ATSC 3.0 breaking news

[HDTV1080P]

This is a real neat concept of using the Smart TV's operating system to add low-cost external USB tuners. This same concept could be used to add a low cost external USB ATSC 3.0/QAM combo tuner with downloadable renewable security access card one day. However full-size external tuners are still needed for people that require a HDMI connection for older displays without a compatible operating system.

QUOTE

"NEXTGEN TV is becoming more accessible to U.S. consumers, with ATSC 3.0 broadcasts now available to 76% of American households in 78 viewing markets. The barrier to entry is now lower than ever, with the release of a $69.99 USB receiver now available from electronics manufacturer ADTH that upgrades existing Android TV and Fire TV televisions to become NEXTGEN TV receivers. Key benefits of upgrading to ATSC 3.0 for local broadcasts include HDR video and Dolby Atmos audio."

https://www.twice.com/product/video/...inues-to-epand

[HDTV1080P]

Originally Posted by HDTV1080P

That could happen in a decade or two the entire TV spectrum sold off. I hope it does not occur. Maybe a new version of ATSC like ATSC 5 or something before its all auctioned off. If the entire TV spectrum is sold off then everyone that has free TV would need to switch to Cable TV, satellite TV, or streaming TV with a paid subscription.

Hopefully there is some type of ATSC 3.0+ mandate for TV stations and all new TV’s, since then it would mean possible another 20 or 30 years before the TV spectrum is completely auctioned off. If the ATSC 3.0 mandate plan does not get FCC approval, then maybe within the next 10 years the entire TV spectrum in the USA could be auctioned off for 6G or 7G high speed wireless Internet one day (subscription based).

There is some resistance from a group called the Consumer Technology Association who does not want the FCC to mandate internal ATSC 3.0 tuners in new televisions entering the United States market. They claim such a mandate would raise prices and only a small amount of consumers use the existing ATSC 1.0 tuners that are mandated in existing TV’s. While it’s true that a combination of ATSC 1.0 tuners and ATSC 3.0 tuners in televisions would raise prices, the FCC mandate most likely would involve all broadcasters switching from ATSC 1.0 to ATSC 3.0, and once that switch is completed, then TV’s entering the United States would only have ATSC 3.0 tuners and no ATSC 1.0 tuners (having only one ATSC tuner in the TV would reduce cost). ATSC 1.0 limits TV stations broadcasting over the air to a maximum of 1080i HD using the MPEG-2 codec with 5.1 Dolby Digital. If TV stations all switched to ATSC 3.0 it would mean more virtual bandwidth for the remaining physical RF channels 2-36. 100% ATSC 3.0 broadcasts would mean TV stations offering free over the air 4K channels with HDR using the HEVC codec and also better lossy surround sound codec (and perhaps one day 8K broadcasts, but most stations would choose to use ATSC 3.0 at 2K HDR quality for several virtual TV channels in 1080P). ATSC 3.0 is needed as a FCC mandate to make sure the future of over the air broadcasts remains a reality for many decades to come.

The Consumer Technology Association claims the average price of televisions with built in ATSC 3.0 tuners raises the price $157. However with a ATSC 3.0 tuner mandate the average price of TV’s with built in ATSC 3.0 tuners would only be between $30-$50 price increase and consumers would have access to more free channels. A external ATSC 3.0 tuner can be purchased for around $60 and one needs to compare the price of ATSC 3.0 chips on the circuit board when calculating the price increase. If several millions of TV’s are being made with built in ATSC 3.0 tuners because of the mandate the price increase of around $30-$50 is realistic. The price of internal ATSC 3.0 tuners would decrease to under $30 price if ATSC 1.0 tuners are no longer made at a future date when all TV stations switch to ATSC 3.0. Botton line ATSC 3.0 is needed for 4K HDR quality TV programs, if ATSC 1.0 is the only mandate then consumers will switch to 4K streaming, 4K cable TV, or 4K satellite TV to get their TV programing. Without ATSC 3.0 TV broadcasters are limited to lower quality 1080i HD broadcasts using the legacy MPEG-2 codec.

Some select quotes from the article

“WASHINGTON—The Consumer Technology Association has continued its opposition to mandates requiring that NextGen TV/ATSC 3.0 tuners be included in new TV sets, saying in an FCC filing that such rules would raise prices and stifle innovation at a time when only a “small sliver of consumers … still use over-the-air reception.”

