Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

What's in a name?

27/09/2022

What's the difference between an acronym and an initialization?

An acronym is when the first letter of the full name or phrase is used to create a new word that you actually pronounce. So words like NASA and laser are included in that group (so is GIF for that matter, but that's a can of worms we don't want to open ).

On the other hand, an initialization is a phrase that has been shortened to its first letters, and you say them individually: VIP, ATM and DVD, for instance. Or BRB, DND, CBA.

Regardless of whether it's acronyms or initializations though (and some that can be argued as both, see for instance the scutee' versus Es See Tee Eee debate ), there can be no doubt - the broadcast industry is packed with them. Of course, specialist language is part and parcel of every industry and niche interest, but in the broadcast industry it seems particularly egregious: why do engineers love naming things with a seemingly nonsensical string of numbers and letters, with only subtle variations between them!? Did it all start with Terminator and the T-800!? We have no shame in admitting that even we - professionals with decades of broadcast experience - occasionally struggle to keep the endlessly growing list of HEVC and SMPTE standards straight in our minds!

But we must remember, one good thing about every new acronym is: it means yet further progress in the broadcast industry. Each iteration means a further refinement; a way of doing things more quickly, more efficiently, more reliably, with greater cost effectiveness and increasingly higher levels of quality. If remembering one more string of numbers and letters means we can deliver 4K video with next to no latency half-way across the globe or compensate for dropped packets to ensure immaculate delivery to audiences of millions - well that seems a small price to pay.

Welcome to the club: ATSC 3.0

Which is why we're very happy to add ATSC 3.0 to our growing dictionary of standards.

You may well already be aware, ATSC 3.0 represents the most recent evolution of standards forwarded by the Advanced Television Systems Committee. Their first generation - released in 1996, approved for deployment in 1998 and fully deployed in 2009 - was fundamental in ushering the change from analog to digital.

Now, more than 25 years later, we have ATSC 3.0, built for a new age of broadcast conventions. But is there really any value in investing in new standards for Over-The-Air (OTA) broadcast transmission?

(Amongst all of this, you might also be asking what happened to ATSC 2.0? It seemed like ATSC were being sensible and straightforward: ATSC 1, 2, 3. But don't be fooled, because ATSC 2.0 was actually skipped - so ATSC can arguably count themselves amongst the likes of HEVC and SMPTE for bizarre, seemingly-nonsensical naming conventions!).

Too late, or just the right time?

But back to our core question - where is the value in new OTA (Over-the-Air) standards? The media has a tendency towards hyperbole - we all know that - so when it comes to the idea that the death of television' has occurred, we'd argue this is a bit of an overstatement. Of course, there can be no doubt that the power of IP has fundamentally changed the landscape of the market, but the reality is there are still many millions of people who watch TV the conventional' way - beamed across the ether, direct to their TV, with a linear and semi-limited range of channels and options to pick from.

And it's important that the broadcast market aims to bring OTA audiences the best experience, rather than treating OTA audiences as dinosaurs. ATSC 3.0 works to do exactly this. Crucially, it has the capacity for multiscreen and interactive elements - something beneficial not only to audiences, but advertisers too. More than this though, it delivers 4K resolution, improved sound quality and HDR content, and allows OTA to be delivered to mobile devices. In essence, it delivers the best of both worlds; allowing those who are still attached to the concept of OTA (or who are limited in their broadband access) to enjoy the benefits of their OTT and IPTV counterparts.

All this comes with greater reliability too - which is of course a challenge whether broadcast is delivered terrestrially, over the internet, via satellite or through cable. The use of Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplex (OFDM) modulation as opposed to 8VSB allows for greater spectral efficiency (that's nothing to do with ghosts) and makes it less likely to suffer from multi-path interference. Adaptive bit-rate technology is also crucial in ensuring Quality of Experience, and in particular, ensuring there is no drop for one of OTA's most important assets: live sports.

The roll-out is going strong in the States, with Jamaica and Canada following soon. But there are a few obstacles; Covid having been one of them, but also a lack of band allocation and a requirement by the FCC that ATSC 1.0 support is maintained in parallel until 2023, with the potential for this sunset date to be pushed back yet further. But with the right support, ATSC will soon see the levels of market penetration needed to realize its full benefits to audiences across Northern America.

All in it together

That support will come from an industry engaged in collaborative, interoperable thinking - a drum we've been banging in many of our recent blogs. We intend to be a key part of that support - and one of the ways we're able to do that is through our ATSC 3.0 to TS Multi-Channel Transcoder.

