| Broadband TV | |
| 312 | Network structures — the internet, IPTV
and QoS |
How would a broadcaster transmit TV transported over IP packets rather than using traditional broadcast methods? This article introduces a view of a generic Service Provider IP distribution system including DVB’s IP standard; a comparison of Internet and managed Service Provider IP video distribution; how a broadcaster can inject TV programming into the Internet and, finally, how to control the Quality of Experience of video in an IP network. |
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| 310 | Broadcasters' requirements for IPTV |
| IPTV is not a well-defined term and may be a source of ambiguity and sometimes confusion. This article describes the basic building blocks in order to clarify the difference between “IPTV” and what is increasingly being called “WebTV”. A comparison between IPTV and the DVB transmission schemes for satellite and cable is also made, providing some insight into the similarities between these delivery systems but also revealing subtle differences. The IPTV requirements for retransmitting live broadcast signals and on-demand services are outlined, and some approaches for meeting these requirements are discussed. |
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| 303 | Rai Click — "I want my own TV" |
Rai Click was Italy’s first Video-on-Demand (VoD) television service. It was launched in 2000 by a partnership between the Italian state broadcaster Rai (60%) and FastWeb (40%), the country’s first “Triple Play” telecom operator. So far, Rai Click is the only Italian channel that can also be accessed via the Web; is the only Rai television channel with a subscription fee and direct client base, and is the first Italian television channel to develop editorial and commercial formats that exploit the interactive capabilities of broadband. |
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| 303 | IPTV in the UK — a viable fourth digital
TV platform? |
While France and Italy, in particular, are forging ahead with Broadband TV services, it has been a different story in the UK – arguably the most mature Digital TV market in Europe. So why has the UK fallen behind some of its neighbours in the provision of Broadband TV services? And what does the future hold for a fourth Digital TV platform in the UK? This article sets out to provide some answers. |
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| 302 | Will Broadband TV shape the future of broadcasting? |
| Broadband Television (BTV) is a new emerging platform for distributing digital television channels to home consumers using a TV screen. This article focuses on BTV services which use the conventional telephone infrastructure (i.e. twisted-pair copper lines). These BTV services are often called ADSL TV or DSL TV. Other delivery mechanisms such as coaxial cable, power line communications (PLC), fibre (FTTH) and wireless (UMTS, Wi-Fi and WiMAX) are not covered here. If commercially successful, Broadband TV may complement traditional DTV services – which use satellite, cable and terrestrial delivery – and may even evolve into a fourth mass-market platform for digital television services. |
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| Broadcasting to Handhelds | |
| 311 | The evolution of DAB |
| DAB – already covering 500 million people in 40 countries around the world – represents the fully mobile and narrowband (1.7 MHz) terrestrial branch of COFDM broadcasting technologies. Although the family of DAB standards has been growing continuously from its beginnings in the early 90s, several major milestones have been reached by the WorldDAB / WorldDMB Forum, especially within the last three years. The most prominent examples are certainly DMB and DAB+. Those two and further applications, as well as the necessary framework created, are illustrated in this article. The technical perspective is accompanied by an economic one, visualising the growth underway and the promising prospects that lie ahead, based on the substantially extended DAB toolkit. |
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| 311 | DVB-SH — mobile digital TV in S-Band |
| DVB-SH is the name of a mobile broadcast standard designed to deliver video, audio and data services to small handheld devices such as mobile telephones, and to vehicle-mounted devices. The key feature of DVB-SH is the fact that it is a hybrid satellite/terrestrial system that will allow the use of a satellite to achieve coverage of large regions or even a whole country. In areas where direct reception of the satellite signal is impaired, and for indoor reception, terrestrial repeaters are used to improve service availability. It is planned to use frequencies below 3 GHz, typically S-Band frequencies around 2.2 GHz adjacent to the 3G terrestrial frequencies. DVB began work on the DVB-SH specification in 2006. The system and waveform specifications have recently been released in the form of DVB Bluebooks, and sent to ETSI for publication as formal standards. |
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| 306 | Mobile TV — results from the BT Movio DAB-IP
pilot in London |
| Later this year will see the launch of BT Movio, which will be the first commercial mobile broadcast entertainment service to launch in Europe, enabling mobile operators to offer consumers a reliable live digital TV and radio service on their mobile phones. The service will be broadcast using the DAB digital radio network. In order to prove the viability of the service prior to launch, BT undertook a pilot with a representative sample of 1,000 users in the London area. This article outlines the results of the pilot – the largest of its kind undertaken in Europe – and what this means for the future of TV-to-mobile services. |
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| 306 | Mobile TV — results from the DVB-H trial
in Oxford |
This article explores the results of the mobile TV trials in which Arqiva has been involved – in particular, the Oxford DVB-H trial. It also discusses the technology choices faced by potential service providers in the UK and elsewhere in mainland Europe, given the constraints of spectrum availability. |
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| 305 | An economic analysis of DAB & DVB-H |
Cost comparisons between DAB and DVB-H have sometimes been inconsistent in the past. Some have claimed that DAB networks are cheaper per multiplex, while others have claimed that DVB-H will be cheaper per radio or TV channel. The underlying and hidden assumption is that the networks will be filled with content. These kinds of comparisons leave much for speculation – as one can claim that both DAB and DVB-H can be cheaper, depending on if you calculate the costs per multiplex or per channel. To know the costs of these technologies, we need to know the market size. And clearly, we need a common measurement system, to enable fair comparisons. |
