NJN, AccuWeather, Triveni Digital and Zenith Partner for an Interactive Information Portal on Terrestrial DTV
Compelling service, novel use of DTV bandwidth
Princeton Junction, NJ, Jan. 10, 2002
NJN Public Television and Radio (NJN), Zenith Electronics Corporation, AccuWeather, and Triveni Digital showcased the first ever interactive weather channel using the terrestrial digital television spectrum and requiring no back channel for requesting the content. Capitalizing on the flexibility of the ATSC Digital Television (DTV) standard, this compelling new DTV application demonstrates AccuWeather's customized, highly localized weather data services, NJN's digital television infrastructure, Zenith digital set-top boxes (STBs), and the technologies and development capability of Triveni Digital.
The solution uses an innovative architecture by which the AccuWeather data is formatted into a presentation form by Triveni Digital and then embedded within the NJN digital television signal using Triveni Digital's SkyScraper datacasting platform for reception by the specially-designed Zenith STBs throughout the State of New Jersey. This architecture permits rich weather content to be sent to large numbers of receiving devices at the same time. This allows each viewer to interact with the received content individually, while not requiring any type of back channel to a central server.
This innovative digital television application uses the Advanced Television Enhancement Forum (ATVEF) Transport B specification for sending interactive TV data over the DTV spectrum. The data is stored in the STB memory and is available for interactive retrieval using the viewer's remote control. The viewer can bring up various screens of weather information related to local New Jersey and other selected cities in the menu. Compared to other means of accessing weather data, TV-based interactive weather information is compelling in that it provides immediate access over TV while being easy to use with frequent updates. Taking advantage of the flexible 19.4 megabit-per-second broadband pipeline that the ATSC DTV standard provides, NJN plans to expand the portal offering to include local traffic, news, and other innovative local channels from Triveni Digital.
"By working with national industry leaders like Triveni, a New Jersey-based technology company, NJN has the opportunity to pioneer new products and services made possible through digital technology," explains NJN Executive Director Elizabeth Christopherson. "As one of the first ten PBS stations to broadcast a digital signal, NJN also has taken the lead as a test site for national demonstration projects to broadcast data, text, graphics, audio and visual information, along with high definition and multiple program streams," she continued. "In doing so, NJN is adding momentum for the high tech industry development that is a key component of New Jersey's economy. NJN is eager to embrace the new technology and offer New Jerseyans an expanded, interactive and enriched world of learning in their own homes, schools and workplaces."
"AccuWeather has been a pioneer in delivery of custom-tailored, highly accurate, timely and localized weather data, forecasts, and graphics throughout its 39 years," said Dr. Joel N. Myers, AccuWeather founder and president. "This partnership with NJN and Triveni is a quantum step in expanding ways of providing the exact weather information consumers desire, when they need it."
"This kind of application is a good everyday example of what we can do with digital TV, to make people's life easier and more efficient," said Mark Simpson, President and CEO of Triveni Digital. "Now that we have proved that this technology works in trials, we are eager to work with content providers, broadcasters, technology suppliers and end users to explore how we can apply this technology in the real world to benefit all of us. Interactive local information accessible via television is an attractive way of utilizing the vast DTV bandwidth while providing the local viewers with something that they can look up very easily and quickly as they go about their daily lives. The service of providing this type of information to stations is an important growth area for Triveni Digital and is viewed as both a key marketing scheme and a revenue generation tool by stations."
About NJN
NJN Public Television and Radio is New Jersey's multi-media gateway to information and learning. NJN Public Television has been on the air since 1971 and is the state's only broadcast network to reach all 2.85 million New Jersey television households, including the approximately 30 percent without cable. Working with public/private partnerships, NJN now also operates two digital television channels, a seven-station radio network, and extensive online and community outreach services. NJN expands educational opportunities for children and adults; provides a public forum to foster community dialogue and civic engagement; creates original programming about the people, places and events in New Jersey; and chronicles New Jersey's history for future generations.
About AccuWeather and AccuWeather.com
AccuWeather, the World's Weather Authority, provides a portfolio of products and services; through the airwaves, via the Internet, in print and behind the scenes, that benefit hundreds of millions of people worldwide. AccuWeather serves 15,000 customers in media, business, government and institutions and millions more through AccuWeather.com. AccuWeather also provides content onto more than 1,300 Internet sites including CNN Interactive, MSNBC, The Associated Press, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times.
About Zenith
Founded in 1918, Zenith Electronics Corporation is a long-time leader in consumer electronics and a pioneer in the development of digital television technologies. Zenith developed the "VSB" digital transmission system adopted by the Federal Communications Commission as the centerpiece of the ATSC (Advanced Television Systems Committee) DTV Standard. Zenith, which merged with LG Electronics Inc. in November 1999, is committed to being the industry leader in digital HDTV. Zenith's corporate headquarters are in Lincolnshire, Illinois. Visit Zenith on the World Wide Web at www.zenith.com.
About Triveni Digital
Triveni Digital, Inc., a subsidiary of LG Electronics, develops digital television systems, focusing on equipment for management of data and meta-data in digital broadcast streams. Triveni's products for ATSC PSIP, data broadcasting, stream analysis and monitoring are renowned for their ease of use and innovative features. Triveni Digital's Custom Solutions business enables the rapid deployment of solutions for data broadcast applications. Working with leading industry partners, Triveni Digital employs an open and standards-compliant approach to the digital television market.
