LAS VEGAS—TV Technology asked a cross-section of NAB Show-goers a series of five questions regarding what they considered the main themes, evidence of those, whether or not these initiatives will take hold, and what promising technologies from past NAB Shows did not see daylight. (A complete list of quotes from respondents and links to their full 5Qs is at “NAB 2016 in 21 Quotes.”)
Dr. Richard Chernock, chief science officer for Triveni Digital:
Q1.How many NAB Shows have you attended?
R.C. Compared to many, I’m a relative newbie—I think I’ve been to 16 or 17 NAB shows.
Q2.What, in your opinion, were the main themes of the show this year?
R.C. Very clearly, this year’s theme was ATSC 3.0.
Q3.What were some examples of these themes?
R.C. Many different products across the spectrum that support the new ATSC 3.0 system—as well as integrated systems from multiple vendors that showed a working end-end ATSC live broadcast system—starting from a camera in the Futures Park area to a full set of studio equipment for encoding and transport to an STL to an exciter on Black Mountain, to a transmitter and reception from an antenna on the roof of South Hall connected to ATSC 3.0 televisions—and it worked! For a technology this new and this complex, I think this was a major achievement.
Q4.Do you foresee any or all of these technologies or initiatives taking hold?
R.C. Simple answer—yes. I think ATSC 3.0 will be adopted and used by broadcasters as it provides them the opportunity to re-invigorate their business, connect to their viewers in ways that they now demand and provide a growth path to new services and business opportunities.
Q5.What technology that impressed you most at a past show didn’t see the light of day?
R.C. I really can’t think of one—the ones that impressed me had legs & the ones that didn’t disappeared.
