Filed under: Hardware, Multimedia, Wireless, Odds and ends, Internet
The future of TV on your iPhone is ATSC Mobile DTV
If you're able to watch TV on your iPhone or iPod touch right now, you're probably having something streamed to your handheld device. That may change -- your phone may soon be equipped with a digital TV tuner to pick up the signals sent out by your local stations.The Advanced Television Standards Committee (ATSC) announced on Friday that they've agreed on a standard that will let local TV stations broadcast directly to mobile devices on their existing frequencies. The devices that can be equipped to pick up the ATSC Mobile DTV signals include mobile phones, laptops, handheld TVs, and even in-vehicle digital TVs.
ATSC Mobile DTV will be completely different from the existing services provided by AT&T and Verizon, which are pay-for-view services streaming national content. With ATSC Mobile DTV, you'd be able to watch local newscasts as well as network TV that is broadcast in your area.
The signal is carried alongside regular digital TV broadcasts using Vestigial Sideband modulation and the IP transport system. ATSC Mobile DTV can send H.264 video and High Efficiency Advanced Audio Coding Version 2 (HE AAC v2) audio and support interactive and subscription-based TV.
I want my Mobile DTV! Here's hoping that the next generation of iPhones, iPod touches, and future iTablets can receive ATSC Mobile DTV.
[via Macworld]
![TUAW [Cafepress]](http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.tuaw.com/media/tuaw-cafepress-promo.png)
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Will said 10:20AM on 10-17-2009
Good luck trying to get any reception. Digital is crap in the UK and requires a antennae on the roof. Good luck trying to pick anything up on the go.
Reply
Shaun said 2:17PM on 10-17-2009
That would be the DVB-T standard that requires a big aerial on the roof.
For mobiles in Europe and indeed elsewhere in the world we use the DVB-H standard set in 2004. Why the Merkans want to go their own way 5 years after the rest of the world beggars belief. You'd think they'd have learned already with CDMA v GSM.
For that reason alone and Apple's usual US-centric approach to features on the iPhone, I doubt we'll see either ATSC M/H or DVB-H.
Tony said 2:23PM on 10-17-2009
Only because it has to coexist with analogue signals. Once switchoff is complete in each area DTT will increase in each area so it can be received by the cheap USB dongles that are available just as easy as analogue.
DVB-H has been around for years.. nobody uses it (although Nokia do some DVB-H capable phones).. although that's partly because there are few channels, and 3G works better, gives you national coverage without the requirement for transmitters, licenses, etc. and is supported by all phones.
And that's a reason why this won't be in an iphone - they would have to produce a US specific iphone, an EU specific iphone, a Japan specific iphone, etc. - there's not one standard like GSM they can stick to. They'd fragment their market, increase costs, for something which is hardly used.
oakie said 5:10PM on 10-17-2009
meh.
dont expect a tv tuner on the iphone anytime soon. of course it will be built into one of the many chips used, but it will never be activated, much like the FM tuner on current iphones.
it's already taken this long just for ANY ipod model to get a built-in FM tuner; that one being the current nano.
it competes directly with the itunes video downloads and unless apple can find a way to monetize it, it wont happen any time soon. apple could care less about what the carriers want if they're the only ones to monetize it, thus wont bother building it into the iphone... in case you need the reason spelled out for you in the most obvious way.
also, it's a portable device... who wants live broadcast tv on something that small? pocket tv's have been around for ages yet they're still not mainstream. the majority of people want "on demand" tv, or at least the ability to timeshift or record with the ease and likeness of tivo to be able to enjoy programming on their own schedule. live tv on handhelds will go nowhere in america because of this, "i get what i want when i want it" attitude.
sorry, but i just dont get the appeal of tv on a phone. i guess i'll have to hope a fatass midwesterner can explain the appeal of watching tv with an antenna at the dinner table, tv dinners, or a satellite dish on the doublewide.
7egend said 6:50PM on 10-17-2009
@oakie
I like your stereotype at the end, but it really fails. You forget one thing, one of the most technologically advanced countries in the world offers TV on mobile devices, and those devices are spread rampant throughtout that country, it operates on the 1Seg network and sends QVGA quality video to phones. The Country? Japan.
I think all phones should have the capability to tune into FM stations as well as TV stations, not only is it convient if you are out and about, but the uses during emergency situations alone are worth it. Say a storm knocks the power out in your area, chances are the FM/TV station attenaes are on a back up generator and still broadcasting a signal, you could tune in with your mobile device and see what is going on in the area.
