WASHINGTON–The Advanced Television Systems Committee has announced that its long time president, Mark Richer will retire later this year. Richer, who has led the standards development organization since 2000, previously served as ATSC Executive Director in 1996-97 in between senior technology leadership roles at PBS and Thomcast Communications.

The ATSC Board of Directors elected Lynn Claudy of the National Association of Broadcasters as Board Chairman for 2019, succeeding Richard Friedel of Fox, who served as Chairman from 2016-18. Claudy, who has been involved with the ATSC for three decades, is NAB’s Senior Vice President of Technology. He joined NAB in 1988 as a staff engineer and held positions of Director of Advanced Engineering & Technology and Vice President before assuming his present position in 1995. Claudy appointed Friedel to lead the search committee to identify the next ATSC President.

Richer’s 40-year television career has spanned the transitions from analog to digital TV, standard-definition to high-definition TV, and now to 4K and Next Gen TV. The capstone of Richer’s career is the ATSC 3.0 suite of Next Gen TV standards, representing the world’s first Internet Protocol-based system that marries broadcast and broadband.

In addition to leading the ATSC for 20 of its 35 years, Richer’s noteworthy industry contributions include his pioneering development of closed captioning in the 1980s and his key role in what is now known as ATSC 1.0, overseeing the technical evaluations of proponent systems for the world’s first digital TV broadcast standard in the 1990s.

Reflecting on his career, Richer said, “It’s been an honor and a privilege to participate in the dynamic television industry over the years. I’m particularly proud of the ATSC’s role in redefining the future of television with ATSC 3.0, but our work isn’t done by any means,” he said, citing the ATSC’s important role in updating and developing standards, while supporting the launch of Next Gen TV broadcasting. “I look forward to assuring a smooth transition to new leadership in the months ahead.”

“Mark is well known and respected for his leadership skills, deep industry knowledge, unwavering integrity, future-focused vision and wry sense of humor,” said Claudy. “With broadcaster deployments of ATSC 3.0 now underway, he’s going out on top. And while Mark will be missed, the ATSC is well positioned for the future,” he said.

Richer first joined the ATSC as Executive Director in 1996-97 after 16 years at PBS where, as Vice President of Engineering & Computer Services, he was responsible for development of new technologies for PBS and its member stations, design of audio/video systems and management of computer operations.

He was instrumental in the development of the Line 21 closed captioning system for which PBS was awarded a technical Emmy. He also was responsible for the selection and implementation of digital video compression and transmission technology and led PBS efforts in the area of digital and high definition television.

From 1997 to 2000, Richer was Vice President and General Manager at Comark Digital Services, a division of Thomcast Communications. At Thomcast, he was responsible for marketing, communications, strategic planning and business development for Thomcast Communications, including its Comark and Comwave subsidiaries.

Richer chaired the system testing and evaluation working party for the FCC Advisory Committee on Advanced Television Service, chaired by former FCC Chairman Richard E. Wiley from 1987-95. Richer’s group was responsible for testing proponent advanced television systems, including that of the Digital HDTV Grand Alliance, the core of the ATSC 1.0 digital broadcast standard adopted by the FCC in 1996.

Among accolades over the years, Richer received Broadcasting & Cable’s Technology Leadership Award in 2007, the National Association of Broadcasters’ Television Engineering Achievement Award in 2010, and America’s Public Television Stations’ EDGE Award for Excellence in Innovation in 2018.

He is a Fellow of the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers, a Senior Member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, a member of the Society of Broadcast Engineers, a charter member of the Consumer Technology Association’s Academy of Digital Television Pioneers and serves on the FCC’s Technological Advisory Council.

With any anniversary, it's tempting to gaze reflectively in the rear-view mirror and remember how far we've come. But on this first anniversary of the adoption of the ATSC 3.0 standard as voluntary upgrade to America's digital TV transmission system, the Advanced Television System Committee has its eyes fixed on the road ahead.

A flurry of recent announcements underscores that the FCC had it right when they permitted broadcasters to innovate and develop a companion service that could bring together broadcast TV with broadband content.

More than six years in the making, Next Gen TV powered by ATSC 3.0 is the result of a collaborative effort of hundreds of talented individuals and innovative companies from around the world.

Deployments of ATSC 3.0 are underway.

South Korea initiated the ATSC 3.0 broadcast TV service with a focus on the benefits of Ultra HDTV in time for the Winter Olympics. The TV networks in Seoul have been broadcasting for over a year and a half, with stunning results.

Here in the United States, broadcasters in Texas, Arizona, North Carolina, Illinois, Oregon, and Maryland are now "on the air" with ATSC 3.0. The first public TV broadcaster—WKAR-TV at Michigan State University in East Lansing—is transmitting ATSC 3.0, and a small market station in Santa Barbara, Calif. is also investing to show how Next Gen TV can provide more targeted emergency alerts.

