“With more broadcasters adding mobile digital TV transmissions each month, we want to show the wireless industry exactly what’s involved in delivering over-the-air digital TV signals, familiar programs from your favorite TV stations, to mobile phone users. The devices we’re showing here work with the free over-the-air Mobile DTV signals from broadcasters, complementing video services by wireless carriers.  In addition to these cell phones running on both the CDMA and GSM networks, we’re also demonstrating how easy it is to receive mobile DTV on a netbook with a plug-in accessory receiver,” said Ehtisham Rabbani, vice president, marketing and innovation, LG Mobile Phones.

Based on the mobile DTV standard co-developed by LG Electronics, the handsets equipped with mobile DTV include a CDMA phone with twin LCD screens (on the inside, and outside, of the clamshell handset); a CDMA model with a 2.8-inch LCD screen and up to four hours of DTV-viewing battery life, and a GSM phone with a 3-inch LCD screen also with up to four hours of DTV time.

Wireless industry veteran Anne Schelle, now executive director of the Open Mobile Video Coalition, representing more than 900 TV stations, applauded LG for its leadership in developing the new mobile DTV broadcast standard, chips and handsets, adding: “Mobile DTV represents a significant opportunity for wireless carriers to partner with broadcasters and take advantage of this robust point-to-multipoint video distribution system.  This will allow cellular operators to more efficiently use their own spectrum for value-added services, while tapping into a new revenue source by providing interactive services to consumers and audience measurement capabilities to TV stations.”

Seven Millimeters Square

The eye-catching demonstrations by LG are made possible by a new reception, tuning and decoding chip that measures only seven millimeters on each side, designed for easy integration into mobile phone handsets.  The LG2161R receiver chip is already in pilot production and will move to mass production this summer.  This latest-generation LG mobile DTV chip includes both the RF (radio frequency) tuner and the mobile DTV demodulator for reception and display of the robust new DTV signals that are now being transmitted by select local broadcast TV stations.

The new LG2161R is a system-on-chip architecture that fully supports the specification of the Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC) A/153 mobile DTV standard with the capability of receiving mobile TV broadcasts in both the UHF and VHF bands.  With improved channel changing speed from earlier chipsets, the LG2161R also features enhanced reception performance and like its predecessors is extraordinarily efficient – allowing a typical cell phone viewer to watch more than 3.5 hours of programming on a single battery charge.

Netbook and USB Receiver Combo

Also highlighted in the LG exhibit at CTIA Wireless 2010 is the powerful new LG X300 netbook connected to an external USB-port “dongle” receiver that can easily receive the same over-the-air mobile DTV signals viewed on the prototype cell phones.  Weighing in at fewer than 990g with smart built-in features such as Smart-On 2.0, built-in Wi-Fi and a 64GB hard drive, the X300 provides the ultimate on-the-go computing – and with the dongle receiver, broadcast television – experience.

“Among the first products to reach consumers will be a variety of USB receivers for mobile DTV, most of which are built around LG chips for reception,” said Dr. Jong Kim, president of LG’s U.S. R&D lab, Zenith.  These low-cost receivers can instantaneously transform a netbook, or laptop computer into a mobile digital TV receiver with the addition of software that will come with the USB device.  LG is working with more than a dozen companies to introduce mobile DTV products in the U.S. market – all powered by LG chips.”

Mobile Digital TV:  LG’s Latest Innovation

The deployment of mobile DTV by local broadcasters and by device manufacturers is the next logical step for digital television.  LG took a leadership role at the beginning of the digital transition with HDTV projection TV sets, which have now evolved into svelte and stylish flat-screen LCD and Plasma models.  LG technology was built into millions of digital TV converter boxes that are bridging consumers who are extending the life of their analog screens, and now LG technology is paving the way for mobile digital TV with the introduction of new products from a variety of manufacturers that utilize the LG mobile DTV receiving/decoding chip inside.

