ATSC 3.0 explained: How NextGen TV will deliver 4K HDR broadcasts for free

ATSC 3.0 explained: How NextGen Goggle box delivers 4K HDR broadcasts for free

(Image credit: Sony)

The name might sound meaningless: ATSC 3.0. Just behind that opaque acronym is a world of improvements to over-the-air TV that brings 4K moving picture, premium sound and interactive features into your dwelling house for free.

The Advanced Television Arrangement Commission (ATSC) is an industry group that determines the technologies used for broadcasters nationwide, and the ATSC iii.0 standard is the newest version of over-the-air TV.

NextGen Boob tube – the Consumer Engineering Association's (CTA) remarkably anodyne marketing name for the new ATSC 3.0 standard – may not mean much to about people, but it's already bachelor in much of the The states, and will play a big role in reshaping the modernistic Goggle box experience.

Even if you lot have heard of it, chances are good that you're not certain what information technology means. Dissemination standards are full of technical jargon and industry terms that won't hateful much to the average TV viewer, simply the end results will be huge in the coming years. We're here to clear up the confusion and assistance y'all empathize how the new broadcasting standard volition alter your Idiot box viewing feel.

Here are the highlights: NextGen Television is a huge upgrade for traditional broadcasting, offering 4K resolution and HDR content for over-the-air broadcasts, forth with dramatically meliorate sound, interactive features and the ability to circulate to more than just TVs. It's better, smarter circulate Television receiver for the era of smart TVs, phones, homes and cars. And information technology has the exact same price as electric current circulate TV – complimentary.

Editor's Annotation: July half dozen, 2021 - This story has been updated to reflect the growing number of broadcast markets offering ATSC 3.0 broadcasts and to highlight new Idiot box models that feature born NextGen Boob tube tuners.

Some background: Analog signal and ATSC 1.0

Exercise you remember back in 2009, when everyone using a TV antenna had to switch to the new digital arrangement? That was the change from analog UHF and VHF channels to ATSC one.0, which shifted Tv set broadcasts from a raw betoken that was fed straight to the TV, to a digital one that allowed for compressed video and additional information. That, in plough, allowed broadcasters to offering an over-the-air betoken while using less spectrum, and introduced some features nosotros now accept for granted, like full-HD (1920 ten 1080) resolution and digital-airtight captioning.

Merely that digital switch over was based on standards developed dorsum in 1995, and the earth of media consumption is drastically dissimilar than it was 26 years agone. Today, video is much more than traditional broadcast Telly, with online streaming, smart TVs running apps and people viewing movies and shows on a wide range of devices.

The switch to ATSC iii.0 is the commencement major upgrade to broadcast standards since that 2009 switch, but unlike the move to digital, which introduced minor changes to the actual content and viewing experience, ATSC three.0 opens the door to several pregnant changes and enhancements.

What is ATSC 3.0?

The new ATSC 3.0 standard takes everything about the initial switch to digital Television dissemination and upgrades it. Among the improvements offered by NextGen TV are:

Better indicate quality with less interference.
Higher resolution, with 4K film and potential for 8K in the future.
Combines broadcast TV with broadband internet.
Available on many more devices.

It also could present the first major shift in the one-to-many model of broadcast distribution. With connectivity assuasive interactive features, customizable content and addressable advertisement, the circulate world is most to expect a lot more like the streaming globe, and that volition shake things upwards considerably on the business side.

Simply let'due south look at what it means for viewers first.

Improve indicate with less interference
One of the biggest issues with ATSC 1.0 is that the digital signal is fairly frail. The VHF band used is prone to interference from buildings and trees, weather and even passing cars, and the digital data it sends is easily corrupted, which shows upwardly on your Goggle box as a blocky, unwatchable film, or even just a "no signal" message.

With ATSC 3.0, broadcasters are switching back to UHF and moving to orthogonal frequency-partitioning multiplexing (OFDM), the same engineering science behind the latest Wi-Fi and mobile wireless technologies. It's a much more robust method for transmitting digital information, and when combined with the switch dorsum to UHF, it volition allow local TV stations offer a clearer point with broader accomplish and fewer interference problems.

Improve picture and audio
The new standard too packs much more data into the broadcast signal, ramping upward from the single static 19.4 Mbps bitrate of the ATSC 1.0 standard to a variable bitrate of upwardly to 57 Mbps using the same airwaves.

It pairs that efficiency with modern video formats. The same H.265 and MPEG-H Part 2 codecs used past online media companies like Netflix can at present be shared over the airwaves, letting Television receiver stations circulate in 4K.

Ultra-HD 4K resolution TV programming is planned for the 2020 rollout, and even 8K resolution is a possibility inside the new standard. In addition to higher resolutions, the new broadcasts can also support higher frame rates, upwards to 120 frames per second – twice the rate that the common 60Hz refresh charge per unit tin can handle.

