US examines mobile TV standards

The Advanced Television Systems Committee is examining various options - including DVB-H, a handheld adaptation of the standard used for digital terrestrial TV in the UK - for the delivery of television content to mobile devices in America.

10 entities including Nokia, LG, Samsung and Qualcomm have submitted proposed standards to the ATSC, which will eventually decide which to include in the final ATSC-M/H (mobile/handheld) standard for the delivery of content to mobile phones using terrestrial digital TV signals. While various manufacturers have submitted proposals, content providers including Disney are supporting the DVB-H proposal put forward by the Mobile DTV Alliance.

"It is exhilarating to see this amount of interest from the industry," said ATSC president Mark Richer. "We look forward to reviewing all of the submitted proposals for the ATSC-M/H standard."

More details on each of the submissions will be made available next month.