Richer ‘Cautiously Optimistic’ ATSC 3.0 Video Book Will See December Balloting

ATSC President Mark Richer remains “cautiously optimistic” the A/341 ATSC 3.0 video document “will go out to ballot” in December for elevation to the status of a proposed standard, “but it’s possible it could be delayed until January,” he emailed us Monday through a spokesman. Technology Group 3, the body within ATSC that’s supervising the framing of ATSC 3.0, made “a great deal of progress” on high dynamic range for the next-generation broadcast standard, Richer told us the week before Thanksgiving (see 1611170058). But the impasse inside TG3 over HDR for ATSC 3.0 has three times delayed the ballot on A/341, most recently when TG3 again extended the candidate standard period on the document for two months to Jan. 30. Under ATSC rules, extending A/341's candidate standard period again was a procedural move “necessary to ensure the document does not revert back to a Working Draft if for some reason the Proposed Standard ballot is not issued” before the Jan. 30 deadline, Richer said. He wouldn't comment whether TG3 has decided on an HDR solution for ATSC 3.0 among the six technology proposals vying for selection (see 1605200031).