In Brazil, ATSC 3.0 experimental broadcasts of World Cup Soccer showed unique Broadcast-Broadband interactive applications like choosing camera angles, while watching the matches in stunning 4K UHD resolution.

And in India, development of a chip optimized for ATSC 3.0 mobile devices is under development as discussions continue about the convergence of broadcast & broadband technologies.

The Road Ahead is one marked by mileposts. As the saying goes, this is a journey, not a destination. In fact, I don’t think there really is a "end of the road." That's why I think we'll be seeing ATSC 3.1, 3.2 and so on—and eventually ATSC 4.0 on a future roadmap.

That also points to a reality for broadcasting. Innovation needs to be a constant development. Because deployment of the standard by broadcasters—and by consumer electronics companies—is voluntary, that doesn't mean we can let up on the gas pedal. Advancements in technology won't just stop because broadcasters are going too slow. No, just the opposite—innovation will blow by us in the fast lane.

Complementing our ongoing standards work and evangelism are ATSC Implementation Teams for Conformance, Advanced Emergency Alerting, and Interactivity & Personalization. A new ATSC Planning Team is looking at future advanced codecs and other future video technologies like 8K, and we’re launching another Planning Team on automotive applications.

Development of technical standards is a team sport. And we are fortunate at the ATSC to have so many experts in the broadcasting and related industries working together to pave the way on the Road Ahead. 

Mark Richer is the president of the Advanced Television Systems Committee.

For comprehensive coverage on ATSC 3.0, visit TV Technology's ATSC3 silo.

The Society of Broadcast Engineers has teamed up with the Advanced Television Systems Committee to create a new Specialist level of SBE certification assessing proficiency in the ATSC 3.0 standard. The announcement was made at the ATSC's annual meeting in Washington D.C.

The ATSC 3.0 system, aka Next Gen TV, has been approved for deployment in the U.S., and the technology is already in use in South Korea, as demonstrated at the 2018 Winter Olympics.

[Read: 2018 NAB Show Marks Next Gen TV’s Arrival]

ATSC President Mark Richer explained in the release that the effort is part of the committee’s work “to support deployment of ATSC 3.0.”

“As broadcast engineering diversified beyond legacy technology, the SBE Certification Program also diversified by adding certifications for computer networking and IT, and then a series of specific Specialist Certifications for television transmission, AM directional arrays, and digital radio. With the industry preparing to implement ATSC 3.0, broadcast engineers must be proficient in the next-generation television technology,” SBE President Jim Leifer, CPBE, said in a press release announcing the initiative.

Once developed, the exam will consist of a 50 multiple-choice questions and one essay, as per the Specialist format. Also, in order to become certified as a Specialist, applicants must first be designated as CBT, CBRE/CBTE, CSRE/CSTE or CPBE — the core certifications of the SBE.

The SBE Certification Program was created in 1975 to provide standards of competence for the industry.

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LAS VEGAS—The world’s newest digital television delivery standard, ATSC 3.0, has now come of age, getting the FCC’s official nod last November, and cheered with a champagne toast by industry leaders at the International CES. The standard, which has already been deployed in South Korea, was further showcased in February when it was used to transmit the PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games in sparkling UHD and HDR.

After years of buildup during the development process, ATSC 3.0 officially makes its debut at the 2018 NAB Show, with numerous presentations devoted to both technical and non-technical aspects of the standard, a special ATSC 3.0 exhibit, real-world mobile reception demos, and some of the first-ever ATSC 3.0-specific products on display on the exhibit floor.

THE ATSC 3.0 ’ROAD’ BECKONS

Show visitors arriving through the Las Vegas Convention Center’s Central Hall will be greeted with the ATSC’s “Road to ATSC 3.0” showcase with experts on hand to answer questions and discuss the early 3.0 deployments in U.S. television markets.

“Look for the ‘Road to ATSC 3.0’ exhibit as you enter the Grand Lobby of the Convention Center, the NAB Mobile ATSC 3.0 Shuttle in front of the complex, and various technology demos taking place in Future Park in the North Hall,” said Dave Arland, ATSC spokesperson.

Mark Richer, ATSC president, extended his own invitation to the exhibit.

“I’d encourage anyone curious about what’s coming to stop by the ‘Road to ATSC 3.0’ exhibit for an update on the Cleveland test stations, the Phoenix Model Market project, WRAL in Raleigh, and the ongoing work by Sinclair Broadcasting and others to light up ATSC 3.0 in Dallas and other markets,” he said.

Pearl TV, the consortium of station groups focused on developing services for Next Gen TV as well as deploying the standard, will be represented at the exhibit by Anne Schelle, managing director for the group, who discussed the next steps for ATSC 3.0.

“The industry needs to begin commercialization and develop agreed-upon industry service profiles and deployment guidelines,” she said. Last year, Pearl TV and several network partners collaborated on a Model Market in Phoenix that serves as an industry test bed for service development and consumer testing. “Details [about this] can be seen in the ‘Road to ATSC 3.0’ exhibit,” Schelle added.