“Mandating 3.0 tuners will also increase prices. “CTA staff recently conducted a search for 55-inch, 4K resolution, ‘mini-LED QLED’ TVs from one nationwide retailer,” the filing reported. “The search resulted in eight models, five of which had ATSC 1.0 tuners and three with ATSC 1.0 and 3.0 tuners. Among these televisions, the average price of those with only ATSC 1.0 tuners was $676, while the average price of televisions with ATSC 3.0 support was $833.”

https://www.tvtechnology.com/news/ct...tsc-3-0-tuners

[HDTV1080P]

Over the many decades as the free wireless over the air TV spectrum was being auctioned off by the FCC, TV antennas in the USA were being redesigned and being made smaller because of the loss of TV bandwidth to other wireless communication (the new TV antennas are seeing improvements by making them ideal for TV frequencies only). TV antennas that were designed for channels 2-83 (54Mhz to 890Mhz) are not being made anymore (Channels 2-83 TV antennas were very common in the late 20th Century back in the 1990’s). They were super big antennas like the Radio Shack VU-210 that offered 210 miles VHF, 135 miles UHF, and 120 miles FM radio when the antenna was high above the trees with a booster. Most long-range TV antennas are now a little smaller and are designed for channels 2-69 (54Mhz to 806Mhz).

While one can still use older TV antennas designed for channels 2-83 or channels 2-69. Sadly, sometimes people living in very large cities can sometimes experience poor performance from older TV antennas that were designed for channels 2-83 or channels 2-69 because of some TV tuners experiencing interference from 5G Smartphones and other wireless devices. While channels 2-69 might still be used for TV channels in some countries, in the United States back in the year 2009, TV channels 52 to 69 were removed from being used since that portion of the TV spectrum was auctioned off. Thanks to companies like Channel Master they started redesigning TV antennas to match the exact bandwidth of the decreasing TV spectrum.

Back in the year 2009 if one needed a new TV antenna then a TV antenna designed to pick up channels 2 to 51 (54Mhz to 698Mhz) was ideal to own. Channel Master responded with the Ultra-Hi Crossfire 100 that could easily pick up TV channels in the VHF and UHF spectrum up to a 100 miles away. This TV antenna picked up TV channels 2 to 51 (54Mhz to 700Mhz). VHF 54Mhz to 216Mhz and UHF 470Mhz to 700Mhz. This long-range TV antenna costs $299 and is still being sold today.

https://www.channelmaster.com/collec...ntenna-cm-3671

It was announced that in July 2020 that the TV spectrum was reduced once again and channels 37 to 51 were auctioned off to 5G cell phone providers. Because the TV spectrum was reduced to channels 2 to 36 (54Mhz to 608Mhz) in 2020, this resulted in the need for antenna companies to create new TV antennas for the USA market that were designed only to pick up channels 2 to 36 and to try and reduce or eliminate all other frequencies to improve TV reception. As far as I am aware Channel Master is the only company in existence so far that is designing new TV antennas that receive only channels 2-36 (54Mhz to 608Mhz). 54Mhz to 216Mhz VHF and 470Mhz to 608Mhz UHF. This Channel Master antenna is made only in the USA for the USA market since no other country has auctioned off its TV spectrum down to only RF channels 2-36 remaining.

If one purchases the Channel Master Pro-Model for $149.00 with the $69 VHF extension module and the $69 UHF extension module then the reception of the TV antenna will be up to 100 miles VHF and 100 miles UHF. In the old days when there was less RF interference, full power TV stations could reach 210 miles VHF and 135 miles UHF, but for most modern day installs 100 miles maximum is what the average outdoor installation with a lot of height should give. There are legal challenges with many Homeowners Associations in the United States, and to this day many Homeowners Associations will not allow a small, medium, or large TV antenna to be installed outside. An attic installation is limited to a 50-mile range instead of a 100-mile range.

