LG Electronics, Harris Corporation Demonstrate MPH™ Mobile Digital TV at International Broadcast Conference in Argentina

Making its first appearance outside North America, an ATSC (Advanced Television Systems Committee) compatible in-band mobile digital TV system is being field-tested under real-world conditions today at the CAPER 2007 conference attended by leading television broadcasters and government officials from throughout the hemisphere.

The ATSC-compatible MPH™ in-band mobile DTV system, developed by LG Electronics Inc., Harris Corporation (NYS: HRS) and Zenith, is capable of providing reliable reception to mobile, pedestrian and handheld devices. The system is making its inter-American debut with live, over-the-air demonstrations on the opening day of CAPER, providing robust, DTV signals to receivers in a minibus traveling around Buenos Aires, including some of the city’s most signal-challenged locations.

“Demonstrating the robust capabilities of ATSC-compatible mobile DTV in South America underscores the flexibility of ATSC DTV for broadcasters and policy-makers,” said Robert Graves, chairman of the ATSC Forum. “While simultaneously delivering high-definition and multi-programming standard-definition to fixed receivers using the ATSC DTV standard, the MPH™ system will deliver exciting new programming options to handheld and mobile receivers, all in the same 6-MHz ATSC channel.”

For broadcasters, this new technology has the potential to create new and potentially lucrative revenue streams. For consumers, MPH™ enables users to view their favorite programs from local broadcasters, watch movies and sports, and access local news and weather information, even when traveling in fast-moving vehicles or using handheld video devices away from home.

In addition to an ATSC high-definition television (HDTV) program, two mobile MPH™ programs are being broadcast terrestrially using the digital TV transmitter of ARTEAR (Arte RadioTeleviso Argentino) within the single 6-MHz Channel 12 ATSC DTV broadcast. One of the MPH™ streams is the real-time MPH™ encoded version of the normal Channel 12 program, in order to demonstrate that a local broadcaster’s normal programming can be received “on the go.” The ATSC-like MPH™ signal is being transmitted from the ARTEAR tower on the Edificio ALAS building, located on Av. Leandro N., using only an ERP of 25 kWatts. The main ARTEAR ATSC HDTV programming is being simultaneously received at fixed locations within Buenos Aires.

Prototype mobile MPH™ receivers developed by LG Electronics are being used to receive and display the MPH™ mobile programs. Harris installed the completely compatible MPH™ encoding and transmitting equipment at the ARTEAR facilities, and LG engineers are conducting the mobile demonstrations. In addition, a member of Zenith’s engineering team, Tim Laud, is scheduled to present a technical paper on MPH™ at the conference.

The MPH™ mobile DTV system leverages Harris Corporation’s expertise in broadcast systems — including transmitters, exciters, encoders and management software — and the systems development, integrated circuit design and vast consumer electronics experience of LG Electronics and its U.S. subsidiary, Zenith. This in-band mobile DTV technology, under development for more than two years at the LG Electronics DTV Laboratory in Seoul, South Korea, and at LG’s Zenith lab near Chicago, builds on two key ATSC standards, also developed by Zenith: the robust Enhanced VSB (E-VSB) system and 8-VSB (Vestigial Side Band), the proven modulation system at the heart of the ATSC DTV standard currently used by more than 1,500 U.S. DTV broadcasters and in every DTV receiver sold in the United States.

To help commercialize its technology concepts for the broadcast industry, LG Electronics turned to long-time industry leader Harris Corporation. Harris Corporation’s extensive systems integration and research capabilities contributed significantly to the broadcast system’s development.

The overarching goal of the companies was to devise a robust, ATSC-compatible mobile solution for local broadcasters to maximize the use of their 6-MHz, 19.39 megabit-per-second digital pathway in providing a wide range of compelling and profitable consumer services. This meant maintaining the centerpiece application, digital HDTV, to the tens of millions of fixed receivers in U.S. homes, while simultaneously reaching viewers on-the-go with a low-bit-rate digital TV signal and data services.