Future of AI digital narrow band video for long range broadcasting!

[N5XZS]

Interesting reading on AI digital narrow band video.

Have fun reading this cool stuff!

The experimental landscape for commercial and broadcast-grade video over the lower frequencies is heating up. Major broadcasting consortia and international experimental stations are actively pushing the boundaries of what can be crammed into a mediumwave or shortwave footprint.
The biggest real-world updates on commercial and experimental digital AI video applications on the MW and HF bands showcase these emerging trends:

The Massive Breakthrough: STARWAVES & DRM "Diveemo" VVC Showcase
A massive milestone for commercial digital radio video occurred when the STARWAVES DRM Diveemo implementation premiered. [1]

• The Technology: For the first time, engineers successfully ran real-time video over the Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM) standard across the AM (Mediumwave) and FM bands. [1]
• How it works: Instead of relying on traditional power-hungry video formats, this breakthrough integrates the Versatile Video Coding (VVC) compression standard alongside the xHE-AAC audio codec. By blending VVC with data-efficient stream multiplexing, they proved that a free-to-air broadcast can deliver functioning video services alongside audio and multimedia without any internet connection. [1]
• The SDR View: Because this is built directly onto the standard DRM protocol, it utilizes the exact same MW/HF bandwidth windows used by digital commercial radio today, meaning SDRs equipped with a DRM decoder plugin are the front-line receivers for this tech.

The DRM Consortium's AI Showcase (UNESCO World Radio Day)
The DRM Consortium staged an unprecedented series of global shortwave and mediumwave technical demonstrations showcasing AI-enhanced broadcasting. [1, 2]

• The AI Component: The trials demonstrated how AI tools can dynamically generate multi-language text-to-audio content and sync it with text and images over shortwave and mediumwave channels. [1, 2, 3]
• The Delivery: The transmission was picked up across five continents. The receiving equipment transformed the incoming low-bandwidth digital radio data into a localized Wi-Fi hotspot, allowing standard tablets and smartphones to pull down the dynamic, AI-generated multimedia content completely off-grid. [1, 2, 3, 4]

The FCC Crackdown on "Secret" Experimental HF Stations
On the regulatory front, the FCC issued a sweeping policy change targeting the mysterious, high-power experimental HF stations operating in the 2–25 MHz bands. [1]

• The Context: Many of these experimental stations (some running up to a massive 800 kW of power) had previously been granted waivers to transmit complex digital data signals without identifying themselves.
• The New Rule: The FCC officially revoked these waivers due to widespread interference complaints from other spectrum users, including the amateur radio community. Moving forward, all experimental digital HF broadcasters must disable all digital encoding and modulation at least once every 30 minutes to transmit their call signs in clear voice or Morse code.
• What to watch for: If you are monitoring your Malahit-DSP2's waterfall on the HF bands, look for massive, wide digital data pipes that suddenly drop their digital mode twice an hour to broadcast a standard analog station ID. These are the primary testing grounds where proprietary, high-speed data formats—including narrow-band video architectures—are being tested. [1]

www.radioworld.com

FCC Reminds Experimental HF Stations to Identify Themselves - Radio World
Experimental HF stations are known to run as much as 800 kW of power, but until December, some licensees held waivers allowing them to operate without ID.

Digital Radio Mondiale

Digital Radio Mondiale Celebrates UNESCO World Radio Day 2026 with ...
low-power DRM receivers convert the signal into a local Wi-Fi hotspot, allowing inexpensive tablets, laptops or phones to access lessons without relying on inte...

starwaves.com

World's First: Diveemo – Real
real-time video using the latest video and audio codecs VVC and xHE-AAC can be delivered over Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM) in the AM and FM bands.

www.redtech.pro

DRM highlights global broadcasts, new launches and AI demonstration on ...
DRM — a digital radio standard designed for use across AM, shortwave and FM bands — can support education and public-value services,

YouTube·RedTech News - Radio, Digital Audio, Podcast

DRM highlights global broadcasts, new launches and AI demonstration on World ...
AI tools convert text to audio and deliver multilingual lessons via digital radio shortwave.

LinkedIn

DRM Records Global Digital Radio Broadcasts on UNESCO World Radio Day
DRM partners transmitted digital radio signals across five continents, reaching listeners from Austria to New Zealand.

 

[comfortably_numb]

Now we'll see the FCC try to auction off the AM and FM bands?

 

[N5XZS]

Not likely since the wavelength is too long for cell phone frequencys grabbing auction to bid on

 

[Mister B]

I have daydreamed about the possibility of receiving TV on AM frequencies. All that would be needed would be a small loop antenna on top of the TV and the signal would even travel over hills and mountains as a ground wave.
Science fiction, no doubt.

 

[N5XZS]

We had experimental mechanical scan videos on MW and HF broadcast bands in 1926 to around 1940 and the video resolution 26 lines to high as 180 lines and varys 5 to 30 FPs at that time.

Thanks to AI video digital Codecs we might able to send video at 380p to high as 1280x720p 50 or 60 FPs, not SI Fi any more!

It's TV DXer's dream comes true!!