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| 305 | Broadcasting to Handhelds — an overview
of systems and services |
This article stems from a study carried out by EBU Project Group B/BTH (Broadcasting to Handhelds) which has been examining the several system technology options. The group has also considered some service aspects, including business models and programme offers. The results suggest that the first task for a broadcaster is to develop a clear understanding of the various roles in the “BTH value chain” that he might wish to play – from content production to the consumer. He must then develop the necessary synergies with partners in the future BTH world. This may subsequently have a direct influence on the choice of technical system, rather than making a selection on the basis of technical performance only. There will also be further fundamental considerations to take into account, such as spectrum availability. |
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| 302 | RRC-06 — technical basis and planning configurations
for T-DAB and DVB-T |
| One fundamental part of the RRC planning process is to carry out a compatibility analysis. To facilitate this procedure, a reduction in the large number of possible transmitter configurations, down to just a few reference planning configurations, is useful. For compatibility calculations, SFNs may be represented by generic reference networks, whereas single transmitters are described by their “real” characteristics. This article describes various planning configurations and reference networks for T-DAB and DVB-T, while keeping an eye on DVB-H requirements as well. |
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| 301 | DVB-H — the emerging standard for mobile
data communication |
| 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. |
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| 300 | Editorial: Convergence? |
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| 299 | What's the difference between DVB-H and DAB —
in the mobile environment |
| The European digital terrestrial broadcast systems – DVB and DAB – have recently come into focus as a means of delivering streaming content to mobile, portable and even handheld receivers. But what are the pros and cons of using these broadcast systems in conjunction with cellular networks? This article explains it all. | |
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| 297 | DAB — from Digital Radio towards Mobile Multimedia |
| The purpose of this article is to inform EBU Members of recent progress with Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB) – in terms of its market rollout in Europe, its system developments within the WorldDAB Forum, the preparations for the ITU Regional Radio Conference RRC-04/06 and its potential for any future developments. One of the main messages of the article is that DAB has the potential to transform the traditional audio-based radio medium into a fully-fledged multimedia system, particularly suited to bringing digital information to the general public, anywhere and anytime. It is vital for the success of DAB to work in harmony and synergy with some other systems, particularly those in the communication and Internet sectors. |
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| 293 | Broadcasting and mobile communications: interworking
— not convergence |
| Much has been spoken in recent years about the “convergence” of the telecommunications and broadcasting industries. Today, both industries have made the analogue-to-digital transition – with GSM/3G and DAB/DVB respectively. Many companies from both industries now accept that there is potential for new revenue streams – that could be created through collaboration, but not through convergence. The Virtual Centre of Excellence in Mobile and Personal Communications (Mobile VCE) was conceived to undertake leading-edge, industry-led, academic research for the mobile communications industry. This article discusses the motivations and constraints of their latest research initiative – which explores broadcast-mobile interworking – and describes the origins of the programme, its structure and key research themes. |
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| 285 | Mobility and Interactivity — the saviour
of digital terrestrial broadcasting? |
| The Internet and mobile phone networks are throwing down great challenges to traditional broadcasters. This article offers a gleam of hope to beleaguered broadcasters who are impatient for DAB and DVB-T to really excite the marketplace, in the same way that the WWW, DVDs and WAP-enabled telephones have. |
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| 281 | Multimedia on the move — overview of relevant
ACTS projects W. Carter and H. Stewart 
(568 KB) |
| The demand for information and entertainment on the move has grown spectacularly in recent years. The ubiquitous mobile phone meets some of these needs, but in a very limited way. Mobile multimedia services would meet our needs much more effectively. Multimedia services are bandwidth-hungry and require much more downstream capacity than upstream capacity. A cost-effective approach to delivering such services can be offered by combining digital broadcasting technology, for the high-capacity downstream links, with relatively low-speed mobile telecoms technology for the upstream links. The EU’s ACTS programme has made major contributions to enhancing the technology, and to providing visions of the mobile interactive broadband services that could be offered to customers during the next decade. This article offers an overview of those achievements. |
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| 281 | Interactive mobile streaming services — the convergence
of broadcast and mobile communication U. Horn, R. Keller and N. Niebert
(285 KB) |
| In this article, the authors discuss some of the challenges and opportunities resulting from the convergence of broadcast and mobile communication services. Starting with an overview of DAB, DVB and the emerging third-generation mobile communication networks – with a special focus on UMTS – the advantages that result from a combination of UMTS with data broadcast facilities, as provided by DAB and DVB, are discussed. This allows us to provide mobile users with interactive mobile IP streaming services, thereby opening the door for a lot of interesting mobile applications. The enabling of new services is not enough, however, if we take into account the limited spectrum allocation for mobile communication systems. Hence the article discusses the possibilities for efficient and flexible spectrum utilization. Mechanisms for dynamic spectrum and service allocation are introduced, which can be seen as a prerequisite, not only for efficient spectrum utilization, but also as an enabling technology towards more flexible communication services than we have today. |
