Chile Picks Japanese-Brazilian DTV Standard

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Another Latin American country has selected SBTVD Brazilian terrestrial DTV standard, which is based on the Japanese ISDB-T standard. Several news sources on Tuesday reported that Chile has elected to go with that system for its terrestrial broadcasting.

A Dow Jones article, Chile to Adopt Japanese Digital-TV Standard notes that SBTVD's capability for mobile DTV was a factor in the decision. Chilean telecommunications minister Rene Cortazar was quoted as saying that this was important for a country such as Chile, as there are more than 15 million mobile phones in the country, or almost one per person.

The DVB.org web site has a detailed history of Chile's selection of a DTV standard.

For another look at SBTVD and its impact in Latin America, see Japanese digital TV model poised to rule Latin America on France24.com.

Doug Lung
Doug Lung
Contributor

Doug Lung is one of America's foremost authorities on broadcast RF technology. As vice president of Broadcast Technology for NBCUniversal Local, H. Douglas Lung leads NBC and Telemundo-owned stations’ RF and transmission affairs, including microwave, radars, satellite uplinks, and FCC technical filings. Beginning his career in 1976 at KSCI in Los Angeles, Lung has nearly 50 years of experience in broadcast television engineering. Beginning in 1985, he led the engineering department for what was to become the Telemundo network and station group, assisting in the design, construction and installation of the company’s broadcast and cable facilities. Other projects include work on the launch of Hawaii’s first UHF TV station, the rollout and testing of the ATSC mobile-handheld standard, and software development related to the incentive auction TV spectrum repack. A longtime columnist for TV Technology, Doug is also a regular contributor to IEEE Broadcast Technology. He is the recipient of the 2023 NAB Television Engineering Award. He also received a Tech Leadership Award from TV Tech publisher Future plc in 2021 and is a member of the IEEE Broadcast Technology Society and the Society of Broadcast Engineers.