PBS, LG Electronics and LG Electronics Research Center of America Demonstrate Enhanced Digital TV and Data Broadcasting
ALEXANDRIA, Va. and PRINCETON, N.J., Oct. 25 /PRNewswire/ -- The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), its member stations, LG Electronics Inc. and LG Electronics Research Center of America (LGERCA) this week are demonstrating the next generation of enhanced digital television and data broadcasting to public TV viewers as part of PBS Digital Week 2.0.
These technology advances, developed by PBS and LG Electronics, are being showcased today at PBS's annual Fall Planning Meeting in Washington, D.C.
At the meeting PBS and LGERCA will demonstrate a Web-enhanced digital broadcast of WONDERS OF THE AFRICAN WORLD WITH HENRY LOUIS GATES, JR., which airs on PBS member stations October 25 to 27 at 9 p.m. ET (check local listings).
As part of this enhanced broadcast, viewers will be able to access a rich variety of additional educational components. The 'Wonders' digital enhancements will build upon the content on the PBS companion Web site and add exclusive video files that exploit the high bandwidth afforded by this new distribution channel. The enhancements will be broadcast during the program and will be accessible at the end of each episode. The content will leverage material from the broadcast to deepen, enrich and add context to the viewer's experience and understanding of African culture and history, and will include a variety of music and dance performances and interview clips with Mr. Gates about the series. The video clips will change each night to coincide with the different episodes.
Three PBS member stations -- New Jersey Network in Trenton, NJ, KCPT in Kansas City, MO, and KOPB in Portland, OR -- will have PCs with LG-developed digital TV tuner cards and LGERCA's SkyScraper data broadcasting software, enabling the PCs to receive the enhancements. It will be the first-ever nationwide data broadcast demonstration compliant with the data piping protocol of non-proprietary Advanced Television Standards Committee (ATSC) draft data broadcasting standard.
LGERCA's data broadcasting system, 'Skyscraper', allows digital TV stations to broadcast data to any number of their customers' PCs, without running into Internet bandwidth problems, with viewers able to receive all data being distributed.
An LG-enhanced version of PBS's THE LIVING EDENS will also be demonstrated at PBS's Fall Planning Meeting, using the Advanced Television Enhancement Forum (ATVEF) specification. ATVEF is a cross-industry alliance of companies representing the broadcast and cable networks, television transports, consumer electronics, and PC industries.
The ATVEF specification will allow enhanced programming content to be delivered over all forms of transport (analog, digital, cable, and satellite) to any intelligent receivers. PBS is one of the founders of ATVEF and LG Electronics is an adopter member. LG Electronics developed an ATVEF browser for its set-top box, based on Device Mosaic, a Web browser developed by Spyglass.
Viewers who watch ATVEF programs may browse through the enhanced data while the program continues on the television. With THE LIVING EDENS, they can do so by using their remote to control the ATVEF compliant set-top box developed by LG Electronics.
''Enhanced 'Wonders' is another landmark event in our pursuit of breakthrough digital technology to deliver educational, entertaining content,'' said John Hollar, executive vice president, PBS Learning Ventures. ''LG Electronics' efforts have been absolutely critical to making this historic event possible.''
''I am happy to showcase LG's technology along with advanced content that PBS continues to develop,'' said Jeongyeol Kim, chief research engineer, DTV Research Lab, LG Electronics. ''We are dedicated to developing and promoting advanced digital TV technologies so that everyone will be able to experience TV as they have never before. We will continue to work with PBS closely to test various advanced technologies on multiple platforms.''
''We are big believers in the data broadcast market,'' said Mark Simpson, president of LGERCA. ''Digital TV provides a cost-effective, high-bandwidth delivery path that opens many new opportunities. Working with our parent company, we have developed a leadership position in data broadcasting technologies, including ATVEF and JavaTV. We are excited to work with PBS, a well-known innovator in data broadcasting, in this important area of data broadcasting.''
LG Electronics Inc., based in Seoul, South Korea, is one of the top manufacturers of computer products and is a worldwide leader in display technology and optical disc drives. With 50,000 employees operating in 54 countries, LG Electronics had a turnover of US$ 7.2 billion in 1998. More on LG Electronics can be found at www.lge.co.kr .
LG Electronics Research Center of America (LGERCA), is a subsidiary of LG Electronics, and was founded in 1997 in Princeton, New Jersey. LGERCA develops Digital Television software, systems and solutions, and is working with a number of partners to bring innovative products to market. LGERCA's staff brings years of experience in industrial research and leading edge product development to bear on the emerging DTV industry. Its URL is www.lgerca.com .
SOURCE: Public Broadcasting Service
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'Skyscraper' is Zenith's 8-VSB, digital terrestrial transmission system and its digital tuner software (also claimed by LGE) we saw demonstrated by Zenith in this year's CES in Las Vegas.
Not one mention of Zenith in the press release. Apparently, LGE had planned to "kill" Zenith on September 28, 1999 in Delaware Bankruptcy court and to claim all its digital technology.
Can Zenith remain alive? We will find out on November 5, 1999 if I am not "eliminated" first. |
