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| Pictured are DVB Members and friends at the SES sponsored DVB IBC Cocktail Party 2016. Held on the DVB stand, the event has become an annual tradition. Plans for this year's get-together are already underway and will be hosted courtesy of ENENSYS. |
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September's IBC will be an opportunity to catch up with the latest developments taking place in DVB. Drop by the stand to catch up on the latest from Study Missions taking place including one on WiB to evaluate a possible future of a Wideband reuse-1 system and another on Targeted Advertising where DVB is investigating whether a DVB specification in this area would be feasible and beneficial to the market and its development. Also, the DVB VR Commercial Module has held its first meeting and will be reporting their initial considerations.
DVB's ongoing work to meet the challenges posed with IP delivery and the coexistence of multiple standards will be highlighted with reports on the latest work carried out with ABR Multicast, DVB-DASH and DVB's cooperation with HbbTV.
A number of stand demos will highlight the ongoing work taking place, including the latest on the UHD Phase 2 features with DVB-T2 in combination with HD (1080p100), HFR, HDR (HLG), and wider color gamut.
Further details of the IBC demos will be announced nearer the time.
As always, the DVB stand will be tended by DVB representatives and technology experts, available to answer queries and provide information on DVB's wide ranging family of open, interoperable, market driven standards.
We are also looking forward to this year's Evening Cocktail Party and to greeting old and new friends. This year's get together is sponsored by ENENSYS.
Join us at IBC in our usual place in Hall 1 Stand D81.
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VR Commercial Module Elects Chairman
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Ludovic Noblet
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At the 78th meeting of the DVB Commercial Module held this week, Ludovic Noblet (b-com) was endorsed as chair of the Commercial Module-Virtual Reality (CM-VR). Ludovic was the group's former convener.
The appointment followed his election by the newly formed CM-VR at its first meeting which took place last week (June 20 -21). The CM-VR group has been created to start work on drafting commercial requirements for a DVB VR system. This follows the publication of the extensive DVB Virtual Reality Study Mission report led by David Wood which was published late last year. The aim of the Study Mission report was to determine whether VR video is likely to be commercially successful, and consider the role DVB can play.
At the meeting of more than 30 participants it was decided that, in line with the conclusion of the Study Mission, the first phase will mostly focus on VR/360 contents delivered to untethered devices, i.e., those which can fully implement a VR/360 playback.
A new DVB-VR Study Mission Group will be chaired by David Wood to continue to investigate the options for a VR solution with 6 Degrees of Freedom (6DoF). See David's update below.
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David Wood Looks At The Uncharted Waters of Virtual Reality
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We can put our VR documents into three files: 360 video (you swipe the screen to get to different parts of the scene), 3DoF and 3DoF+ (you use a headset with a smart phone container), and 6DoF (you use a more complex headset linked to a PC). Exciting ideas, but the jury is still out on how successful they will be.
The report, in autumn 2016, of the DVB's Study Mission on Virtual Reality completed the first phase of its work. It concluded that, in the short term, the job to be done was to agree a format for delivering 3DoF VR. The box can be ticked for the first step.The CM-VR group to prepare commercial requirements for a 3DoF delivery system is now working. The group eagerly awaits your sign-up.
The Study Mission continues to evaluate the role DVB could play in 6DoF, and a workshop in autumn 2017 is planned. This will be arranged jointly with the VRIF, the industry group that hopes to agree requirements for VR before the end of the year.
Among other studies, EBU members' R&D labs examined the potential of VR for public service broadcasters. They concluded that 360 video would have the greatest roll-out in the near term for broadcasters. Did they get that right?
Great in number are the opinions and groups looking at VR across the industry. If there is a collective noun for many conferences on the same subject (I'm told it's "a groan of conferences"), it can be applied to VR.
Probably, right now, we need to follow the main initiatives in VR, and see where they lead. "Watch this Virtual Space"?
The Study Mission on Virtual Reality can be found here.
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Welcome Decision In South Africa Aids Move To Digital
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In news from South Africa, the country's Constitutional Court has ruled on the matter concerning the non-encryption of set-top boxes for digital terrestrial television, paving the way for digital migration. Last year a Supreme Court of Appeal judgment struck down the former Minister of Communications, Faith Muthambi's decision not to allow the use of encryption in STBs. This judgment follows an appeal brought by Muthambi following an earlier ruling by the Supreme Court of Appeal, that she had not followed the correct process when she amended the country's Broadcasting Digital Migration Policy to allow the use for non-encrypted STBs.