While some people may see this as useless, I see it as leaps in technology. Integrating as much as you can into a device doesn't hurt, as long as the price remains affordable and build quality remains. In Apple's case it takes some time for them to release something new, but it isn't cause it's some cheap replica of the same old technology, but it has been given the Apple touch to hopefully make it better for the end user.
I for one welcome TV on my iPhone as well as FM radio. Reception on the phone may not be great for the TV in my area, but an iPhone Certified Accessory that has a dock connector connected to a outdoor satellite could be a possibility.
Robert said 10:27AM on 10-17-2009
@Will: it requires more than one antenna?
Anyways, I would love to have this on my iPhone. Think of the possibilities: The Price is Right, The Simpsons, Major Leage Baseball games that happen to be on an over-the-air TV channel. The possibilities are endless!
Reply
Scott said 10:48AM on 10-17-2009
It would be great, but do you really think Apple will allow their iTunes sales to be compromised?
Reply
Gabriel Prieto said 10:58AM on 10-17-2009
@Scott: Maybe, but they DID add FM radio to the nano, and there's the possibility of adding that to the touch and iPhone, so DTV is not that far off.
Level 5 said 11:15AM on 10-17-2009
The thing about DTV vs iTunes is, that you pay for the "on demand" aspect for the content. You don't have to wait for it's airtime, etc. Makes perfect sense to me; especially if it's coupled with an iTunes tag ability like the Nano. Personally I'd love that, especially if it started making its way into tunes on TV sets or WMC.
Mr Lizard said 7:53AM on 10-18-2009
I suppose if they did support this feature, they will have a link to the itunes store to buy the show you are watching.
I think they did something similar (or are at least working on it) for the FM radio.
Jason said 12:09PM on 10-17-2009
My guess is that it will indeed happen on the iPhone, but not anytime soon. Apple doesn't typically jump on the latest technology right away. They'll wait until they're sure they can do it just right.
Reply
Ian said 1:37PM on 10-17-2009
Or they wait 5 years and then preach said feature like its the second coming of christ and they invented it.
See:
SD card slot in MacBooks
MMS on iPhone
Recoding video on iPhone
Voice Dialing on iPhone
oliver hart said 2:31PM on 10-17-2009
Typically they jump on the technology years after everyone else has, thus fooling people into believing that they invented, reinvented, or revolutionized it. Don't get me wrong I love my iPhone, iPod, MacBook. I even love my old G4 DA. Apple is late to the party on multiple fronts, and when they do show up people act like there was no party before they arrived. Or people think the beer they're drinking was invented by Apple. Whichever sounds right. Maybe change beer to kool-aide idk.
Zentec said 7:55PM on 10-17-2009
I can't see many reasons to include an ATSC tuner. For starters, the transmission power on the vertical polarization is a fraction of total power, simply not enough to provide reliable service. Second, ATSC has superior video lock times when tuning and better performance with impulse noise, but it's absolutely horrible when dealing with multipath.
I think mobile receivers might encounter a bit of multipath.
I'm betting all those stations that opted for VHF channel assignments are coming to realize that they should have gone UHF. Do you think an antenna in an iPhone or iPod is going to perform very well on 174 MHz? No way.
Of course, then there's local TV programming. Who really wants to watch Rachael Ray on their iPhone?
Reply
Jordan said 8:02PM on 10-17-2009
Yeah right, this will take Apple years to incorporate. They'll claim users don't want it. iPods JUST got FM radio afterall.
Reply
invaderzimaus said 11:58PM on 10-17-2009
Reported the spam comment by huangzhixian114.
Can't see Apple including this-as it'd be limited to the US-where ATSC is used.
I could see however, Apple adding mobile ATSC and some form of DVB-so it could used in Europe, Australia,etc.
Reply
Actionable Mango said 12:28PM on 10-19-2009
Why does mobile need a different standard than the ATSC signal that's already being broadcast?
Reply
David Frantz said 8:09PM on 10-19-2009
Why go this route when you can buy one chip that can recieve all digital TV standards? Instead of recieving "special" transmissions for mobile devices just recieve the standard Digital TV broadcasts. With location aware devices the reciever could be set up automatically for the devices location.
Now complete TV reception hardware might be hard to squeeze into a iPhone but tablets are no problem at all. There is also a good possiblility of splitting reception into partial processing on the main CPU to lower chip count.
In a nut shell I see this as waste of time. If you can't squeeze standard digital into a phone today you will be able to soon. It is just the March of transistor density moving forward.
Dave
Reply
libero1214 said 3:08PM on 10-23-2009
@oakie
Typical.
Reply
Term papers said 12:08AM on 11-17-2009
Hi, thanks for the info, That is a great help to me....Thanks for sharing . . . . .
Term papers
Reply