A DOUBLE HIGH-TECH OPPORTUNITY

Also being featured is the NAB Mobile ATSC 3.0 Shuttle, which will await attendees just outside the LVCC. Riders will get to experience two cutting-edge technologies: ATSC 3.0 with its ability to provide rock-steady UHD television reception in moving vehicles, and a ride around the LVCC complex in an autonomous self-driving vehicle.

Sinclair Broadcast Group, LG Electronics and NAB are sponsoring the mobile demo in cooperation with Keolis, which operates the Las Vegas ‘Strip’ bus system, and the autonomous Navya shuttle, according to Mark Aitken, vice president of advanced technology for Sinclair.

“The bus route is around the parking lot and between the convention halls,” Aitken said. “The ATSC 3.0 signals viewed in the bus are being transmitted from an experimental Channel 45 installation located south of Las Vegas on Black Mountain, which is being operated by Sinclair’s KSNV.” (These 3.0 transmissions can also be viewed at the ATSC exhibit.)

[ATSC 3.0 Transition Strategies]

In addition, according to Aitken, ONEMedia/Sinclair will demo ATSC 3.0 at the Wynn, in conjunction with South Korea Telecom, showcasing dynamic ad insertion and the synchronicity aspects of ATSC 3.0 running on MMT.

TRANSMISSION CONSIDERATIONS

With many broadcasters preparing to deploy the Next Gen TV standard, plenty of exhibitors will debut new equipment, offer demonstrations and provide advice.

At minimum, the 3.0 move will involve transmitter plant changes, and there’s plenty to check out in this area.

GatesAir will show its Maxiva range of ATSC 3.0-ready transmitters, including the ULXTE for high-power UHF, UAXTE for low-to-mid-power UHF, and VAXTE low-to-high power transmitters across low and high-band VHF, according to Rich Redmond, the company’s chief product officer. “All are outfitted with our Maxiva XTE software-defined exciter,” he said.

Redmond added that broadcasters wishing to move to 3.0 may need to consider a new transmitter, even if their ATSC 1.0 DTV transmitters haven’t reached end of life status.

“The ATSC 3.0 digital waveform has a higher peak-to-average ratio than ATSC 1.0, which limits some transmitters’ capability to achieve the same power levels in ATSC 3.0 you can in ATSC 1.0,” he said.

Hitachi-Comark is ready to equip broadcasters with everything needed to produce the sparkling true-to-life video delivered by ATSC 3.0, according to Joe Turbolski, director of sales operations at the company. In addition to transmitters and an ATSC 3.0 exciter, the Hitachi Kokusai Group, in conjunction with key partners, will offer a complete “glass-to-glass” 3.0 technology demo, allowing broadcasters to visualize ATSC 3.0’s full capabilities.

“‘Glass-to-glass’ refers to the demo’s scope, which includes image capture via Hitachi HD-HDR cameras, software-based HEVC encoding, and finally ATSC 3.0 RF transmission, reception, and monitoring,” Turbolski said.

Rohde & Schwarz will launch what it says is the world’s first IT server-based exciter solution for ATSC 3.0 broadcasting according to Erik Balladares, vice president of the company’s U.S. broadcast and media division. The R&S SDE900 “was developed around a pure software-based approach, which will ensure that future evolutions of the standards are supported, and provide the most flexibility to broadcast network operators,” he said.

Updates on the testing of single frequency networks for ATSC 3.0 in the Dallas area will be discussed at the NAB Show and stations considering deploying SFNs may want to explore new antenna technologies in the Central Hall and outside exhibits.

Martin noted that broadcasters selecting Dielectric antennas for the ongoing repack won’t have to worry about another such purchase when transitioning to 3.0, as the “FutureFill” feature is built into the company’s repack antennas and can be “turned on” as needed to enhance reception across their coverage areas.

Jampro will be on hand with its “Futurization Technology,” which the company says is “based upon years of proven use by one of the largest broadcast network operators in the world.”

[ATSC 3.0 Marches On]

The company’s JUXD broadband panel targets broadband, multichannel applications where the polarization ratio has not been fully decided.

MONITORING THE SIGNAL

Monitoring of these next-generation signals will be an essential part of the transition, and there’s also plenty to see in this area.

Triveni Digital will have plenty of ATSC 3.0 gear at its booth in the North Hall.

“As broadcasters transition to ATSC 3.0, the ecosystem becomes more complex, increasing the chance for video and audio quality issues,” said Ralph Bachofen, the company’s vice president of sales and marketing. “Having an ultra-portable analysis platform like Triveni Digital’s StreamScope Portal II, which simplifies troubleshooting of DTV transport streams in both ATSC 1.0 and ATSC 3.0 environments, is critical.”

Triveni is also demonstrating other ATSC 3.0 analyzers and associated gear.

