United States digital advanced television broadcasting standard

Abstract

A demonstration of high definition television (HDTV) was given in the United States in the early 1980’s. It inspired the imagination as to what might be seen, someday, in the homes of television viewers. Now, some fifteen years later, we are on the verge of adopting a new television broadcasting standard. In the near future, the Federal Communications Commission is expected to make its final ruling on the new technology. The new standard will be 100% digital, something nobody would have guessed watching those early demonstrations. This paper will briefly review some key technical debates. The debates were related to HDTV production standards and analog HDTV broadcasting during the 1980’s. They began to shift focus in 1990 as the first digital HDTV broadcasting proposals were made public. More recently, the debates have centered on the tremendous flexibility that can be obtained with a digital broadcasting system. The Digital HDTV Grand Alliance system, that has been under study in the FCC’s Advisory Committee on Advanced Television Service and documented by the Advanced Television Systems Committee, will be highlighted. Current status of the technical standard will be explained. To conclude, comments on the future potential of this new television broadcasting technology will be offered.