By Kim Tae-gyu
Staff Reporter

While watching K-League matches on television, viewers are often tempted to check out the profile of a surprise standout that may be unfamiliar.

However, almost all of them hate muddling through the hassle of turning on their computers and looking for details of the player in the middle of a match.

The full-fledged arrival of data broadcasting, which has appeared on the horizon this year, would put an end to such troubles by providing every K-Leaguer’s profile in tandem with the football hook-up.

A government official said Monday that the Korean Broadcasting Commission (KBC) would streamline related regulations regarding the data broadcasting next month.

In accordance with the government initiative, Korea’s commercial TV stations vow to deploy complete data broadcasting this year.

The traditional system sends just audio and video signals, but data broadcasting adds a large volume of data to the digital stream, providing a range of compelling services.

Data broadcasting would allow viewers to check the prices of products shown on TV programs or the hearing-impaired to switch on subtitles.

The advent of the new-concept broadcasting is heavily indebted to the transition to digital TV because a large volume of data cannot be sent under the current analogue system.

The move to digital TV has recently been accelerated with the end of the row over transmission format, which has brightened the future of data broadcasting.

Earlier in July, the Ministry of Information and Communication (MIC) agreed with the broadcasting industry to adopt the U.S. format as a single national standard, ending years of protracted dispute.

Experts predict data broadcasting will catch on nationwide after the coverage of the digital broadcasting service is expanded across the country by the end of 2005 under the MIC roadmap.

Significantly, data broadcasting would usher in the era of the much-anticipated two-way broadcasting based on point-to-point communication.

Unlike the point-to-multipoint system, interactive broadcasting builds up a return path via telephone lines or broadband Internet, allowing viewers to express their preferences by snapping up products displayed on the screen or joining TV opinion polls.

Some describe data broadcasting as a stepping stone from one-way broadcasting to an interactive system as various functions become possible with the provision of various data.

Interactive broadcasting is important since it is thought to hold a key to profitability for digital TV operators, at least in the canvassing stage of implementation.

voc200@koreatimes.co.kr