The WorldDMB Digital Radio Receiver Profiles are designed to help create a vibrant digital radio market across Europe and beyond ... by defining minimum functionality for different classes of digital radio receivers that use the Eureka-147 family of standards. This provides a new level of confidence to all those involved in digital radio: to the broadcasters ... that the services they plan will be receivable; to the manufacturers ... that their technology investments will be supported by services; and to the consumers, knowing that their radio receiver will provide a consistent experience and assured levels of interoperability across Europe.

There is a growing trend for portable consumer electronics devices – such as cellular handsets, notebook computers, portable media players, handheld gaming consoles and portable navigation devices – to integrate an increasing number of wireless applications such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and GPS. A recent wireless application also vying for integration in portable devices is reception of broadcast radio and TV programmes.

In this article, the challenges of integrating global broadcast standards – TV in particular – on portable device platforms are outlined, and a solution is described for solving the multi-standard conundrum with a software modem approach.

Digital TV is expanding from the home to encompass almost everywhere – the street, cars, buses, trains, restaurants and the beach. The TV world is changing from a stationary, satellite or tethered paradigm – a typical group-viewing experience – to include a more personal viewing experience on portable wireless devices.

As the mobile entertainment market matures, mobile devices are rapidly evolving from strictly communications devices into multimedia-centric infotainment devices – with the integration of digital cameras, mp3 players, PDA functionality, GPS services, gaming and video capabilities. Similarly, other mass-market devices – such as Apple’s iPod and iPhone – are changing the habits of millions of consumers when outside the home ... personal video and television capabilities are as close as ever to achieving full realization.

Viewers who have invested in high-quality HD receiving equipment have problems with audio-video synchronization in the home – due to the processing delays introduced by modern LCD and plasma displays. Set-top boxes often provide controls to manage this, but viewers have no way of calibrating the settings easily.

Consequently, the BBC set out to help them by broadcasting a synchronization test signal, as well as undertaking a full review of multi-channel audio in the production and broadcast signal chains.

ORF – the Austrian public broadcaster – started in the early 1990s to experiment with HDTV (1250) during the Winter Olympic Games in Albertville (1992). Further productions followed – in cooperation with NHK, Japan – including the famous New Year’s Day Concerts from Vienna. Since 2004, ORF has been producing TV programmes in HD on its own, especially major cultural events such as the Salzburger Festspiele.

This article describes ORF’s experiences in converting to HD – particularly in relation to the Euro-2008 football finals which were jointly hosted by Austria and Switzerland in June 2008.