Late to the Game, China Sets Digital Standard

June 18, 2009

IEEE Spectrum has a great article about China's digital tv standard. The standard delivers a high-definition picture in bad weather and on the go.

China just finalized its digital television standard in late 2006, beginning transmission with last summer’s Beijing Olympics. Being late in this particular game is not necessarily a bad thing. It allowed China to take advantage of advances in information-coding technologies that make digital television in China—unlike that in the rest of the world—work well even in bad weather. These technologies mean that China’s digital television can be viewed on the go; it won’t break up even at 200 kilometers per hour—you can watch a broadcast on a cellphone while sitting on a high-speed train. (The United States is only now trying to retrofit its digital-television standard for mobile reception.)