The new Communications Minister, Ayanda Dlodlo, said in a statement issued by the government that she was "pleased that the department can now proceed with the implementation of the digital terrestrial television program, bringing South Africa a step closer to meeting the December 2018 switch off deadline".
South Africa had intended to meet a 2013 target for analog switch-off, but the move to digital has been overshadowed by a series of problems. The original plan to provide encryption in set-top boxes was seen by the former Communications Minster as a hindrance to the progress of switching to digital.
South Africa adopted DVB-T2 in January 2011 as the national digital terrestrial broadcasting standard. The government plans to provide STBs to around 5 million households.
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The Video Industry Report is an independent annual survey that polls the industry's leading broadcasters, with the aim of capturing the global market trends.
The online survey was targeted at participants belonging to different business categories in the industry.
This year, the collected response was from over 120 top executives of leading companies. This is a representative sample of the entire value chain - from content production to distribution, pay-TV platforms, cable operators and IPTV, clear channels, etc., that was used to create the report.
It also achieved a wide geographical representation of 38 nationalities around the world.
The report concluded that UHD is now a sizeable format for 66% of broadcasters who are already providing UHD services or are planning to launch them in the next 5 years.
The question has shifted from whether UHD will become a mainstream service to when this will occur.
It found that 84 channels and services in UHD have been launched globally, with half being broadcast via satellite and the other half distributed mainly via streaming or IPTV. In addition, the report includes insights on the most relevant business models for the launch of sustainable UHD services and o
n the availability of content.
According to the research group Dataxis, nearly 12 million 4K TVs were sold in Europe during the year 2016, which represents a growth of 102% in comparison for the year 2015 (6 million 4K TVs shipped). The sales were driven by U.K (2 million), Germany (2 million), France (1.7 million), Russia (1.4 million) and Italy (880,000). Furthermore, it estimates that 4K TV sales in Europe will reach 17 million by the end of this year.
However, the 4K TV set market in Europe remains far away from China which is the leading market. More than 25 million 4K TVs were sold in China in 2016 and Dataxis estimates that 40% of TV shipments for the first quarter of 2017 were 4K against 33% for 2016.
According to the group, it is predicted that 4K sales in Europe will continue to increase rapidly despite the lack of 4K content. The wide range of 4K TVs available and the dynamism seen in the Chinese market shows that 4K sales are bound to rise in Europe in the coming years.
Sources: Video Industry Report & Dataxis
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Look For the DVB-T2 Compliance Mark In The Czech Republic
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Terrestrial broadcasting in the Czech Republic is the primary means of delivering TV services. It offers universal coverage to 99% of the population and free-to-air nationwide access to 25 TV channels and 10 radio stations. At least 60% of households rely on DTT, underlining the importance of this distribution platform.
After the ITU's decision in late 2015 to allocate more spectrum to mobile services in the 700 MHz band (694-790 MHz), the government opened discussions on frequency refarming. In 2017, it was decided that the UHF band would be released to mobile operators by February 2021 at the latest.
The decision was then made to use DVB-T2, with HEVC. Implementation began in March 2017 and will see three nationwide transitional DVB-T2 networks, which for approximately two years, will broadcast simultaneously with the existing DVB-T network. The switch off date of the national DVB-T network is planned for 2020. After the completed switch over, five or six nationwide DVB-T2 multiplexes will operate in the country.
The transition to DVB-T2, with HEVC, is mostly being conducted by CRA (České Radiokomunikace), an infrastructure company with over 50 years in TV and Radio broadcasting and an innovator in HbbTV & OTT in the Czech market. CRA also runs a 3,500 km backbone optical network, approximately 1,000 broadcasting poles and towers, its own data centers, cloud computing services and is developing its own IoT network.
CRA commenced rollout a nationwide DVB-T2 transitional network in 2016, which to date covers 69% of the population. Upon its completion in Q1 2018 its, the coverage will have reached 99%. In addition to this network for the broadcasting of commercial TV channels, a DVB-T2 transitional network with the same parameters will be built for public television.
The DVB-T2 transitional network built by CRA will operate on 26 High Power / High Tower transmitters and utilize just three frequencies, which is one of the advantages of DVB-T2 technology. The network will accommodate 18 channels for programming in SD resolution (540p). The planned public DVB-T2 network will provide space for five Czech Television channels in HD quality (1080p).
Considering the compatibility issues of TV sets currently available in the Czech market, CRA developed a certification program to verify compliance of TV signal receivers with DVB-T2. The compliance parameters are based on the D-book issued by the Czech national regulator (Czech Telecommunication Office) outlining the required technical parameters for digital receivers both for DVB-T and DVB-T2 with HEVC.