A $149.00 Channel Master Pro-Model UHF/VHF TV Antenna that is engineered from the ground up to have the elements the exact length and ratio to pick up channels 2 to 36 only (54MHz to 216MHz VHF and 470MHz to 608MHz UHF). Receives UHF, VHF, and Low VHF Frequencies.
https://www.channelmaster.com/collec...ntenna-cm-1776

Increase the range of VHF channels 2-13 up to additional 30 miles with this add on $69.00 VHF module to the antenna.
https://www.channelmaster.com/produc...na-cm-1776xvhf

Increase the range of UHF channels 14-36 up to additional 30 miles with this add on $69.00 UHF module to the antenna.
https://www.channelmaster.com/produc...na-cm-1776xuhf

While it is ideal to have a Channel Master or other brand of pre-amplifier on the antenna that only amplifies channels 2-36 (54Mhz to 608Mhz), I do not like how this Channel Master preamplifiers and some other modern preamplifiers (boosters) block FM radio signals. For many decades people used the VHF section of their TV antenna to pickup FM stereo radio stations. Having the booster and all TV amplifiers blocking 4G and 5G cell phone interference is ideal. But some people want FM radio stations from their TV antenna. Channel Master $85 preamplifier (booster). But do not use this model if you need FM radio stations.
https://www.channelmaster.com/collec...tenna-preamp-1

I wish Channel Master would make the Pro-Model UHF/VHF TV antenna in four different sizes. Small, medium, large, and extra-large for extreme rural areas. As long as the elements are the correct ratio on the antenna then the TV antenna will pull in only channels 2-36 and reject frequencies below 54Mhz and reject frequencies above 608Mhz. Of course, there is no such thing as a perfect antenna but the frequencies one wants to pull in should be strong and the frequencies that one does not want to come in on their antenna should be very weak. And that is what Channel Master is doing on their latest state of the art TV antenna designs.

Here are some select quotes from the Channel Master website:

“The new Pro-Model antenna is designed to optimize the recent “Post Repack” frequencies up to 608MHz. Eliminating the need to receive frequencies above 608MHz allowed significant improvements to the primary frequencies, maximizing reception and minimizing the overall size. The Pro-Model antenna has impressive realized passive gain across both UHF and VHF bands up to 9.7dB.”

“Competitor TV antennas typically claim anywhere from 50 to 250-mile reception ranges; however, they are rarely tested and confirmed to receive signals from these distances. The Channel Master Pro-Model antenna was designed in the US and tested approximately 70 miles from the Phoenix, Arizona broadcast towers and confirmed to receive excellent signal reception from all major broadcast networks. In addition, the Pro-Model antenna underwent comprehensive beta-testing in multiple different locations across the US. The beta tests were performed by a list of strategically selected Channel Master Authorized Dealers with years of experience installing, maintaining and repairing TV antenna systems.”

https://www.channelmaster.com/collec...ntenna-cm-1776

Perhaps in the future other companies might join Channel Master and engineer some new TV antennas and TV/FM antennas that pickup only channels 2-36 for increased reception quality. Consumers that do not want to upgrade their existing TV antennas and that also believe they are getting interference from 4G and 5G cell phone towers coming into their TV tuner. Can purchase one of these low cost Channel Master LTE-5G Filters for only $14.99.
https://www.amazon.com/Channel-Maste...1JGSC5AO/?th=1

[HDTV1080P]

It appears Channel Master is the only TV antenna company so far that has made a TV antenna designed to pull in all RF TV channels 2-36 for the USA market. For those consumers that live in an area of the United States that does not have Low band VHF channels 2-6. Then owning a TV antenna like the Telves DATABOSS is ideal, since an outdoor installation is designed to pull in TV stations 7-36 up to 80 miles away for $179.95. The TV antenna blocks frequencies above 608Mhz to try and eliminate interference from 5G cell phone towers. But this is another TV antenna design that also eliminates FM radio signals.

https://www.amazon.com/Televes-DATBO.../dp/B09JBNDXWD

The ideal TV/FM antenna design should have channels 2-36 coverage of 54Mhz to 608Mhz and also the FM radio reception of 87.8Mhz to 108Mhz. Plus boosters and whole house amplifiers that pass those signals. A FM filter or 5G filter is only needed sometimes with standard old antennas when one lives right next to a FM radio station or cell phone tower.

[HDTV1080P]

There has been a large amount of positive FCC mandates in the United States over many decades in the 20th century and early 21st century that have improved the quality of life for several millions of people while at the same time improving the economy worldwide for manufactures, and distributors because of the several millions of new products sold that have various electronic improvements that have been mandated and/or enforced by the FCC. In January 2000 there was the V-chip parental control mandate for all new TV’s sets 13 inches or larger made for the USA market. In July 1993 people no longer needed to spend $100-$300+ on an external close caption decoder and the FCC mandated in July 1993 that all TV sets 13 inches and larger are required to have the close caption feature built in (which is used by the hearing impaired). So, for the last 32 years many people have taken for granted the built-in close caption feature in every television that can be turned on and off with the close caption button on the wireless remote control. And family groups over the last 25 years can thank the FCC for the V-chip parental control feature built into all TV sets over the last 25 years. And consumer electronics companies for several decades have had the freedom to legally bypass those TV set mandates by making monitors only with no built-in tuners, which also means no close captioning and V-chip feature required. There are many other FCC mandates that have occurred with UHF tuners and other mandates dating back to the middle of the 20th Century.

