Something I really got into while in Korea was watching Korean Mobile TV. The service is called DMB and it’s available on almost all Korean phones. Sometimes the video is choppy depending on where you live but it was generally really good. For this week’s Korea report, I will be talking about DMB as well as I have uploaded some videos of the saved TV content from my Korean phone for you to enjoy.
DMB was developed in South Korea and it’s world’s first official mobile TV service. DMB was launched in May 2005, although trials were available much earlier. DMB is based on the Eureka 147 Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB) standard, and has some similarities with the main competing mobile TV standard, DVB-H.
The most amazing channel on DMB, which hosts about 15 channels in Korea, has got to be the 24/7 Starcraft channel. It’s amazing how much Koreans love Starcraft. I personally don’t understand it because the game is 10 years old and we’ve invented a little something called Halo 3. There’s even a Korean comedian who does near perfect impressions of Starcraft units. I’ve also been told that some of their players make 6 figure salaries.
As you can see the video quality is pretty good, that’s because it’s MPEG-4. The audio and video is encapsulated in MPEG-2 TS.
Not only do Koreans love Starcraft but they love forcing their children to go to school as though it were a sweatshop. I met some kids who go to school from 7am until 12am. When I was their age I was burning spiders with a magnifying glass and boy did that ever pay off.
DMB can be see on a wide range of devices such as mobile phone, portable TV, PDA and telematics devices for automobiles. This meant that even while I was in a taxi, it would be fully functioning and playing some of my favorites. I’m sure at this point you’re wondering why someone who could barely speak a word of Korean would watch so much Korean TV. Good question! Here is why:
Korean comedy is amazing. It reminds me of comedy from America in the 1950s - a lot of slapstick and generally “so bad it’s good”. I have no idea what this guy is saying but it is absolutely hilarious.
On the last Korea Report, I introduced you to a little-known gem called “Tell Me” by the Wondergirls. I’ll finish this report similarly but with a recording from DMB’s music channel featuring what is probably awesome rap music.
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