160 likes | 251 Views
PROSPECTS FOR DIGITAL TV. Philip Laven Chairman, DVB Project Vice-Chairman, FOBTV NATEXPO, Moscow 6 November 2012. DVB STANDARDS. DVB is a not-for-profit organisation that develops technical standards for digital TV DVB’s initial standards were:
E N D
PROSPECTS FOR DIGITAL TV Philip Laven Chairman, DVB Project Vice-Chairman, FOBTV NATEXPO, Moscow 6 November 2012
DVB STANDARDS • DVB is a not-for-profit organisation that develops technical standards for digital TV • DVB’s initial standards were: • DVB-S (digital satellite TV) in 1993 • DVB-C (digital cable TV) in 1993 • DVB-T (digital terrestrial TV) in 1995
DVB’s SECOND-GENERATION • The second-generation standards are based on technologies that were not available in the mid-1990s or were too expensive at that time • Each of the second-generation standards offers dramatic improvements in performance compared with the earlier standards • DVB-T2 can deliver 50% more data than DVB-T • DVB-T is typically used to deliver 24 Mbit/s in a standard 8 MHz channel • DVB-T2 can deliver 36 Mbit/s in the same channel • with no change to the coverage area • with no increase in the transmitter power
DVB = SUCCESS • Screen DigestTM study reported that “DVB is the most widely used transmission standard in the world”
CHALLENGES AHEAD • Challenge #1 is to get people to adopt digital TV • consumers need to buy new equipment (set-top boxes or new integrated digital TV sets) • Challenge #2 is to persuade everybody to stop using analogue TV • the analogue TV services cannot be switched off until ~99% of consumers have changed over to digital TV • it is easy to convert 50% of homes to digital, but the last 5% are much more difficult • this process can take up to 10 years
CHALLENGES AHEAD • In 2005, the European Commission proposed the beginning of 2012 as the deadline for completing analogue TV switch-off in all EU countries • Analogue switch-off has now been completed in 22 of the 27 EU countries • The remaining 5 EU countries are: • Poland (July 2013) • Bulgaria (September 2013) • Greece (2014?) • Hungary (2015) • Romania (2015)
REGIONAL STANDARDS • Different regional standards for digital TV might have been excusable when TV sets were rarely moved between countries • High-quality portable displays (e.g. smart-phones and tablets) dramatically change the environment • Achieving a single global standard is undoubtedly “easier said than done”, BUT it would be sad if the next-generation of digital terrestrial TV perpetuated the existing fragmentation of standards • A unified standard would offer huge benefits for broadcasters, manufacturers and, above all, consumers
The FOBTV (Future of Broadcast TV) initiative was established by a declaration agreed in Shanghai on 11 November 2011 at precisely 11.11.11 on 11/11/11
A NEW BEGINNING? • FOBTV is hopefully the start of a new era in which “global collaboration” will be the key principle • Such enhanced collaboration is emphasized by the appointment of Mark Richer (ATSC’s President) as FOBTV Chairman and Phil Laven (DVB’s Chairman) as FOBTV Vice-Chairman What will FOBTV do?
GOALS OF FOBTV • Develop future ecosystem models for terrestrial broadcasting taking into account business, regulatory and technical environments • Develop requirements for next generation terrestrial broadcast systems • Foster collaboration of DTV development laboratories • Recommend major technologies to be used as the basis for new standards • Request standardization of selected technologies (layers) by appropriate standards development organizations (ATSC, DVB, ARIB, TTA, etc.)
FOBTV • There is no shortage of ideas in FOBTV • which ones are the most important? • FOBTV must overcome other challenges: • The “not invented here” syndrome in which protagonists prefer their own technology over technologies suggested by others • “IPR stuffing” where participants suggest that a particular technology be included in the specification because their employer has a relevant patent
LOOKING FORWARD • Continuing pressure on the spectrum means that broadcasters must adopt the most efficient technologies • modulation and coding systems • video compression systems • Although many countries have still to make the transition to HDTV, some countries are considering the introduction of UHDTV • We must not miss these opportunities for global standardisation . . .
CONCLUSIONS • Russia’s adoption of DVB-T2 is absolutely the right decision • Analogue switch-off will require careful planning • and lots of publicity addressed to consumers • In the longer term, the next generation of standards for digital TV must be global . . . • New spectrum-efficient delivery systems must • provide TV services to mobile and portable devices, such as smart-phones and tablets • meet the demands of SDTV, HDTV and UHDTV • FOBTV is likely to lead such developments