Three Proponents Register Their Intent to Vie for Selection as ATSC 3.0 Audio System

Three proponents had registered by Tuesday afternoon their intent to vie for selection as the audio system for the next-gen ATSC 3.0 broadcast specification, ATSC spokesman Dave Arland emailed us. The deadline for responses to ATSC’s Dec. 8 call for proposals (CFP) was 11:59 p.m. EST Tuesday. The three proponents are Dolby Labs, DTS and, as a group, Fraunhofer, Qualcomm and Technicolor, Arland said. ATSC, through its S34-2 ad hoc group, plans a thorough but fast-track process for choosing a proponent audio system for ATSC 3.0, in keeping with ATSC’s self-imposed deadline of finishing the ATSC 3.0 standard by the end of this year, its CFP said (see 1412090019). Audio systems proposed "will be judged discretely and in their entirety, as comprehensive, end-to-end systems for emission of the ATSC signal," the CFP said. "ATSC does not intend to develop the ATSC 3.0 audio system out of independent components from multiple sources."