In recent decades, digital video and audio coding technologies have helped revolutionize the ways we create, deliver, and consume audiovisual content. This is exemplified by digital television (DTV), which is emerging as a captivating new program and data broadcasting service. This paper provides an overview of the video and audio coding subsystems of the Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC) DTV standard. We first review the motivation for data compression in digital broadcasting. The MPEG-2 video and AC-3 audio compression algorithms are described, with emphasis on basic concepts, system features, and coding performance. Next-generation video and audio codecs currently under consideration for advanced services are also presented.

The basic concepts of the transport layer of the ATSC digital television system, including multiplexing, timing, and synchronization, are presented. Constraints on and extensions to the MPEG-2 Systems standard are discussed, including the important extension that adds Program and System Information Protocol (PSIP). Transport related aspects of private data carriage and conditional access are also described.