Three Questions for TG1

Posted on March 5, 2014 in ATSC News

Michael Dolan took over as Chairman of TG1 at the beginning of 2014.  Here are three quick questions about TG1 and its work with ATSC 2.0:

Question:  What’s on the work plan for TG1 in the coming months?

Dolan:  We’ll be getting all the ATSC 2.0 components into “Candidate Standard” status and then final approval.  And, we will be advancing all the 3DTV (A/104) components as well.

Question:  In December, ATSC announced that A/105 “Interactive Services,” a key part of ATSC 2.0, had been elevated to Candidate Standard.  What does that mean, and what comes next.

Dolan:  The Interactive Services part of ATSC 2.0 adds some exciting new capabilities that allow broadcasters to connect broadcast programming with additional services related to that programming. A core technology is Declarative Objects (DOs) that enable the user’s interactive experience. The behavior of these is under control of both the broadcaster and the viewer. Support is added for the “second screen” in the home via the Internet path. Other features include: personalization, service usage reporting, receiver access to web-based servers, and support for automatic content recognition.

Question:  One of the elements proposed for ATSC 2.0 is Enhanced Service Guides.  What will consumers eventually see with improved navigation, and how will broadcasters make use of that capability?

Dolan:  This feature leverages the technology from the advanced service guide defined for ATSC’s mobile service, delivered over the file-based technology from ATSC’s Non-Real-Time technology. Broadcasters are able to create guides with more information in them, as well as target them to viewer profiles. The viewer will have a personalized experience as well as benefit from more detailed information about the programming.

Posted in ATSC News