Ballot Report on Revisions of Core Standards

Posted on August 1, 2013 in ATSC News

August 6 Voting Deadline Looming

A/53 and A/65 form the core of the ATSC Digital Television Standard. Major revisions of both standards are nearing the end of their final stage of balloting. Three Parts of A/53 are currently at ballots of the full ATSC Membership:

• A/53 Part 1, “Digital Television System.” The main motivation and substance of this revision is to reference updated Parts of A/53 in which the E-VSB feature is removed. (Changes to A/53 Part 2 to remove E-VSB have already been completed.)
• A/53 Part 3, “Service Multiplex and Transport Subsystem Characteristics.” The main motivation and substance of this revision is to remove the E-VSB feature. In addition, the revision addresses a variety of issues that have been identified since publication of the current version of the standard, A/53 Part 3:2009.
• A/53 Part 6, “Enhanced AC-3 Audio System Characteristics.” The focus and substance of this revision is to remove the emphasis on fallback operation in favor of use of this audio codec in the “main service” for ATSC 2.0.

In addition, a revision of A/65, “Program and System Information Protocol for Terrestrial Broadcast and Cable,” is at Membership Ballot. The primary motivation and substance of this revision is to remove the E VSB feature. In addition, the revision addresses a variety of issues that have been identified and collected since the publication of the current version of the standard, A/65:2009.

All four ballots close on Tuesday August 6. As a reminder, all ATSC ballots close at 11:59 p.m. ET on the closing date. One vote per company. For ballots of TG1, all TG1 member companies who have voting eligibility (as defined on the current Voting Eligibility List) may vote on TG1 ballots. Ballots of the full ATSC Membership are conducted on a dedicated group on Kavi known as the Member Representatives group. This group is made up of the primary representative from each member company.

Posted in ATSC News