ATSC 3.0
[7] ATSC 3.0 is limited to 64 physical layer pipes (PLP) with a recommended 4 simultaneous PLPs per complete delivered product.
KBKF-LD's sister station WRME-LD was granted a similar special temporary authority shortly before the end of low-power analog television on July 13, 2021.
Ultimately, it has been decided that H.264 would not be considered for ATSC-3.0, but rather the newer MPEG-H HEVC / H.265 codec would be used instead, with OFDM instead of 8VSB for modulation, allowing for data rates of 28 Mbit/s to 36 Mbit/s or more on a single 6-MHz channel.
[34][35][36][37][38][39] In May 2015, and continuing on for six months afterward, the temporary digital transition transmitter and antenna of Cleveland, Ohio's Fox affiliate, WJW, was used by the National Association of Broadcasters to test the "Futurecast" ATSC 3.0 standard advanced by LG Corporation and GatesAir.
[41] The Futurecast system had previously been tested in October 2014 during off-air hours through Madison, Wisconsin ABC affiliate WKOW.
[44] Further tests began on January 6, 2016, of ATSC 3.0 with High Dynamic Range (using the Scalable HEVC video codec with HE-AAC audio) from Las Vegas independent station, KHMP-LD on UHF 18.
The broadcaster's technical director stated that the successful test "highlights the potential for Korea's launch of terrestrial UHD TV commercial services using ATSC 3.0 in February 2017.
[55] On July 27, 2016, South Korea's Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning officially endorsed ATSC 3.0 as the country's broadcasting standard for ultra-high-definition television.
[57] On May 31, 2017, SBS, MBC, and KBS officially launched their full-time ATSC 3.0 services in major South Korean markets such as Seoul and Incheon.
[58][59] The transition made South Korea the first country in the world to deploy a terrestrial UHD format, and enabled 4K broadcasts of the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang County.
[60][61] On February 2, 2017, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) issued a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) that would allow for the deployment of ATSC 3.0 in the United States.
[63] Gary Shapiro of the Consumer Technology Association (CTA) has stated that a TV tuner mandate is not necessary and that it should be market-driven and voluntary.
[64] On February 24, 2017, the FCC voted unanimously to approve two portions of the NPRM, opening the door for manufacturers to begin producing ATSC 3.0 hardware.
After sufficient consumer adoption, ATSC 1.0 transmissions would be abandoned, allowing stations to return to operation on their owned transmitters.
[69] The FCC published its final rules on ATSC 3.0 to the Federal Register on February 2, 2018, and they formally took effect 30 days afterward.
Univision and Sinclair Broadcast Group were also planning a trial in Dallas, which would utilize spectrum vacated by KSTR-DT and KTXD-TV to test ATSC 3.0 transmission using a single-frequency network.
The targeted ads would allow advertisers to track viewer ratings more directly rather than indirectly by companies such as Nielsen Media Research.
The FCC is expected to defer the decision on targeted ads to be in accordance with Federal Trade Commission's guidelines on privacy.
[91] The ability to encrypt over-the-air signals has faced criticism for contradicting the concept of free-to-air television, and potentially hindering digital video recorders and place shifting products via restrictions imposed by broadcasters.
[16][17][18] In October 2023, LG Electronics announced that it would no longer include ATSC 3.0 tuners in its U.S. products beginning in the 2024 model year, after the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas ruled that the company had violated patents owned by Constellation Design, Inc. (which is not a member of ATSC) related to non-uniform constellation (NUC) techniques used by the standard, and was ordered to pay $1.68 million in damages.