Qligent will introduce Vision-ATSC, a new cloud-based solution that will simplify the transition from 1.0 to 3.0, according to Ted Korte, the company’s COO. “Since it evaluates both ATSC 1.0 and ATSC 3.0 signals with the same hardware platform, broadcasters can use it to establish a baseline of ATSC 1.0 performance, and provide monitoring and oversight throughout the ATSC 3.0 transition for greater operational continuity,” he said.

The 2018 NAB Show will offer broadcasters a gateway to next-generation ATSC 3.0 television broadcasting, providing an opportunity for both learning about the technology from those professionals who helped to develop it, and for interacting with the companies who have created the equipment to deliver it. It behooves anyone interested in the future of television to spend as much time as possible in the exhibit halls and presentation rooms this year.

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

WASHINGTON—The America’s Public Television Stations’ annual Public Media Summit will take time this year to honor Mark Richer, ATSC president, with its 2018 EDGE Award for Excellence in Digital Innovation.

The award, which will be presented to Richer on Tuesday, Feb. 27, is in recognition for the “successful and timely completion of the ATSC 3.0 standard, and the integral role the Committee played in ensuring public television stations’ repacking efforts are synched with the Next Generation broadcasting standard,” the official press release read.

The 2018 Public Media Summit will take place Feb. 26-28 in Washington. This year’s theme is “The Power of Public Media,” and will feature presentations and discussions on issues facing public service media. For the full schedule and additional information, click here.

LOS ANGELES and WASHINGTON—How do we get there from here? That’s the main question around the emerging transmission technology standard for over-the-air television in the United States. The last time the TV standard was changed, TV stations had two channels—one on which to broadcast in the old analog format while they fired up digital transmitters on the second. This gave the broadcasters time to work out the bugs, and it gave citizen viewers a chance to get caught up to speed on what was going on.

There are no second channels this time.

The Advanced Television Systems Committee, the organization developing the standard, is leaning into the development of two-way technology that would be compatible with the Internet and fundamentally change the way U.S. broadcast TV is delivered.

The new standard—ATSC 3.0—is on a fast track of sorts as the Federal Communications Commission prepares to auction off a portion of the radio frequency spectrum now dedicated to broadcasting. ATSC 3.0 is inherently more spectrum efficient than 1.0, the version currently in use, and could not only preserve, but enhance coverage of over-the-air television.

The question remains, however. How will it be implemented this time around? TV Technology’s Deborah D. McAdams fired off a few questions about a 3.0 transition to Fox’s Richard Friedel, who was recently elected as ATSC board chairman for 2016. Friedel, an industry veteran who is executive vice president and general manager of the Fox Network & Engineering Operations, was joined by ATSC President Mark Richer in the exchange.

The bottom line: broadcasters must cooperate.

TV Technology:Has a transition plan been mapped out?
Richer: While the ATSC board has discussed some concepts for transition to ATSC 3.0, it’s up to the industry to develop an overall strategy. ATSC 3.0 is a global standard and transition plans will differ from country to country.

TV Technology:Is it likely to be a market-by-market process? If so, how would that work?
Friedel: By its nature, broadcasting is local. The transition to ATSC 3.0 will require strategies that take into account such things as spectrum availability, transmission facilities, capacity of existing 1.0 services and potential 3.0 services. As such, it’s unlikely that all U.S. broadcasters will transition to ATSC 3.0 at the same moment.

TV Technology: Will it require nationwide adoption?
Friedel: At the appropriate time, and likely at the request of broadcasters, we expect the FCC to consider ATSC 3.0 as a permissible service on TV channels. The actual rollout, however, is likely not something that will happen coast-to-coast at one time.

TV Technology: How will broadcasters be able to fire up 3.0 while maintaining 1.0 for existing viewers?
Richer: Business discussions are necessary to determine the best way to transition from 1.0 to 3.0, without disrupting service for all viewers in a given market. Detailed logistics will be up to broadcasters to determine.

TV Technology: How will reception be implemented in the absence of a subsidized converter program?
Friedel: TV receivers are far more advanced now than they were back in the late 1990’s. One answer might be USB-style receivers that could plug into a TV and an RF antenna. We also are starting to see new options emerge as prototypes, such as ‘gateway’ receivers that could receive ATSC 3.0 and retransmit the signals as Wi-Fi to be presented on existing tablets, phone, and TV sets in a house. I have no doubt that we’ll see more innovations at the upcoming NAB Show in April.

TV Technology: What new equipment will be necessary for transmitting 3.0?
Richer: That depends on the type of ATSC 3.0 services that a broadcaster wants to offer, and how exactly that broadcaster will transition to 3.0. Certainly, new exciters will be needed at the transmission level. We do expect to see more details at the April NAB Show from a variety of broadcast equipment companies who are designing new products for broadcasters.

TV Technology: Have any vendors committed to manufacturing 3.0 equipment, and if so, how long after the standard is completed will it take them to make it available?
Richer: Equipment manufacturers do not discuss their strategies in ATSC. It looks like several new products are in development, with public and private demonstrations that are based on the ATSC 3.0 Candidate Standard.
(Note in the “Also see…” 3.0 archive below, Teamcast provided an ATSC 3.0 exciter to the Korean Broadcasting System to evaluate the developing transmission standard.)

