Skip to main content

If ATSC 3.0 broadcasts pack 50 radio stations in one TV channel, I’m all ears

This Saturday will see the kick off of the National Association for Broadcasters (NAB) show, a gathering of TV and radio broadcasting professionals that takes place annually in Las Vegas, Nevada. 

One hot topic of the show this year will undoubtedly be the progress of ATSC 3.0 digital TV broadcasting, a new next-gen standard that’s supported by the best 4K TVs in the US from brands like LG, Sony, Samsung, and Hisense. 

The advantages that ATSC 3.0 brings over the current ATSC 1.0 digital TV standard include 4K resolution video with high dynamic range and immersive audio formats like Dolby Atmos.

Around 60% of households in the US are reached by at least one ATSC 3.0 broadcast TV station, which are now situated in more than 70 markets. Aside from a compatible TV with an ATSC 3.0 tuner, all you need to view programs broadcast in the new standard is a cheap indoor TV antenna. 

But the broadcast industry may have a use for ATSC 3.0 other than TV, and that use is radio.

Who still uses a radio tuner? There’s one in my car, yes, but like many other people, I long ago switched to streaming internet radio stations via the best wireless speakers. A Sonos Move sits in my kitchen in the exact spot that my radio used to occupy, and when I get tired of listening to the news, I can easily switch over to podcasts or the best music streaming services in the excellent Sonos control app.

But not all people may want to stream radio using wireless speakers. Instead, they may like old-fashioned radio, even mono, thin-sounding AM stations with their innumerable talk shows.

Radio on the TV 

In a recent Radioworld interview with Mark Aitken of Sinclair Broadcast Group subsidiary ONE Media Systems, the company president detailed a radio-over-ATSC 3.0 delivery proof-of-concept that it plans to present at the upcoming NAB show. 

The presentation is linked to a new project proposal that will be filed following NAB 2023 by Fraunhofer, the company behind the original MP3 audio compression standard that ultimately led to the development of the best MP3 players and paved the way for music and internet radio streaming as well.

According to Power, Fraunhofer is seeking to have its highly efficient xHE-AAC audio codec, which allows for high-quality voice transmission at a mere seven kilobits per second and stereo music at bit rates from 24 kilobits per second and up, “brought into the ATSC for standardization.” Doing so would let ATSC 3.0 broadcast TV stations deliver a package of local and national radio services using just a small fraction of their spectrum bandwidth. 

Around 50 services was the number suggested in the interview, but since digital broadcast stations have the freedom to slice up their bandwidth however they want for multicasting, the number could potentially be even higher, letting a single TV channel deliver all radio stations in a given market, along with a selection of other broadcast radio offerings.

Because ATSC 3.0 is an IP-based transmission system, the TV doesn’t have to be the only outlet for tuning in radio content carried on TV channels. With the main TV connected to the home network, other networked devices throughout the home could access the programming, everything from laptop computers to smart speakers, small secondary TVs, and tablets.

The Samsung S95C displaying an abstract green design

Samsung's new flagship S95C OLED TV features a built-in ATSC 3.0 tuner (Image credit: Samsung)

ATSC 3.0 on the road 

Along with listening at home, there are plans to introduce ATSC 3.0 tuners in cars – a subject that will undoubtedly be discussed at this weekend’s NAB show. Of course, an automotive ATSC 3.0 receiver would also be able to tune in TV stations for display on dashboard monitors, something that poses definite safety hazards. GPS is another possibility, but the main use would presumably be for audio-based content.

Radio through the TV spectrum, and eventually in cars, courtesy of ATSC 3.0 may be  close to reality, but  TV makers have been slow to support the new standard, reserving built-in tuners for higher-end models, in the case of LG and Samsung, or ignoring it altogether, in the case of TCL. Perhaps the new developments coming out of NAB 2023 will help to accelerate ATSC 3.0 progress going into 2024, but in the meantime we’ll be looking out for NAB news regarding cheap tuner upgrades for existing non-ATSC 3.0 TVs.



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The latest Apple TV 4K test lets you watch four sports streams at once

Apple is trying something new with the latest beta version of tvOS 16.5: the option to watch up to four simultaneous streams at once. Right now it's limited to live sports streamed through the Apple TV app on the Apple TV 4K , specifically MLB Friday Night Baseball and the MLS Season Pass. A multi-view option was spotted in the tvOS software last month, but the code was hidden and not enabled. MacRumors reported that the feature would be enabled this weekend, and beta testers have since been able to use it. As yet multi-view hasn't been officially announced by Apple, but it's expected that tvOS 16.5 is going to be pushed out in its final form within the next month or so. WWDC 2023 is around the corner as well, when we should be hearing about the next major updates for Apple's various operating systems – including tvOS 17. How it works Over at 9to5Mac there's a hands-on demonstrating how the multi-view feature works, and it's pretty much as you would expe...
Post a Comment
Read more

Garmin's new radar-equipped tail light will keep you safe on your e-bike

Garmin's Varia bike radars are some of the most popular pieces of cycling tech around – and now the company has delivered its first rearview radar to have been specially designed for some of the best e-Bikes .   Garmin's Varia range mounts to the back of your bike and broadcasts a radar signal behind you, so you can get visual and audible alerts when something's overtaking you. Even better, the new Varia eRTL615 plugs directly into most e-bikes, with no battery required. Because the catchily-named Varia eRTL615 is also a tail light, it'll also make sure you're visible to other vehicles too, promising to emit a flashing or solid light that's visible from up to a mile away in daylight. To connect Garmin's new radar tail light to your e-bike, you'll need to pick the right Garmin adapter cable (which isn't included). You can buy power cables compatible with Bosch, Shimano, or USB-A terminals or connections, with more info on those available on Garmin...
Post a Comment
Read more

Nvidia RTX 4080 GPU could get cheaper with a new version – but don’t get your hopes up

Nvidia’s RTX 4080 is purportedly getting a new spin on the GPU which could reduce the cost, but any price reduction will likely be very minor, sadly, if it happens at all. Tom’s Hardware flagged up this rumor – and treat it with caution, as with anything from the ever-spinning mill – that originated from HKEPC (a tech site in Hong Kong), claiming that while the current RTX 4080 graphics card is built on the AD103-300 chip, Nvidia is going to use a slightly different GPU in the future, namely AD103-301. There’s now more evidence this is actually happening, Tom’s points out, courtesy of a graphics card maker, Galax, which under its RTX 4080 product details lists the GPU as ‘AD103-300/301’. Furthermore, VideoCardz , which also picked up on this, informs us that Gainward, another card maker, has also listed the updated GPU variant AD103-301 in its product specs. With two separate third-party graphics card makers mentioning this new spin on the GPU in their specs, it seems pret...
Post a Comment
Read more