The three.0 standard likewise adds wide colour gamut information and high dynamic range (HDR) metadata, which will brand for ameliorate viewing, with a deeper motion picture that has bright highlights, rich shadows and a wider range of colors to work with. This widespread availability of 4K, HDR-enabled content volition besides allow more people to take reward of electric current 4K TVs, where total resolution media is generally express to Blu-ray disc or a handful of streaming sources.

Audio quality is being improved, with back up for Dolby Air conditioning-iv and MPEG-H 3D Audio formats. These are both multichannel audio formats, with back up for surround-audio multi-speaker setups and fifty-fifty 3D object-oriented sound for a much more immersive audio feel. The older ASTC 1.0 standard supports 5.1 surround sound, only the iii.0 NextGen Television receiver arrangement allows for up to seven.1.four aqueduct back up and formats like Dolby Atmos can be offered over the air.

The multiple audio streams will also offering customization options, such as multiple languages and video-clarification services for the visually impaired.

Broadcast meets broadband
Ane of the biggest changes coming with ATSC iii.0 is a pairing of over-the-air broadcast and net connectivity. That connectivity adds an actress dimension to the ATSC 3.0 organisation, assuasive for a dedicated render aqueduct – an agile stream of information back to the broadcaster, which makes the new broadcast system a two-mode IP-based standard. The opens up a wide range of new capabilities never offered past traditional Goggle box before.

To get a clearer idea of what that means, I spoke to Tom Butts, the editor-in-chief of TV Engineering magazine, an industry publication aimed at broadcast and cablevision professionals (and endemic past Tom's Guide parent company Time to come plc).

"The IP component allows broadcasters to amend compete with OTT," Butts said, referring to over-the-tiptop content providers like Hulu and SlingTV, which deliver content with a set-top box (i.e., cable or satellite). It does this, he says, by letting broadcasters "complement their broadcasts with streaming services, offer most of the same capabilities enabled past the cloud including DVR controls, VOD [Video-on-Need], targeted advertising and more than flexible sound options."

For viewers, that may hateful that TV stations will offer streams of recently aired shows in a "Take hold of-upwardly" service that'southward offered as part of their free circulate. Or, information technology could allow for a more than intuitive carte-manner guide to shows and movies, more similar what you lot'll see on streaming apps like Netflix, and so automatically select between alive betoken or streaming for a wider selection of shows.

It also lets broadcasters gather far more than information nearly what people are watching, and when. Instead of relying on ratings organizations similar Nielsen, which use surveys and closely monitored audience samples, it would provide live information about how many people are actually watching a given show, infinitesimal-by-infinitesimal.

It too opens the door for addressable advertizement, the ability to target ads to different users, even within the same household. That might mean that when the parents are watching the latest sitcom in the living room, they encounter auto commercials and ads for mortgage refinancing, while a teenaged child watching the same show in another room will see ads for glue.

Information technology may also let for interactive features, like selectable pop-up information that lets yous check stock prices when a visitor is mentioned in the news, or give local businesses a manner to offer discounts to viewers in their expanse.

Beyond simply "TV"

According to industry analyst Tim Hanlon, CEO of The Vertere Group, a media consultancy firm, that fusion of broadcast and net could run across some radically new applications, as well.

"The possibilities are virtually endless," Hanlon said. "[It enables] potentially a robust array of 'beyond-TV' functions/businesses such as emergency alerts, hard-bulldoze data-caching, consumer electronics upgrade patches, enterprise data streaming (for a variety of industries), smart vehicle/cities information, etc."

What those "beyond-TV" functions will really be when ATSC 3.0 comes to market place has yet to be seen. Ane of the nearly intriguing potential features would let local regime and broadcasters remotely power up your Television receiver to brandish local emergency broadcast alerts. A characteristic like that could exist useful to alarm people about earthquakes or storms in their areas.

"In addition, its capabilities in providing far more targeted and detailed, graphics-rich news and information in emergency situations … could have the greatest impact of all, especially when cellular networks are overloaded," Tv Technology'south Butts said. "In short, it does what broadcasters are required to do by law: Brand much more efficient apply of the public spectrum."

What nigh privacy?

The added connectivity does have some privacy advocates a little spooked nearly ATSC iii.0, even as the standard makes its showtime tentative steps into the market.

Even the FCC is concerned. While the FCC approved the iii.0 standard in late 2017, Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel offered a dissenting opinion. Amidst other problems, she wrote that "there are even so big questions about this new standard. ... I also think nosotros need to ameliorate empathize targeted advertizing on boob tube and the implications for privacy, the use of encrypted signals, the collection of audience data, and the susceptibility to hacking and malware."

