Deborah McAdams made note of the 4K over the air demonstration at CES earlier this (January 2014) month in Las Vegas. She also calls our attention to the fact that doing this in the future is not possible under the current FCC regulations. Experimental transmission was done with the DVB-T2 standard in use in Europe and most of the rest of the world.

The US was dragged, kicking and screaming, to adopt what is now a twenty year old technology standard that also has saddled their broadcast spectrum regulations with the accommodation of that particular technology. McAdams promotes more flexible spectrum regulations to allow broadcasters to adapt to the next generation of broadcast capability, “broadcast quality” if you will. The alternative is to leave over the air television behind as 4K becomes available by cable, satellite, and even internet delivery.

McAdams’ articles appear in TV Technology magazine.

Broadcasting, the Next Generation

My thanks to Yuen Kit Siew and Loh Siu Yin for the title to this note. Their company, Beyond Broadcast LLP, has been dealing with issues like this over the full course of its existence..