TV TECHNOLOGY:What do you anticipate will be the most significant technology trend at the 2018 NAB Show?
RALPH BACHOFEN: For broadcasters, the biggest trend is ATSC 3.0. The next-generation broadcast television system was approved in October 2017 and we are already seeing broadcast television stations successfully rolling out ATSC 3.0 broadcasts without disrupting service to existing TV viewers.
At the 2018 NAB Show, you can expect to see technologies that offer support for ATSC 3.0, allowing broadcasters to deliver innovative services, such as modernized service guides, emergency communication support, addressable content delivery, interactive program enhancements and data broadcast applications. Of course, it’s important to keep in mind that the transition to ATSC 3.0 will be gradual. Broadcasters should choose technologies that support both ATSC 1.0 and ATSC 3.0.
TVT:What will be your most important product news?
BACHOFEN: A key highlight will be ournext-generation StreamScopeanalyzer—the StreamScope MT-60. The StreamScope MT-60 platform now supports a comprehensive toolkit for advanced RF input analysis. Using the MT-60, RF input performance characteristics can be assessed and verified in several new views, including 6 MHz single channel, 18 MHz adjacent channel and full 1 GHz spectrum. Critical RF measurements in these views allow users to quickly identify and isolate RF layer performance issues. What’s especially unique and advantageous about the MT-60 is that it can be upgraded to add ATSC 3.0 analysis capability with StreamScope XM MT software.
We will also demonstrate how the latest version of Triveni Digital’s GuideBuilder XM signaling and announcement generator, with support for ATSC 3.0 MMTP and ROUTE encoding protocols, is helping broadcasters with channel sharing and ATSC 3.0 preparations. GuideBuilderXM offers unified functionality per ATSC 3.0 standard, along with support for legacy standards such as ATSC 1.0 PSIP and DVB-SI. Using GuideBuilder XM, broadcasters can automatically ingest schedule updates from all popular listing services, apply them to any number of services and output program and service guide data to third-party multiplexers.
TVT:How is your new product different from what’s available on the market?
BACHOFEN: Triveni Digital is one of the only digital TV metadata management, content delivery and service quality assurance solutions providers offering full-fledged support for channel sharing, the repack and dual-standards broadcasting. As an established leader in the market, Triveni Digital offers reliable and cutting-edge metadata generation, transport stream analysis, monitoring and troubleshooting solutions, with an entire ecosystem of ATSC 3.0 partners.
What’s more, our solutions have successfully been deployed by broadcasters testing out ATSC 3.0, including Capitol Broadcasting Co., owner and operator of WRAL-TV, WRAZ-TV and WILM-TV in North Carolina, which broadcast the first live commercial ATSC 3.0 simulcast in the United States and WJW-TVin Cleveland. WJW-TV is using Triveni Digital’s GuideBuilder XM ATSC 3.0 signaling and announcement generator and StreamScope XM MT monitoring and analysis system to test interoperability and performance of ATSC 3.0 television operations.
TVT:What is it about the NAB Show that brings you back every year?
BACHOFEN: The NAB Show is a great opportunity to meet with potential and existing customers, showcase our latest metadata management and service quality assurance innovations and demonstrate the fruits of our labor with technology partners. Getting face-to-face time with broadcasters is a learning experience, in terms of collecting feedback from our customer base. Listening to the needs of our customers is what has helped Triveni Digital be a leading technology provider to the broadcast market for more than 20 years.
