TABLE OF CONTENTS The ATSC (Advanced Television Systems Committee) digital television (DTV) broadcast standard is used in the United States, Canada, South Korea, Taiwan and Argentina.
The three other primary DTV standards are DVB (Digital Video Broadcast), ISDB (Integrated Services Digital Broadcasting) and OpenCable . A comparison between the standards is shown in Table 15.1. The basic audio and video capabilities are very similar. The major differences are the RF modulation schemes and the level of definition for non-audio/video services.
| Parameter | US (ATSC) | Europe, Asia (DVB) | Japan (ISDB) | OpenCable |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| video compression | MPEG-2 | |||
| audio compression | Dolby Digital | MPEG-2, Dolby Digital, DTS | MPEG-2 AAC-LC | Dolby Digital |
| multiplexing | MPEG-2 transport stream | |||
| terrestrial modulation | 8-VSB | COFDM | BST-OFDM [2] | - |
| 6 MHz | 6, 7, or 8 MHz | 6, 7, or 8 MHz | 6 MHz |
| cable modulation | 16-VSB [3] | QAM | QAM | QAM |
| 6 MHz | 6, 7, or 8 MHz | 6, 7, or 8 MHz | 6 MHz |
| satellite modulation | QPSK, 8PSK | QPSK | PSK | - |
| 1. ISDB = Integrated Services Digital Broadcasting. | ||||
| [2]BST-OFDM = Bandwidth Segmented Transmission of OFDM. [3]Most digital cable systems use QAM instead of 16-VSB. |
The ATSC standard is actually a group of standards:
| A/52 | Digital Audio Compression (AC-3) Standard |
| A/53 | ATSC Digital Television Standard |
| A/54 | Guide to the Use of the ATSC Digital Television Standard |
| A/57 | Content Identification and Labeling for ATSC Transport |
| A/64 | Transmission Measurement and Compliance for Digital Television |
| A/65 | Program and System Information Protocol for Terrestrial Broadcast... |
