NAB Petitions FCC for ATSC 1.0 Sunset Starting in 2028

telcodad · 2025-02-27T17:49:32+00:00

The National Association of Broadcasters has petitioned the FCC to approve a February 2028 sunset for ATSC 1.0 broadcasts in the top 55 markets, with the remaining markets making the transition to ATSC 3.0 by Feb. 2030: NAB Petitions FCC for ATSC 1.0 Sunset in 2028 and 2030 https://www.tvtechnology.com/news/nab-petitions-fcc-for-atsc-1-0-sunset-in-2028-and-2030

Somewhat-Reticent

lesmikesell This?
SiliconDust (maker of HDHomeRun) FCC response filing against DRM on public airwaves

lesmikesell

Somewhat-Reticent Yes. DRM isn’t required for ATSC 3.0 but it is allowed - and the broadcasting group behind it gets to approve or deny any devices that do it - something that should strictly be a government function.

Thane_Bitter

Donut417 Well that lasted for a few hours before… well you know. Anyways It would be good if they would do less with HDMI and more with other licence free input/output ports, the HDMI group is literally a shakedown.

MacLeech

Thane_Bitter if they would do less with HDMI and more with other licence free input/output ports

Which ones would those be?

Donut417

Thane_Bitter less with HDMI and more with other licence free input/output ports, the HDMI group is literally a shakedown.

HDMI is the standard that entertainment industry has chosen and has been in use for decades. It would be too difficult to change. Though I could see people wanting Displayport as a lot of people use TV’s as monitors.

Thane_Bitter

MacLeech Display port is, different shape, does everything HDMI does (though like HDMI there are different standard levels so not all DP ports are equal in terms of speed and functionality).

@Donut417 Interia can be a bad thing. I agree that it would be great if they could put both on since HDMI has a considerable legacy.

Donut417

Thane_Bitter Display port is, different shape, does everything HDMI does

Can it do CEC? Because that’s a potential feature people would use in a TV.

lesmikesell

Thane_Bitter Display port is, different shape, does everything HDMI does

ARC? Kind of an afterthought for HDMI and still weird in that eARC can carry TruHD 7.1, etc. from one HDMI input back through ARC but TVs don’t have an API for their own apps to send it to a receiver. But is is useful, maybe essential.

Thane_Bitter

Donut417 ok, almost everything, DP1.3 and higher does allow CEC tunneling which would pass the signal through but if some adaptor is used or something that is below that standard there could be operability issues.

Thane_Bitter

lesmikesell More like a cost savings (and who cares if the user has to unplug and plug it back in to reset it). Getting way off topic but IMHO optical audio was a really good system, no ground loops, no interference (unless you tied it into knots) but it’s a part and parts cost money when making AV equipment. The trend is towards increasingly costly things built by the increasingly greedy on the cheap with little care for fidelity.

Back on topic the move to ATSC 3.0 feels much like HD radio (AM), (though ATSC 3.0 actually provides real tangible improvements), the FCC is A-OK with DRM despite the lack of support among ATSC 3.0 devices, broadcasters have been given the ‘golden’ approval to dictate how consumers can view their signals.

Donut417

Thane_Bitter broadcasters have been given the ‘golden’ approval to dictate how consumers can view their signals.

They haven’t gotten approved yet. The final responses for encryption just closed. The FCC now has to render the decision. Also they still have to approve sunseting ATSC 1.0. It’s a long drawn out process.

lesmikesell

The problem with optical is that there is no way for it to announce capabilities. So while it could theoretically carry Dolby Digital plus (EAC3), it can’t tell a device that it is OK to send it. And it doesn’t have the bandwidth for multi-channel PCM (more than 2) or TruHD.

The problem with ATSC 3.0 is that the standard is controlled by a private group with their own interest - which is getting the most money from consumers instead of a government agency balancing vendor/consumer interests. They have done many things wrong and a small group of large broadcasters would have the ability to essentially disable any competing station they didn’t like with their control over certificates once the 1.0 simulcast is gone. They did not properly vet the patent issues before calling it a standard resulting in LG getting sued even though they licensed what they were told they needed. And while DRM is not an essential part of the standard it is almost certainly going to be included in most broadcasts and the scheme they have chosen only works on android devices, precluding network receivers sending to app-based clients. Changes like this should be driven by customer uptake and nobody is buying it. Even though 70% of the population has access to ATSC 3.0 broadcasts, basically no one watches it. Personally I have 2 Sony TV that can receive it, but my network DVR can’t and I think it is uncivilized to be forced to watch in real-time without skipping commercials so I almost never watch it.

Thane_Bitter

lesmikesell It never evolved as a medium, the mid 80’s was a long time ago when it first came out, it should have grown but the standard never was updated, shame; computer networking has gone to fibre, but audio has backtracked to metal wires.

Agree and the FCC seems to be being lead by the A3SA which is doing is best to pretend consumers are not having issues with DRM signals and paints only a rosy rollout. By design, they don’t want you to record things, while the argument is that it prevents illegal use its entirely about removing readily accessible data that no longer can be controlled by the company / other interested groups.

lesmikesell

Thane_Bitter Copper or even wireless can easily handle audio frequencies. But the return channel should have been designed into HDMI from the start, given the intended use to connect a TV and receiver, and it should have been designed from the start for ARC to carry all the formats as normal HDMI. As for not allowing TV apps to send the advanced format into ARC even though it can carry it, that’s yet another case of vendors intentionally restricting what consumers can do. You aren’t supposed to have any content that apps could play that contain TruHD audio,.

And as far as recording goes, we wouldn’t even have that if the case came up today. That was a hard-fought battle only won because Sony had a lot of money for lawyers and selling hardware was their profit center. Now they would be on the side of content owners and nobody cares about consumers.

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