Harris To Intro ATSC Mobile DTV Applications

Harris Corp. will demonstrate a series of new ATSC Mobile DTV Applications at the 2011 NAB Show (Booth N2502) in alliance with LG Electronics, WRAL Raleigh, N.C., Roundbox and iSet. The demonstrations, which will highlight the viability of new and evolving applications supported by the emerging ATSC Non-Real-Time Content Delivery Candidate Standard, include:

Auto Stereoscopic 3D

The Harris MPH ATSC DTV system with Roundbox signaling and electronic service guide (ESG) software will transmit a 3D television channel to a prototype 7-inch receiver from LG designed with auto-stereoscopic capability. The demonstration, to be shown for the first time at NAB, removes the need for special glasses to view the 3D images. LG will provide 3D formatted and encoded content and a special ATSC Mobile DTV receiver capable of processing and displaying the live 3D broadcast. The broadcast will be transmitted throughout the North Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center.

Electronic Couponing

Working with Harris, LG will show its first Android-enabled smartphone prototype equipped with Mobile DTV reception to demonstrate the capability of receiving non-real-time data including electronic coupons. The demo will show how users can access coupons from local merchants who are advertising on KLAS Las Vegas. Roundbox will provide non-real time data services aligned with the emerging ATSC candidate standard to power the application, which is broadcast by the Harris MPH transmitter system.

Mobile Digital Signage

This demonstration will replicate the successful mobile digital signage deployed by WRAL on local transit authority buses. Harris InfoCaster digital-out-of-home solutions will forward content to an LG flat-screen monitor to reproduce the ATSC Mobile DTV signal, weather graphics, advertising, public announcements, text messages and datacasting enhancements supported through the Roundbox server.

Interactive Mobile Tweeting (Tweet-TV via MDTV)

Harris transmission technology will enable an innovative social network services application for the first time. LG, Harris and Roundbox will show an application that allows viewer “tweets” to be displayed interactively on a mobile DTV receiver while a program is airing. The Harris/Roundbox Mobile DTV system enables the delivery of viewer tweets that are received as data files and displayed in a transparent panel over a portion of the screen. The receiver is a version of an LG Android smartphone. The application enables viewers to carry on an open discussion of program content or reply to questions that could be part of an audience quiz.

Roundbox Widget Server Applications

In support of ATSC Non-Real-Time Candidate Standard-compliant services, Roundbox will demonstrate its RSSCaster Widget for data source integration and its ClipCaster Widget for on-demand playback of broadcast-related data. The RSSCaster demo will show a widget supporting a dynamic news feed, with new articles displayed similarly to an RSS reader. The ClipCaster demo will show how Roundbox monitors, schedules and generates non-real-time data streams for media clips housed on a remote server for transmission over the Harris MPH system.

Harris and Roundbox will also support a mobile broadcast of Web content created by Alabama Public Television and delivered using the Roundbox WebCaster widget platform. The pushed Web content allows a local browsing experience on a broadcast-only receiver, as well as interactivity through links to external content if the receiver device is Internet-connected. Data streams from RSSCaster, ClipCaster and WebCaster are processed by Widget Client middleware built on the Roundbox Client Toolkit.

Traffic and Travel Information

iSET Co., a mobile datacasting manufacturer, will demonstrate its real-time on-air traffic services live from Chicago, New York City, Las Vegas and Los Angeles. The iSet solution encodes and schedules real-time raw traffic data, including accidents and traffic flow predictions, via its TPEG Watcher solution for transmission over the Harris MPH solution. Digital Stream will provide its ATSC Mobile DTV receiver for the demo.

Emergency Alerting

This demonstration will show how weather alerts, police and fire emergencies, Amber Alerts, public safety warnings and other rich data alerts can be pushed to millions of mobile consumers simultaneously without congesting mobile networks and crashing infrastructure. The demo will show how the Roundbox Server ingests data from RSS feeds and generates non-real-time data streams for transport over the Harris MPH system. Roundbox middleware monitors new alerts for immediate display over pop-up windows.