The DTV controversy now extends to Korea, where the Ministry of Information and Communication (MOIC) and the Korea Broadcasting Commission (KBC), the regulator of the nation’s TV broadcasting market, are locked in a dispute over the timetable for the country’s DTV transition.
At issue in the dispute over delaying the transition deadline by seven months is 8-VSB, the FCC-approved terrestrial transmission standard that many engineers there think is inferior to other methods - such as the European DVB-T standard. Several Korean broadcasters oppose the use of 8-VSB and want the government to abandon it. The KBC wants more time to study the standard before moving it forward.
In 1997, MOIC chose the U.S.-mandated technology, developed by the Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC) as its standard for terrestrial digital TV broadcasting. Other countries that have already adopted the 8-VSB transmission standard, or are expected to do so, include: Argentine, Candada, the U.S. and Mexico.
