Testing of the Grand Alliance HDTV Transmission Subsystem

Abstract

An 8-VSB transmission subsystem was selected by the Grand Alliance and approved by the FCC Advisory Committee on Advanced Television Service as a component of the HDTV system intended to substitute ,for the NTSC system now used jbr television broadcasting in North America and other parts of the world. Selection was made on the basis of laboratory testing. To determine the suitability qf the system for terrestrial broadcasting and cable distribution under real-world conditions of propagation, tests were conducted in the vicinity of Charlotte, N. C., employing both V H F chmnel 6 and UHF channel 53. The system was found to meet expectations, sornc>what exceeding the petj%rmance of NTSC, even though the average efective radiated power (ERP) for the HDTV system was 12 dB below the peak visual ERP cf the NTSC system. The results qf the tests are discussed in this paper.