DVB Demos Phase 2a Service Compatible DVB-3DTV Broadcast System
IBC Conference & Exhibition, Amsterdam RAI, 06 – 11 September 2012, Stand 1.D81
At this year’s IBC Conference and Exhibition, DVB is focusing on its second-generation digital terrestrial television (DTT) standard, DVB-T2, which is rapidly being adopted by countries throughout the world. DVB-T2 is currently on-air in 16 countries and has been adopted in 34 more. Progress on the price front is also very impressive, with HDTV receivers available for less than 45 USD and a negligible price difference in iDTV’s between DVB-T and DVB-T2.
Visitors to the DVB stand can see a combined DVB-T2 and T2-Lite demonstration that underlines the robustness and flexibility of the DVB-T2 standard, now the world’s fastest growing DTT standard. Compared to a similar demonstration last year, which required several boxes of equipment, now all the receive functionality is integrated in one chip. With the latest IC technology, all first and second generation DVB transmission schemes are integrated in one decoder chip. The latest integrated TV sets, such as the ones used in this demo can now receive all the DVB broadcasting standards.
The DVB-T2-Lite profile is a feature of DVB-T2, the world’s most advanced DTT system. The new profile uses a limited subset of DVB-T2 parameter settings, whilst adding some new features that are designed to meet the demanding requirements of mobile and portable reception. The result is a very efficient mode that enables the complexity of the receiver chips to be reduced by 50%, which in turn reduces receiver costs. It is easy and cost-effective to implement T2-Lite into an existing DVB-T2 infrastructure.
The DVB-T2/T2-Lite demonstration features a modulator generating a DVB-T2 signal comprising two profiles: DVB-T2 at 33.36 Mbit/s containing three HD services and T2-Lite at 1 Mbit/s containing four mobile services. A regular DVB-T2 iDTV displays the HD signal and a Sony demodulator evaluation board displays the T2-Lite mobile content on a laptop screen.
DVB would like to thank the following DVB Members for their participation in the T2/T2-Lite demonstrations: BBC for content for the demo, DekTec Digital Video for its multistandard USB modulator (DTU-215) ENENSYS Technologies for its DiviDual LVDS decoder, and Sony for its DVB-T2 iDTV and DVB-T2/T2-Lite evaluation board.
A separate demonstration showcases the latest work carried out by DVB in the area of 3DTV. The Phase 2a system, also known as Service Compatible Mode (SC) is designed to meet the needs of those who need to provide normal HDTV receivers with a 2D version of the 3D programme from the same broadcast channel, and at the same time improve the quality of the 3DTV images. Phase 2a provides a 2D version plus an MPEG MVC top-up signal. Although they are tailored to their different environments, both 3D Blu-ray and Phase 2a use MVC, which will enable receivers to include both capabilities.
The IBC demo shows an early implementation of a Service Compatible DVB-3DTV signal that is received simultaneously by a regular iDTV, which displays the 2D image, and by a Service Compatible set-top box, which displays the 3D image.
DVB would like to thank the following DVB Members for their participation in the 3DTV demo: Pace for its DVB-S2 prototype Service Compatible set-top box, Thomson Video Networks for the 3D encoding, Hispasat, NDS/Cisco, Sony for the DVB-T2/C2/S2 iDTVs and Newtec for its DVB-S2 modulator. Finally, DVB also wishes to thank the other JEDI (Just Explore Dimensions) Project members D4D for the content and the University of Nantes for the software encoding.
Visitors to the DVB stand will also find information on the other second generation DVB standards – DVB-S2 and DVB-C2. Representatives and technology experts are on hand to answer queries and provide information on the implementation of the world’s most successful set of technical standards for DTV. DVB’s open, interoperable standards form the basis of services on every continent with well over a half a billion receivers shipped.
The official IBC 2012 Conference Programme includes many DVB related topics and special focus sessions: 8 September, 11:00 – 13:00 – DVB Project – Technologies in Action and their Impact, featuring DVB Chairman, Phil Laven, DVB Project Office Executive Director, Peter Siebert and other DVB leaders on topics including DVB-S2, DVB-3DTV and DVB-NGH; 11 September, 10:00 – 12:00 – FoBTV: Toward a Global Broadcast TV Standard, featuring FoBTV and ATSC Chairman, Mark Richer, a contribution by DVB Chairman and FoBTV Vice- Chairman, Phil Laven and others. The entrance to this special session is free.