Grand Alliance (HDTV)

The Grand Alliance (GA) was a

ATSC standard

.

Recognizing that earlier proposed systems demonstrated particular strengths in the FCC's Advisory Committee on Advanced Television Service (ACATS) testing and evaluation process, the Grand Alliance system was proposed to combine the advantages of all of the previously proposed terrestrial digital HDTV systems. At the time of its inception, the Grand Alliance HDTV system was specified to include:

Flexible picture formats with a
raster formats
.
Progressive scanning and square pixel capabilities in both raster formats.
Interlaced scanning
and rectangular pixel formats.
Video compression based on MPEG-2
, with additional syntax elements that represent contributions from each previously proposed system.

A packetized, prioritized data format, providing flexibility of services and extensibility.

Audio and transmission systems had not been decided at the time of the GA agreement. Five channel audio was specified, but a decision among the

COFDM had been proposed by third parties, but was rejected as not being mature, and not offering fringe-area

coverage equivalent to analog transmission. A thorough analysis of service area, interference characteristics, transmission robustness and system attributes would be performed to determine the "best approach."

In the end, 1080, 720 and 480-line resolutions were implemented at various aspect ratios and frame rates, with progressive and interlaced scanning (the so-called "18 formats"), together with

MUSICAM system was rejected.^[2] Following a five-year lawsuit for breach of contract, MIT and its GA representative received a total of $30 million from Dolby, after the litigants reached a last-minute out-of-court settlement.^[2] Dolby also offered an incentive for Zenith to switch their vote (which they did), however it is unknown whether they accepted the offer.^[2]

Grand Alliance Chronology

1987 - Advisory Committee on Advanced Television Service is formed, with Richard E. Wiley as chairman
1990 - Simulcast principle advocated by the FCC
1990 - Four competing digital HDTV systems announced
1992 - Systems tested at Advanced Television Test Center (ATTC)
1992 - All competitors announce planned improvements
1993 - ACATS Special Panel recommends retesting
1993 - Grand Alliance forms, "collaborative" phase begins
1994 - Grand Alliance system undergoes ATTC verification testing
1995 - ATSC Standard A/53 is published, incorporating Grand Alliance System
1996 - FCC Adopts ATSC A/53 as standard for the transmission of digital television, but excludes requirements with respect to
scanning formats, aspect ratios, and lines of vertical resolution

1997 -

Emmy Award

to Grand Alliance companies for developing and standardizing the transmission and technology for digital TV.

References

^
ISBN 978-0786449750

^ ^a ^b ^c MIT Getting Millions For Digital TV Deal

Randall M. Sukow, "Technology: Could HDTV's answer be a 'grand alliance'?", Broadcasting & Cable, retrieved 2007-03-04, March 1, 1993.

A/53: ATSC Digital Television Standard, Advanced Television Systems Committee, archived from the original on 2009-02-01, retrieved 2007-03-04, December 27, 2005.

Fourth Report and Order in MM Docket No. 87-268, FCC 96-493 (PDF), Federal Communications Commission, retrieved 2007-03-04, December 24, 1996.

ISBN 978-0-15-600597-5
, August 1998.

DTV REPORT ON COFDM AND 8-VSB PERFORMANCE (PDF), FCC Office of Engineering and Technology, retrieved 2007-03-04, September 30, 1999.

[1] 
ISBN 978-0786449750

[dtvdeal-2] MIT Getting Millions For Digital TV Deal

[2]