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| 278 | The how and why of COFDM Jonathan Stott
(301 KB) |
| Coded Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (COFDM) is a form of modulation which is particularly well-suited to the needs of the terrestrial broadcasting channel. COFDM can cope with high levels of multipath propagation, with a wide spread of delays between the received signals. This leads to the concept of single-frequency networks in which many transmitters send the same signal on the same frequency, generating “artificial multipath”. COFDM also copes well with co-channel narrowband interference, as may be caused by the carriers of existing analogue services. COFDM has therefore been chosen for two recent new standards for broadcasting – DAB and DVB-T, both of which have been optimized for their respective applications and have options to suit particular needs. The special performance of COFDM in respect of multipath and interference is only achieved by a careful choice of parameters and with attention to detail in the way in which the forward error-correction coding is applied. |
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| 278 | DAB — is it already out of date? Philip Laven
(181 KB) |
| The EBU’s Technical Director poses a provocative and challenging question about the future of the Eureka-147 DAB system. | |
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| 276 | Predicting the future of broadcasting |
| Will broadcasting be supplanted by the Internet? ... Will “convergence” lead to a single delivery system for multimedia services? ... Which broadcast delivery systems (terrestrial, satellite or cable) will become dominant for digital TV? ... Will the reduction in costs of computer hardware affect broadcasting? ... Will computers merge with TV sets? This article attempts to answer such questions, both by looking “sideways” at the world of computers and the Internet, and by analyzing some technological trends. |
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| 224 | Principles of modulation and channel coding
for digital broadcasting for mobile receivers M. Alard and R. Lassalle
(1159 KB) |
This article explains the benefits of using a system called Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing to overcome the adverse effects of severe multipath propagation, such as occurs in mobile reception. The signal is demodulated with the aid of a Fast Fourier Transform technique. Consideration is given to the digital coding arrangement, and it is concluded that a concatenation of a convolutional code and a Reed-Solomon code gives excellent results. The feasibility of implementing such a system for the domestic market is briefly discussed. |
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| Digital Compression | |
| 312 | Multiple Description Coding — a new technology
for video streaming over the Internet |
| The Internet is growing quickly as a network of heterogeneous communication networks. The number of users is rapidly expanding and bandwidth-hungry services, such as video streaming, are becoming more and more popular by the day. However, heterogeneity and congestion cause three main problems: unpredictable throughput, losses and delays. The challenge is therefore to provide: (i) quality, even at low bitrates, (ii) reliability, independent of loss patterns and (iii) interactivity (low perceived latency) ... to many users simultaneously. In this article, we will discuss various well-known technologies for streaming video over the Internet. We will look at how these technologies partially solve the aforementioned problems. Then, we will present and explain Multiple Description Coding – which offers a very good solution – and how it has been implemented and tested at STMicroelectronics.. |
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| 308 | Prix Europa — results of the 2006 media
streaming trial |
The Prix Europa 2006 opening concert was given on 14 October 2006 in Berlin by a Portuguese World Music group called Gaiteros de Lisboa. On the occasion of this one-hour long concert, the EBU organized a technical experiment to distribute multichannel 5.1 audio – coded in HE AAC (High Efficiency Advanced Audio Coding) over the internet using a Peer-to-Peer (P2P) technology from Octoshape. This experiment is significant because, for the first time, an event was “broadcast” live in 5.1 multichannel format across the Internet, potentially addressing large audiences with high-quality surround sound. |
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| 306 | Audio in next-generation DVB broadcast systems |
Broadcasters have significant new requirements for audio delivery in next-generation broadcast systems such as High-Definition Television. These include the capability to deliver soundtracks ranging from mono to 5.1 channels and beyond – with greater efficiency than with current systems, but also to maintain compatibility with existing consumer home cinema systems. A new audio delivery system, referred to as Enhanced AC-3 (marketing name: Dolby Digital Plus), has been developed to meet these requirements, and has been standardized in DVB and ATSC, referring to ETSI TS 102 366 V1.1.1 (2005-02). |
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| 305 | MPEG-4 HE-AAC v2 — audio coding for today's
digital media world |
Delivering broadcast-quality content to consumers is one of the most challenging tasks in the new world of digital broadcasting. One of the most critical aspects is the highly efficient use of the available transmission spectrum. Consequently, a careful choice of compression schemes for media content is essential – for both the technical and the economical feasibility of modern digital broadcasting systems. In the case of audio content, the MPEG-4 High Efficiency AAC v2 profile (HE-AAC v2) has proven, in several independent tests, to be the most efficient audio compression scheme available worldwide. It has recently been selected within DVB as part of its overall codec toolbox. HE-AAC v2 comprises a fully-featured tool set for the coding of audio signals in mono, stereo and multichannel modes (up to 48 channels) – at high quality levels using a wide range of bitrates. |
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| 304 | MPEG-2 — high-compression technologies for
HDTV |
Digital video coding standards offer flexibility in their encoding techniques and enable coding efficiency improvements, in compliance with the standard, over a period of time. The MPEG-2 video coding standard [1] employs the adaptive DCT coding scheme with motion-compensated prediction. The amount of overhead information, including motion vector codes and coding modes, is often large for critical HDTV sequences at lower bitrates. NHK’s new coding method [2] – conforming to the MPEG-2 Main Profile – significantly reduces the amount of overhead information and makes digital HDTV services possible at lower bitrates, while maintaining compatibility with conventional digital broadcast receivers. |
