It’s almost 2022 and you are sitting with your family enjoying the morning news. When you were least expecting it, you see a shirtless man wearing horns, rampaging around the US Capitol.
This mind-boggling bizarre situation was going on in the country and imagine not experiencing this in 4K, in your 4K television set. What a waste, right?
Owning a 4K or Ultra HD Television is fun. But the experience can be disappointing more often due to the lack of 4K broadcast content, especially if you got yourself a cable subscription.
But when Will TV Stations Broadcast in 4K? It’s supposed to happen sooner than you think! May be it will be between three to five years.
But first, let’s get to know what the current situation is with 4K broadcasting.
Why There’s Lesser 4K Content Right Now?
As of 2020, 4K broadcasting including HDR was ruled by DirectTV and sports or live event broadcasting channels. You have seen the 4K broadcast of the 2018 Football World Cup. NBCUniversal covered the 2018 winter Olympic games for 4K broadcasting as well.
However, the amount of broadcast 4K content, although increasing by time, is still unsatisfactory.
Another underwhelming aspect is the expense of cable TVs that broadcast UHD content. So, you remain largely dependent on external source players like BluRay that supports 4K, and HDR for making some use of your poor 4K TV.
Why Is There a Scarcity of Content?
TV networks seem unenthusiastic about broadcasting 4K content on a larger scale. Although the scenario is changing, yet many networks have not even explored the 4K broadcasting area. Some networks are dedicated solely to the broadcast of 4K content whereas many networks don’t even consider it.
Consumer levels and the amount of consumption is also a major factor. As of 2018, the UHD adoption rate (usage of 4K UHDTV products) in the US is 31% only.
However, this rate should increase rapidly because 4K broadcast content is soon to be available completely free of cost on your UHD TV as well as your Smartphone devices. And the reason is ATSC 3.0 next-generation TV broadcast standard.
Also Read: Will 4k Become Standard – Know the Truth
ATSC 3.0: TV Broadcast in 4K
You’ve heard about over-the-air-signals, the free signals that can be captured with an antenna to watch anything on your TV. ATSC 3.0 is a new standard for over-the-air channels. ATSC stands for Advanced Television Systems Committee.
A more millennial term for ATSC is NextGen TV. ATSC 3.0 establishes a new technical framework for creating, broadcasting, and receiving TV signals are created, broadcasted, and received.
Today’s TVs still contain tuners that are compatible with ATSC 1.0 (the first version), which is incompatible with ATSC 3.0. If you’re wondering about ATSC 2.0, forget it, it was a lost cause before it even launched. But that situation will change soon hopefully.
How Does ATSC 3.0 Help TV Broadcast in 4K?
In short, it enables viewing 4K content for free if you have an antenna-based TV. ATSC 3.0 enables 4K HDR viewing, DTS-X, and Dolby Atmos experience.
Now if you ask when will the TV stations broadcast in 4K, here’s an answer: in 2020, the TV set manufacturers have started incorporating ATSC 3.0 tuners in the TVs. The ranking by Nielsen plan suggested the invasion of ATSC 3.0 broadcast in 40 US markets (minimum one broadcast).
This will follow 20 additional markets later on.
BitRouter has already built an ATSC 3.0 set-top box. This should step up our hardware game in terms of supporting free 4K TV station broadcast content.
Conclusion
As of 2021, we hope that the market invasion of ATSC 3.0 standards spreads like a wildfire. By the end of this year, the 4K TV station broadcast content should increase considerably.
For too long now we have asked when will TV stations broadcast in 4K. And this is our answer: NextGen TV, ATSC 3.0 will bring it home!
It is still uncertain which channels will broadcast 4K content. Nevertheless, the volume of the 4K-HDR content will inflate distinctively.
So, sit back and wait for another 100 years to get 4K-HDR broadcast content for free…okay, kidding again!
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