DTV transition in Mexico

[w9wi]

Since there isn't a board for Mexican TV...

The Mexican government has made some significant changes to their DTV transition policy. The original document is on http://cft.portaldesarrollo.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/TDT_rev2012_1.pdf ; someone more fluent in Spanish than myself may wish to read this & confirm (or attack!) my interpretation...

Anyway, what I think are the high points:

- MEXICO'S ANALOG DROP-DEAD DATE IS NOW 31 DECEMBER 2015.
- MEXICO WILL NOT AUTHORIZE DTV STATIONS ON LOW-VHF. Mexican DTV will be on channels 7-51.
- MEXICO WILL ALLOW THE USE OF H.264 (MPEG-4) VIDEO CODING.

- In many markets, the drop-dead date is earlier.
- There will be a pilot conversion project in Tijuana; analog stations there will go dark on April 16th of *next year*.
- As in Canada, this now applies only to stations in larger cities; rural relay stations may remain analog indefinitely. However, a much larger proportion of Mexico's stations lie in what Canada calls "mandatory markets".
- Cofetel will encourage stations to operate below channel 37 -- they presume there will be a further repacking into 7-36.
- Some use of H.264 has already been observed on Mexican stations. Many (most?) U.S. DTV receivers will not decode H.264.
- Mexico will accept applications for new DTV-only stations. They will also accept applications for new *analog* stations but only in areas that will not be required to convert.
- Mexico is encouraging the use of subchannels. If a station does *not* use subchannels, its main channel *must* be in HD.

- I am not very confident of my interpretation of point 4.5 in the linked document, but I *think* (and Google Translate seems to confirm) that it allows for a station to use its existing analog channel for "intermittent" digital transition -- to operate alternately in analog and digital on the same channel. i.e., XHAB-7 might broadcast in analog on channel 7 on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday; in digital on channel 7 on Tuesday, Thursday, and on weekends.

 

[kenglish]

I wonder if there will be subsidized converter boxes?

 

[KML0224]

What other key border areas could switch early besides Tijuana?

 

[w9wi]

Tecate, Mexicali, Juarez, Monterrey, Matamoros, Nuevo Laredo, and Reynosa are to switch later in 2013. A *very* quick perusal suggests the markets switching in 2014 are in the central third of the country, with the last (2015) switchovers happening in southern Mexico. That's a pretty rough estimate though and I already see one exception. (Saltillo, switching in 2015)

kenglish: I don't see anything about subsidized converter boxes, but that probably would have been off-topic for this document. (in the same way that the coupon program in the U.S. was not a FCC doing and is not mentioned in Part 73)

BTW, I located another document indicating that IBOC is now authorized nationwide, although as of this spring there were only four IBOC stations operating in Mexico. It had initially only been authorized within 320km of the U.S. border.

 

[azumanga]

- MEXICO WILL ALLOW THE USE OF H.264 (MPEG-4) VIDEO CODING.
- Some use of H.264 has already been observed on Mexican stations. Many (most?) U.S. DTV receivers will not decode H.264.

Would the use of H.264 be mandatory, or will it be an option along with ATSC? If H.264 is mandatory, it would cause problems for stations that rely on American viewers such as XETV or XHAS in San Diego.

 

[w9wi]

- MEXICO WILL ALLOW THE USE OF H.264 (MPEG-4) VIDEO CODING.
- Some use of H.264 has already been observed on Mexican stations. Many (most?) U.S. DTV receivers will not decode H.264.

Would the use of H.264 be mandatory, or will it be an option along with ATSC? If H.264 is mandatory, it would cause problems for stations that rely on American viewers such as XETV or XHAS in San Diego.

No, the way I read it H.264 is *not* mandatory.

 

[FreddyE1977]

Does the choice of MPEG-4 mean the signal will not be viewable to U.S. viewers?
Our DTV is still operating on MPEG-2, so far as I know.

 

[Robnoxious]

Looks like Mexico took a long look at how the digital transition in the U.S. went and smartly made good decisions on how they will handle it. Staying out of the VHF-low (2-6) band was wise. It eliminates a headache that's been nothing but problematic for the handful of stations up here that insist on being in that range (namely the WPVI debacle).

The optional allowance for H.264 is intriguing since that would be one component of Mexico's DTV that would be incompatible with ours. I doubt very many boarder blasters will use it since our televisions couldn't decode the signal. Also, television manufacturers will have to create a separate SKU for televisions sold in Mexico since MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 decoding will have to be built in. As it stands now, televisions in the U.S. would only half work right in Mexico. Even less so if H.264 encoding is fully embraced down there.

 

[Kent]

Looks like Mexico took a long look at how the digital transition in the U.S. went and smartly made good decisions on how they will handle it. Staying out of the VHF-low (2-6) band was wise. It eliminates a headache that's been nothing but problematic for the handful of stations up here that insist on being in that range (namely the WPVI debacle).

