Remember the problems with first ATSC TV receivers? It wasn't unusual to have viewers with one type of TV set calling a station to say they had problems receiving their signal while other DTV viewers had no problems at all. Although the final ATSC mobile DTV standard A/153 was adopted just over a year ago, manufacturers of broadcast equipment and consumer electronics have worked together to make sure mobile DTV receivers work out of the box. They are doing this through “PlugFests” organized by the Consumer Electronics Association.
PlugFest3 took place last week in Arlington,Va. Participants included Digital Stream Technology Inc; DTVinteractive Co., Ltd.; Eiden Co., Ltd.; Kenwood USA; LARCAN; LG Electronics; Roundbox Inc.; Samjin LND; Samsung; Screen Service Broadcast Technologies; and Thomson Grass Valley.
CEA's Vice President of Technology and Standards Brian Markwalter commented, “CEA continues to take a leading role in promoting mobile DTV through outreach and education. We are excited to see companies utilize this interoperability checkpoint as an increasing number of products are poised for launch and we enter a period when content availability will be the key to success.”
Mike Bergman, VP of New Digital Technologies at Kenwood USA and chair of the PlugFest, said, “This was a great opportunity for some seasoned teams and some new teams to get together. These events have really helped mature the implementations, and we’re seeing fewer issues and better performance.”