Standardized by the ATSC and formally adopted as the Mobile DTV standard just five months ago, the new Mobile DTV standard allows broadcasters to use a portion of the existing 19.4 Megabit-per-second DTV channel capacity to transmit data with extremely robust characteristics suitable for mobile, pedestrian and handheld applications.  The Mobile DTV signal is also compatible with 8-VSB DTV, which was developed by Zenith, LG’s U.S. research and development lab.

“The key strength of any local TV broadcaster is that station’s ability to respond quickly to live events and to reach millions of viewers with a single digital broadcast transmission — a system designed to enable fast, easy, and robust reception in viewer’s homes. Now that digital TV broadcasting is going mobile, we strongly believe that Mobile DTV is a key ingredient in the nation’s drive to deliver timely news, information, and entertainment to our country’s citizens. And it’s even faster, more reliable, and more scalable than information routed through the Internet,” said Brandon Burgess, President of the Open Mobile Video Coalition and ION Media Networks Chairman and CEO.

Moreover, the advantages of Mobile DTV are laid out in the Federal Communications Commission’s newly issued report “Connecting America: The National Broadband Plan,” which notes that “emerging broadcast applications, such as mobile DTV and datacasting, may provide an opportunity to take advantage of the relative efficiencies of point-to-multipoint and point-to-point architectures in order to deliver various types of content in the most spectrum-efficient ways.” The report goes on to highlight the public interest service provided by local broadcasters, noting that “it is important to allow television broadcasting to continue to fulfill these obligations to local communities.”

Mobile DTV is delivered utilizing the same infrastructure as over-the-air broadcasts for home televisions, with special enhancements made to allow viewing on mobile devices. The technology has even been tested in trains moving more than 150 miles per hour, with robust reception of transmitted signals. 45 U.S. broadcast stations are already sending Mobile DTV signals and hundreds more are expected to sign on with mobile service in the coming months.

The technology’s potential to unlock new sources of information for viewers and new viewers for broadcasters is underscored in a new white paper just issued by IDC. Mobile DTV has the potential to expand the reach of broadcast TV while simultaneously relieving data networks that are overburdened with ever-growing demands for video content.

“Mobile DTV is a cultural and technical extension of digital over-the-air broadcasting and is a spectrum-efficient technology to deliver hugely popular content. But more than this, Mobile DTV allows consumers to also receive local channels, programming, and advertising, as well as relevant local and national news, emergency information, weather, and other alerts. Like over-the-air broadcasting, Mobile DTV easily makes possible a one to many broadcast that instantaneously can reach millions of viewers,” said Danielle Levitas, Group Vice President of IDC’s Consumer, Broadband & Digital Marketplace team.

In the report, IDC notes that local TV broadcasting service is an integral part of our nation’s wireless ecosystem. Free and local broadcast television delivers services – such as local news programming – that are critical to creating a sense of community and that no other video medium provides. Essentially all consumers, whether they receive their broadcast stations for free over the air or through pay television service, depend on their broadcast stations for local programming.

“We see Mobile DTV starting as a free service, delivering broadcast channels to viewers on the go. But the upside potential is even more interesting, because the technology can support subscription services to premium channels, a la carte access to other media, cached recording, localized and targeted advertising, and more – especially when Mobile DTV is paired with great mobile devices like netbooks and in-car entertainment systems,” Levitas said.

Sponsored by the OMVC, the IDC white paper “The Mobile DTV Opportunity and its Role in the Communications Ecosystem” predicts that the number of broadcasters transmitting with the new Mobile DTV standard will more than quadruple this year to 150 stations throughout the country. Today, 45 broadcasters have installed the new equipment that makes Mobile DTV broadcasting possible. Consumer electronics companies this year have already announced more than 20 new products that are poised for retail introduction as broadcasters sign on-the-air with Mobile DTV.