Good and logical FCC mandates are needed to improve the quality of communications in the United States. Hopefully one day there will be an ATSC/QAM tuner mandate that mandates the latest ATSC 3.0 or ATSC 4.0 tuner and latest QAM 4096 tuners built into TV sets by a certain date.

The FCC has the power and the authority to do a 3D mandate for all new TV sets that would only raise the price around $30 for each new TV. The 3D mandate would require all new TV sets for the United States market to be shipped in the 2D mode; however, all new TV sets would be required to have some type of 3D technology like active glasses, passive glasses, or glasses free technology that could be turned on in the TV menu (3D mode: Auto, off, and on in the menu). Then with the purchase of $3 to $5 passive glasses anyone that wanted to, could experience ATSC 4.0 broadcasts in 3D, Blu-ray 3D, streaming 3D, cable TV 3D, and satellite TV 3D. Camera crews and news reporters would all have new 8K digital cameras that would capture 4K 3D and 2K 3D images for local live news events. Anyone that does causal TV watching would just leave the TV in the default 2D mode. But those that want 3D would place the TV in 3D auto mode or on mode, and 3D auto mode would turn on for native 3D content and off for 2D content. On would be forced 3D, and default off mode would be 2D all the time. All new 3D cameras would result in most new TV programs and movies to be recorded in native 3D quality. FCC could even require a certain amount of 3D content to be made just like they required for color TV programs and close captioning programs in the past.

Select quotes from various past FCC mandates

“Begining in July 1993, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) required all analog television receivers with screens 13 inches or larger sold or manufactured in the United States to contain built-in decoder circuitry to display closed captioning. From July 1, 2002, the FCC also required that digital television (DTV) receivers include closed captioning display capability. In 1996, Congress required video programming distributors such as cable operators, broadcasters, satellite distributors, and other multi-channel video programming distributors to close caption their television programs. In 1997, the FCC set a transition schedule requiring distributors to provide an increasing amount of captioned programming. The FCC does not regulate captioning of home videos, DVDs, or video games.”
https://entertainmentlaw.uslegal.com...ed-captioning/

“On 1990, President Bush signed a bill requiring that all television sets 13 inches or larger sold in the U.S. after July 1, 1993 have the capability for displaying closed captions.”
https://www.nist.gov/pml/time-and-fr...-it-originated

“The V-Chip is in every television set 13 inches or larger manufactured after January 2000”
http://www.tvguidelines.org/resource...s_Brochure.pdf

“Since 2000, V-chips are required for all newly manufactured TV sets 13 inches or larger. Personal computers that include a television tuner and a monitor of 13 inches or more must also have a V-chip.”
https://www.fcc.gov/consumers/guides...children-watch

[eddievanhalen]

It looks like the situatuon in the European Union is similar in some cases, and different in others.
First, Satellite TV, which still has its suscriptors, mainly on the country side, at least in Spain, but it's been phased out. Still, I don't know of a 4K set with HDR in Spain (where I live) that doesn't have a satellite tuner built in.
I got my first 4K with HDR, a Samsung one, back in 2016, which is now at my parent's, and It has a satellite Receiver built in that can receive and decode from SD, HD and 4K with HDR. So does my humble series A LG Oled set.
If you are two suscribe to a pay per view satellite TV platform, I don't remember its name, but the company will supply you with a small device that you get into a slot on the TV set intended for that, and your set. I don't know many people Who does It this way 'though, mostly use an external satellite tuner connected to the TV vía HDMI. I find It inconvenient if you have a TV set with a satellite tuner built in, but that's Spain.

Streaming IS the most used way to watch TV platforms like Netflix, Disney +, but also from Spanish companies like Movistar+.

