Earlier in September, Sinclair Broadcast Group announced plans to show off a new ATSC 3.0 receiver chip at CES in January 2019. This chip will cost $3 and make it possible for smartphones, tablets, and laptops to pick up free over-the-air TV.
You may be wondering if we are on ATSC 1.0 today and are moving to ATSC 3.0, what happened to ATSC 2.0? In short, the standard was made, and it included many great new features such as interactive content, video on demand, and advanced video compression. Yet after it was created 4K and 4K HDR became popular. The industry decided not to spend the money to bring ATSC 2.0 into reality just to roll out ATSC 3.0 with 4K HDR support a few years later.
So, the decision was made to skip ATSC 2.0 and dive right into ATSC 3.0 with 4K HDR support among other benefits.
What is ATSC 3.0?
ATSC 3.0 is a new standard that will bring a long list of new features to over-the-air TV. Two main features that will really excite cord cutters are 4K HDR picture with better sound and better over-the-air TV coverage.
There are other great features such as detailed custom weather alerts and internet active news stories.
Currently, ATSC 3.0 is being tested in a handful of cities including Dallas, Phoenix, and Chicago. Look for 3.0 OTA TV to continue to roll out in 2019.
Source: TVNewsCheck
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