Editorial

"There's a way to do it better – find it"
George T. Waters

Digital Television

Television in the digital era
George T. Waters (145 KB)

Eurovision

The 34 Mbit/s – 8PSK coding system for Eurovision
L. Cheveau (95 KB)

After presenting a reminder of how the 34/45 Mbit/s digital coding standard was developed by the European and international bodies (ETSI and the ITU respectively), the Author describes the specific requirements of Eurovision – firstly as regards interference with analogue signals and, secondly, with respect to the optimization of the capacity leased by Eurovision on the Eutelsat system. These requirements have led to the adoption of 8PSK modulation.

All the intensive studies and tests involved were conducted over a period of six years during which there was exemplary co-operation between EBU Members and European manufacturers.

Interworking tests on 34 Mbit/s encoders-decoders
B.G. Flowers (179 KB)

The EBU, in conjunction with RAI in Italy, has carried out interworking tests on four different makes of 34 Mbit/s encoders-decoders, all of which accord with the ETSI standard, ETS 300 174. After three years of effort, involving very good co-operation among all the parties concerned, the four makes of encoder-decoder are now capable of interworking on the Eurovision Network without causing any problems.

Here, the Author summarizes the results of these extensive interworking tests.

Transmission of TC-8PSK digital television signals over Eurovision satellite links: System evaluation and optimization
A. Morello and M. Visintin (571 KB)

The RAI has carried out a study to optimize the use of 34 Mbit/s digital television contribution links within the Eurovision satellite network. The aim of the study - which was based on computer simulations – was to assess the feasibility of increasing from two to three the number of FDM signals allocated to a 72-MHz satellite transponder – by using the spectrum-efficient TC-8PSK method of modulation.

In this article, the Authors report on the results of the RAI computer simulations.

Digital Satellite Newsgathering

The BBC European DSNG vehicle – the Eurovan
J.M.M. Higgins (95 KB)