Japan Completes DTV Transition

By Doug Lung
published


Analog terrestrial television shut down in Japan last Sunday, except in the three Tohoku-region prefectures hit by the Great East Japan earthquake. Off-air viewers without a digital TV set or converter box tuning into analog channels Sunday afternoon saw an information screen about the DTV transition. At midnight, these analog transmitters were shut off.

Japan launched the DTV project in 2001 and broadcasts in three major regions began in 2003, expanding to the entire country in 2006. Japan uses the ISDB-T transmission system, which is based on COFDM technology similar to DVB-T, but includes enhancements such as a longer interleaver to reduce interference from impulse noise.

RF Report reader Mike Mahan found a website dealing with Japan's DTV transition, including information on the transmitters on the Seto Digital Tower. Six of the seven stations transmit with a power of 3 kilowatts (it isn't clear whether this is transmitter power or ERP), and one uses only a kilowatt. See the Google translation here. Also see Issues remain after Japan's complete shift to digital terrestrial broadcasting in The Mainichi Daily News.

Doug Lung
Doug Lung

Doug Lung is one of America's foremost authorities on broadcast RF technology. As vice president of Broadcast Technology for NBCUniversal Local, H. Douglas Lung leads NBC and Telemundo-owned stations’ RF and transmission affairs, including microwave, radars, satellite uplinks, and FCC technical filings. Beginning his career in 1976 at KSCI in Los Angeles, Lung has nearly 50 years of experience in broadcast television engineering. Beginning in 1985, he led the engineering department for what was to become the Telemundo network and station group, assisting in the design, construction and installation of the company’s broadcast and cable facilities. Other projects include work on the launch of Hawaii’s first UHF TV station, the rollout and testing of the ATSC mobile-handheld standard, and software development related to the incentive auction TV spectrum repack.
A longtime columnist for TV Technology, Doug is also a regular contributor to IEEE Broadcast Technology. He is the recipient of the 2023 NAB Television Engineering Award. He also received a Tech Leadership Award from TV Tech publisher Future plc in 2021 and is a member of the IEEE Broadcast Technology Society and the Society of Broadcast Engineers.