SPRINGFIELD, VA.—Next Tuesday, Oct. 13, will mark the start of the 2015 IEEE Broadcast Symposium down in Orlando, Fla., a three-day conference set to cover some of the industry’s hottest topics. Here’s a quick look at some of the things that will be talked about during the conference and planned sessions.
5. Alternate Delivery
To stream or not to stream? That is one of the big questions facing broadcasters in this day and age of Netflix, Amazon and the like. IEEE BTS will touch on the topic with a session that will include presentations on second screen interactive applications, IP video delivery costs for live and non-live stream events, and a special look at one of the latest OTT services, CBS All Access with CBS’ Bob Siedel.
4. EAS
As part of a larger session on ATSC 3.0, Peter Sockett, Capital Broadcasting Co., will make a presentation on how the new standard will affect and advance Emergency Alerting Systems. With hurricane Joaquin having recently passed by the East Coast, the new standard to alert viewers about weather and other emergencies is timely.
3. Cyber Security
As the digital transition continues to move forward, being able to protect yourself against cyber threats is becoming even more important. That’s why there will be a tutorial session on cybersecurity on the symposium’s first full day. James O’Neal is heading the session that will see George Waters from Gwanda leading a presentation on cybersecurity risk management and best practices, and ERI’s Tom Sillimann talking about grounding concepts and techniques for broadcast.
2. TV Repack
The FCC’s TV spectrum incentive auction is less than six months away, and IEEE is dedicating a session to help people get ready. While people prepare themselves for just how the auction will go down, Joseph Davis from Chesapeake RF Consultants will give advice on what things could be like after the bidding with his presentation, “TV Repack: Post-Auction Transition Procedures.” Presentations from Sid Shumate of Givens and Bell Inc., and Benedikt Scheid from RFS World will also touch on TV repacking.
1. ATSC 3.0
The big news recently was ATSC's announcement that the physical layer standard of ATSC 3.0 had been moved to the candidate standard process, moving it one step closer to final approval. With ATSC 3.0 being such a huge potential development for the entire broadcast industry, IEEE BTS is spending plenty of time on the topic, with a full morning dedicated to ATSC Standard on Thursday, and then closing out the conference with a look at ATSC implementation on Friday, including Zenith’s Tim Laud presenting on the first field testing of the proposed ATSC 3.0 physical layer technologies.
