MDTV Existed Before Mobile DTV!

By Doug Lung
published


Go to the ATSC web page and you will see the "MDTV" logo prominently displaced on the left side. The logo was established to identify devices capable of receiving ATSC A/153 compliant mobile DTV broadcasts. I've used "MDTV" to refer to ATSC A/153 mobile DTV since ATSC introduced the logo, but from now on will be using "Mobile DTV" instead. Last week I was informed that ATSC wasn't the first to use "MDTV" and that "MDTV" is trademarked by Paul Argen of MDTV Medical News Now, Inc. and has been in use since 1998, long before ATSC Mobile DTV was contemplated.

One consolation for broadcasters transmitting or planning to transmit "A/153 MDTV" is that this topic is generating enough interest in the press that Mr. Argen said it was confusing his viewers.

You can view the original MDTV's programming on 4u2c.tv.

Doug Lung
Doug Lung

Doug Lung is one of America's foremost authorities on broadcast RF technology. As vice president of Broadcast Technology for NBCUniversal Local, H. Douglas Lung leads NBC and Telemundo-owned stations’ RF and transmission affairs, including microwave, radars, satellite uplinks, and FCC technical filings. Beginning his career in 1976 at KSCI in Los Angeles, Lung has nearly 50 years of experience in broadcast television engineering. Beginning in 1985, he led the engineering department for what was to become the Telemundo network and station group, assisting in the design, construction and installation of the company’s broadcast and cable facilities. Other projects include work on the launch of Hawaii’s first UHF TV station, the rollout and testing of the ATSC mobile-handheld standard, and software development related to the incentive auction TV spectrum repack.
A longtime columnist for TV Technology, Doug is also a regular contributor to IEEE Broadcast Technology. He is the recipient of the 2023 NAB Television Engineering Award. He also received a Tech Leadership Award from TV Tech publisher Future plc in 2021 and is a member of the IEEE Broadcast Technology Society and the Society of Broadcast Engineers.