Part 1 of 2
After three years it was great to get back together with fellow engineers and exhibitors at the NAB Show in Las Vegas. Official attendance was more than 50,000 people but with the new LVCC West Hall and spread-out exhibits with plenty of meeting spaces, it was busy but not crowded. 

Like many attendees I spent time catching up with old friends. With the repack over, the focus shifted to launching ATSC 3.0 and that will be the main topic of my convention review, specifically analysis of ATSC 3.0 signals. 

Saankhya Labs
I looked for low-cost ATSC 3.0 receive devices such as USB tuners, excluding complete TV sets. New at the NAB Show were devices from Saankhya Labs in India. They are using a chip developed with Coherent Logic that can decode all DTV formats, including ATSC 3.0. 

The company does not sell directly to consumers but was showing a smartphone with a built-in ATSC 3.0 receiver as well as a dongle that will work with a smartphone with a USB port. (Fig. 1 shows the dongle in use receiving an ATSC 3.0 broadcast from Saankhya Labs’ low-power transmitter that will be offered for use as a low-power ATSC 3.0 booster.) Tolka also showed a dongle it plans to offer for sale to broadcasters. 

Airwavz
There were several products on display for analyzing ATSC 3.0 signals. The lowest cost options, both from Airwavz, remain the RedZone Receiver Plus (RZR-1400) and new TVXplorer 2.0 software, which was released at the show. TVXplorer 2.0 now includes the ability to decode and analyze Dolby AC4 audio as well as providing thumbnails of all the video streams with up to four concurrent PLPs. With the new version, the price increased to $2,595. The RZR-1400, which uses the Sony receiver chip, is $900. 

I think I was the first person to buy TVXplorer 2.0. I didn’t get it installed in my Windows 10 VM until after the NAB Show but had a chance to test it in Los Angeles. It worked fine, with both video and audio playing along with full details on all the tables and a service guide. 

The software comes with a lifetime license and development is continuing. I was told an update might support the Silicon Dust tuner, which would dramatically lower the cost of the package and help keep it competitive with the alternatives. The dongle and software are available on-line at https://redzonereceiver.tv/ or from Comark or Unisoft. 

Dektec
Dektec showed a new USB DTV tuner that is SDR-based, so it can handle multiple standards and looks like the Dektec USB universal DTV modulator. The device comes with basic software to decode ATSC 3.0 tables, but for a complete analysis, it needs to be paired with software like Triveni’s StreamScope XM or Stream Verifier. 

The software does not currently include a spectrum analyzer but since the receiver is SDR-based it shouldn’t be too difficult to add that in the future. The cost is under $4,000. 

ENENSYS
I knew ENENSYS was one of the leaders in developing ATSC 3.0 scheduler and gateway products but didn’t learn about their range of ATSC 3.0 monitoring equipment until I visited their booth at the show. Their “REFEREE3,” introduced at the last NAB Show in 2019, provides ATSC 3.0 signal characteristic measurements (useful for field tests) as well as stream analysis down to the frame level. 

For more detailed measurements at a fixed location, they have the “Edge Probe.” I don’t have room to list all the features here. See www.test-tree.com/product/atsc-advanced-monitoring-probe/ for details on it and other ENENSYS monitoring products. 

IPguard
Another item that caught my attention was the IPguard, which can monitor ATSC 3.0 STL-TP streams and switch to a backup in case of a failure. The switch depends on a flag inserted in the stream, which I hope will be supported by other scheduler/gateway vendors. 

Promax
All the portable measurement devices I’ve described so far require a laptop or computer for operation. Promax was showing a new standalone portable in their Ranger line that offers ATSC 3.0 reception, including video and RF constellation displays and a spectrum analyzer. With tabs on the display, you can view table content and signal characteristics. 

I was told it will support LDM, which could come in handy for field measurements. It also includes an Ethernet port for monitoring IP streams and logging data on a laptop. Pricing had not been set but was expected to be slightly above the price of their other Ranger units, which would put it in the $10,000 range. As of May 1, no data on this unit was available on the company’s website (promaxelectronics.com).

Triveni Digital
Most readers are familiar with the Triveni StreamScope XM ATSC 3.0, which has become the standard for detailed ATSC 3.0 signal analysis. 

