveland, where Youngstown, Erie, London (ON), Columbus, Pittsburgh, Toledo and Detroit stations all make it difficult to find a channel for test stations that wouldn't case interfere with viewing in other surrounding areas.

[old_tv_nut]

There is an unused channel/transmitter in Cleveland that has been and will be used for technical tests.

The choice of market for an initial test of a whole-market adoption plan depends on what broadcasters are there, are eager to cooperate, and how quickly and economically their transmitters can be adapted, how many have to change frequency, whether any currently use easily adaptable broadband antennas, etc. etc. etc.

Remember, this change is accompanied by a channel repack to free up spectrum that has been auctioned to the cell phone companies. The biggest markets will have the greatest difficulty in repacking.

[etype2]

[etype2]

ATSC 3.0 To Be Deployed In 40 U.S. Markets By End Of 2020
ATSC 3.0-enabled consumer devices to reach market by 2020.

https://www.tvtechnology.com/atsc3/a...by-end-of-year

[Titan1a]

Will the broadcasters have any programming to take advantage of the technology? I wouldn't hold any hope. After HD came out I've only seen one advantage of HD: High def from the ISS live. Minow wouldn't notice any changes from the '60's! DVD and Blu-ray (actually purple) is only good for movies between 1955 and 1975.