Regarding available radio spectrum, it's been highly reduced with two "Digital Dividends" as we called them Here. VHF hasn't been used for broadcasting TV over the air in maybe 15 years. And UHF channels (multiplexes as they are called in the European Union) have been reduced to around one quarter of the previously available UHF spectrum. With 20 something free over the air networks, all in HD, we get a lousy picture quality.
Nos to UHD/4K over the air networks. Se currently have one, TVE UHD (from the public Spanish Broadcaster), that uses HLG as its HDR system, the was developed by Japanese NHK and UK BBC.
Most of what is aired by TVE UHD is HD material upscaled to 4K. Only some sport events like football matched or tennis, is native UHD/4K.
We Will get in Spain 4 new over the air free networks by Autumn.
I don't care how many new networks Broadcast in 4K with HDR, I NEVER watch watch free over the air networks. I don't know if I'm allowed to say this Here but since the current Goverment started in 2.018, free over the air networks in Spain are very politicized. Most of the times when one watches the news on these channels, the news are the same, sometimes Word by Word.
There are no free over the air networks in Spain that dare to say anything against the Goverment. It doesn't sound very democratic, does It?
Free content Producers, includding news are mainly on YouTube.

[HDTV1080P]

In the ideal world every country should have freedom of speech and freedom of the press to say both positive and negative things about various government policies. But in some areas of the world free speech can be limited by various laws and traditions.

In the USA after NTSC was phased out back in 2009, the FCC and broadcasters in the USA switched to using a 100% digital ATSC 1.0 system. However in the USA cable TV and satellite TV companies decided not to use ATSC and around the year 2000 cable TV companies in the USA started shutting off NTSC and switching to QAM, and if one goes back to around the year 2005 100% of all cable TV companies were digital QAM using HD and SD channels (In 2025 some cable companies are now 100% IP streaming with RJ45 ethernet cable TV boxes). Satellite TV uses mostly proprietary systems in the USA and sometimes DVB-S or QAM. However, in Europe they were smarter and when the PAL system was shut off the Europeans went with a required digital DVB-T system for local over the air TV broadcast stations that is compatible with Europe’s direct broadcast satellite service. So, the TVs in Europe since they have DVB-T system that is used by both TV broadcasters and a subscription-based satellite TV system, that was a smart decision. Plus, the European TV’s have a physical access card for DVB-T tuners similar to what TV sets in the USA use to have for cable TV QAM channels using a cable card. There is also cable TV in Europe that was a replacement for satellite TV with more channel capacity, but streaming is replacing satellite TV and cable TV now, and one day maybe local TV broadcast stations also.

All around the world people are fighting mostly peacefully over who gets to use the limited amount of wireless bandwidth. In the USA the FCC decides who uses the wireless air waves and for what. The advantage of wired networks like fiber optics is that there is always unlimited bandwidth for everyone, since one can always lay more fiber in the ground to increase the communication bandwidth. Wireless RF frequencies that go unused for like TV channels get reassigned for two-way wireless 5G Internet and various other communications. Sometimes people applying for a new TV station permit do not get approved and sometimes existing TV stations go off the air when the FCC does not renew the TV license. Because of the limited amount of over the air RF frequencies that can be used, wireless communications will always have court battles and various debates with the FCC on who can use that wireless bandwidth and for what. The big advantage of fiber cable is there is unlimited bandwidth, just lay another fiber cable underground anytime one runs out of bandwidth and fiber cable is immune from EMI/RFI interference, EMP/CME proof, and fiber is the healthiest of communications with only a beam of light inside the underground cable with absolute zero EMI/RFI noise generated by the fiber cable. Of course, some people also claim wireless has no health risk, but fiber cable is the most environmentally friendly communication that exists and the most reliable and fastest with unlimited bandwidth since communities just lay more fiber cable including two or three backup fiber paths in big cities using an automatic fiber switch that will detect a fiber cut and switch to a different fiber cable in less than a second (some contractors sometimes are digging in the wrong place and end up by mistake cutting fiber cables which can result in companies getting multi-million dollar fines for a very large fiber cut and sometimes long jail time depending on the situation and if emergency 911 calls were going across that fiber cable). Fiber cable has close to 100% reliability in the cold winter months where contractor digging is rare. Living in states like Alaska has very reliable fiber service since many months of the year the ground is frozen. Many people want more then VOIP/landline phones and wireless is needed for Smartphones for Internet and phone service when one is in the car or at the beach. But 100% of all wireless communication like Cell towers, TV stations, and satellite TV requires fiber optics at the control station or headquarters in order to make the wireless communications work.

[apollo828]

^ Don't do drugs, kids.