Raleigh broadcaster first to turn on mobile DTV

Open Mobile Video Coalition (OMVC) charter member Capital Broadcasting today turned on the first publicly deployed broadcast of digital television to mobile devices in Raleigh, North Carolina. The broadcaster will deliver real-time DTV and interactive data to digital screens strategically placed in Capital Area Transit (CAT) buses throughout the city.

The free-to-air service, developed in partnership with the City of Raleigh, WRAL and CBC New Media Group, will mirror WRAL’s local, syndicated and network programming throughout the day. Additional information will include city-oriented news briefs, real-time weather and other information relevant to commuters and bus passengers.

The OMVC first introduced the mobile DTV standard nearly one year ago, followed by trials of its local and live mobile TV service in Raleigh, Las Vegas, Chicago and other markets throughout the year. The organization was successful in bolstering support from more than 850 United States-based broadcasters and has rollouts planned throughout 2009. Today’s announcement marks the first specific plans to introduce the free-to-air service to consumers.

Mobile DTV chipsets based on the ATSC, or Advanced Television Systems Committee, mobile TV standard, can be embedded into essentially any consumer-electronics device ranging from MP3 players to mobile phones to laptops to portable DVD players, but there has been particular interest in in-vehicle screens.

According to WRAL.com, an R Line bus, a free service that runs a downtown circuit, was the first to feature mobile DTV in Raleigh. Four additional buses will be fully operational this summer, with 20 more planned throughout the following year. In addition to running the first mobile DTV field tests last summer, Capitol was also among the first to get an experimental license for high-definition TV and to provide a test market for the digital transition.

LG and Harris Corporation provide the underlying technology, compliant with the ATSC A/153 candidate standard for mobile DTV, including receivers and flat-screen monitors from LG and Harris’s MPH platform and InfoCaster digital signage. In Raleigh, regional company Microspace Communications is providing the wireless networking and digital signage system management, and Digital Recorders is providing integration of the communications systems on CAT buses.

The OMVC demoed mobile DTV on LG devices at CTIA and has broadcaster announcements planned for next week’s National Association of Broadcaster’s show in Las Vegas.