CRA's certification program is supported by all major TV set and set-top box manufacturers. All DVB-T2-compliant devices are listed in a public database and the manufacturer of a certified receiver is allowed to place a special logo "DVB-T2 Ověřeno" (DVB-T2 Verified) on the product, physically or digitally. The total number of DVB-T2 certified models of TV sets and set-top boxes for the Czech Republic is nearing one thousand.
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DVB Chairman Peter MacAvock Takes A Look At ATSC 3.0
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The NAB Show 2017 saw the launch of ATSC 3.0. Traditionally seen as the major competitor to the DVB-T family, ATSC (Advanced Television Systems Committee) is finalizing a comprehensive upgrade to the much maligned ATSC terrestrial transmission standard, which is deployed in North America, parts of Central America and South Korea.
ATSC 3.0 is essentially DVB-T2 with two IP layers, one of which is designed to facilitate local programming, targeted advertising and other personalized services. Many details remain to be resolved, and demonstrations at NAB were restricted to mainstream applications that could be covered using DVB-T2. However, hardware is available and LG showed off an ATSC 3.0 television set.
ATSC 3.0 is an ambitious project that comes at a time of much change in the US terrestrial market. The incentive auctions have yielded only 17 television stations proposing to go off-air, providing reassurance of the importance of terrestrial television. But the auction will result in a re-packing of terrestrial television, moving back down into VHF, with the potential challenge of trying to run services in the man-made noise-ridden low-VHF band.
Will ATSC 3.0 succeed in being commercially deployed in the US? We're not sure yet. Commercial ATSC 3.0 4k UHD terrestrial services in the 700 MHz band started in South Korea on 1 May 2017, ahead of the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang. The question arises in DVB as to whether ATSC's ambitious adoption of two IP layers represents a wise move at this point, and whether the solutions they have adopted are appropriate for DVB. The broadcasting world arguably underestimates the benefit of having a single transport layer and, as we know, there are many different flavors of IP.
Inside DVB, work continues on Targeted Advertising, WiB, and updating the DVB-DASH profile. Lots to be done!
Source: Tech-i
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Click to subscribe to Broadband TV News
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DVB-T2 & HbbTV In Germany
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DVB Scene eNews has closely watched and reported Germany's migration from DVB-T to DVB-T2. In the June issue of the EBU's Tech-i magazine Kerstin Pfaffinger and Klaus Merkel of IRT gave an update on the status of DVB-T2 HD services that are enriched by HbbTV.
The official launch of DVB-T2 HD in Germany took place on 29 March 2017 and focused on metropolitan areas. More than 300 transmitters at nearly 70 transmission sites were switched to DVB-T2 smoothly and on schedule. The transition is being combined with a simultaneous change of the video coding to the HEVC standard, achieving a further increase in efficiency over the network.
Further phases of deployment are planned for autumn 2017, as well as for spring and autumn 2018. In mid-2019, a nationwide DVB-T2 HD expansion for public broadcasting services will finalize the rollout. Depending on the region, portable indoor, portable outdoor or fixed DVB-T2 reception will be ensured, and moreover mobile reception will be possible in wide parts of the coverage area.
The DVB-T2 platform as a whole has been significantly enriched on the service side through the use of HbbTV. The open standard for hybrid broadcast and broadband services is well established in Germany, with all broadcasters providing services and more than 12 million HbbTV devices currently connected to the internet. As HbbTV is agnostic with regard to the type of DVB system used, all the existing HbbTV services can also be readily applied to DVB-T2.
Media Broadcast, the commercial platform operator of DVB-T2 in Germany, has introduced 'freenet TV connect' as a brand for its platform specific HbbTV portal. This offers additional services like VoD, EPG and live video applications. Finally, and on top of all these offerings, HbbTV is used to start a number of additional IP live TV services from the receiver's service list. Those services are added to the service list during the regular service scan and allow the direct launch of HD live TV, distributed via DASH adaptive live streaming.
Beyond reception of DVB-T2 on consumer electronics devices, there are offerings that use USB sticks on desktop computers or notebooks. In collaboration with the public broadcaster WDR, IRT has developed an Android app that connects via MicroUSB to an external tuner stick. The app, which does not require any specific device software, provides a browser environment to HTML pages, allowing access to and control over DVB-T2 programs received by the stick. Thus, simple HTML5/ JavaScript applications can present a variety of linear broadcast and nonlinear broadband services on the mobile device.
The article in full can be found here.
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Promoting The Benefits Of DTT
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The DVB together with the EBU and BNE (Broadcast Networks Europe), are collaborating on a new initiative to promote the benefits of digital terrestrial television, particularly in countries where analog services still dominate.