Note also that Fred Baumgartner has contributed a three-part series on how ATSC 3.0-based broadcasting is crucial to video distribution in an ecosystem of proliferating device types and content preferences:

January 4, 2016
“Part I: April SBE Ennes Workshop to Focus on ATSC 3.0”
The relationship between broadcasting and technology is a deep one that defines us as broadcast engineers. 

January 12, 2016
“Part II: ATSC 3.0 Brings Flexibility of IP to Broadcast”
The hardest part of the ATSC 3.0 proposed broadcast standard to get one’s head around is probably the IP transport piece.

January 28, 2016
“PART III: Where Does ATSC 3.0 Fit in a Multichannel Universe?”
Two stakeholders that might not be so excited about ATSC 3.0 include the radio access network (RAN) carriers (the providers of wireless data services) and multichannel video programming distributors.

Also see…
January 13, 2016
“James O’Neal Reports on ATSC 3.0 Tests At CES 2016”
ONE Media, Pearl TV, Samsung, TeamCast and Sinclair Broadcast Group teamed up to transmit 4K video from a mountain-top low-power transmitter 13 miles from the Las Vegas Convention Center, and displayed on the show floor and in a demo suite in the Wynn Hotel.

January 13, 2016
“Doug Lung on ATSC 3.0, Two-Way ENG and New Mic RFs”
I thought it would be a good time to take a look at new technology trends. Three areas that attracted my attention are ATSC 3.0 (no surprise), two-way ENG and new technology for wireless microphones.

Janaury 6, 2016
“KHMP-LD Delivers Live HDR 4KTV in ATSC 3.0 at CES”
The broadcast, from Las Vegas station KHMP-LD’s transmitter on Nevada’s Black Mountain, is delivering clear 4K HDR content, received for the first time on LG’s new ATSC 3.0-enabled receivers at the Las Vegas Convention Center.

January 5, 2016
“TeamCast Delivers ATSC 3.0 Digital TV Exciter to KBS”
The exTra3.0 is a real-time, standalone terrestrial exciter that supports ATSC 3.0, which is designed to transmit 4K/UHD content.

December 23, 2015
“The ATSC 3.0 Physical Layer—Bootstrap Basics”
Doug Lung parses the 3.0 physical layer.

December 23, 2015
“Q&A: Technicolor’s Alan Stein on Las Vegas ATSC 3.0 Tests”
Technicolor contributed content and prototype reception technology to the simulations, which took place last month in Las Vegas with Sinclair Broadcast Group and ONE Media.

December 15, 2015
“ATSC 3.0 Audio: A Big Bet?”
The debate centers on the two remaining candidates under consideration for the audio codec, AC-4, proposed by Dolby Laboratories, and MPEG-H, supported by the MPEG Audio Alliance.

December 3, 2015
“Sinclair Demos HDR 4KTV Over ATSC 3.0 in Vegas”
Sinclair Broadcast Group, along with subsidiary One Media and Technicolor, report they have successfully transmitted high-dynamic range 4KTV over the air using the proposed ATSC 3.0 standard and a prototype reception device.

November 17, 2015
“ATSC 3.0 DTV Standard Gets Far East ‘Test Drive’”
The engineers were convened “to confirm a common understanding of the ATSC 3.0 specifications A/321, A/322 and other relevant standards, and/or working drafts.”

October 7, 2015
ATSC 3.0: Mark Richer Details Phys Layer CS
The ATSC achieved a significant milestone last week with the elevation of the ATSC 3.0 Physical Layer to Candidate Standard status. TV Technology asked ATSC President Mark Richer to provide more details on the technology and the process…

September 29, 2015
“Samsung, LG, Contributed Technology to ATSC 3.0 Candidate Standard”
Both Korean electronics giants have been integral in developing the U.S. broadcast standard.

September 21, 2015
“ATSC 3.0 Tested With 4K, Mobile in Korea by LG, SBS”
Korean broadcaster SBS partnered with LG Electronics for the country's first live over-the-air broadcast of 4K Ultra HD signals using technologies behind the ATSC 3.0 TV broadcast standard.

September 2, 2015
“Voting on ATSC 3.0 Physical Layer Standard Begins“
Ballots were sent out on Aug. 31 and over the next four weeks members of the TG3 Technology Group will vote on whether to approve or not approve the Physical Layer to Candidate Standard status.

July 13, 2015
“Inside the Cleveland Futurecast ATSC 3.0 Transmission Tests”
And with an experimental high-power ATSC 3.0 transmitter available for test broadcasts at any time during the day, the GatesAir/LG/Zenith Futurecast proposal shows some interesting data from recent tests in Cleveland.

