IN THE PIPELINE: MPH AND ADVANCED-VSB
Two free-to-air technologies being pushed and tested in the U.S. were touted at this year's CES: Mobile-Pedestrian-Handheld (MPH, developed by LG, Harris Corporation and Zenith) and Advanced Vestigial Sideband (A-VSB, developed by Samsung and Rohde & Schwarz). One of them may win out and become our version of free mobile television, the yet-to-be-designated ATSC-M/H (i.e., ATSC-mobile/handheld).
Both systems would use broadcasters' existing digital towers to transmit mobile channels along with the existing high-def and standard-def digital signal that will be mandatory by next February. Who wins out will depend on consumer trials this year, as both technologies work reliably as shown in preliminary tests.
Both Samsung and LG displayed prototypes of handheld devices that could utilize their respective technologies: phones, MP3 players, laptops, etc. In terms of in-car applications, Kenwood has already built a few prototypes that would utilize the MPH chipset, such as a 7-inch all-in-one monitor. We predict that once free mobile TV comes to the U.S. in 2009 (projected), a lot of people won't be calling shotgun anymore--they'll want to be in the back seat watching television.
Analog to Digital
If you haven't upgraded your home television from an old analog model, you'll have to get a new digital converter box (check out dtv2009.gov for a free coupon toward purchasing one). On the other hand, you could just use the analog-to-digital transition as an excuse to upgrade your home theater!