SOMEONE YOU SHOULD KNOW: Bob Campbell, Eurofins

Posted on December 4, 2017 in ATSC News

When it comes to ATSC 3.0’s technical groups, there are only a few not monitored by Bob Campbell. 

The Director of Engineering at Eurofins joined the Personalization and Interactivity Implementation team as well as the newly formed Conformance Implementation Team to share experiences and contribute to the successful rollout of ATSC 3.0 services.

Testing Expert

“As testing experts, we need to understand the whole range of features comprising the ATSC 3.0 set of standards so that we work quietly as they evolve.  We expect to address issues of ambiguity, clarification or improvement to the specifications as part of our activities in writing tests against the requirements in the specifications,” says Campbell. 

“While we support the initiatives to launch trial broadcasts, real commercial deployments can only really work if conforming devices and an established a basic level of compliance with the specifications exists first.”

Setting Standards

Campbell studied aircraft avionic systems before completing a doctorate in flight control at Bristol University.  After a stint in software development at IBM and project management at Siemens Rail, he joined Digital TV Labs, later acquired by Eurofins to form Eurofins Digital Testing.

There, he has had an active role in Eurofins participation in many global standards organizations, and helped deliver test and compliance products supporting launches of TV platforms in the UK, Italy and elsewhere worldwide.  “I have particularly enjoyed helping launch Europe’s 4K Ultra HD HDR Logo certification program which now has the support of LG, Vestel, HiSense, T1-Tek and MStar,” he said.

Interactivity’s Promise

Not only is Campbell active with ATSC, but he also chairs the Improving Interoperability Task Force for the HbbTV Association, and HbbTV Steering Group representative, and a co-chair of the CTA WAVE Test and Compliance Task Force.

“The promise of ATSC 3.0 interactive applications and their ability to join up both broadcast and broadband offerings with useful information such as emergency alerts should have a significant impact on an industry that is under threat from the major OTT services,” he says. 

He says he’s also excited about companion screen and emergency alerting capabilities “which could lead to some really interesting applications and take the experience of consuming content in the home in many new directions.”

Christmas in the “Mother City”

Campbell and his wife have two children “who keep us both extremely busy,” he says. The family loves to travel and, for Christmas this year, will visit family in Cape Town, South Africa.  He and his family stay active by mountain and road cycling.  In fact, he recently completed a 75-mile charity ride around the Cotswold Hills of South West England.

Posted in ATSC News