Broadcasting & Cable
A fast-track effort by broadcasters, transmission vendors and consumer electronics manufacturers to create a technical standard for transmitting digital TV signals to cellphones and other mobile devices has come to fruition, with the Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC) announcing Oct. 16 that it has approved the ATSC Mobile DTV Standard.
ATSC said the mobile DTV standard–formally known as A/153 and also referred to as ATSC-Mobile/Handheld (ATSC-M/H)–received “overwhelming support” in balloting by its full membership tallied at midnight on Oct. 15. The formal approval of the standard, which has been circulating in preliminary form since last November, should pave the way for mobile DTV receivers to hit retail shelves next year.
Development of the standard officially began in May 2007, when the ATSC released a request for proposals (RFP), and in terms of standard-setting work, it has progressed at record pace since then. More…