They now offer a lower-cost product, the Stream Verifier, for around $4,000, which provides basic data on the ATSC 3.0 stream and a quick check on the quality and compliance of the stream. It needs to be paired with a compatible ATSC 3.0 receiver such as their dongle, one of the Dektec receivers or the Avateq receiver. 

Avateq
Avateq had their line of ATSC1.0 and ATSC 3.0 monitoring receivers on display, including the AVQ-200. Avateq is now offering STL-TP analysis in their products. 

One thing to keep in mind when considering ATSC 3.0 monitoring is whether the device or software will continue to be able to display video and audio after broadcasters begin encrypting streams. While all the tables and signal characteristics should remain available (unless the device has a key from A3SA, the ATSC 3.0 security authority), they will not be able to display encrypted content. 

Tablo
Preparation for encryption caused Tablo to delay the release of their ATSC 3.0 gateway and DVR product until they could modify the hardware to support the keys. Since the key has to be in secure storage it could not be offered as a firmware update. 

The introduction of digital rights management should not be an issue for most if it can be handled the same way NetFlix, Hulu and other streaming services protect their content. If implementation is more onerous, then it could slow the adoption of ATSC 3.0 by limiting the development of new ATSC 3.0 devices and the options viewers have to receive ATSC 3.0 broadcasts. 

In Part 2, I’ll have more on my experiences with the TvxPlorer 2.0 program, using the HDHomeRun ATSC 3.0 gateway in a portable configuration; a description of the NAB session dealing with drone measurement of antenna patterns and RF system heating; and some transmitter- and antenna-related NAB Show news I didn’t have room to include here. 

As always, I welcome comments and questions. Email me at dlung@transmitter.com. I try to answer all emails promptly, but if I’m busy and the email gets buried, I might miss it. If you don’t get a response within a week or so, email me again.

As I write this, the 2018 NAB Show and the ATSC Next Gen TV Conference have come and gone. Since my last column I also had a chance to visit WRAL-TV in Raleigh and see the demonstration of the PyeongChang Olympics broadcast over their ATSC 3.0 station, complete with interactive content.

These events gave me a glimpse of the future of over-the-air TV broadcasting from the perspective of broadcasters, manufacturers and the engineers who created it and are now building that future.

ATSC 3.0 MATURES

Thanks to Pete Sockett and Capitol Broadcasting for inviting me to see the Next Gen TV demonstration in Raleigh at the State Club at North Carolina State University, and allowing me to help with the setup. It was great to see how ATSC 3.0 works in the real world.

WRAL-TV’s ATSC 3.0 transmitter has an ERP of only 40 kW, well below what most broadcasters will eventually use for ATSC 3.0, but even at this power we were able to receive the Olympics UHD programming with a Mohu Leaf antenna attached to a curtain behind the TV.

The more robust stream with WRAL-TV’s HD programming was received reliably around the room on prototype ATSC 3.0 dongles and a standard Windows 10 tablet. For more information and pictures, see www.wraltechwire.com/tag/next-gen-tv/.

The opportunity to see how ATSC 3.0 worked over-the-air in Raleigh and see the options available gave me more confidence broadcasters will be able to successfully roll out this complex standard.

[Read: Verifying TV Facility Coverage]

For a successful rollout, it will be important that station engineers have a chance to play with the technology, try different transmission parameters and explore the options the standard offers for delivering content and emergency information in different ways before the number of viewers increase and business needs limit station engineers’ opportunity to experiment.

At the NAB Show broadcasters were able to see ATSC 3.0 content over low-power transmitters in the exhibit hall and from a transmitter on Black Mountain.

Overall, this year’s demonstrations were similar to those from last year, but more polished, with extended features. For me, it was a sign the ATSC 3.0 landscape is maturing, getting ready for rollout.

One exhibit in the LVCC lobby highlighted all the stations currently on the air with ATSC 3.0 broadcasts — Sinclair’s single frequency network in Baltimore and Washington, the NAB test station in Cleveland, WRAL-TV’s station in Raleigh and new test stations in Phoenix and Dallas. For more on the Phoenix project, see www.pearltv.com/model-market.