Now we'll admit to some hypocrisy here: it's called the TXS 3800 - it couldn't be a more stereotypical broadcast tech name if it tried. Why couldn't we have named it after one of our favorite movie characters or something!? (that's an in-joke that we'll be explaining to you in our next blog, so
LINK: https://www.sencore.com/whats-in-a-name/...
See more stories from sencore

Most recent headlines

05/01/2027

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be demoed at CES 2026

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...

04/08/2026

Dalet Announces Commercial Availability of Dalia, Bringing Media-Aware Agentic AI to Enterprise Productions

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...

04/07/2026

Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in Dolby Cinemas Across Japan, Presented in Dolby Atmos and Dolby ...

April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...

01/06/2026

Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026

January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026 Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...

27/05/2026

Telestream Appoints Benjamin Desbois as CEO, Effective July 1

Telestream has announced that its Board of Directors has appointed Benjamin Desbois as Chief Executive Officer, effective July 1, 2026. Desbois, currently Teles...

27/05/2026

FOX MLB Leads Live-Event Categories; ESPN Is Tops Overall at 47th Annual Sports Emmy Awards

ESPN garnered 10 awards; NBC's Sunday Night Football received the Outstandin...

27/05/2026

Matrox Video Marks 50th Anniversary, Announces New Product Launch for June

Matrox Video is celebrating its 50th anniversary, marking five decades of operations from its headquarters in Montreal, Canada. Founded in 1976, the company has...

27/05/2026

MLB Announces Fan Engagement Initiatives for Americas 250th Anniversary

Major League Baseball has announced a series of initiatives tied to America's Semiquincentennial, including a national marketing campaign, Fourth of July br...

27/05/2026

Advanced Systems Group Hires Brian Gross as Account Manager for Audio Team

Advanced Systems Group (ASG) has announced that Brian Gross has joined the company as an Account Manager on its Audio team, based in the Burbank office. He will...

27/05/2026

Nielsen Research: Hispanic Fans, Asian Markets Drive Global Soccer Audience Ahead of World Cup 2026

Nielsen has released new research on soccer fandom ahead of the FIFA World Cup 2...

27/05/2026

ESL FACEIT Group Debuts First Ever Esports Vertical Stream Co-Developed With TikTok

ESL FACEIT Group (EFG) has unveiled a new partnership with TikTok to bring broad...

27/05/2026

Two Weeks Away: FIFA Outlines Production Plans for Highly Anticipated North American-Based World Cup

FIFA's Oscar Sanchez gives a deeper look to how this tournament will be cove...

27/05/2026

SVG Students To Watch: Maggie Lynn, Virginia Tech

The soon-to-be senior from Charlottesville is building her skills in replay, TD, and even creative content for HokieVision and its ACC Network productions In t...

27/05/2026

A Global Festival of Football: FOX Sports Illustrates Strategy to Bring Every FIFA Mens World Cup Match to the U.S. Audience

FOX Sports' Mike Davies breaks down the vision for this summer's showcas...

27/05/2026

Top-Tier Storytelling: Host Broadcast Services Works at Capturing the Atmosphere of the FIFA Mens World Cup

HBS's Paul King, FIFA's Oscar Sanchez preview how the masses at home wil...

27/05/2026

Matt Gangl & Pete Macheska on FOX MLBs Huge Night and an Unforgettable Postseason Run

FOX's MLB coverage dominated the night at the 47th Annual Sports Emmy Awards...

27/05/2026

FOXs Mike Davies and Team on Outstanding Technical Team Win for 2025 World Series

One of the most memorable Postseasons in baseball history would have had no memo...

27/05/2026

NBC Sports Rob Hyland Reflects on an Unforgettable Sunday Night Football Season

NBC's Sunday Night Football is among the most decorated and most watched programs in the history of television. It added to its jam-packed trophy case on Tu...

27/05/2026

Prime Videos John Ward and Mike Francis on Groundbreaking NBA on Prime Video Studio

The 2026 Sports Emmys marked a watershed moment for Prime Video Sports. After bu...

27/05/2026

Countdown to FIFA World Cup 2026: SVG Launches SportsTechLive Blog in Lead-up to Winter Games

With the Opening Match just over two weeks away, the entire sports-production-te...

27/05/2026

Spotify Brings Long-Form Magazine Articles to Audio

Spotify already brings together listeners' favorite music, podcasts, and audiobooks in one place. Now, we're trialing a new format that expands the cont...

27/05/2026

Podcast Clips Make Your Favorite Moments Easier to Save and Share

The best podcast moments deserve more than just a mental note. That's why today, we're making those moments easier to save and share with clips. Whethe...