The upshot here is that the new TV standard tin get together data but if you provide it with the connectivity to do and so. Disconnecting your TV from the internet should let you watch OTA Tv set completely complimentary from any information gathering. But, as with mod smart TVs, yous'll need to exist connected to enjoy the full range of features offered by modern devices and services.

The support for higher data density and modern video formats also ways that broadcasters could add digital-rights direction (DRM) protections to OTA content, restricting users' ability to employ habitation-recording hardware, similar DVRs.

So far, at that place'southward no evidence that either of these concerns will materialize as real problems as the ATSC three.0 standard goes mainstream in the coming years. And neither of these issues are whatsoever different than those faced by current smart Television users, or anyone who uses online streaming services on other devices. Only at the end of the day, information technology's possible that data monitoring and even limited employ of circulate content might wind up being the inevitable event of smarter engineering science.

What devices volition get ATSC 3.0?

You're probably asking yourself, "Do I need to buy anything to lookout ATSC 3.0 broadcasts?" The respond is yes and no. The Television receiver antennas already on the marketplace will still work once the switch is fabricated, since the changes are to the information carried over the air and non the signals that carry it. Whether you take an indoor set of bunny ears or a big outdoor aerial, the antenna yous take now will still work afterwards your local broadcasters have switched to three.0.

The FCC is actually requiring local broadcasters to continue conveying the current ATSC 1.0 standard alongside the new 3.0 arrangement for a five-year period. That clock starts when a station begins using ATSC 3.0, so even if your local broadcasters switched today, you would still have several years before you had to switch to new equipment.

The respond is slightly more than complicated when information technology comes to decoding the new signal, however. Your antenna may human action similar the ears that hear the signal, but the Tv set tuner is what understands the language being spoken, and that'due south changing. So, yes, you will eventually need to upgrade to an ATSC 3.0 TV tuner.

The starting time TVs with congenital-in ATSC 3.0 tuners started selling in 2020, but the option is even so fairly limited. Samsung, Sony and LG have all offered one or ii ATSC 3.0-set TVs since then, but but in their most premium 4K and 8K smart TVs. These NextGenTV-equipped smart TVs volition permit you bask the new standard now, but everyone else will have to wait.

But the benefits of ATSC 3.0 may extend beyond your living room and your existing antenna. While new applications are even so being explored, the manufacture is exploring several other uses for the new 3.0 signal, including live Tv set on mobile devices and a number of novel applications for vehicles.

Wait, I can utilise it on my phone? And in my car?

Due to the somewhat frail betoken quality of ATSC 1.0, the employ and reliability of portable TVs had a precipitous decline over the last several years. However, considering ATSC 3.0 will innovate improved coverage and indicate penetration it should offer dramatically better performance in situations like a moving vehicle.

And with the right chipset, your phone could receive ATSC iii.0 broadcasts all on its ain. Although a lot of people are pessimistic well-nigh phone makers putting an choice for data-free TV into their phones – carriers brand a lot of money thanks to information-hungry streaming services – it's worth noting that major phone makers have been involved in the evolution of the 3.0 standard.

"Cellular companies are reluctant to offer their customers devices that would support an alternate (aka "free") streaming service that would compete with their services," said Butts of Telly Engineering. "However, the fact that LG, Samsung and Sony have invested in the evolution of ATSC 3.0 bodes well for support in their products, which I'm sure we'll meet at CES."

This stands to exist bang-up news for mobile entertainment, whether it's in the car or in your pocket. And, because many of these devices tin can gather location data, at that place'southward an opportunity for more local advertising – such as gas station ads when you're on the route – and even more novel uses such as sharing map information and local weather and emergency alerts.

What well-nigh existing broadcast channels?

Switching to a new standard won't make your electric current channels disappear, so there's no need to worry about losing your local favorites if yous don't buy an ATSC 3.0-capable Television receiver or tuner.

All your favorite shows, including reruns, will likewise be available. Because NextGen TV offers greater bandwidth, all of the lower resolution content that'due south already offered on TV tin all the same be shared on the 3.0 system, including all 1080p and 720p content.

And the existing channels, broadcast under the older ATSC 1.0 standard, aren't going anywhere, either – at least not right away. The FCC is requiring broadcasters to continue offer ATSC 1.0 broadcasts aslope the new 3.0 standard for five years from the engagement of transitioning over to 3.0.

ATSC 3.0 timeline: When will information technology come to my metropolis?

The first test markets for the NextGen TV standard were limited to Phoenix, Cleveland and Washington, D.C., but these successful small-scale tests accept spurred a ringlet out of ATSC 3.0 across the continental U.S.

TCL 43S517 Roku Smart 4K TV — (Prototype credit: Tom's Guide)

Butts explained, "Earlier this year, broadcasters promised to deploy ATSC iii.0 in the height 40 U.S. markets by the end of 2020 and too, consumer electronics companies predicted that new ATSC 3.0-enabled Idiot box sets would exist available by the vacation season a year from now."

