New Over-The-Air Digital TV Standard Needs To Be Developed

Mark Aitken, Vice-President of Advance Technology of the Sinclair Broadcast Group, calls for new digital TV standard to be developed in the United States to respond to the latest technological advancements and to prepare for future expansion. In his paper, presented at the 2011 SMPTE Annual Technical Conference, Mr. Aitken proposes more efficient use of the UHF spectrum through deployment of heterogeneous network where digital television broadcasting is overlaid onto wireless infrastructure. Despite a recent (June 2009) national transition to digital OTA broadcasting, the technology is still based on 20-years old innovations. “We have spent all of this time and effort developing a mobile standard, which is good enough for free over-the-air TV, but severely lacks now and in the future to provide QoS that a paying consumer would expect from any service”, says Aitken. New SFN-centric broadcasting topography should be beneficial to all sides – broadcasters, network operators and consumers.