Broadcast

Don't look now, but one or more of your local TV stations may be relocating to low-band VHF channels. Good luck trying to watch them indoors.
The post Broadcast TV Spectrum Repacking: The Devil Is In The Details appeared first on HDTVexpert.

Next March marks a defining moment in the history of broadcasting: The Federal Communications Commission will hold an auction to see if TV stations REALLY want to stay on their UHF channels, or sell their spectrum space off to the highest bidder and either (a) move to another UHF channel, (b) move to a VHF […]

The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) have their year meeting in Las Vegas in the Spring every year. When we worked for Sony Pictures we would get excited about going and demonstrating the gear we were developing as well as seeing what other companies were showing off. It was not quite as hectic as CES but it was still a great time. Nowadays we are a little more focused on what we take away from the NAB show. In particular of interest this year is the ATSC 3.0 specification. This year there will be some demos of the technology.

Under assault from the burgeoning OTT IP services, the staggering behemoth that is the US Television broadcast industry will soon deliver a major frontal offensive. And it's a real blockbuster! My sources tell me that on Wednesday, April 1, a gigantic US broadcasting consortium (consisting of NAB, ATSC, several major station groups, and the five major TV networks) will announce a comprehensive petition to the FCC and Congress to amend the 1996 Telecommunications Act. This amendment petition would allow broadcasters to use their spectrum to deliver premium subscription programming. Oh, but that's not all...

During winter storms, the terrestrial 'one serving many' digital TV broadcast model continues to chug along reliably, providing timely news and weather updates and helping us feel like we're not cut off from the rest of the world.

We have been covering the Aereo story for a few months now. Aereo is a service that allows you to watch and record live television from anywhere within you home coverage area via an Internet connected device. What Aereo does is connect you to a dedicated antenna that pulls in OTA TV signals and then sends it to you via the Internet so long as you are physically in your local network coverage area.

Mohu's Leaf and Ultimate indoor TV antennas have scored highly in my tests. So how well does the Mohu Sky outdoor antenna work? Read on, and find out.

Aereo, broadcast television, video-on-demand, and streaming are dominating the news lately. They have more in common than you might think...

We here at the HDTV and Home Theater Podcast are always looking for new products that make your home theater better. So when we find products that claim to revolutionize something we can't wait to try them out. We read about the Mohu Sky HDTV Antenna and how it used military technology and kind of chuckled to ourselves about how could that make a difference. Since we were within the specs of the claimed 60 mile radius we decided it was worth yet another antenna test. And yes it does make a difference!

Hurricane Sandy knocked out my water, power, heat, Internet, cable TV, and made cell phone service all but unusable for several days. But broadcast TV never let me down.

Like many incipient “cord cutters,” I am gradually approaching the point where the vast wasteland of hundreds of channels of nothingness is not worth the trip. Aside for local news, special events and sports, the rest of TV is of questionable redeeming social value. However, the one TV accessory to which I have become addicted is the DVR. If I am going to “cut-the-cord,” I really don’t want to pay someone any monthly fee for the privilege of the wonderful utility of time- shifting otherwise “free” HDTV programming. Other than reconfiguring a computer dedicated for that purpose, not many (if any) moderately priced, no-fee options existed. Enter the...

Every time we publish a story about cutting the cord we get a ton of interest. Whether it be a new online service or a new antenna to be used for pulling in free, over-the-air HD signals, our listeners and readers respond with great feedback. So when we found out about a new indoor antenna called the HD Blade we were excited about putting it through its paces.

NBC Olympics, a division of the NBC Sports Group and Panasonic Corporation of North America today announced that the first-ever 3D coverage of the Olympic Games, beginning in London later this month, will be available to subscribers of MVPD's (multichannel video programming distributors) representing nearly 80% of U.S. TV households. The daily 3D programming, which will be shown on next-day delay, will be carried by many cable, satellite and telco providers such as such as Armstrong, AT&T, Blue Ridge, Bright House Networks, Cablevision, Comcast, Cox Communications, DIRECTV, Insight, Mediacom, RCN, Suddenlink, Time Warner Cable, Verizon, and WideOpen West.

These carriers will distribute roughly 242 hours of the 3D broadcasts via the Media Center. Panasonic is...

The best way to cut the cord without giving up TV is to go the old fashioned route, put up an antenna and watch all the HDTV you want absolutely free. It's amazing that the signals are still floating across the air free of charge, but they are. But what do you do if you're too far away from the local broadcast tower to actually receive very many channels, if any? You may want to give the new DTV Green Dish, aka Dishtenna a try.

A re-test of Winegard's FlatWave antenna, combined with a newcomer (Antennas Direct Micron XG) = another visit to Turner Engineering!

I’ve gone on the record with my pessimism about Mobile DTV, and recent events have done nothing to change my view of the situation. TV Technology recently published an article about a discussion of Mobile TV at the Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC) in Washington that confirms my suspicions. Jay Adrick is Vice President for Broadcast [...]

Microsoft initially added the Media Center feature to Windows XP. It let you watch broadcast television on your computer, as well as play DVDs, your digitized music collection, and a lot more. It was there in versions of Windows Vista and 7, but according to news reports, it will be MIA in Windows 8. Apparently, [...]

We reviewed the Mohu Leaf Indoor HDTV Antenna back in July (Podcast #489) and thought it was the best indoor HDTV antenna we have ever tested. We're here to tell you that is no longer the case. Enter the Mohu Leaf Plus Amplified Indoor Antenna (Buy Now $73.99)

Did you ever hear the squeal of feedback in a public address system? It occurs because a sound coming from the amplified speakers finds its way into a microphone, where it travels to an amplifier that makes it louder. This louder sound comes out of the speaker and goes back into the microphone louder than [...]

What are the hallmarks of a major television network? It distributes professionally-produced content from other sources such as movies. Check. It has millions of viewers. Check. It has its own original programming that is broadcast live daily. Check. Hmmm, it waddles, swims, and quacks like a duck, so I guess YouTube is now a duck. [...]