As I understand, WPVI was pretty well boxed into channel 6 as their digital channel was out of core, and the TV markets that are next to Philadelphia use a ton of channels. It wasn't a good situation. KCWX in San Antonio also asked for 8, but the FCC stuck them with 5 as the "best available channel" because 8 was both too close to and too far away from KTBC and KLRN to work from Fredricksburg.

I agree, however, that Mexico is probably being smart about getting rid of the low-band VHF. Like you said, there hasn't been much success with it here. An engineer in California thinks low-VHF would be incredible on digital if it could operate at analog power levels, but that's really not practical.

 

[Sammi Brie]

Mexico is going through a bidding process that will add stations nationwide, including one to two new national networks.

Here are some pieces of importance:

-Mexican stations will shut off on one of four dates: 4/16/2013 or 11/26 in 2013, 2014, and 2015.
-Mexico is not abandoning low-VHF right away. The piece says that "Conforming to the above and with the effect of developing optimal usage of the spectrum, television channels will only be assigned between channels 2 and 51". This is at the bottom of page 10. Though two paragraphs down, it does say they want to favor groupings between channels 7 and 36 and that they want most stations to broadcast in that portion of spectrum (top of page 22).
-Channels in Mexico City and Guadalajara will go off the air in 2014.
-Phase 4 of the original DTV transition plan begins January 1, 2013 with the goal of starting DTV coverage in cities of population 500,000 to 1 million. Several Mexican cities that were not previously part of this plan have been added, such as Mexicali, Cancun and Nuevo Laredo, either due to proximity to the United States or to growth that has brought areas above the 500,000-inhabitant mark.

 

[w9wi]

Raymie: Thanks for the additional information, appreciated!

FreddyE1977: Yes, U.S. DTV doesn't use H.264. (at least not for "ordinary" DTV. Mobile DTV does use H.264 coding.)

But again, use of H.264 is *optional* in Mexico. I'm sure any station with an economically-important audience in the U.S. will use MPEG-2. Probably, *every* station will use MPEG-2 for their "main" channel.

Some Ion stations in the U.S. have been testing some H.264 subchannels, presumably for a "wireless cable" system marketed to Hispanics. Special receivers would be necessary. Some folks with computer-based USB tuners have been able to decode these transmissions if they have a H.264 codec installed on their computer. I've heard through the grapevine that some Mexican stations have already been running H.264 subchannels and that the necessary receivers are already on sale.

My speculation (and this is only speculation) is that the Mexican market is large enough -- and the cost of adding an H.264 decoder, in quantity, is small enough -- that we'll see H.264 added to North American-market receivers.

 

[Mediafrog+]

Mexican analog stations are still frequently seen by TV-DXers in the U.S., so they'll need to catch 'em while they can.

Interesting about the push to abandon channels 2 through 6. With Mexico rapidly moving AM stations to the FM band, that might give them some impetus for expanding the FM band down to 76 MHz--an idea that the U.S. should also seriously consider.

 

[ercjncpr]

XETV 6 Tijuana goes to what RF channel?

 

[azumanga]

Raymie: Thanks for the additional information, appreciated!

FreddyE1977: Yes, U.S. DTV doesn't use H.264. (at least not for "ordinary" DTV. Mobile DTV does use H.264 coding.)

But again, use of H.264 is *optional* in Mexico. I'm sure any station with an economically-important audience in the U.S. will use MPEG-2. Probably, *every* station will use MPEG-2 for their "main" channel.

I suppose the use of H.264 in Mexico will be the same as for the US -- for mobile and specialised DTV services.

XETV 6 Tijuana goes to what RF channel?

UHF channel 23, carrying two subchannels:

.1 -- "San Diego 6" (The CW)
.2 -- Canal 5 programming

 

[mjlarochelle]

I'll be very interested to see how the DTV transition plays out in Mexico. OTA usage is very high in Mexico; I've been in Mexico City for the past few months and I've noticed numerous OTA users, probably over 40%. Many Mexicans likely can't afford cable, but also I believe there is little incentive to get cable in Mexico as most of the popular programming, including most sporting events, are OTA; additionally, Azteca 7 and 13 have been missing on cable in a large part of the country since February because of a carriage dispute, and some cable users I know are hooking up antennas to continue watching these channels, one of which aired the recent Eurocup tournament which had a large following there.

In light of high OTA usage, fewer marketing incentives to get cable, and the economic situation many Mexicans face including in the capital, I sure hope the government has some plans to help people make the conversion.

 

[BMR]

My speculation (and this is only speculation) is that the Mexican market is large enough -- and the cost of adding an H.264 decoder, in quantity, is small enough -- that we'll see H.264 added to North American-market receivers.

Yes, we've had a similar situation here with the UK and the Republic of Ireland using different systems. Most recent HD converter boxes work with both systems.