Grupo Televisa, the world’s largest Spanish-language media company, did better than expected in its recent mobile digital television (DTV) broadcast field tests in Mexico, according to Harris. Televisa's analog Channel 4 programming was rebroadcast on digital channel 42 to test LG handheld receivers being viewed in vehicles traveling at high speeds around the broadcaster's Mexico City coverage area.
After the ATSC-compatible in-band mobile DTV signal was multiplexed into Televisa's 19.4Mb/s ATSC transport stream using a Harris NetVX multiplexer at the transmitter site, it was broadcast over the air from a 1.8kW Harris Diamond ATSC transmitter equipped with a Harris APEX exciter modified for mobile DTV. The Mexico City tests were part of a series performed throughout the last 18 months, until now only in U.S. cities, in which Harris has been implementing mobile DTV technology into an end-to-end solution to prove the viability of technology codeveloped by Harris, LG Electronics and Zenith — technology that’s in the process of being standardized by the ATSC.
"Mobile DTV will likely expand and revolutionize TV viewing options for Mexico City, making it possible for Televisa and other broadcasters to deliver its highly rated content to drivers, commuters and others with mobile receivers. The feedback we received from Televisa was that these results were better than they originally anticipated. Their engineers were able to easily modify its existing Diamond transmitter for mobile DTV and provide solid reception throughout its broadcast contour — even in challenging terrain," said Nahuel Villegas, Harris VP for the Caribbean and Latin America.
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