Digital TV coming to smartphones
It was only a matter of time before we would begin seeing some interesting combinations of over-the-air digital television broadcasts and cell phones.
Why not? The newest smartphones should be able to handle DTV signals without much heavy lifting.
So I wasn’t very surprised when last night, at a press event called CES Unveiled, the people from Samsung were proudly previewing a specially modified Samsung Moment phone that is also stuffed with new circuitry that makes it a DTV receiver.
The somewhat long antenna sticking out of the phone’s case is a dead giveaway of what this device is all about.
The Moment is Samsung’s first try at an Android-OS device. Sold by Sprint, the phone has two features that make it perfect as a test TV receiver platform – a terrific AMOLED color screen – and a fast processor (800 MHz) to handle all the stuff involved in receiving/processing an HDTV signal.
To take advantage of this test platform, you have to be near an over-the-air HD television broadcasting a special video stream for portable devices. So far, the FCC has made that process optional for broadcasters.
It’s somewhat like Qualcomm’s new FloTV system except for the fact that this new service could be free to the general smartphone-owning/DTV-watching public.
Inside the Venetian Hotel, Samsung experts were able to receive just one Las Vegas TV station broadcasting the special stream – but I have to admit the results were very cool. The video looked really terrific and the audio was actually synched perfectly.
You may have seen what digital television looks like when you get your signal from a cable or satellite TV source. But, if you’ve never seen what uncompressed, over-the-air HDTV looks like, you’re in for a treat. It is truly amazing. Sporting events are particularly great. If you’re TV has a built-in over-the-air tuner you should hook-up a set of rabbit ears and see what I’m talking about.
Back to the Samsung phone. The big smartphone/DTV test is currently taking place in Washington, DC (I’m guessing that’s so FCC members could try it for themselves).
If all goes well this portable digital TV system could become part of the U.S. broadcast landscape as soon as the second half of 2010.