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| 304 | Cascaded audio coding |
| With the introduction of digital transmission, broadcasters have experienced significant problems with cascaded audio coding in the broadcast chain. It has been found that cascading different codecs can result in an overall degradation in the sound quality that many listeners find objectionable. A comprehensive investigation of this problem has been conducted by members of the EBU project group B/AIM. This article, based on a presentation given at IBC-2005, describes typical cascades of codecs found in radio broadcast chains, and aims to identify the most critical combinations. The intention is to guide broadcasters in deciding which codec combinations should be avoided in order to maximize the sound quality. |
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| 303 | Dirac — video compression using open technology |
| The distribution, delivery and storage of video are core activities for broadcasters. In the digital world, compression is used to exploit limited storage and transmission capacity as efficiently as possible. The BBC is developing a video compression technology, called Dirac, so that we can understand the technology and use it at reasonable cost and without restrictions. Dirac is a hybrid motion-compensated codec that uses modern techniques such as wavelet transforms and arithmetic coding. It is an open technology which means that it is freely available and can be used without the payment of licence fees. Open technology is well suited to the business model of public service broadcasters as it allows open collaboration by those interested in its future development. |
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| 302 | AVC/H.264 — an advanced video coding system
for SD and HD broadcasting |
A bitrate of about 270 Mbit/s is needed to transmit uncompressed digital video that accords with ITU-R Rec. BT. 601 (i.e. standard-definition television). Digital HDTV, on the other hand, needs a considerably greater bitrate and – regardless of the modulation scheme adopted – transmission via traditional broadcast channels is impossible without the application of advanced video compression techniques. This article gives an overview of the current video coding technologies that are suitable for HDTV transmission; in particular, AVC/H.264. |
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| 301 | Subjective quality of internet video codecs —
phase II evaluations using SAMVIQ |
| 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. |
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| 295 | Everything you wanted to know about video codecs
— but were too afraid to ask |
| Digital video compression technology continues to evolve, and the choice of systems presents a difficult challenge for broadcasters and web content providers. In this article, the author explains some of the factors shaping the evolution of video compression technology, and offers some insights into the comparative performance of video compression systems. The article is based on a presentation given in Spring 2003 to the EBU Technical Assembly in Moscow. |
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| 293 | The emerging H.264/AVC standard |
| H.264/AVC is the current video standardization project of the ITU-T Video Coding Experts Group (VCEG) and the ISO/IEC Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG). The main goals of this standardization effort are to develop a simple and straightforward video coding design, with enhanced compression performance, and to provide a “network-friendly” video representation which addresses “conversational” (video telephony) and “non-conversational” (storage, broadcast or streaming) applications. H.264/AVC has achieved a significant improvement in the rate-distortion efficiency – providing, typically, a factor of two in bit-rate savings when compared with existing standards such as MPEG-2 Video. |
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| 293 | Windows Media 9 Series — a platform to deliver
compressed audio and video for Internet and broadcast applications |
| Microsoft® Windows Media® 9 Series is a set of technologies that enables rich digital media experiences across all types of networks and devices. These technologies include an encoder to author the multimedia content, a server to distribute the content, a Digital Rights Management (DRM) system to let content owners set usage policies, and a variety of players to decode and render the content on personal computers and other consumer electronic devices. These components are built on top of a programmable and extensible platform that enables partners to build tailored applications and services. This article provides a high-level overview of the technologies in Windows Media 9 Series, with a particular focus on the different audio and video codecs available. Applications and services for broadcast (e.g., IP datacasting via DVB) are also discussed. |
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| 291 | CT-aacPlus — a state-of-the-art audio coding
system |
| CT-aacPlus is a combination of Spectral Band Replication (SBR) technology – a bandwidth-extension tool developed by Coding Technologies (CT) in Germany – with the MPEG Advanced Audio Coding (AAC) technology which, to date, has been one of the most efficient traditional perceptual audio-coding schemes. CT-aacPlus is able to deliver high-quality audio signals at bit-rates down to 24 kbit/s for mono and 48 kbit/s for stereo signals. The forthcoming Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM) broadcasting system, among others, will use CT-aacPlus for its audio-coding scheme. CT-aacPlus will enable DRM to deliver an audio quality, in the frequency range below 30 MHz, that is equivalent to – or even better than – that offered by today’s analogue FM services. This article describes the principles of traditional audio coders – and their limitations when used for low bit-rate applications. The second part describes the basic idea of SBR technology and demonstrates the improvements achieved through the combination of SBR technology with traditional audio coders such as AAC and MP3. |
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| 283 | EBU listening tests on Internet audio codecs Gerhard Stoll and Franc Kozamernik
(445 KB) |
