Samsung has come up with a technology allowing local broadcasting stations to get into the TV-to-the-handset market inexpensively.
“Broadcasters can use current spectrum, and they don’t need new towers, just an upgrade costing in the range of tens of thousands of dollars,” John Godfrey, v-p of Samsung information systems, told a meeting at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas.
The system, called advanced vestigial sideband broadcasting (A-VSB), is designed to find its market in the US when the analogue TV signal is shut off.
A-VSB tracks the broadcast signal, strengthening it and making it suitable for mobile reception. The tracking signal can be from 1Mbit/s up to a maximum of 289Mbit/s.
“With A-VSB a local TV station can divide up its signal and turbocode it to make it stronger,” said Godfrey. “You can get it while driving at 80mph or in a 170mph bullet train.”
“We expect to get ATSC [Advanced Television Systems Committee] approval this year and to have the first products in 2008,” added Godfrey. He thought early Samsung products making use of A-VSB would include TVs for the backseats of cars, portable media players, mobile TVs and camcorders.
A-VSB will work in the US, Canada, Mexico and South Korea, but not in Europe. “Our focus is the US market,” said Godfrey.