Australian IT - Digital radio clears hurdles (Vincent Blake, APRIL 06, 2004): "Digital radio clears hurdles
Vincent Blake
APRIL 06, 2004

THE age of digital radio has arrived and a large-scale trial of the technology in Sydney has the organisers, Commercial Radio Australia, excited.

Test transmissions of the CD-quality signals of 12 radio stations began in Sydney in December.

The L-band and VHF band III transmissions have cleared their main hurdles and CRA chief executive Joan Warner says tests can now move on and involve consumers.

The main snag was to overcome interference with television (analog and digital) and FM radio signals from the same Willoughby tower.

Consumers will get to see what all the excitment is about later this month when a special display will be opened in Harvey Norman's Auburn store.

See it they will, because digital radio offers at least two or three lines of scrolling text that can display the song title, its lyrics, and other material related to the broadcast.

The system handles text, GIF, JPG and HTML files, and streams MPEG4 video, although there are as yet no receivers to support that feature.

Warner says Australia has come into the digital age at the right time, despite the long delay in getting the trial going.

Digital radio has been broadcasting in Britain for almost a decade, giving broadcasters and receiver manufacturers time to develop their offerings."