Tablo TV, one of the few DVRs available in the U.S. market for over-the-air TV broadcasts, has announced its latest version, which, despite what many had hoped, does not include support for ATSC 3.0 (aka NextGen TV).

In 2022, Tablo TV’s parent company, Nuvyyo launched the Tablo ATSC 3.0 QUAD HDMI DVR for NextGenTV, shortly before it was acquired by station group E W Scripps. The product, however, never made it to the market due to issues over digital rights management, according to the company.

“When we announced the Tablo ATSC 3.0 QUAD OTA DVR in January of this year, we felt confident that our stated spring 2022 delivery date was achievable,” the company said in December. “However, since that time, broadcast station ownership groups have indicated their intent to encrypt ATSC 3.0 signals using Digital Rights Management (DRM).

"To ensure that the Tablo ATSC 3.0 QUAD OTA DVR can display and record ATSC 3.0 content, even when broadcast signals are encrypted, we need to complete the development and certification of DRM software for the device," the company added. “DRM decryption keys MUST be installed on the Tablo during manufacturing and cannot be added via later firmware updates. Because of this, manufacturing has been delayed while we confirm the certification requirements, add DRM capabilities to the product, and obtain certification from the ATSC 3.0 Security Authority (A3SA).”

Announcing the latest version this week, It looks like consumers will have to wait a bit longer for a 3.0-compatible Tablo TV, according to a spokesman. 

"The fourth-generation Tablo device is optimized for the ATSC 1.0 broadcast standard. We're excited about forthcoming Tablo devices that will take advantage of the 3.0 standard,” said Bo Schuerman, Scripps vice president of enterprise strategy. “We are currently working with the ATSC 3.0 groups to ensure Tablo (and other recording devices) will be compliant and work with the new content protection standards that are part of ATSC 3.0."

Regarding the ATSC 3.0 QUAD HDMI DVR, the company said that although there is no estimated time when the device will be available, “significant progress is being made.”

The fourth generation, announced this week, features a more compact design, dual ATSC 1.0 tuners and 50 hours of HD storage and the ability to record FAST channels.  It's priced at $99.95 with no subscriptions or contracts and is avaiable at tablotv.com and bestbuy.com. The Tablo Total System, which includes a 35-mile indoor TV antenna, is on sale for $109.95 (MSRP $129.95) . 

Scripps acquired Canada-based consumer technology manufacturer Nuvyyo, Inc. in 2022 for $14 million. Nuvyyo has successfully developed and sold antenna TV DVRs under the Tablo brand for nine years.

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.

KANATA, Canada—Tablo has built off of its Tablo Dual HDMI DVR that it released in 2020 and officially unveiled the new Tablo Quad HDMI OTA DVR that is able to record up to four programs simultaneously.

The new Tablo DVR has the same form factor as the dual-tuner model, but features four ATSC 1.0 tuners. It also comes with its own remote and a direct HDMI connection to the TV, allowing for a more traditional DVR setup, Tablo says.

Unique features for the Tablo Quad HDMI include the ability to record and display OTA TV in raw MPEG2 video format at the resolution bitrate that it is broadcast in, including 1080i at 30 fps and 720p at 60 fps. Tablo says that this would allow for 130 hours of HDTV to be recorded onto a 1 TB drive, though larger hard drives can be connected to the Tablo Quad HDMI.

For users with a TV Guide Data Service subscription, Tablo Quad HDMI can stream live and recorded TV on up to four secondary TVs in a home. This can be done by downloading the Tablo app on streaming set-top boxes or smart TVs running Roku, Amazon Fire TV or Android TV.

The Tablo Quad HDMI OTA DVR is now available for $199.99. For more information, visit www.tablotv.com.  

SAN JOSE, CALIF.—A group of companies including developers of antenna and hardware/software technologies have created a new marketing coalition to make it easier for consumers to view over the air broadcast with streaming services.

In the announcement of its formation last week, the companies, which include Antennas Direct, Hauppauge, Nuvyyo, Pixelworks, Plex GmbH, Resonian, and Shenzhen Geniatech cited the complexity cord-cutters face when trying to combine OTT/streaming services with free over-the-air local broadcasts.

“As a growing number of consumers abandon traditional cable and satellite subscriptions to gain increased control over content selection and the associated cost of video entertainment, they are often faced with added complexity as well as limited or overpriced access to local broadcast TV channels,” they said. “The genesis of FlexVU is a mutual end-goal of helping consumers “select the most seamless and high-performance cord cutting solutions, including the ability to access TV content from anywhere with a connected display device.”

[Read: Cord-Cutting Pace Accelerates As Viewers Seek Premium Programming, Says EMarketer]

As part of its initiative, the coalition said it would be advancing what it termed “a broader ecosystem under a newly recognized and industry-supported brand.”

Along with offering so-called “skinny bundles”—lower cost OTT services which target cord-cutters—several consumer electronics vendors like DISH and TiVo have made recent attempts to integrate OTT and OTA. Earlier this year, DISH launched “AirTV” an over-the-top, over-the-air service that gives customers access to dozens of over-the-air broadcast channels across multiple devices inside and outside of the home. Last week TiVo introduced its “Bolt OTA for Antenna” which combines OTT and over-the-air signals, delivering four tuners and a one terabyte hard drive capable of recording 150 hours of HD programming. The company describes the new box as a an “upgrade” to its “Roamio” DVR, which targets cord-cutters and has been available for four years.

Likewise, FlexVU member Nuvyyo offers its Tablo device that features an OTA tuner that provides DVR-type services to over-the-air viewers, as well as the ability to stream OTA signals to home Wi-Fi setups.

The coalition defined five elements that make up the FlexVU initiative—TV antenna, TV tuner, transcoder, software for the user interface and a DVR that allows consumers to view content on any device anywhere. It has also launched a consumer education portal www.flexvu.tv, which includes specific product and component recommendations, testimonial videos from FlexVU partners and useful links to tools, such as a Channel Finder to help consumers determine what local TV channels can be access based on their zip code. In addition, the FlexVU Web site has a helpful animation that provides an easy to understand overview of the key benefits and messages of the FlexVU initiative.

KANATA, ONTARIO—Canadian-based company Tablo has landed on the latest generation of Apple TV, as the company announced a new native app that will appear on Apple TV devices that work in tandem with Tablo’s over-the-air HDTV DVR. The new app, which launched on Friday, June 17, enables users to discover, record and stream live TV and playback recorded shows and movies through the Apple TV, according to Tablo. The new app also features an integrated voice navigation system.

Read the full story on TV Technology’s sister publication Multichannel News.