FCC and 4K Ultra HD Broadcasts

[leeper]

The FCC is working on changing the way TV signals are transmitted as they did before. They are getting ready to change things so TV stations broadcast in 4K Ultra HD and a better reception. They just opened discussions on next generation broadcast TV standards. Here we go again.

[SCVJeff]

wa8yxm wrote:


---snip---
Same with ATSC, there were some other formats competing before they settled on ATSC,, and there still are competiting formats so if you buy the wrong model, when the dust settles. NO JOY.

There is not, nor has there ever been competing formats in the US with the exception of original development and that's been adopted for many years. ATSC is the US broadcast standard... AND the existing UHD TV's DO receive ATSC OTA. That's required by law. Wether they will work on ATSC-3 is a different story. That's a long way off

[SCVJeff]

fj12ryder wrote:
I've thought that 4K was similar to 3-D: something to convince people they need to buy a new TV.

its really not. This is a major leap in technology, no question. BUT.... As a friend of mine once said "The state of the art has exceeded the state of the need". Time will tell

[fj12ryder]

I've thought that 4K was similar to 3-D: something to convince people they need to buy a new TV.

[fj12ryder]

Eric&Lisa wrote:

leeper wrote:
...They are getting ready to change things so TV stations broadcast in 4K Ultra HD and a better reception...

"In an effort to resolve the national 'Fake News' dilemma, the FCC today announced their decision to allow 4k Ultra HD resolution broadcasts. It is expected the improved quality of the digital signal will make the evening news more realistic. It is undetermined, however, whether it will be any more believable."

(Sorry, I couldn't resist the humor). 🙂

That's good, I like that. :B

[wa8yxm]

Fizz wrote:
Saw an article a little while back saying today's 4K TV will not receive OTA so wait before you buy.

It was a long technical paper, I only read the first paragraph.

This is a common problem.. You start you have two or three competing formats.. For example in Video Tape
Alpha
Beta
Vhs
U-matic
Open reel

Now, each version has it's advantages (the last two are professional)
except for perhaps Alpha.. That one was never much good.

But till the market finally settled on VHS,, Folks who bought Beta were left in the cold (Sony's fault by the way.. I have some no longer supported Sony hardware here too. Still works though and dang good, just not Video (Was never video)).

Same with ATSC, there were some other formats competing before they settled on ATSC,, and there still are competiting formats so if you buy the wrong model, when the dust settles. NO JOY.

[Eric_Lisa]

leeper wrote:
...They are getting ready to change things so TV stations broadcast in 4K Ultra HD and a better reception...

"In an effort to resolve the national 'Fake News' dilemma, the FCC today announced their decision to allow 4k Ultra HD resolution broadcasts. It is expected the improved quality of the digital signal will make the evening news more realistic. It is undetermined, however, whether it will be any more believable."

(Sorry, I couldn't resist the humor). 🙂

[SCVJeff]

tinner12002 wrote:
From what I gathered after talking to a tv guy, buying a 4K tv was a waste of money right now as there wasn't anyone broadcasting in 4K to actually benefit the tvs capabilities. Because its a new fad, everyone was jumping on the bandwagon.

unless you have Satellite that kinda has the BW for this. Direct has one or two ch's IIRC. But programming is really hard to find except for movies. Let it wash out for 5 or 10 years first

[tinner12002]

From what I gathered after talking to a tv guy, buying a 4K tv was a waste of money right now as there wasn't anyone broadcasting in 4K to actually benefit the tvs capabilities. Because its a new fad, everyone was jumping on the bandwagon.

[SCVJeff]

Fizz wrote:
Saw an article a little while back saying today's 4K TV will not receive OTA so wait before you buy.

It was a long technical paper, I only read the first paragraph.

they don't.... yet. There's not enough bandwidth to accommodate 4K, but it's coming

HERE is a recent article on ATSC3

At the end of the day it's all about what the broadcasters choose to do with their channel space. Right now broadcasters are leasing out their additional space to everything from pretty good movie channels to 3rd world religious churches, and everything inbetween. UHD programming won't and can't generate that kind of revenue. 1st, there is next to zero 4K programming out there. Kind in like HD in the 90's

[RGar974417]

Just great. The federal government makes so many things obsolete to benefit themselves. When they made us go to digital TV, they were able to auction bandwidth to the $20 billion dollars. They did the same with wireless microphones. Many of the bandwidths we operated on for years became illegal even though the equipment worked just fine. Then remember when they made us replace all of our propane tanks? All those perfectly fine tanks thrown into the recycling heap. I guess this is how they stimulate the economy by forcing us to buy things we don't need or don't even want.

[Fizz]

Saw an article a little while back saying today's 4K TV will not receive OTA so wait before you buy.

It was a long technical paper, I only read the first paragraph.

[DrewE]

I would be rather surprised if the 4K broadcasting scheme was incompatible with existing broadcasts in the way that digital TV was incompatible with analog. Actual 4K broadcasts would not be viewable on a TV that didn't support them, but other digital broadcasting should (I think) be able to continue alongside, rather than requiring every television to switch over.

I rather doubt there would be a lot of over-the-air 4K broadcasts in practice, as the bandwidth that one such broadcast would require could be used for a larger number of lower-resolution, lower-quality feeds. You can already see that in some cases with existing digital channels where they cram in several sub-channels at lower quality rather than having a single high quality HD broadcast.

[SCVJeff]

leeper wrote:
The FCC is working on changing the way TV signals are transmitted as they did before. They are getting ready to change things so TV stations broadcast in 4K Ultra HD and a better reception. They just opened discussions on next generation broadcast TV standards. Here we go again.

ummmm.. ATSC-3 development has been going on for years with no involvement from the FCC, this is a manufacturer and industry led development. Nothing has changed whatsoever with this research. The ONLY thing that has happened with the FCC in recent weeks is the announced results of the latest spectrum auction that has nothing to do with any Next Gen TV. It's nothing more than another spectrum grab by the wireless companies that the FCC thought they were going to get hundreds of billions of dollars for. Didn't happen.

OBTW- all but a very few TV's out there today are not compatible with ATSC-3, and none of them contain the interactive that AFAIK is not finalized. It's gonna be a tough sell to people with TV's that simply don't fail anymore, and there will be no subsidies this time

[pnichols]

By "fuzzy" I mean resolution that is too low for either the size of the screen or the distance one is sitting from it.

High(er) resolution can look great, or near great, for all viewers at any home screen size or any home viewing distance. It's just plain a more versatile way to transmit a video product for as broad a customer base as possible. There is no substitute for higher resolution and a full color spectrum.

FWIW, some prefer a viewing experience that as close as possible matches what they see through their own eyes in real life - as if a "screen" wasn't there at all. The sourcing and receiving technology for in-home and in-RV viewing near to that is now available and affordable. Of course, many viewers still only feel that they need good enough video.