(PCIP, Program and System Information Protocol) PSIP is a standard set by the ATSC that provides a methodology for transporting DTV system information and electronic program guide data. The first application of PCIP you'll most likely see upon tuning a channel is as a station identifier. It might tell you the station call letters and their channel number. Information provided is fully programmable by the TV station. In the early days of DTV it doesn't necessarily reflect what's actually going on. Television stations have long identified themselves by their analog channel number, NBC 4 or ABC 7 or CBS 2 as examples. In their DTV allocations they might be NBC Channel 36, ABC Channel 53 and CBS Channel 60. These stations could set their PCIP to identify themselves by their analog channel number or what ever else they think is appropriate. The number in the PCIP doesn't even have to be a real channel number. A station might decide that it wants to be number 1. Getting there is simply a matter of setting the PCIP to 1 before anyone else does. The next piece of information the PCIP provides is the number of program sources you might expect within that DTV channel. Here again the information doesn't have to be real. Stations that do multicasting during the day and high definition in the evening might leave the PCIP set for daytime activity, just not providing the additional programming indicated by the PCIP during the evening hours. Eventually PCIP will also provide program guide information. The viewer may be able to interact with this information. The DTV tuner might be programmed to use PCIP information for Direct Channel Change (DCC). If a station is multicasting, providing several different programs at the same time, and the viewer can set a preference to see one type of programming in particular. If that is an option being broadcast, it will come up when the channel is first tuned, independent of its position in the order they are being broadcast. This option might also be set to go to the program guide first instead of any of the actual programs. The reality of PCIP at the beginning of DTV is that few if any stations are providing program guides. A number of stations put up seemingly random information in the PCIP, maybe just testing their ability to program it. Unfortunately, DTV receivers attempt to draw upon the PCIP information in tuning channels. As stations change the channel number in their PCIP the tuner changes the order in which they appear. If you want to tune a particular station you can enter their actual DTV channel number or their PCIP number. If you are using the channel up or down key to cycle through channels and you land on a PCIP indicating multiple channels available, you might find yourself cycling through all of the allocations, even if only one is active, before being able to go on to the next channel. The tuner we use has a Program button on the remote control that will get around that problem. Changes are still being made to the PCIP specification. Early DTV receivers may not be capable of providing all of the functions of the latest generation of PCIP capability.