| The advent of Internet multimedia has stimulated the development of several advanced audio and video compression technologies. Although most of these developments have taken place outside the EBU, many members are using these low bit-rate codecs extensively for their webcasting activities, either for downloading or live streaming. To this end, the EBU Project Group, B/AIM (Audio in Multimedia), was asked to carry out some tests on several low bit-rate audio codecs that are now available on the commercial Internet market. This article gives the results of the subjective evaluations undertaken by B/AIM in late 1999 and early 2000. These EBU tests are the first international attempt at comparing the different audio compression schemes used on the Internet. In addition, prior to conducting these tests, no internationally-agreed subjective method was available for carrying out evaluations on very low bit-rate, intermediate-quality, codecs. In order to overcome this problem, the group was instrumental in devising a novel test method to evaluate specifically these low-quality audio codecs. The new method is now known as MUSHRA. Both the EBU and ITU-R have now adopted MUSHRA as a standard evaluation method. |
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| 283 | An introduction to MPEG Layer-3 (mp3) K. Brandenburg and H. Popp
(111 KB) |
| MPEG Layer-3, otherwise known as mp3, has generated a phenomenal interest among Internet users, or at least among those who want to download highly-compressed digital audio files at near-CD quality. This article provides an introduction to the work of the MPEG group which was, and still is, responsible for bringing this open (i.e. non-proprietary) compression standard to the forefront of Internet audio downloads. | |
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| 282 | Picture quality in MPEG video J. Fletcher and M. Prior-Jones
(114 KB) |
| This article describes an investigation made into the effects of DCT coefficient quantization on the picture quality of MPEG-coded video. This involved subjective tests in which viewers were asked to grade pictures that had been coded at a fixed level of quantization. The results give a relationship between subjective picture quality and quantizer_scale. | |
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| 279 | MPEG-4 — opening new frontiers to broadcast services F. Pereira and R. Koenen
(299 KB) |
| The recently finalized MPEG-4 standard follows an object-based audio-visual representation model, with integrated hyperlinking and interaction capabilities. It offers support for both natural and computer-generated content. This article discusses the new possibilities that MPEG-4 technology could offer to broadcast services, and addresses the consequences in terms of new and enhanced applications. MPEG-4 is not designed to replace MPEG-2. On the contrary, MPEG is actively working on a solid integration of MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 technology, which will allow new and attractive services within existing digital broadcasting environments. |
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| 275 | Transparent concatenation of MPEG compression N. Wells
(279 KB) |
| 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. |
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| 271 | The eyes, the ears and the brain — and how
to cheat them |
| Hearing and seeing are just two of our senses and we take them for granted, that is until we lose – or notice an impairment in – one or both of them. In this Article, brief mention is made of the physiology of the eye and the ear, and how the combination of this complex eye/ear/brain relationship can assist engineers in the design of compressed data equipment. Comments are then made to show that perhaps care should be taken not to push the exploitation of the so-called deficiencies of our seeing and hearing organs too far. Finally some comments are given on more work that needs to be done to try to determine just how much "cheating" can be tolerated by we humans before the results become unacceptable. |
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| 271 | Subjective quality evaluation: the SSCQE and DSCQE
methodologies |
| The EC project, RACE MOSAIC, was set up to find ways of overcoming specific digital picture quality issues (e.g. content-dependent encoding performance, codec cascading and dynamic statistical multiplexing). In the framework of this project, a new methodology has been designed to allow subjective assessment of both picture and service quality, in conditions that are closer to the actual home environment. This Article describes the new method – known as Single-Stimulus Continuous Quality Evaluation and, more particularly, "SSCQE Stage 1" which was recently introduced in ITU-R Recommendation BT.500-7. The double-stimulus DSCQE methodology – recently studied in the EC project, ACTS TAPESTRIES – is an adaptation of SSCQE. DSCQE has been proposed to the MPEG-4 group to address the specific issue of error-robustness evaluation, and is briefly described here. |
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| 271 | Attempts at correlation between DSCQS and objective
measurements |
| Which role does picture quality play in the new competitive world of multi-channel digital television services? In order to suggest an answer to this and other questions, RAI Research centre – in collaboration with TDF-C2R – is committed to studies which relate to the quality evaluation of compressed digital video sequences. This Article collects together the preliminary results obtained within the framework of the ACTS Project, QUOVADIS, and briefly describes the future planned studies to be carried out within the ACTS Project, TAPESTRIES. |
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| 271 | Concatenation of compression codecs: the need
for objective evaluations |
| In this article the Author considers, firstly, a hypothetical broadcast network in which compression equipments have replaced several existing functions – resulting in multiple-cascading. Secondly, he describes a similar network that has been optimized for compression technology. Picture-quality assessment methods – both conventional and new, subjective and objective – are discussed with the aim of providing background information. Some proposals are put forward for objective evaluation together with initial observations when concatenating (cascading) codecs of similar and different types. |
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| 266 | MPEG video — A simple introduction |
| The core element of all DVB systems is the MPEG-2 vision coding standard, which is based upon a flexible toolkit of techniques for bit-rate reduction. The MPEG-2 specification only defines the bit-stream syntax and decoding process. The coding process is not specified, which means that compatible improvements in the picture quality will continue to be possible. In this article, the author provides a simple introduction to the technicalities of the MPEG-2 video coding standard. |
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| HDTV | |
| 2008-Q2 | Super Hi-Vision — research on a future ultra-HDTV system |
| Masayuki Sugawara
(546 kB) |
