The Multimedia Home Platform (MHP) encompasses the peripherals and the interconnection of multimedia equipment via the in-home digital network. The MHP solution covers the whole set of technologies that are necessary to implement digital interactive multimedia in the home – including protocols, common API languages, interfaces and recommendations.

This article offers an introduction to the design and harmonization of MHP receivers, starting with a reference model which has been derived from the DVB and UNITEL reference models.

The use of different proprietary APIs in digital television receivers is leading to a fragmented market in which the consumers are losing out, while the broadcasters battle to achieve exclusive ownership of a primary gateway to the viewer.

The Author stresses the need for an open universal API and describes how this could be achieved using the MHEG-5 content decoder in conjunction with a Java-based Virtual Machine layer. He also describes a way forward to enable a practical migration from the use of existing proprietary APIs to the use of a single universal API.

The techniques described here allow the MPEG compression standard to be used in a consistent and efficient manner throughout the broadcast chain.

By using a so-called “MOLE” which is buried within the decoded programme material, it is possible to concatenate (i.e. cascade) many MPEG encoders and decoders throughout the broadcast chain – without any loss of audio or video quality.

The described techniques have been developed in the ATLANTIC Project which is a European collaborative project within the ACTS framework.

This article has been adapted from a report prepared within the European Union’s ACTS INTERACT Project . It concerns the choice of options for the introduction strategies for inter-active television services. Interactive television has been seen as an exciting addition or even an alternative to traditional “passive” participation by the viewing audience, since it offers the viewer more overt opportunities for responding and contributing to programmes.

Options are considered for the introduction of interactivity into the existing analogue television broadcasting environment, and also for the new digital domain where return-channel technology may be a prerequisite for Conditional Access security and to enable payment for the programmes. The success or otherwise of such new services is seen to depend vitally on the simultaneous co-existence of three factors: Technology, Infrastructure and Content.

The market for interactive services offers much potential in Europe, especially for attracting the younger generation of viewers. However, it is recognized that there is, as yet, no clear “killer application”. The particular market drivers and the possible future roll-out of interactive services are considered, against the background of very different national situations among the countries of Europe.