The Consumer Electronics Association has released DTV Closed Captioning (DTVCC) test materials on DVD. The DVD contains a variety of signals a DTV set may encounter. Set manufacturers can use the DVD to test how closed captioning will be displayed on their TV sets.
Brian Markwalter, vice president of the CEA Technology and Standards department, explained, "This DVD is an easy-to-use reference tool created by industry experts for use in the product design process. Its use should enhance the customer's overall satisfaction with the closed captioning feature in digital televisions."
Manufacturers welcomed the DVD. "As a television manufacturer, I welcome this convenient opportunity to compare a television's display capability against a known industry reference tool," said Robert Blanchard, standards coordinator at Sony Electronics and chair of CEA's DTV Closed Caption Working Group. "After many years of effort, I am pleased to announce the completion of this pertinent reference tool."
The CEA press release announcing the DVD said the DVD contains five bit streams that provide an initial indication of a DTV receiving device's basic ability to decode captions from the ATSC DTV transport stream. The bits reams can test several DTVCC features and functions, including various character sets, multiple fonts within a window, language options as well as many close captioning window commands.
The press release cautioned, "The DVD is intended to be a reference tool. Users are encouraged to conduct an independent analysis of both FCC closed captioning requirements and appropriate sections of CEA-708-B and ATSC A/53B."
The DVD can be obtained from Global Engineering Documents at a cost of $112.00 for CEA members and $150 for non-members. Visit www.global.ihs.com and search for "cea dtvcc."
