Standards Update

Posted on January 1, 2015 in ATSC News

New 3D Candidate Standard, Maintenance for Older Standards

Since the last ATSC Standards Update in the November issue of THE STANDARD, two documents have been reaffirmed and one is under ballot for withdrawal.  And a new candidate standard (A/104 Part 4) has been introduced.

New Candidate Standard

On December 5, a new Candidate Standard (A/104 Part 4: 3DTV Hybrid Broadcasting, Part 4 –Service Compatible Hybrid Delivery 3D using Broadband or ATSC Non-Real-Time) was approved by TG1.  Specialist group TG1/S12 developed the document, which is now posted on the ATSC website. The CS period extends until the end of January.

Standards and Recommended Practices Under Review

ATSC procedures recommend reviewing each standard after a five-year period. The technology group can do one of three things when reviewing a standard:

1) reaffirm the document, determining that it is still valid and should remain publically available on the ATSC website;

2) make a revision to update the standard, or;

3) recommend a withdrawal (at which point the document is removed from the public ATSC website and is archived in the ATSC members-only Kavi document management system.)

Last fall, TG1 started the process of reviewing several documents, including:

A/49 — Ghost Canceling Reference Signal for NTSC:  A/49 was the first standard published by the ATSC back in May of 1993.  TG1 voted to reaffirm this important standard, and it was later approved by the ATSC membership. The reaffirmation status of this standard is noted on the cover page of the document.

A/64B — ATSC Recommended Practice: Transmission Measurement and Compliance for Digital Television:  TG1 and the ATSC membership also voted to reaffirm this document, and the reaffirmed version is also now on ATSC website.

A/54A — ATSC Recommended Practice: Guide to the Use of the ATSC Digital TV Standard:  While this recommended practice has been around since 2003, it was decided by TG1 that withdrawal was the appropriate action for this document.  If the ballot to withdraw is approved by the ATSC membership, A/54A will removed from the ATSC website and stored in the Kavi archive. The ballot closes on January 9.

Posted in ATSC News