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| This article briefly describes the current status of R&D on the “Super Hi-Vision” television system in Japan. The R&D efforts on Super Hi-Vision are intended to explore the next-generation television system to succeed HDTV at some point in the future, and it consists of ultra-HD images and three-dimensional multichannel sound. The conceptual ideas behind the research project and the status of the technological developments are described. The collaboration between various EBU Members and NHK is also mentioned. |
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| 311 | The development of HDTV in Europe — a tale
of three cities: Dublin, Dubrovnik and Geneva |
| This article provides a short history of the search for a wordwide HDTV standard, starting with the early Japanese analogue system in the mid 1970s up to the present day ... where the EBU is recommending the use of 720p and eventually the 1080p digital standard. |
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| 308 | HDTV — EBU format comparisons at IBC 2006 |
This article provides some background information on the HDTV format comparisons conducted by EBU Technical Department at the International Broadcasting Convention (IBC) in Amsterdam during September 2006. The objective of the demonstration was to provide neutral and educative information for the HDTV format debate. The demonstration not only showed the two current HDTV formats, 720p/50 and 1080i/25, but also introduced the next-generation HDTV format – 1080p/50. All three formats were presented with identical content and simultaneously on three Full-HD displays, in uncompressed and compressed form. Thus, viewers of the demonstration were able to judge the HDTV image quality for themselves. |
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| 307 | Editorial: HDTV
fever |
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| Apr 05 | Why HDTV will flourish (Published
in the IEE's Communications Engineering journal) |
| As Europe's top pay-tv operators put the finishing touches to their high-definition plans, the technical debate is far from over. |
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| 301 | Editorial: HDTV
format wars |
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| 301 | EBU Workshop: High
Definition moves up the agenda for EBU Members |
| 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. |
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| 300 | High Definition for Europe — a progressive
approach |
| This article gives the background to recent discussions in the EBU about High-Definition Television (HDTV). The work described here was largely undertaken by EBU Project Group B/TQE (Television Quality Evolution) whose current membership is given in Appendix 1. The balance of evidence suggests that the public interest will best be served by using a progressively-scanned delivery channel. Evidence about which progressive format would be optimum for the EBU environment has also been gathered, and is discussed. |
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| 299 | Image formats for HDTV |
| For several years, European broadcasters have been making programmes in high definition – often based upon co-production deals with the USA and Japan – using the 1920 x 1080 Common Image Format. However, European consumers are currently restricted to down-converted standard-definition versions of the original full-resolution HD content. This situation will soon change as more broadcasters offer HD services – in addition to the pioneering and ground-breaking start made by Euro1080. This article offers an overview of HD scanning formats and advises European broadcasters not to go against the tide by introducing new production formats for HDTV. |
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| 298 | The changing world of TV displays — CRTs
challenged by flat-panel displays |
The CRT has dominated the display industry for 100 years. Its reign is coming to an end, not tomorrow, but in the not-too-distant future. This article provides an overview of the progress being made by flat-panel displays in chipping away at the TV market. Plasma display technology has been developing fast but, watch out – here comes the LCD juggernaut, sweeping all before it … There are other technologies to watch as well, and there could still be more surprises round the corner. Beware; there’s some hype about, but there’s also some well-founded market research to guide the way. |
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| 298 | Maximizing the quality of SDTV in the flat-panel
environment |
| The broadcasting environment is changing because of digital technology. Further changes will be needed soon, if flat-panel displays become widely used in home receivers. The quality demands of large-screen flat-panel receivers will call for new care and attention from broadcasters in providing “conventional-quality” television. This article is intended to help broadcasters understand the factors which affect quality in this new world, and it offers suggestions for ways of maximizing the delivered picture quality. |
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| 295 | Editorial: HDTV
revisited ... |
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| 288 | HDTV — ready for take-off in Europe? Gabriel Fehervari
(429 KB) |
| Last year, the Belgian facilities company, Alfacam, placed their faith in HDTV by designing and constructing two state-of-the-art OB vehicles, one of which was recently demonstrated at IBC in Amsterdam. This article offers an overview of the facilities offered by this new HDTV OB vehicle, which is also equipped to provide standard-definition pictures, simultaneously. |
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| 281 | Editorial: Scanning
by numbers? |
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| 280 | Safe areas for widescreen transmission I. Baker
(187 KB) |
| There are not yet any accepted definitions for the “safe areas” in widescreen television production. This was a matter of pressing concern in the UK so the UK broadcasters together drew up an ad-hoc standard for immediate use in the UK. The basic concepts behind dual-standard transmissions and the approach taken to achieving compatibility, are outlined here. The reasoning for setting the safe areas at the chosen values are then given. |
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| 276 | Editorial: HDTV
or not? |
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| 272 | The European widescreen market |
| This article describes the overall evolution of the 16:9 television receiver market in Europe, and analyses the different strategies that must be undertaken to ensure its durability. It underlines the practical difficulties that have been met so far, and suggests initiatives which should help the manufacturers and the broadcasters to gain the confidence of the television viewers. |
