Zenith Details Proposed DTV Enhancements

E-VSB Further Improves Signal Robustness

24-Apr-01

Building on the ATSC digital television (DTV) standard, Zenith Electronics Corporation announced E-VSB technology, a series of compatible enhancements aimed at strengthening the overall performance of digital TV broadcasting.In addition to enhancing terrestrial reception to fixed antennas and receivers, the E-VSB system will be applicable to portable and pedestrian DTV service, and in the more robust modes, even mobile service. Use of E-VSB would not require modifications to the FCCís emission standard.Zenith, a leading innovator in digital television and the developer of vestigial sideband (VSB) modulation, unveiled the details of this new approach at NAB 2001, the annual convention of the National Association of Broadcasters. On April 2, the company formally submitted its E-VSB plan to the Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC), which established a subgroup to explore possible VSB Enhancements. E-VSB is a set of enhancements to ATSC 8-VSB that trades payload bit rate for robustness. Zenithís multi-rate modulation method is fully compatible with the current ATSC standard and transparent to standard ATSC receivers already deployed. Properly equipped E-VSB receivers will be able to decode both standard 8-VSB and enhanced E-VSB programs and data with substantially improved multipath performance for both, as well as significantly improved ìwhite noiseî performance for the enhanced programs and data.To the extent there was an intra-industry debate over the DTV transmission standard, that discussion ended in January when the NAB and Association for Maximum Service Television (MSTV) boards of directors voted overwhelmingly to endorse the incumbent standard and reject a European alternative. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) reiterated its strong support for the ATSC DTV standard, adding that it has no intention of revisiting the matter. Today some 186 television stations spanning 64 media markets are offering digital programming to an estimated two-thirds of all U.S. TV households. Under the FCCís timetable, all commercial TV stations must be broadcasting digitally by May 1, 2002.For more information about Zenith Electronics Corporation, visit www.zenith.com.

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