(Image credit: Future) TV on the FAST track Samsung's flagship QN95C mini-LED TV is one of the company's new models that includes a built-in ATSC 3.0 tuner. Cheaper ATSC 3.0 tuners in the $75 range that connect to a TV’s USB port have also been announced, but have yet to arrive. And while those have recently become available in limited quantities, at around $250 they are priced higher than most viewers would find acceptable.
Part of the dilemma could be solved using external ATSC 3.0 tuners that connect to a TV’s HDMI input. But overall, set makers have been slow to add ATSC 3.0 tuners to new models, with brands such as LG and Samsung reserving the feature for their higher-end TVs only, and both TCL and Vizio neglecting to provide next-gen TV tuners in any of their offerings. Some companies such as Sony and, more recently, Hisense have been vigilant about implementing the feature in new TVs. That mandated five-year grace period was supposed to allow for TV makers to add ATSC 3.0 tuning capability to new sets being sold. But having to use available channel spectrum to broadcast in both the old and new digital TV formats places limitations on a station’s allotted bandwidth, which means that ATSC 3.0’s fancy new features – primarily 4K resolution, a bandwidth hog compared to regular HD – aren’t being used. The reasoning behind this requirement is that TVs equipped with ATSC 1.0 tuners can’t receive ATSC 3.0 broadcasts – if ATSC 3.0 were the only option, most viewers wouldn’t be able to tune in broadcast TV at all.
#LG TV WITH ATSC 3.0 TUNER FULL#
If you were to ask TV broadcasters why the ATSC 3.0 transition is stalled, and why the standard’s full potential currently isn’t being exploited, they would likely tell you they are hamstrung by the FCC’s requirement that stations simulcast programming in the existing ATSC 1.0 digital standard for five years after upgrading to ATSC 3.0.
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