Although public service media channels are widely available on subscription-based platforms such as satellite, cable and IPTV, terrestrial television remains the backbone for accessing free-to-air services and globally it is the most widely used means of receiving television. Over 300 million households receive analog television and nearly 200 million households receive DTT (digital terrestrial television), of which around 120 million are in Europe. Despite the success of DTT, many countries around the world have yet to complete or even begin the digital switchover process. At the same time, there has been unrelenting pressure from big spectrum users, like mobile network operators, to secure the use of further portions of spectrum allocated to terrestrial broadcasting. Given the unique social and economic opportunities that DTT offers, it is in the interest of governments, broadcasters and other industry stakeholders to maximize their collaboration toward accelerating its rollout. This would also help preserve spectrum for use by terrestrial broadcasting in the long term.
The joint initiative will promote the win-win situation that arises when a DTT offer is successfully launched. The idea is to share knowledge and bring experts together to facilitate the successful introduction of DTT in countries that still rely on analog television. The initiative is focused on ITU Region 1, and thus covers all of Europe and Africa as well as the Middle East and CIS countries. Data on the current deployment of DTT in Region 1 ITU countries is being gathered and will be shared with DVB Members. The group is also strengthening its collaboration with the AUB (African Union of Broadcasting) and ASBU (Arab States Broadcasting Union).
As part of the initiative, DVB and broadcaster Multichoice will be organizing workshop/training sessions in Africa late this year.
Source: Walid Sami and Marcello Lombardo, EBU Tech-i magazine
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Speakers' Corner is a regular column of DVB Scene eNews that serves to let readers know where they can see DVB related presentations at the various conferences, seminars and events around the world. DVB Scene eNews is published 10 times a year (each month with combined issues for Dec/Jan and July/Aug). Publication is on the last Thursday of each month with a copy deadline on the preceding Friday. The eNews is distributed to over 6,000 subscribers.
The column will be back at the end of August, so if you are a DVB Member speaking on a DVB topic at IBC or any other upcoming event
get in touch and let us know
and we will publish it here.
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05 July - PCM - EBU, Geneva.
Ongoing discussions on the Communications Plan, demos and promotional activities for IBC, speakers and marketing plan for DVB World 2018, further discussions for promoting the benefits of DTT, including implementation database and organizing of the DTT workshop in South Africa.
06 July - Steering Board 86 - EBU, Geneva.
The agenda will include: the presentation and approval of
the new TTML Subtitle Specification; Liaisons with SatIP and UHD-Forum; the Streaming Video Alliance will be addressed; and the DVB Communication Plan will be presented. Pr
ogress reports on work in the Modules, Ad-hoc Groups and the Project Office are to be given.
06 July - TM-WIB - BBC R&D, South Lab, London. The group is studying the technical potential and feasibility of Wideband frequency reuse-1 techniques (WiB). At this meeting, the group will continue to consider the results of the initial technical analysis for the potential of WiB and will be working towards agreeing the scope of, and approaches to, the studies that the group will undertake. The main output of the group will be a report delivered to the TM by January 2018 at the latest.
This listing is correct at the time of publication. Meeting participants should consult the DVB Meetings Calendar for up-to-date information.
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Join the Global Community of Digital Experts
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Membership of DVB is open to all organizations involved in digital broadcasting and offers involvement in the development of DVB specifications across terrestrial, satellite, cable and IP delivery platforms.
The key advantages of becoming a DVB Member are to:
- Co-develop future specifications through technical proposals, IPR, Steering Board, etc.
- Gain early view of specifications through DVB meetings, documents, email lists
- Network with other DVB Members and industry partners at meetings and events
- Promote DVB standards through workshops, seminars, conferences, trade shows
- Promote your company and DVB products through DVB events, meetings and publications including DVB Scene and DVB Scene eNews
- Discounts for Member delegates attending the annual DVB World conference.
Employees of Member companies gain the following benefits:
- Access to DVB documents, meeting reports, draft specifications, etc.
- The right to submit documents for consideration by modules and sub-groups
- The right to join, follow and contribute to the DVB email reflectors
- The right to attend module and sub-group meetings and conference calls
- Take part in the DVB specification process, with the right to stand for Steering Board election.
In addition to the above benefits, DVB Members will also be invited from time to time to contribute to the promotion of key DVB standards, whether through trade shows, conferences or seminars. These opportunities can increase market awareness of your company and bring you to the forefront of your respective area of expertise.
It's never been a better time to join DVB. Take part in developing the most successful standards for digital broadcasting.
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