June 17, 2015
“Samsung, Pearl and Sinclair Gear Up for ATSC 3.0 Dry Runs”
Samsung, Pearl TV and Sinclair Broadcast Group are collaborating on how to deploy the next-generation broadcast standard and what to do with it. The three have agreed to a Memo of Understanding “collaboratively to support the development and the implementation” of ATSC 3.0.

May 15, 2015
“Samsung and ONE Media Drive ATSC 3.0 Candidate Standard“
Samsung and ONE Media proposed a hierarchical framework comprised of the ‘bootstrap,’ preamble and data framing to meet broadcasters unique requirements.

May 7, 2015
“ATSC 3.0 Bootstrap Signal Becomes Candidate Standard“
The first of five components in the Physical Layer transmission standard for ATSC 3.0 has been elevated to “Candidate Standard” status.

April 9, 2015
“Technicolor and Sinclair Demo HDR UHD Live Over-the-Air Broadcast”
Technicolor and Sinclair Broadcast Group have announced a successful demonstration of UltraHD with high dynamic range live broadcast based on proposed ATSC 3.0 technologies.

February 12, 2015
HPA 2015: ATSC 3.0 Prototypes Expected in 2016
Prototype ATSC 3.0 receivers may appear as early as next year, according to Skip Pizzi of the National Association of Broadcasters.
“The target is to get a candidate standard out later this year. Prototypes might start showing up in 2016.”

January 5, 2015
CES 2015: Samsung, Comark and TeamCast Demo Live ATSC 3.0
Samsung, Comark and TeamCast will demonstrate a terrestrial broadcast of “full ATSC 3.0 technology” at CES 2015. The demonstration will show a live transmission of MPEG‐H HEVC ultra HD video and MPEG‐H 3D audio content.

October 22, 2014
“Futurecast Demo Shows Simultaneous 4K, HD and Mobile Reception”
Quincy Group’s WKOW-TV conducted a second round of field testing with the Futurecast terrestrial broadcasting system developed by Zenith, LG and GatesAir.

October 8, 2014
“Sinclair and Technicolor Do ATSC 3.0 4K Over-the-Air Broadcast”
Sinclair Broadcast Group and Technicolor said they successfully deploying Technicolor’s ATSC 3.0 4K UltraHD testbed platform and receiving an over-the-air signal. The Technicolor platform, based on open audio, video and transport standards including Scalable HEVC (SHVC), MPEG-H audio and MPEG-MMT transport, has been integrated into Sinclair’s experimental OFDM transmission system in Baltimore, Md.

August 27, 2013
“TV Tomorrow: ATSC 3.0 Advances”
The ATSC announced that 10 proposals have been submitted for the foundation of 3.0 known as the “physical layer.” This physical layer includes the modulation scheme, which defines how the signal information is carried by a radio frequency—in this case, the TV channel.

March 28, 2013
“ATSC Seeks Next-Gen TV Physical Layer Proposals”
It appears some of the requirements could be a bit of a stretch, but that may not be such a bad idea, considering that ATSC 3.0 will be replacing a terrestrial DTV standard that’s survived for 15 years.

March 27, 2013
“ATSC Seeks Proposals for ATSC 3.0 Physical Layer”
Glenn Reitmeier, ATSC chairman, noted that, “the ATSC 3.0 effort is a crucial time for broadcasters, professional equipment manufacturers, consumer device manufacturers and all stakeholders to collaborate and create the future capabilities of over-the-air broadcasting.”

February 22, 2013
“HPA 2013: ATSC 3.0 Update”
The current standard was developed 20 years ago and implemented around 15 years ago. The Internet was on baby legs, processor speeds were measured in megahertz, storage in megabytes, and networks in kilobytes.

January 22, 2013
“New ATSC Implementation Teams to Focus on Commercialization of ATSC 2.0 and M-EAS”
The Advanced Television Systems Committee has formed new Implementation Teams for two new emerging standards -- ATSC 2.0 and the Mobile Emergency Alert System.

February 15, 2012,
“HPA Tech Retreat: The State of ATSC 2.0”
ATSC 2.0 will provide a variety of interactive capabilities to broadcasters not now available.

September 6, 2011
“New ATSC 3.0 Technology Group Formed To Anticipate TV of the Future
ATSC 3.0 is anticipated to be a series of voluntary technical standards and recommended practices for the next digital terrestrial television broadcast system.

(Note in the “Also see…” 3.0 archive below, Teamcast provided an ATSC 3.0 exciter to the Korean Broadcasting System to evaluate the developing transmission standard.

WASHINGTON—The Advanced Television Systems Committee achieved a significant milestone last week with the elevation of the ATSC 3.0 Physical Layer to Candidate Standard status. TV Technology asked ATSC President Mark Richer to provide more details on the technology and the process of developing this latest transmission standard for over-the-air broadcast television in the United States.

