ETRI achieves feat of having its technology adopted as Brazil's broadcasting standard

A terrestrial broadcasting transmission technology developed by Korean researchers has been adopted as the next-generation broadcasting standard in Brazil, following its adoption as a North American standard.

The Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI) announced on August 29 that the physical layer transmission method for Brazil's next-generation broadcast standard (DTV+) has finally been selected by Brazilian Presidential Decree. It is a transmission technology that combines ATSC 3.0-based multiple input and multiple output (MIMO) and layered division multiplexing (LDM), and was officially adopted as the ATSC 3.0 physical layer international standard in September 2024.

Under the TV 3.0 project to introduce next-generation broadcasting services, Brazil released a Request for Proposals in 2020 for technologies in the physical layer, transport layer, and video/audio, and invited candidate technologies.

ETRI has developed a new transmission technology combining MIMO and LDM based on ATSC 3.0 for the first time in the world, and has jointly proposed it as a candidate technology for the physical layer of the next-generation broadcasting standard in Brazil together with ATSC, a North American broadcasting standardization organization. In addition, global broadcast organizations in Japan, China, and Europe each proposed candidate technologies.

The Brazilian SBTVD Forum, which is implementing the TV 3.0 project, selected Korea and the U.S.'s ATSC 3.0 and Japan's Advanced ISDB-T technologies as the final candidates after rigorous laboratory technology verification of the four proposed candidate technologies.

ETRI developed a prototype with CLEVERLOGIC, a Korean broadcasting and telecommunications equipment company, and actively participated in real-world testing, the final selection process. In the process, it further developed MIMO transmitter identification technology and LDM-based local broadcast insertion technology to meet Brazil's additional requirements.

Brazil's SBTVD Forum has selected the ETRI/ATSC proposal as its next-generation terrestrial broadcast physical layer transmission method after careful consideration of the technology's maturity, performance and commercialization potential, and economic impact. The Brazilian government officially approved this with a presidential decree.

TV Globo, Brazil's largest broadcaster, used the combined MIMO and LDM technology developed by the researchers to broadcast the Paris 2024 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

ETRI proactively developed the combined MIMO and LDM technology, leading to the adoption of ATSC 3.0 technology as Brazil's next-generation broadcasting standard.

In June of last year, Dr. Park Sung Ik, ETRI's Principal Researcher, was awarded the 2024 ATSC Richer Industry Medal by ATSC for his standardization activities in Brazil and India.

ATSC 3.0 is a technology that was developed with the active participation of domestic companies such as Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics, as well as ETRI, and is the first technology introduced by Korea in the world. It was an opportunity for domestic companies to actively enter the overseas broadcasting equipment market.

The introduction of ATSC 3.0 technology in Brazil raises the possibility that ATSC 3.0 broadcasting technology will spread throughout South America and provides an opportunity for domestic companies to take the lead in entering the South American market.

Brazil's adoption of ATSC 3.0 signals the need for continued technical cooperation between Brazil and other South American countries and Korea, and marks an important turning point in the development of the broadcasting industry in both countries.

Bang Seung Chan, ETRI's President, said, "The adoption of this technology as the broadcasting standard is a great achievement, a result of ETRI leading the development of original technologies and global technology competition since it was adopted as a North American standard in 2020. It will be a model case of international cooperation that has resulted in securing international technological influence."

Provided by National Research Council of Science and Technology