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| 272 | The 16:9 format – a technical and artistic
challenge |
| The technical innovations which are pervading the world of broadcasting will achieve their full potential only if all the professionals concerned adopt a new approach and new working methods. In this article the Author describes how the new 16:9 format has changed the rules for shooting, and explains the aesthetic advantages it offers. |
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| Multichannel Audio (MCA) | |
| 2008-Q1 | Microphone systems for Surround Sound pickup — and their use at Wimbledon tennis and The Proms |
| Bill Whiston
(246 kB) |
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| This article briefly describes some of the microphones developed specifically for Surround Sound pickup, along with several of the main Surround acquisition systems on which the majority of the dedicated Surround mics are based. It offers some personal advice on whether a particular system is suitable for use in this recording environment or that. Some microphone systems are obviously more intrusive “in shot” than others, depending on the location. The author also describes two major outside broadcasts that have involved Surround Sound mixes – the Wimbledon Tennis Championships and the BBC Proms Concerts from the Royal Albert Hall in London. |
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| 308 | Prix Europa — results of the 2006 media
streaming trial |
The Prix Europa 2006 opening concert was given on 14 October 2006 in Berlin by a Portuguese World Music group called Gaiteros de Lisboa. On the occasion of this one-hour long concert, the EBU organized a technical experiment to distribute multichannel 5.1 audio – coded in HE AAC (High Efficiency Advanced Audio Coding) over the internet using a Peer-to-Peer (P2P) technology from Octoshape. This experiment is significant because, for the first time, an event was “broadcast” live in 5.1 multichannel format across the Internet, potentially addressing large audiences with high-quality surround sound. |
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| 307 | Multichannel audio — a review of the work
of EBU Focus Team B/MCAT |
Over the years many EBU Members have experimented with multichannel audio (MCA) within radio and television services. In more recent times, since the advent of DVB digital broadcasting, multichannel audio has become an integral part of Members’ transmissions, improving the quality and user enjoyment of many different types of programming. The Focus Team B/MCAT (MultiChannel Audio Transmission) was formed to allow EBU Members to share their experiences of multichannel audio broadcasting and to address any transmission issues arising. The final output of the group is EBU Tech doc. 3311, EBU Guidelines for Multichannel Audio in DVB. This article describes the efforts and studies that lay behind the creation of this document. |
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| 306 | Audio in next-generation DVB broadcast systems |
Broadcasters have significant new requirements for audio delivery in next-generation broadcast systems such as High-Definition Television. These include the capability to deliver soundtracks ranging from mono to 5.1 channels and beyond – with greater efficiency than with current systems, but also to maintain compatibility with existing consumer home cinema systems. A new audio delivery system, referred to as Enhanced AC-3 (marketing name: Dolby Digital Plus), has been developed to meet these requirements, and has been standardized in DVB and ATSC, referring to ETSI TS 102 366 V1.1.1 (2005-02). |
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| 305 | MPEG-4 HE-AAC v2 — audio coding for today's
digital media world |
Delivering broadcast-quality content to consumers is one of the most challenging tasks in the new world of digital broadcasting. One of the most critical aspects is the highly efficient use of the available transmission spectrum. Consequently, a careful choice of compression schemes for media content is essential – for both the technical and the economical feasibility of modern digital broadcasting systems. In the case of audio content, the MPEG-4 High Efficiency AAC v2 profile (HE-AAC v2) has proven, in several independent tests, to be the most efficient audio compression scheme available worldwide. It has recently been selected within DVB as part of its overall codec toolbox. HE-AAC v2 comprises a fully-featured tool set for the coding of audio signals in mono, stereo and multichannel modes (up to 48 channels) – at high quality levels using a wide range of bitrates. |
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| 301 | Digital multichannel audio — live transmission
of Prix Europa concert in Dolby AC-3 by RBB, and in Dolby E via
the Eurovision Network |
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.. |
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| 297 | The first European live radio broadcast in 5.1
surround |
| Europe’s first satellite radio broadcast in “5.1 surround” took place from the Prix Europa competition in Berlin on 11 October 2003. This article outlines how the DTS 5.1 mix was produced in Berlin, distributed over the EBU’s Eurovision network, and delivered by Swedish Radio as a DVB-S satellite radio broadcast. | |
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| 297 | Multichannel audio — in the Digital Home |
| This article takes a light-hearted look at multichannel audio developments for the home, covering such technologies as Dolby Digital and DTS, and also looks at the current DVD format wars | |
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| 292 | The EBU's multichannel audio activities |
| EBU Project Group P/MCA (Multichannel Audio) was set up to support the introduction of the 5.1 multichannel audio system for radio and television. The group has now reported and the results of its work are presented here. |
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| 292 | Multichannel audio for television |
| Television sound can no longer be considered as a single entity. We will soon have viewers (listeners?) demanding “5.1” cinema-quality sound from every programme, whilst others – possibly the elderly or hard-of-hearing – wanting just the programme dialogue to be clearly reproduced from a tiny portable television. In this article, the author paints a picture of what he personally believes can be done with TV sound to cater for different user expectations – without making any fundamental changes to existing digital TV receivers, nor adding any significant costs at the production level. |
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| Webcasting | |
| 308 | RawFlow — using P2P to create virtual "multicasts" |
