A trip to the hardware store recently in suburban Cleveland left me smiling.  I overheard a store employee point out a supply of indoor TV antenna products for a customer – and then offer that “a whole bunch are on order” with plans to fill out a whole new section of the store with a selection of TV antenna offerings. 

The ATSC’s skyscraper infographic for explaining progress toward completing the suite of ATSC 3.0 standards is clever and appropriate beyond the construction analogy.  There are some well-known broadcast antenna sites atop some even better known skyscrapers.  Those TV signals make their way to millions of individual homes.  Completing the analogy, the Consumer Technology Association (CTA) has its own “house-sized” standards construction project creating a family of recommended practices for ATSC 3.0 TV receivers.

In the Chat Room this month, THE STANDARD sat down with Dave Siegler, Chair of the ATSC 3.0 Personalization and Interactivity Implementation Team, the group that’s promoting, testing and developing the many interactive capabilities of ATSC 3.0. Long-time ATSC Board member and Vice President of Technical Operations for Cox Media Group, Siegler opines on the important role of ATSC Implementation Teams, especially now as Next Gen TV powered by ATSC 3.0 moves closer to commercialization.

Since the A/341 Video–HEVC standard (including high dynamic range or HDR) was approved in May, the ATSC has been considering additional technologies related to HDR and wide color gamut (WCG). 

For all of us involved in the ATSC, the highlight of the 69th Technology & Engineering Emmy Awards will be the Lifetime Achievement Award for Richard Friedel, Chairman of the ATSC Board of Directors.