LG to Demo 3D Mobile DTV Transmissions at CES

CE manufacturers and broadcasters will be promoting technology all week

By George Winslow -- Broadcasting & Cable, 1/4/2011 12:01:00 AM

Consumer electronics giant LG will be carrying out the first public demonstration of 3D TV transmitted by mobile DTV at this year's Consumer Electronics Show International as part of an effort by CE manufacturers and broadcasters to promote the technology.

Also at the market this week, LG will also be running a "non-real time" demonstration of how the technology can be used to delivery coupons and some Las Vegas stations will be broadcasting mobile DTV signals during the show. 

All three of the major broadcasting groups promoting mobile DTV-the Open Mobile Video Coalition, the Mobile Content Venture and Mobile500 Alliance--will be exhibiting at the conference.

At the show, CE manufacturers will be launching about two dozen devices capable of receiving or allowing other devices to receive mobile DTV signals, notes Anne Schelle, executive director of Open Mobile Video Coalition. Many of these devices will be displayed at the 2011 CES Mobile DTV TechZone.

Valups will be showing a direct-connection Tivizen device that equips existing iPads and iPhones with a loop antenna. USB receivers that plug into existing devices will also be demoed by Hauppauge Computer Works and DTVinteractive.

Cydle will launch a cradle for iPhones and tablets that will receive mobile signals and Winegard is launching CioTV, a DVD player and mobile DTV receiver for the car.

Other exhibitors with mobile DTV devices include RCA, Vizio and Enspert.

Prior to the show OMVC launched a launched a mobile digital signal map at omvc.org showing which stations have launched signals.  About 70 stations had launched services by the end of 2010 but stations covering more than 40% of the country are expected to launch services in 2011, notes Schelle.

At CES today, the OMVC will also be releasing new data on consumer usage of mobile DTV from the Washington D.C. Mobile DTV Consumer Showcase between May 14^th and October 10^th of 2010.

The data documented a great deal of interest in the technology, with the average mobile DTV user spending about 50 minutes watching each day. Uses tended to tune in more than twice a day, with the average session lasting over 22 minutes. Peak viewing periods for mobile DTV was during the day, with the highest levels between 12 PM and 5 PM and while much lower levels of viewing occurred during the traditional broadcast prime time of 8 p.m. to 11 p.m.

One of the key findings was that local news was by far the most popular content, with entertainment news and documentary programming the second most popular genre. Reality programming ranked number 3, followed by political news, food related programming, talk shows, sitcoms, paid programming, kids animation and national news. 

Schelle also noted that the showcase revealed the consumers used the technology to access a wide array of programming-more than 30 different genres were viewed-and that movies performed better on the network compared to cell phone, largely due to the larger screen size.

Usage of the devices spiked during breaking news, such as Wimbledon on July 2 and a storm and power outage on July 25^th in Washington D.C.