RawFlow is one of several emerging technologies for streaming audio and video content over P2P networks. The Danish public-service broadcaster DR has been using RawFlow for streaming its online radio since 2003 and will shortly start streaming video with this technology. TSR, the Swiss national broadcaster, trialled RawFlow video streaming during the Tour de Suisse cycling race earlier this year and the Estonian public broadcaster, Eesti Radio, is also experimenting with it. A broad overview of RawFlow is given in this article along with some results from its use by DR over the last three years. |
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| 308 | Prix Europa — results of the 2006 media
streaming trial |
The Prix Europa 2006 opening concert was given on 14 October 2006 in Berlin by a Portuguese World Music group called Gaiteros de Lisboa. On the occasion of this one-hour long concert, the EBU organized a technical experiment to distribute multichannel 5.1 audio – coded in HE AAC (High Efficiency Advanced Audio Coding) over the internet using a Peer-to-Peer (P2P) technology from Octoshape. This experiment is significant because, for the first time, an event was “broadcast” live in 5.1 multichannel format across the Internet, potentially addressing large audiences with high-quality surround sound. |
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| 306 | EBU Seminar report — From P2P to broadcasting |
As more and more broadcasters use the Internet to webcast their programmes, Peer-to-Peer (P2P) is becoming an interesting transport mechanism to convey these programmes to the general public, more efficiently than any traditional internet methods. This article reports on the Seminar "From P2P to broadcasting" which was held at EBU headquarters in Geneva on 14 and 15 February 2006. It was jointly organized by the Technical and Training departments of the EBU, with the involvement of the Radio, Eurovision and Legal Departments. |
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| 304 | An introduction to Internet Radio |
| This article – based on an EBU contribution to the WBU-TC Digital Radio Systems Handbook – introduces the concept of Internet Radio (IR) and provides some technical background. It gives examples of IR services now available in different countries and provides some guidance for traditional radio broadcasters on how to adapt to the rapidly changing multimedia environment. |
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| 303 | Introducing Octoshape — a new technology
for large-scale streaming over the Internet |
| The popularity of live streaming over the Internet is growing. The number of private Internet connections are rapidly expanding and consumers may today go online from almost any location using wireless technologies. However, live streaming over the Internet was born with two problems: scale and cost. The challenge is to transmit a
signal to many users simultaneously and to do so without the transmission
cost rising in proportion to the audience size. |
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| 296 | Streaming audio in the networked environment |
| This article offers essential advice to radio broadcasters on fine-tuning a PC-based “information-infrastructure” for the editing, storage and streaming of audio files. The chosen infrastructure is based on the use of four separate entities called “clouds” – Audio workstations, Network, Audio fileserver and Audio-data storage. |
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| 293 | Broadcasting over the Web |
| There are several different ways of distributing audio and video content over the Internet. You can encode it offline in any number of formats (Windows Media, Real, QuickTime etc) and host it on a web server for people to watch at their leisure. There may also arise a situation where you would want to do a live broadcast over the Internet, somewhat like a conventional television broadcast. There are many factors to consider when setting up for a live Internet broadcast – beginning with the available “live” encoding technologies. This article covers some of the many products available that will enable you to present a live audio and/or video broadcast over the Internet, with varying levels of complexity. |
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| 292 | Media streaming over the Internet — an overview
of delivery technologies |
| This article reviews the basic concepts of media streaming over the Internet, particularly those associated with Internet Protocols (IP) and server technologies. The article concentrates on the delivery aspects of audio and video over the Internet but does not cover audio and video compression schemes nor media capturing/authoring/publishing tools in any detail. These aspects will be covered in future editions of EBU Technical Review. |
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| 291 | Webcasting
and the Eurovision Song Contest |
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| 291 | A snapshot of the EBU's webcasting activities |
| The EBU recently carried out a survey of its Members to establish the extent of their Internet and webcasting activities. The results are reported here and offer a valuable snapshot of the webcasting activities of EBU Members in late 2001. |
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| 285 | Internet
geography? |
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| 282 | Webcasting — the broadcasters' perspective |
| This article is based on the work carried out by the former EBU Webcasting Group. It provides an update on the extremely fast developments in the area of webcasting that have occurred since the publication of the Group’s document, “BPN 022 – Practical Webcasting”. It also outlines some of the opportunities and challenges provided by webcasting and gives some indication of the future prospects. In particular, the article explores the impact of the Internet on the broadcasting sector. We are witnessing the process of convergence between the Internet and the emerging digital terrestrial and satellite broadcast systems. The convergence of the PC and digital broadcast terminals is bringing about the delivery of new services as part of the multi-channel offerings from digital radio and television broadcasters. |
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| Published
quarterly by the European Broadcasting Union ISSN: 1609-1469 |
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| Editeur Responsable: | Lieven Vermaele |
| Editor-in-Chief: | Mike Meyer |
| French Editor: | Eric Piraux |
| Reproduction of articles in EBU Technical Review is authorized only with the prior consent of the Editor-in-Chief. | |
| The responsibility for views expressed in articles published in EBU Technical Review rests solely with the authors. | |
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European Broadcasting Union |
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