You may be familiar with ATSC, but if not, then you might heard of the toss up between NTSC and PAL when it comes to different formats of video if you find yourself buying into a lot of imported movies from other countries. That or you might have seen NTSC mentioned here or there in the content you were watching. For the longest time NTSC was the video standard here in America and represented the analog signal that used to broadcast everything (most of the rest of the world used PAL). Then came digital TV and eventually the requirement handed down to broadcasters by the FCC to move on to ATSC and leave the old format behind.
You would have noticed this forced shift when you realized you were being forced to buy into a TV or box that offered a “digital” HDTV tuner since the old “analog” tuners would no longer be supported for both cable and OTA (over the air).
Since then we have all been riding the new ATSC 1.0 standard in America, as well as Central America, Canada and South Korea. Now, ATSC 3.0 has been in the works as they slowly get ready to roll out the new standard into the market, bringing with it a slew of new features and support you never before possible with TV (especially OTA). The FCC (Federal Communications Commission) says that you won’t have to worry about being forced to buy a new TV or tuner this round, as they are requiring support for both standards by broadcasters in order to prevent this.
Some of the new features you can expect from the new 3.0 standard is thanks to the fact that it was designed to work with your broadband connection to enhance your experience with. The information is still being broadcasted via cable or OTA, but it can come accompanied by additional audio tracks or camera angles, and bonus video tracks that are available through the internet. They can even embed interactive links that can take you somewhere else to learn more about something (like a product page for an item you are viewing on the QVC channel) or wake up a device to deliver emergency alerts.
So you not only have smart TVs now, but a smart broadcast to go with it. The new standard offers support for formats like HEVC H.265, Dolby AC-4 and more. With this you can plan to see support for resolutions up to 4K HDR and audio streams that can feature anything from stereo to Dolby Atmos sound.
ATSC 3.0 is in the works and is already being tested in South Korea since late last year. Although approved by the FCC, you most likely won’t see the new standard become available here until next year, but its making its way quickly as it is being tested in multiple markets like Chicago and Santa Barbara.
