Next-Gen TV Using Olympic Stage as Showcase

RALEIGH, N.C.—There isn’t a bigger showcase than the Olympics to give viewers a taste of the much anticipated next generation television standard, ATSC 3.0.

A WRAL news broadcast reports on the media bus that is demonstrating Next Gen TV capabilities.

ETRI (The Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute), a South Korean government-funded research institution, is showcasing Next-Gen TV by providing ATSC 3.0 receivers onboard a shuttle bus that carries international media throughout the coastal Olympic region. The ATSC 3.0 signal can be received with no cable and allows for the transmission of 4K video, provides immersive sound and object audio and can add interactive features to involve viewers in the broadcast. The bus’ ATSC 3.0 capabilities are allowing writers and reporters to keep up with the games as they travel from location to location.

[Report: South Korea Adopts ATSC 3.0

South Koreans are familiar with the technology already, as Korea TV began broadcasting in ATSC 3.0 in 2017. LG has also been selling TV sets with ATSC 3.0 chips in South Korea.

It’s not just in PyeongChang that ATSC 3.0 is being demo-ed. WRAL-TV, which has two news crew at the Games, is among the broadcasters viewing the demonstration aboard the media buses. The Raleigh, N.C.-based station, which began broadcasting ATSC 3.0 in 2016, is planning a demo built around NBC's coverage of the Winter Games. The NAB, NBC Universal, Samsung and LG/Zenith are also participating in the event. The demonstration will take place Monday, Feb. 19, in Raleigh.

In November 2017, the FCC voted to allow the voluntary rollout of ATSC 3.0 and as a result the forecast for consumer devices in the U.S. to receive the new signal is by 2019.

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For a comprehensive list of TV Technology’s ATSC 3.0 coverage, see our ATSC3 silo.