27/05/2026

Spotify and Netflix Partner With Jay Shetty to Bring On Purpose' to Video Across Both Platforms

On Purpose is one of the most popular podcasts in the world, known for conversat...

27/05/2026

Olivia Rodrigo Brings Billions Club Live to Barcelona: Watch the Concert Film Now

On May 8, 1,500 of Olivia Rodrigo's top fans gathered in Barcelona's Tea...

27/05/2026

JZ Microphones announce the MU-1

Hybrid design combines large-diaphragm capsule & ribbon JZ Microphones have teamed up with Grammy-winning producer and engineer Marc Urselli to develop a ne...

27/05/2026

Tape Effects Collection from AIR Music Tech

Three new plug-ins inspired by classic tape effects AIR Music Tech's latest release delivers a set of plug-ins that aim to capture the character, moveme...

27/05/2026

The Crow Hill Company's Absurdly Quiet Piano goes Pro

Piano played on the edge of silence The Crow Hill Company's Vaults collection offers a continual rotation of instruments that are given away for free fo...

27/05/2026

Arturia release Memory V

Recreates Moog's iconic Memorymoog polysynth Arturia's vast software instrument range offers a combination of new and old, with innovative modern so...

27/05/2026

Accentize introduce free dxLevel plug-in

Offers loudness levelling for speech and dialogue Accentize have built up a solid reputation with their audio-restoration tools, and their latest plug-in is...

27/05/2026

10,000 units strong - The Rohde & Schwarz R&S M3SR Radio 4400

10,000 units strong - The Rohde & Schwarz R&S M3SR Radio 4400 Rohde & Schwarz celebrates a major manufacturing milestone, producing its 10,000th R&S M3SR Radi...

27/05/2026

L3Harris Introduces the XL Converge 300P Portable Public Safety Radio

The XL Converge 300P radio system emerges with a groundbreaking feature set enhancing the mission-critical communications of public safety, federal and critica...

27/05/2026

Modernizing Public Safety Communications

Pairing Two47 MCX software with existing LTE networks means tailored system upgrades that can save time, money and lives....

27/05/2026

L3Harris Strengthens Global Solid Rocket Motor Supply Chain With New PAC-3 Propulsion Supplier

PAC-3 MSE offers improved range, speed, and maneuverability, making it an effect...

27/05/2026

Brightcove Adds New Features to Its AI Suite for Video Advertising

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

27/05/2026

Star Trek VFX: Recreating John Knoll's Iconic Warp Stars without a Slitscan Camera

Star Trek VFX: Recreating John Knoll's Iconic Warp Stars without a Slitscan ...

27/05/2026

Adventure World Uses Blackmagic Replay for Marine Live

Adventure World Uses Blackmagic Replay for Marine Live Brie Clayton May 27, 2026 0 Comments Large screen displays and slow motion replays dynamically ...

27/05/2026

Berklee Alumna and Assistant Professor Olivia Prez-Collellmir to Premiere Original Work at Gaud Centennial in Barcelona

Berklee Alumna and Assistant Professor Olivia P rez-Collellmir to Premiere Origi...

27/05/2026

Gravity Media Expands Into Creative Services With New Agency

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

27/05/2026

Tegna Names Patrick Paolini as CEO

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

27/05/2026

Telestream Taps Company Vet Benjamin Desbois as CEO

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

27/05/2026

HDR10+ Technologies to Launch Eclipsa Video Certification Program

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

27/05/2026

ATSC to Gather in Washington Next Week for Annual Meeting

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

27/05/2026

Telestream Appoints Benjamin Desbois as Chief Executive O...

Co-founder Dan Castles to transition to Executive Chair; internal promotion reinforces continuity and long-term growth Telestream, a global leader in media wor...

27/05/2026

Big Blue Marble Announces First End-to-End 5G Broadcast S...

Big Blue Marble today announced that its Nakolos platform is the first end-to-end 5G Broadcast solution worldwide to implement the complete feature set introduc...

27/05/2026

Lightware Continues Its ESG Commitment Through Girls Day...

Lightware recently hosted the Girls' Day event in April at its headquarters in Budapest, welcoming students for an interactive introduction to engineering a...

27/05/2026

VEON's Kyivstar and Uklon Launch Ukraine's First Live Testing of Autonomous Vehicle Technology

27 May 2026 VEON's Kyivstar and Uklon Launch Ukraine's First Live Testi...

26/05/2026

Matrox Video Marks 50 Year Milestone

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

26/05/2026

Roku Expands Premium Subscriptions With Fox One

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

26/05/2026

Brian Gross Joins ASG's Audio Team as Account Manager

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...