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FCC Approves Next-Gen ATSC 3.0 TV Standard (reuters.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the new-and-improved dept.

New submitter mikeebbbd writes: "U.S. regulators on Thursday approved the use of new technology that will improve picture quality on mobile phones, tablets and television, but also raises significant privacy concerns by giving advertisers dramatically more data about viewing habits," reports Reuters. ATSC3.0 will apparently make personal data collection and targeted ads possible. New TVs will be necessary, and broadcasters will need to transmit both ATSC 2.0 (the current standard) for 3 to 5 years before turning off the older system. For now, the conversion is voluntary. There appears to be no requirement (as there was when ATSC 2.0 came out) for low-cost adapter boxes to make older TVs work; once a channel goes ATSC 3.0-only, your old TV will not display it any more.

4 of 158 comments (clear)

  1. ATSC 2.0? by aaron44126 · · Score: 5, Informative

    Just a note... The broadcast standard currently in use is ATSC 1.0. The new one recently approved is ATSC 3.0. ATSC 2.0 (mentioned in the article) actually died on the vine somewhere.

  2. Re:Broadcast TV? So Fred Flintstone... by Mal-2 · · Score: 4, Informative

    Broadcast television is far from dead. I live in a "fringe reception" area for the Los Angeles broadcast area, and still receive in excess of 100 channels including subcarriers.

    --
    How is the Riemann zeta function like Trump rallies? Both have an endless number of trivial zeros.
  3. Re:Goodbye TV by BlueStrat · · Score: 3, Informative

    I don't get it. How is his TV nearly obsolete?

    From TFS: "New TVs will be necessary, and broadcasters will need to transmit both ATSC 2.0 (the current standard) for 3 to 5 years before turning off the older system."

    Granted, 3-5 years may not exactly be "almost nearly obsolete" depending on how you define it, but somewhere around a $4K investment should, to many people's way of thinking, last longer than their kid's goldfish.

    Strat

    --
    Progressivism (aka US 'Liberalism'): Ideas so good they need a police/surveillance-state to enforce.
  4. Re: This probably won't help by Miamicanes · · Score: 4, Informative

    Shows will be broadcast with a default ad, but if your ATSC 3.0 tuner has internet connectivity and it can fill an ad customized to your interests, it'll download the ad over the internet, then seamlessly replace the default ad with the targeted one.

    So, opt in & connect, and see ads for videogames (or whatever else you're into). Do nothing, and see ads for tampons.