A story in Monday’s New York Times talked about the emergence of a new technology for mobile digital TV, in desperate need of a catchier name: ATSC-M/H (Advanced Television Systems Committee for Mobile and Handheld).
Beginning in April, eight television stations in Washington, D.C., will broadcast a signal for a new class of devices that can show programming, even in a car at high speed. In all, 30 stations in Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles, Seattle and Washington have installed the necessary equipment, at a cost of $75,000 to $150,000.
Apparently, Our Communications Research Centre spoke about ATSC-M/H in its submission more than a year ago to the CRTC’s New Media proceeding. A couple of months ago, CRC announced its own trial of the technology (thanks to Bram Abramson for the tweet with the links).
The CRC’s submission to the Commission concluded with a statement:
CRC has been collaborating with the broadcasting industry to develop and evaluate various broadcasting technologies. CRC will continue to look into the future and work on new broadcasting technologies such as the ATSC-M/H and multimedia broadcasting, as well as more advanced video technologies like 3D TV, super-high definition and immersive TV.
Thirty TV stations in a number of major US cities are in live market trials, while Canada is in a government test lab. While the CRC is working in cooperation with Canada’s broadcast industry, de-risking the investment in research, is there an unintended consequence of delaying the availability of new technologies for Canadians?