Samsung and LG enter Mobile TV Competition

As you know, after Feb. 17, 2009, all analog television broadcasts will end and the U.S. will go digital. Companies are competing with one another to set the standard for mobile TV, which will allow mobile phones to receive and display digital signals from local broadcast stations. Samsung Electronics and LG are joining the arena where only one standard comes out the winner.

Video technology company Thomson and Qualcomm are two other companies that are vying to set the standard. The TV industry’s technical standards-setting body will decide the winner.

The standard-setting body, Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC), is expected to pick a standard sometime next year. The TV industry is hoping to set a standard quickly, so TV stations won’t have to invest in multiple technologies.

With things like broadband and cable cutting into broadcast TV’s customer base, mobile TV may be the vehicle to return local broadcast TV back to prominence, at least while viewers are on the go.

ATSC