Television technology developer SiliconDust is pushing back on claims made by the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) related to an upcoming nationwide test of the Emergency Alert System (EAS) and other federally-mandated emergency notification networks, saying local TV stations and owner groups should already know about the limitations that the country’s newest broadcast standard imposes on the delivery of those messages.
In a new letter filed with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and obtained by The Desk, SiliconDust restated their request that local TV broadcasters pull encryption technology from their NextGen TV signals during a national test of the EAS next month amid concerns that encrypted signals could prevent Americans from receiving test messages on those channels.
Few Americans have NextGen TV tuners in their smart TVs, and even fewer have set top boxes that can decode those signals. The current broadcast standard, called ATSC 1.0, allows local TV stations to offer high definition signals, while NextGen TV takes things up a notch by combining traditional broadcast signals with broadband technology, opening the door to improved video resolution and localized emergency alerts.
But NextGen TV also allows broadcasters to encrypt their signals, a feature that has been controversial among TV set makers, tuner manufactures and consumers alike. SiliconDust’s own HDHomeRun tuner is certified to receive NextGen TV signals, but can’t decode encrypted channels because of unfounded concerns about the technology found inside those devices.
The inability to decode encrypted signals means SiliconDust’s HDHomeRun tuners won’t be able to receive EAS alerts sent over those channels, though the NAB said those concerns are overblown because viewers who can’t receive NextGen TV stations will simply watch an unencrypted channel transmitted over the older broadcast system.
SiliconDust disagreed, saying broadcasters should address known reception problems before the test rather than wait for the results to confirm them.
“The purpose of identifying a barrier before the nationwide test should be to remove it while there is still time, not wait for the test to confirm its consequences,” SiliconDust President Nicholas Kelsey said in the letter filed on Monday.
SiliconDust previously contacted television station groups on October 7, asking them to disable encryption seven days before the test to give broadcasters and viewers time to verify that emergency messages could be received. None of the TV station groups contacted by SiliconDust have agreed to remove their encryption technology on the affected signals during the EAS test.
When it comes to SiliconDust’s hardware limitations, NAB blames the company, saying its “design” choices are the reason why HDHomeRun users can’t receive encrypted channels today. The agency didn’t say that the hardware inside those tuners, which include chips made by China-based Huawei, were the reason why HDHomeRun tuners aren’t certified to receive encrypted stations.
Kelsey said the HDHomeRun has completed the required NextGen TV certification process and that SiliconDust has participated as a paying A3SA adopter for approximately four years. Despite that participation, Kelsey said the A3SA has not provided an approved technical solution allowing gateway receivers like HDHomeRun to decode encrypted broadcasts for playback through commonly used streaming devices and applications.
“This is a limitation of the A3SA’s system, not a manufacturer choosing to forgo authorization,” Kelsey wrote.
The Huawei chip issue appears to be a red herring made by the bodies that certify tuners to receive encrypted signals. Instead, broadcasters appear to be more concerned about HDHomeRun’s requirement that viewers use another device, like a streaming stick made by Roku or Amazon, to watch channels decoded by its NextGen TV-capable device.
Most HDHomeRun tuners, including the one that works with unencrypted NextGen TV signals, lack any direct way to hook the device into the TV, setting it apart from devices like BitRouter’s ZapperBox which work like a conventional converter box or digital video recorder (DVR). Instead, the HDHomeRun boxes require a Roku, Amazon Fire TV stick, smartphone, tablet or another smart screen to display video signals. Broadcasters are worried that allowing HDHomeRun to send signals to other devices could allow content pirates to distribute otherwise-protected programming over the Internet.
That concern aside, Kelsey said federal law requires emergency alerts to be received by the largest possible segment of the population at any given time, which warrants broadcasters removing encryption from their channels during the test. The letter also emphasized that individual television licensees, rather than the NAB, are responsible for their EAS operations and decisions about whether to encrypt their signals.
SiliconDust said it will monitor encrypted channels to determine how the technology prevented messages from reaching viewers during next month’s test.
