Zapperbox Aims for NextGen TV Certification by October

By Tom Butts
published

ATSC 3.0 consumer box will allow viewers to playback and record 3.0-encrypted channels

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(Image credit: BitRouter)

Zapperbox, a supplier of OTA TV DVRs says it hopes to get certified to carry CTA’s NextGen TV logo by NAB New York in mid-October. 

The company began shipping its NEXTGEN TV DVR on Aug. 2 and said that boxes with support for playback and recording of encrypted 3.0 channels will ship in October. The Zapperbox has already received A3SA DRM certification—the security protocol for the ATSC 3.0 standard. All existing units will be upgraded with this capability via a software update. 

Although all TV sets that support NextGen TV on the market are certified to carry the NextGen TV logo—which allows viewers to take advantage of a wider range of advanced features and make it easier to do field upgrades—only one consumer device on the market, ADTH’s NEXTGEN TV box, carries the NEXTGEN TV logo and began shipping earlier this month. 

While ADTH’s device supports the A3SA DRM protocol, the issue of channel encryption has caused one other OTA device maker, Tablo TV to delay the launch of  its ATSC 3.0 Tablo ATSC 3.0 QUAD HDMI DVR for NextGenTV, announced in 2022. 

Zapperbox also plans to add more DVR features in the future such as the ability to record only new shows, backup, search, support for multiple storage devices, etc. 

Tom Butts
Tom Butts

Tom has covered the broadcast technology market for the past 25 years, including three years handling member communications for the National Association of Broadcasters followed by a year as editor of Video Technology News and DTV Business executive newsletters for Phillips Publishing. In 1999 he launched digitalbroadcasting.com for internet B2B portal Verticalnet. He is also a charter member of the CTA's Academy of Digital TV Pioneers. Since 2001, he has been editor-in-chief of TV Tech (www.tvtech.com), the leading source of news and information on broadcast and related media technology and is a frequent contributor and moderator to the brand’s Tech Leadership events.