Barry Flynn, is a Contributing Editor for Videonet, Winchester-based technology analyst specialising in digital media and particularly TV. In his article, “Ateme Squeezes More From MPEG-2, Targeting US ATSC Capacity Crunch” Flynn is describing Ateme’s new high-efficiency MPEG-2 codec, HE-MPEG2 developed for US broadcasters facing reduced capacity after the FCC’s broadcast incentive auctions.
French video compression specialist Ateme has developed a new high-efficiency MPEG-2 codec, HE-MPEG2, for US broadcasters facing reduced capacity after the FCC’s broadcast incentive auctions.
Currently, according to the company’s VP of Business Development, Yaron Raz, a US broadcaster can expect to transmit around one HD DTT channel plus one or two SD ones within a single MPEG-2 ATSC 1.0 multiplex. “What we are offering with HE-MPEG2 is basically to do two HD [channels] and two SD [channels], and that would be a combination of 1080i or 720p, so either case,” says Raz. “Some operators are looking to get even more than that, to get three 720p HD channels [into a single ATSC mux].” The FCC’s broadcast incentive auction, which began on March 28 and is set to continue into the summer, comprises two separate elements: a ‘reverse auction’, which will determine the price at which broadcasters who choose to participate will voluntarily relinquish their spectrum usage rights; and a forward auction following the first, which will determine the price companies – probably mostly telcos – are willing to pay for flexible use wireless licenses. “Obviously, the [broadcasters] that give up spectrum don’t want to go out of business,” observes Raz. The expectation is that they would therefore work out deals with stations that have elected not to participate in the auction, to share their frequencies, he suggests.
Barry Flynn, Author, first issued on April 18, 2016 Videonet .
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