That sounds like a expert first step in bringing ATSC 3.0 to people throughout the The states. Merely don't get your hopes up besides high.

"This is a hope," said Butts, "and different the DTV transition, there is no mandate that they follow through."

Dissimilar the 2009 switch to digital TV, the move to ATSC 3.0 isn't existence pushed forward by government mandates, and then the actual timeframe for when the NextGen Television receiver standard goes live in your area is a bit vague.

All the same, several major Boob tube broadcasting groups have already committed to embracing NextGen TV, including NBCUniversal Owned Stations Group, Nexstar Media Group, Pearl Boob tube, Sinclair Broadcast Group, Spectrum Co. and Univision. Between them, these organizations command hundreds of local broadcasters across the land, and should assistance shift the industry toward adopting ATSC iii.0 shortly.

A number of major cities already have one or more ATSC 3.0 stations transmitting, offer millions of viewers free access to NextGen TV and the features discussed above. It's not quite the 40 markets that broadcasters were originally shooting for in 2020 (the curlicue out was slowed downward by COVID lockdowns, just like everything else), but it's a good start.

Albuquerque-Santa Fe, NM
Austin, TX
Baltimore, MD
Boise, ID
Buffalo, NY
Columbus, OH
Dallas-Fort Worth, TX
Denver, CO
Detroit, MI
East Lansing, MI
One thousand Rapids-Kalamazoo, MI
Las Vegas, NV
Mobile, AL-Pensacola, FL
Nashville, TN
Norfolk-Portsmouth-Newport News, VA
Oklahoma City, OK
Orlando-Daytona Beach-Melbourne, FL
Phoenix, AZ
Pittsburgh, PA
Portland, OR
Raleigh-Durham, NC
Salt Lake City, UT
Santa Barbara-Santa Marie-San Luis Obispo, CA
Seattle-Tacoma, WASpringfield-Holyoke, MA
Syracuse, NYTallahassee, FL
Tampa-St. Petersburg-Sarasota, FL

And several other markets are set up to get ATSC 3.0 stations in the virtually futurity, with many already submitting applications to the FCC to begin dissemination on the new standard, and several more than having already announced intentions to start NextGen TV circulate in the near future.

Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY
Atlanta, GA
Boston, MA
Burlington, VT-Plattsburgh, NY
Charleston-Huntington, WV
Charleston, SC
Charlotte, NC
Chattanooga, TN
Chicago, IL
Cincinnati, OH
Cleveland-Akron, OH
Davenport,IA-Stone Isle-Moline, IL
Flint-Saginaw-Bay Urban center, MI
Greenville-Spartanburg-Anderson, SC & Asheville, NC
Hartford-New Haven, CT
Houston, TX
Indianapolis, IN
Kansas City, KS-MO
Little Rock-Pine Barefaced, AR
Los Angeles, CA
Memphis, TN
Miami-Ft. Lauderdale, FL
Milwaukee, WI
Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN
New York, NY
Omaha, NE
Philadelphia, PA
Providence, RI-New Bedford, MA
Rochester, NY
Sacramento-Stockton-Modesto, CA
San Antonio, TX
San Diego, CA
San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose, CA
Springfield, MO
St. Louis, MO
Washington, D.C.
West Palm Beach-Ft. Pierce, FL

All told, more than than 62 cities are prepare to get ATSC 3.0 broadcasts in the virtually hereafter, reaching more than 75% of all viewers in the United States.

Should I wait to buy an ATSC 3.0-compatible TV?

The short reply? No. Even in cities where ATSC 3.0 broadcasts are already happening, the promise of a congenital-in tuner probably isn't plenty to warrant buying a new Goggle box just withal, and in that location aren't that many available. External tuner boxes are merely starting to come up to market, but there are just a few options, and they run anywhere from $199 to $399 – a pretty steep cost for gratuitous TV, fifty-fifty in 4K.

But if already have (or you're looking at buying) a TV that has an ATSC 3.0 tuner built in, like the LG G1 OLED TV and Samsung QN90A Neo QLED TV, and several models in the Sony 2021 Tv set lineup, then NextGen Tv set support is icing on the block, giving you another cool new feature to try, and one that volition work with even the all-time inexpensive Television set antennas.

If you lot're already thinking about buying a Telly, there's no reason to wait a whole year only to become on the NextGen TV bandwagon early. However, if the ATSC three.0 transition moves as quickly as some industry groups want, the likelihood of NextGen TV sets being widespread in the next two or three years is loftier.

In whatever case, we'll be keeping an center on the situation, and will make recommendations accordingly, whether the new standard flourishes or fizzles.

Brian Westover is an Editor at Tom's Guide, covering everything from TVs to the latest PCs. Prior to joining Tom'south Guide, he wrote for TopTenReviews and PCMag.