TV Technology:Ten proposals from 19 organizations were submitted in the physical layer call for proposals:

• Coherent Logix and Sinclair Broadcast Group
• Communications Research Centre and Electronics & Telecommunications Research Institute
• Digital Video Broadcasting Project
• LG Electronics, Zenith and Harris Broadcast
• Allen Limberg
• National Engineering Research Center of Digital Television, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai Advance Research Institute, and Bell Labs, Alcatel-Lucent
• Power Broadcasting
• Qualcomm and Ericsson
• Samsung and Sony
• Technicolor

TV Technology: Which one represents the physical layer, or is it a combination of submitted technologies?

Richer: The development of the physical layer is a process that involved many volunteers and many companies working in a collaborative fashion to come up with the best possible solution: A transmission system that is both very robust and flexible to meet the demands of broadcasters for next-generation television.

TV Technology: TV Technology received separate statements from LG and ONE Media about their own and their partner companies’ technology used in the standard. Does ATSC have to abide by a policy of not identifying companies contributing to the standard?

Richer: ATSC does not have a formal policy concerning identification of contributors to our standards. In situations such as the development of the ATSC 3.0 Physical Layer, there were many contributors. Participants in our meetings are required to abide by our Patent Policy, which is available on the ATSC Website.

TV Technology:Describe what this technology does and how it works.

Richer:Our overall goal with ATSC 3.0 is to make it highly configurable, scalable, efficient, interoperable, and adaptable.

Drafted by the S-32 Physical Layer specialists group capably chaired by Sony’s Luke Fay, the ATSC 3.0 Physical Layer is intended to offer far more flexibility, robustness and spectrum efficiency than the ATSC 1.0 standard, which was adopted two decades ago.

The ATSC 3.0 Physical Layer uses OFDM modulation with low-density parity check (LDPC) forward-error correction similar to other advanced terrestrial broadcast standards. ATSC 3.0 also uses new more robust LDPC along with non-uniform constellations to provide improved transmission and reception performance.

TV Technology:We’ve already heard several times about flexibility and robustness. But why and how so, and what is it about the technologies that assures this?

Richer: The ATSC 3.0 physical layer allows television broadcasters to choose from a wide variety of transmission parameters so that each station can tailor its signal to best serve its local market by providing the combination of services and coverage area best suited for the market and its terrain.

TV Technology:What do you mean by “transmission parameters” here?

Richer: These flexible parameters include options for coding rates, modulation types, guard intervals, and time interleavers.

As an example, the ATSC 3.0 Physical Layer provides the ability for broadcasters to provide services in a robust mode for mobile services and a less robust but higher bitrate services to serve content to large screens in the home. Broadcasters can configure their transmission to provide simultaneous mixture of types of services using either Time Division Multiplexing or Layer Division Multiplexing, or both.

In other words, it’s not “one size fits all.” Broadcasters can change parameters to send different types of content to different types of receivers throughout the day— including simultaneous transmission of content for both big screens and handheld mobile devices of the future.

The system will allow high-capacity, low-robustness modes and also lower-capacity, high-robustness modes in the same transmission. That flexibility means that we’re likely to see both 4K Ultra HD broadcasts running side-by-side with robust mobile broadcasts to handheld devices.

TV Technology:OK, that’s fairly straightforward, but how is this achieved? Adaptive bit-rate capability? Compression? Also, what types of compression will it support?

Richer: The physical layer delivers bits of any type. Video and audio compression are defined by the presentation layer of ATSC 3.0. See graphic:



Technologies can be selected for various “use cases” like Single Frequency Networks, Multiple Input/Multiple Output channel operation, channel-bonding and more, well beyond a single transmitting tower.

TV Technology:So? What’s the big deal about that?

Richer: These technologies provide network architectures that can be used to improve coverage for services such as mobile. There is also a large range of selections for data protection including a wide range of guard intervals, forward-error correction code lengths and code rates.

TV Technology:Again, what for? Why is this notable?

Richer: Broadcasters can use these parameters to optimize the balance of performance and throughput for each service. Work continues on the other parts of the suite of ATSC 3.0 standards. They include Video and Audio Compression, Closed Captioning, Advanced Emergency Alerting, Security, Companion Devices, Personalization, Applications & Interactivity, Watermarking and Fingerprinting, and Internet Protocol Delivery. All told, some 20 standards are expected to be part of ATSC 3.0

TV Technology: What is meant here by “companion devices,” and in what way does this standard envision accommodating these devices?

Richer: Companion devices include “second screen” such as a tablet or phone. ATSC 3.0 will enable hybrid broadcast and broadband applications.

TV Technology:Noted. What can we expect with regard to video and audio compression? HEVC? Multiple codecs?

Richer: Video and audio compression systems are under consideration. Stay tuned!

TV Technology:The “bootstrap signal” component of this technology was elevated to Candidate Standard in May. Is it now a part of this Candidate Standard?

Richer:No, it’s a separate document and that part of the physical layer was elevated to Candidate Standard earlier.

TV Technology:There were five total components to the physical layer—system discovery and signaling (bootstrap); modulation; error correction algorithms and constellations….

