# Annoucement from Dish - Changes in ATSC PSIP handling starting Feb 1, 2005



## Jason Nipp (Jun 10, 2004)

*Annoucement from Dish - Changes in ATSC PSIP handling starting Feb 1, 2005* 
Many users have been experiencing problems tuning various OTA channels recently with the 811 receiver. The most commonly reported problems have been seeing a screen alternating between video and black with the info banner popping up, and channels moving around in the guide.

The 811 receiver is a more intelligent OTA receiver than most that are currently on the market. It continuously monitors the PSIP stream from the local broadcaster in order to automatically adjust for changes made in the programming stream by the broadcasters. An example includes adding a temporary subchannel for special event situations. Most receivers would have no idea a subchannel was added because they parse the PSIP stream only when first tuned to a channel, and would only know of its existence in most cases if channels were rescanned or if the channel was tuned away and then back.

But, when broadcasters have errors in their PSIP stream (which up until February 1st compliance with ATSC PSIP stream standards is completely voluntary), those errors can cause the 811 to attempt to process the changes and appear to fail due to the bad data. The solution to this is not to "dumb down" the 811, but to work with each broadcaster to ensure that they are broadcasting a data stream that is in compliance with the soon-to-be-enforced standards. To this end, Dish Network has been in contact with multiple station engineers around the country offering assistance with monitoring their broadcast streams and with working out the errors that they are inadvertently introducing into their broadcasts.

On February 1st, the FCC will begin enforcing the standards as presented in the ATSC A/65B standard. Dish Network is committed to offering assistance to aid in the transition to full PSIP compliance.

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Mark Lamutt
*[email protected]*
*Official DBSTalk 921 Internet Community Liaison*


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