What’s in store for ATSC at CES 2016?

Indeed, ATSC members will be on the lookout for “state-of-the-art everything” this month at CES.  According to industry pundit Gary Arlen, “Demonstrations of the next-gen ATSC 3.0 broadcast technology will pop up on the show floor and in private suites, while the FCC chairman will explain his rush for the broadcast spectrum auction, which may affect 3.0’s market timing.”

For a quick summary of what’s in store at CES 2016, here are some excerpts from Arlen’s show preview in TV Technology:

CES, which is expected to attract nearly 180,000 attendees during its Jan. 6 to 9 run at the Las Vegas Convention Center and surrounding environs, will be a conundrum filled with contradictions. This is the first major event since the sponsoring organization swapped “technology” for “electronics” as its middle name (now the Consumer Technology Association or CTA) in November and opted to label this event “CES” rather than the “International Consumer Electronics Show” of yore.

“World over, it is CES,” said CTA President and CEO Gary Shapiro about brand recognition of the show when the association announced its name change.

Although the CES centerpiece will be the products from nearly 3,700 exhibitors, the hundreds of ancillary conference sessions and the growing presence of the content industry (about 25,000 attendees) will inevitably shift the techno-economic impact of the event. Vast exhibits and presentations about wearables, automotive electronics, health and wellness technology will overwhelm the audio-video debuts, which were once CES’ highlight…

More than 450 exhibitors list “video” among their product lines at the 2016 show yet the traditional TV giants will focus on significantly different screens at the annual consumer electronics extravaganza…

“TV and content are really strong,” said Karen Chupka, senior vice president for CES and corporate business strategy for CTA. “We have at least 100 exhibitors showcasing 4K UHD TV,” plus new exhibits for 4K Blu-ray and smart TVs.

“It’s an exciting time for screens because so many people are trying to figure out how to put their content on multiple screens,” she said. As a result, “content is really the big story” at CES, according to Chupka…

Among the broadcasters attending CES will be members of the Pearl TV consortium, according to Ann Schelle, managing director of the alliance of major broadcast groups that is exploring next-generation digital media platforms.

“Pearl TV members will be coming to Las Vegas to see the latest consumer technology innovations,” Schelle said, “not only in television but also in a variety of mobile devices and automobiles that will populate the show floor. We anticipate seeing ATSC 3.0 demonstrations, as well, to begin to educate CES attendees about the forthcoming move to advanced television and the advantages of better video, more choices, integration with the Internet, advanced emergency alerting, and other benefits.”

ATSC 3.0 will be on display in Samsung’s and other booths as well as in private demonstrations, according to several sources. The CES show floor will be dotted with other breakthrough devices, such as the … LG screen that uses organic light emitting diode, or OLED technology, to enable flexible, thin, light and double-sided screens…

As CTA increasingly focuses on public policy issues that impact innovative technologies and security and privacy, CES is packing its agenda with industrial and regulatory giants… High dynamic range video, virtual reality and countless other TV technology issues are on the week’s agenda, which is jammed with more than 40 conference tracks plus seminars run by CTA and dozens of affiliated and independent groups…

The show has already set a record as the largest show of its kind ever, occupying 2.3 million square feet of floor space in all venues… “Everyone is going to be blown away by the technology and by the opportunity for people to be looking at more things on more devices,” Chupka said.

Reprinted with permission from TV Technology.