Richer: To put the entire standard-setting process into context, this piece from Dr. Rich Chernock, who chairs the ATSC’s Technology Group 3, is a good description of what the final standard will look like.

TV Technology:Is the modulation scheme based on orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing?

Richer: Yes, the physical layer uses OFDM.

TV Technology:Does it bear a resemblance to DVB-T2?

Richer: There are some elements that are similar to DVB-T2, but also some new ingredients.

TV Technology:Elements such as… ?

Richer: OFDM, some coding rates, modulation types, and guard interval parameters are common with DVB-T2.

TV Technology:Are you on schedule with your timetable?

Richer: Yes, we are on schedule. The Candidate Standard status for the physical layer will continue for six months, during which time manufacturers will build prototype equipment and test to the proposed standard. Final tweaks will be made, and then the physical layer will face a ballot to recognize the technologies as part of the finished ATSC 3.0 Standard.

TV Technology:When do you expect the standard to be complete? What is the timetable for approval?

Richer: In the first quarter of 2017.

TV Technology:When does the Federal Communications Commission get involved?

Richer: While the standards-setting process continues at the ATSC, the FCC will presumably be asked by broadcasters to review the outcome of ATSC 3.0 at some point.

TV Technology:ATSC 3.0 will not be compatible with any existing television receivers, and TV stations do not have extra spectrum this time to make the switch as they did in the 2009 digital transition. In other words, they would all have to flash cut to the new standard. What is the vision and developing strategic plan for receiver deployment?

Richer: ATSC is not directly involved in receiver development plans. Some broadcasters are working with consumer electronics companies to plan a 3.0 strategy.

TV Technology:What is the vision and developing strategic plan for deployment of the ATSC 3.0 transmission scheme itself?

Richer: I believe ATSC 3.0 will provide broadcasters with compelling business opportunities that will drive the implementation of new services.

Also see…
September 29, 2015
“ATSC 3.0 Physical Layer Elevated to Candidate Standard”
The ATSC 3.0 Physical Layer is intended to offer far more flexibility, robustness and spectrum efficiency than the ATSC 1.0 standard, which was adopted two decades ago.

September 21, 2015
“ATSC 3.0 Tested With 4K, Mobile in Korea by LG, SBS”
Korean broadcaster SBS partnered with LG Electronics for the country's first live over-the-air broadcast of 4K Ultra HD signals using technologies behind the ATSC 3.0 TV broadcast standard.

September 2, 2015
“Voting on ATSC 3.0 Physical Layer Standard Begins“
Ballots were sent out on Aug. 31 and over the next four weeks members of the TG3 Technology Group will vote on whether to approve or not approve the Physical Layer to Candidate Standard status.

May 15, 2015
“Samsung and ONE Media Drive ATSC 3.0 Candidate Standard��
Samsung and ONE Media proposed a hierarchical framework comprised of the ‘bootstrap,’ preamble and data framing to meet broadcasters unique requirements.

May 7, 2015
“ATSC 3.0 Bootstrap Signal Becomes Candidate Standard“
The first of five components in the Physical Layer transmission standard for ATSC 3.0 has been elevated to “Candidate Standard” status.

August 27, 2013
“TV Tomorrow: ATSC 3.0 Advances”
The ATSC announced that 10 proposals have been submitted for the foundation of 3.0 known as the “physical layer.” This physical layer includes the modulation scheme, which defines how the signal information is carried by a radio frequency—in this case, the TV channel.

March 28, 2013
“ATSC Seeks Next-Gen TV Physical Layer Proposals”
It appears some of the requirements could be a bit of a stretch, but that may not be such a bad idea, considering that ATSC 3.0 will be replacing a terrestrial DTV standard that’s survived for 15 years.

March 27, 2013
“ATSC Seeks Proposals for ATSC 3.0 Physical Layer”
Glenn Reitmeier, ATSC chairman, noted that, “the ATSC 3.0 effort is a crucial time for broadcasters, professional equipment manufacturers, consumer device manufacturers and all stakeholders to collaborate and create the future capabilities of over-the-air broadcasting.”

February 22, 2013
“HPA 2013: ATSC 3.0 Update”
The current standard was developed 20 years ago and implemented around 15 years ago. The Internet was on baby legs, processor speeds were measured in megahertz, storage in megabytes, and networks in kilobytes.

January 22, 2013
“New ATSC Implementation Teams to Focus on Commercialization of ATSC 2.0 and M-EAS”
The Advanced Television Systems Committee has formed new Implementation Teams for two new emerging standards -- ATSC 2.0 and the Mobile Emergency Alert System.

February 15, 2012,
“HPA Tech Retreat: The State of ATSC 2.0”
ATSC 2.0 will provide a variety of interactive capabilities to broadcasters not now available.

September 6, 2011
“New ATSC 3.0 Technology Group Formed To Anticipate TV of the Future
ATSC 3.0 is anticipated to be a series of voluntary technical standards and recommended practices for the next digital terrestrial television broadcast system.