DVB-H (Digital Video Broadcasting – Handheld) is the new digital broadcast standard for the transmission of broadcast content to handheld terminal devices, developed by the international DVB (Digital Video Broadcasting) Project and recently published by ETSI (European Telecommunications Standards Institute).

DVB-H is based on the DVB-T standard for digital terrestrial television but tailored to the special requirements of the pocket-size class of receivers. This article presents an overview of the emerging DVB-H technology and an analysis of the performance characteristics of the DVB-H transmission system.

In order to evaluate the performance of video codecs for the internet, EBU Project Group B/VIM has developed a new subjective evaluation methodology called SAMVIQ (Subjective Assessment Methodology for Video Quality). This new methodology was used recently during B/VIM’s Phase 2 subjective evaluations of four codecs designed for internet use: Envivio MPEG-4, QuickTime 6, RealNetworks 9 and Windows Media 9.

This article gives a short description of SAMVIQ and summarizes the main findings of the Phase 2 subjective evaluations.

The Eurovision network is continuing its evaluation of different technical options for multichannel audio (MCA) and, in October 2004, it broadcast a live concert from Prix Europa in Berlin using the Dolby E format. The 5.1 surround sound production was carried out by the German radio station RBB Radio Multikulti in Berlin.

Part I of this article describes some of the problems in a 5.1 live mixing situation and how the mix was transported via a wide-area network to the satellite uplink in Potsdam for multicast distribution. In addition, some current issues on DVB signalling and set-top box compatibility are discussed, and a perspective on lessons learned for the future is given.

Part II reports on the experience gained by the EBU from the Prix Europa 2004 Dolby E experiment. It also describes the technical and operational aspects of the trial in some detail and gives a short description of Dolby MCA technology..

Traditionally, the ITU-R BT.470 standardized RGB colour space has been used in television production. However, with the introduction of computer-based editing platforms in the early 1990s, other colour spaces such as HCV and CIELab have entered the television environment, along with colour space conversion techniques such as that developed by the ICC. This article presents an overview of the colour spaces and colour management techniques that are used today in the TV production environment.

Broadcast production systems typically were built as a collection of “silo” or “island” devices. However, with the increasing use of IT in production, and the sharing of common resources such as storage and connectivity, the question becomes: How best can we glue all this equipment together into an integrated system?

This is exactly what EBU Project Group P/MDP has been studying.

This article addresses a recent debate undertaken by the European institutions on the interoperability of interactive television (iTV) receivers. The debate centred on whether it would be appropriate to mandate the MHP standards for iTV in order to enforce interoperability in support of media pluralism.

The article argues that the role of interoperability has changed – owing to newer concepts such as access – and that it is no longer realistic in an EU of 25 Member States to achieve interoperability through a single receiver standard for any technical function.

Improved co-ordination and implementation by market players could reduce the risks of market failure attached to the launch of new receiver products in horizontal retail markets. Grouped implementation by Member States could help to leverage supranational economies of scale and to overcome market fragmentation.

The EBU held a Workshop in Geneva on High Definition Television in December 2004. About 100 delegates from across Europe came to hear about, and discuss, the new thinking in technology, economics, and programme-making that will be called for in the age of "HD".

Here, David Wood outlines what happened at the Workshop.