The broadcast TV industry is getting ready to roll out a new standard for over-the-air television in North America. With growing popularity of digital medial streaming services, you might think that your old TV antenna has no use. However, you might want to hold on to the old TV antenna as it might be the future of TV as we know it. ATSC 3.0 (also know as “NextGen TV”) is a new television standard that is going to be launched this year and it is set to replace the current over-the-air TV standard that is being used in the United States.
What is a TV Standard?
A television standard is the technology and process by which the TV Signal is broadcasted over the air. Back in 1940, we had NTSC (National Television System Committee) that was launched, which was the most basic analog black and white TV broadcast. Eventually in 1954, analog television color system was introduced in North America, which was backwards compatible with old black and white standard. TV Antenna makers started to sell color TV antennas, which was deceiving as consumers thought that a color antenna was required to pick up the new color broadcast. If this sounds familiar, it is because they are doing the same exact thing with HD and Digital antennas. There is no such thing as color or HD or Digital or 4K antenna. It doesn’t matter what the standard is, whether it is analog, digital, HD, or 4K. The antennas are designed to pick up certain frequencies on the VHF (Very High Frequency, 30 – 300 MHz) or UHF (Ultra High Frequency, 300 MHz – 3GHz) TV band. The old analog NTSC standard lasted a pretty long time for over the air TV broadcast but in early 1990s, ATSC 1.0 was developed.
The current situation
The North American countries using NTSC standard have converted to the ATSC (Advanced Television Systems Committee) standard. ATSC is an American set of standards for digital television transmission over terrestrial, cable and satellite networks. At the time, this was very revolutionary because it allowed stations to broadcast 1080p HD content with multiple stations on one signal, and Dolby 5.1 surround sound, which made it seem superior to the old Analog signal. ATSC 1.0 is the current digital standard that the United States and Canada and some other countries still use to this date. However, the ATSC 1.0 signal is very fragile in remote areas or downtown areas with many buildings as the signal breaks up the pixels because of multi-path interference. Another issue with current TV standard is that the Antenna has to be in one location for reliable reception so it really doesn’t allow portable TV tuners to be used. Right around the digital transition of 2009, two other standards (ATSC 2.0 and ATSC M/H) were in the works to improve the issues with ATSC 1.0 standard. but they never really took off because there was not enough support from broadcasters. In 2020, you have to rely on streaming services like Netflix, Disney+, or Amazon Prime Video to get 4K HDR content to your TV.
The future and benefits of ATSC 3.0
This brings us to ATSC 3.0 or NEXT GEN TV, which is supposed to offer 4K TV broadcast, high dynamic range (HDR), 120Hz frame rate, Dolby ATMOS and DTS:X, on-demand content, and interactive content. In other words, ATSC 3.0 will be able to deliver content that is similar to a streaming service or a blueray player. The new TV standard is also going solve some reception issues by using a stronger signal thanks to OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing) technology, which has less interference and longer range because it transmits at lower data rate over multiple frequencies in parallel. This would be a great change for the current standard because of the issues with ATSC 1.0 standard. The other important feature of ATSC 3.0 standard is the ability of the TV tuners to connect to your home internet, which will allow you to watch over-the-air TV on your smartphone or laptop. In the future, if your smartphone has a built-in ATSC 3.0 chip, you will be able to view free 4K over-the-air TV on your smartphone with out any data usage.
The internet connectivity will be used to serve advertisements during the consumption of over-the-air content. Unlike before, the ATSC 3.0 has support from two major broadcast groups, Sincair and Nexstar groups. These two companies own and operate about 300 local TV stations across the United States with a plan to launch ATSC 3.0 standard in the coming years. Given the two way communication capability of ATSC 3.0, the large media companies are also interested in ATSC 3.0, not because of improved reception and ability to watch on mobile devices, but because they will have the ability to send targeted advertisements based on demographic data. Advertisers are already using targeted commercials based on the typical audience of the TV show but many consumers still receive irrelevant advertisements. With the ATSC 3.0 standard, the advertisers will definitely get more bang for their buck with targeted advertisement.
What do you need to do?
The ATSC 3.0 standard doesn’t offer backward compatibility with ATSC 1.0 TV or Tuner boxes. To make use of the ATSC 3.0 signals, you will need a new external converter if your TV doesn’t include an ATSC 3.0 tuner. The FCC is requiring TV stations that are converting to ATSC 3.0 to continue their ATSC 1.0 broadcast for at least 5 years. The ATSC 3.0 hasn’t started yet but you will need to upgrade your set top box or tuner in the near future if you are planning to use over-the-air content. You will still need an antenna to capture the over-the-air signal. It is important to note that you don’t need a new antenna for ATSC 3.0. There is no such thing as HD or 4K antenna because they are just metal pieces that can pick up any signal including analog, digital, HD, or 4K. If you don’t care about on-demand content, interactivity, customized ads and premium content, do not need an internet connection as you can watch 4K content with just your antenna and an ATSC 3.0 tuner. The broadcast television industry is aiming to deploy ATSC 3.0 in 40 U.S. major markets by end of 2020.
If you are sold on this new ATSC 3.0 TV standard, there is a new Kickstarter campaign that is offering ATSC 3.0 set top box with a tuner that will be able to receive 4K content over-the-air. SiliconDust is offering the HDHomeRun QUATRO 4K (HDHR5-4K) that has 4 TV tuners – all 4 tuners receive ATSC 1.0 and 2 of those tuners are able to pick up the new Ultra High Definition ATSC 3.0 broadcasts. The HDHomeRun will have multi-channel support so you can watch up to 4 ATSC 3.0 sub-channels across the 2 ATSC 3.0 tuners in high definition. For early backers, the new HDHomeRun QUATRO 4K is available for $199.99 on Kickstarter with first units shipping in July 2020.
The HDHomeRun QUATRO 4K will support the following platforms with HDHomeRun app:
- Windows 10
- Apple Mac
- iPad and iPhone (64-bit models)
- Android phones and tablets with HEVC support
- XBox One
- Android TV devices and Android TV televisions with HEVC support
- FireTV products and FireTV edition televisions with HEVC support
The HDHomeRun QUATRO 4K is able to output MPEG-TS streams so existing Plex, Channels, or any other 3rd party software can record content without changes and can playback content with the addition of codec support.
I am officially a tech addict and enjoy providing my views on matters related to this industry. I am always interested in trying out new tech gadgets and I have owned multiple smartphones including the legendary HTC One, SGS2, Nexus 4, iPhone 4, 5S, 6S, XR, Note 9. You can ask me any tech related questions in the comment section or on twitter @hookedNav