Zenith Digital Technology To Deliver HDTV Signals To Exhibitors At History-Making CES
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LAS VEGAS, Jan. 6 /PRNewswire/ -- Digital high-definition television (HDTV) receivers will make their industry debut this week, displaying over-the-air broadcasts of unsurpassed quality thanks to the digital transmission system developed by Zenith Electronics Corporation (NYSE: ZE - news).
An estimated 90,000 attendees at the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES), which begins here Thursday, will experience the vivid, theater- like sights and sounds of this exciting new medium on digital television (DTV) receivers exhibited by Zenith and a number of other TV manufacturers.
HDTV programming will be transmitted using Zenith's VSB (vestigial sideband) technology to the Las Vegas Convention Center by KLAS-TV, the CBS affiliate here, and by PBS member station KLVX-TV. Zenith is supporting the broadcasts with digital equipment and technical expertise, and all television manufacturers receiving the live HDTV broadcasts will use Zenith VSB technology in their sets.
''We're especially proud that our transmission technology is bringing the digital HDTV experience to this history-making CES,'' said Nick Mehta, Zenith's chief technical officer. ''The digital television age, which for U.S. consumers will begin this fall with the first digital TV receivers and commercial broadcasts, has the potential to revolutionize and reinvigorate both the consumer electronics and broadcasting industries,'' he said.
A key member of the Digital HDTV Grand Alliance, Zenith developed the VSB digital transmission system adopted by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) as part of the ATSC (Advanced Television Systems Committee) DTV broadcast standard.
The VSB system assures a broad HDTV coverage area, prevents interference to existing analog broadcasts, and provides immunity from interference into the digital signal. The significance of Zenith's high-performance modulation technology is that it allows broadcasters to transmit digital video, audio and data services reliably and without distortions.
Implementation Well Under Way
The Grand Alliance-based digital TV standard was unanimously adopted by the FCC on Christmas Eve 1996. Another major regulatory hurdle was cleared in April 1997, when the Commission allocated the additional spectrum required for digital TV broadcasting and defined the timetable for the transition from analog to digital.
The FCC ruled that stations in the 10 largest media markets must begin digital TV broadcasting by May 1, 1999. (Twenty-six stations in the 10 largest markets have voluntarily committed to have a digital TV signal on the air by Nov. 1, 1998.)
Stations in the 30 largest markets must begin digital TV broadcasting by Nov. 1, 1999, and all commercial stations must have a digital signal on the air by May 1, 2002. Public television stations will have an extra year (no later than May 1, 2003) for the conversion. In the year 2006, analog TV broadcasting is scheduled to cease and all-digital TV broadcasting will begin, although that is a target date and subject to FCC, and congressional, review.
A pioneer in HDTV technologies, Zenith Electronics Corporation, based in Glenview, Ill., is a leading developer, manufacturer and marketer of electronic entertainment products. (Visit our website at zenith.com.) Zenith is introducing its first HDTV receivers at the 1998 CES.
SOURCE: Zenith Electronics Corporation
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