Another sign that ATSC 3.0 is maturing was the number of companies showing products for ATSC 3.0 at the NAB Show. Two years ago most transmitter manufacturers promised some upgrade path to ATSC 3.0. Last year, all the ATSC 1.0 transmitter manufacturers I’m aware of offered an ATSC 3.0 exciter option of some sort.

For ATSC 3.0 to succeed, we need to get more ATSC 3.0 stations on the air, even if the number of viewers may be limited.

What was new this year was an increased number of products for receiving and decoding the ATSC 3.0 signals from those transmitters. Other manufacturers offered standalone receiver/decoder solutions.

The price of these receivers — approaching $20,000 or higher depending on the options — seemed high until I thought about what we paid for analog TV monitoring. A proper monitoring setup for an analog TV station around 1990 consisted of a Tektronix 1450 television demodulator (with the TDC downconverter), a VM-700 analyzer and a BTSC audio modulation monitor. It would be tough to put together an ATSC 3.0 monitoring package that cost as much as that setup!

I know many readers are looking for a less expensive way of viewing ATSC 3.0. I had the opportunity to test the Airwavz dongle at the NAB Show. I plugged the dongle into my laptop and was able to view the characteristics of the Black Mountain ATSC 3.0 signal I received in my hotel room. This used an early version of the software that did not allow viewing content on the laptop.

Airwavz said they had tried routing the IP output from the program to the network input of a Sony ATSC 3.0 TV set in the same booth and it was able to decode and display the stream. I’ll have more on this product when I have a chance to upgrade to the latest software and test it in a location with an ATSC 3.0 signal.

In discussions with some manufacturers at the show, it looks like there may be some other ATSC 3.0 dongles appearing at some point in the future. Don’t expect the price to match that of an ATSC 1.0 dongle, but pricing around $250 or less may be possible. Final price and timing for ATSC 3.0 dongles and “converter boxes” (which will likely stream content over an IP connection to a smart TV, tablet or PC running an ATSC 3.0 application) will depend on the availability of lower-cost demodulator chips as well as IP (intellectual property licensing) costs.

WHAT’S NEXT?

At the ATSC Next Gen TV Conference in Washington in May it was clear ATSC 3.0 had the support of broadcasters, consumer electronics manufacturers and even government. Unlike the previous conference, which focused primarily on the technology and the potential of the standard, this year’s conference highlighted real-world applications, some of which are being rolled out now in limited form with ATSC 1.0.

Emergency alerting, with the ability to provide detailed information in the form of maps, videos and text with an ease that would be impossible using cellular messaging is a key feature for governments.

More precise measurement of TV viewing is of interest to advertisers and broadcasters competing with on-line advertising. Both are available now.

The transition to ATSC 3.0 will be complicated, not only for broadcasters but cable companies as well. Cable carriage of ATSC 3.0 content is going to require cooperation between broadcasters and cable companies. I was pleased to hear about the progress made towards this in ATSC TG3/S37, the Specialist Group on Conversion and Redistribution of ATSC 3.0 Service.

For ATSC 3.0 to succeed, we need to get more ATSC 3.0 stations on the air, even if the number of viewers may be limited. In the early days of ATSC 1.0, station engineers had a one-to-one relationship with early adopters of HDTV, sometimes changing settings to help them get reception when one manufacturer’s receiver had a problem with their transport stream.

While all indications are the first-generation ATSC 3.0 receivers are working much better, I expect there will still be a lot of broadcaster-viewer interaction. That’s a key focus of the Phoenix test and essential for a transition to ATSC 3.0 to succeed.

Until full-power stations are willing to put their ATSC 1.0 programming on another station’s signal and switch to ATSC 3.0, finding transition spectrum is going to be difficult. Class A and LPTV stations have a role to play. While the lower ERP (about 4.3 dB less than the WRAL-TV ATSC 3.0 station) may make indoor reception more difficult at higher bit rates, the early adopters of ATSC 3.0 may be willing to make an extra effort to get a decent signal. Setting expectations will be important.

I’m looking forward to seeing more ATSC 3.0 stations on the air, using the Airwavz dongle to see how they work in the real world, and hearing the experiences of engineers putting ATSC 3.0 on the air!

As always, your comments and questions are welcome. Email me atdlung@transmitter.com.

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