The IDC report is available for download at: www.tinyurl.com/IDCMobileDTVreport

Mobile DTV “More Efficient” for Popular, Live Programming

The IDC report notes that “while there is a lot of buzz around 4G technologies like WiMAX and LTE, 3G is still being built out and will be the dominant mobile broadband technology for years to come. For popular broadcast programming such as the top shows on network TV, major live news events, and live sporting events, mobile broadcasts are more efficient to deliver that content live and to millions at a time.”

IDC reports that video viewing on mobile phones is still in its infancy. The research firm makes clear that “in IDC’s past two annual mobile entertainment surveys, we have found the percentage of mobile phone owners that regularly or at least once in the three prior months view TV/video on their phone to be 2.5% to 5% of respondents.” The company’s most recent ConsumerScape 360^o survey fielded at the end of 2009 found that out of more than 7,000 U.S. respondents “only 2% reported watching premium content/TV on their phones within the prior month. Even if we assume the data to be underreported, it clearly is in its early stages.”

Broadcasters: Best Positioned for Favorite Shows, New Advertising Options

The report also highlights that “with some modest storage, devices with Mobile DTV receivers can potentially store different promotions that are triggered when the device is in a specific geo-location. This can be done on the device by triangulating the broadcasting TV signals. Also, if the device is a portable or in-car navigation device, the GPS radio can be a source of information for increased localization. Furthermore, if the device has WiFi or cellular, then the interaction can be more customized and additional services and calls to action can be delivered via the two-way connection. This is particularly valuable for both local businesses (advertisers) and transit systems that are delivering digital ads to commuters.”

Washington Consumer Showcase and Upcoming Product Introductions

Washington, D.C. broadcasters are gearing up for the OMVC’s Consumer Showcase of Mobile Digital Television that starts later this spring. Mobile DTV applications to be showcased under the recently approved Mobile DTV technical standard include favorite live, local television programs just as they are transmitted to DC-area homes, interactive broadcasts, and lifesaving emergency alerts for weather incidents and other unforeseen events. During the Washington, D.C. Consumer Showcase, the OMVC is planning an evaluation of quantitative and qualitative usage for each of the selected device platforms. The purpose of the Showcase is to understand factors that may motivate greater usage of Mobile DTV, early adoption, propensity to tolerate pay services, and interactive services and usage patterns, as well as to learn more about the core qualitative aspects of the user experience from pre-adoption to post-usage insights.

The Washington Consumer Showcase comes on the heels of the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, where more than a dozen companies introduced a variety of new Mobile DTV products that they plan to roll out in the coming year. Mobile DTV technologies unveiled at CES include netbooks equipped with Mobile DTV; battery-operated Portable Mobile TV Sets; Mobile DTV USB Receivers for Laptop computers; a unique Wi-Fi Access Point for Mobile DTV Reception; prototype cell phones with Mobile DTV; and Electronic Service Guides that provide information and interactivity such as voting, polling, and web access.

Beyond live broadcasts, the OMVC envisions mobile services such as emergency alerts that can be customized by market or location, live audio feeds, datacasting with traffic maps, closed captioning, “clip casting” sports and news highlights that could be stored in memory on a device, “push” Video On Demand for future viewing, time-shifted television, mobile digital video recording, interactive polling, electronic coupons, targeted advertising, and an electronic service guide for ease of tuning. Broadcasters will be able to extend their programming reach to a growing audience of new viewers — anywhere, anytime, and at any speed (since the new Mobile DTV can even be received by viewers in the back seat of a car that is moving down the freeway.)

The Open Mobile Video Coalition is a voluntary association of television broadcasters whose mission is to accelerate the development of mobile digital television in the United States. The OMVC is composed of 30 members that own and operate over 529 commercial television stations, as well as the Association of Public Television Stations, Corporation for Public Broadcasting and the Public Broadcasting Service, which represent an additional 360 public television stations. Membership in the OMVC is open to all U.S.-based television broadcasters. For more information, please visit http://www.omvc.org.