The 19th EBU Technical Assembly continued in Munich today, where it is hosted by the Bayerischer Rundfunk. The strategic focus shifted during the morning session to the topic of standards: for broadcasting, for video coding, for software development and for multiscreen apps.

Standards

Among the key take-aways from this session were a plea from the DVB Project's Phil Laven for countries to resist the temptation to create their own national variants of internationally agreed standards. The requirement for manufacturers to produce TV sets that meet specific individual market requirements was ultimately resulting in higher costs for consumers, he said.

Tom Morrod, a research director at IHS Electronics & Media, delivered a raft of interesting figures. He highlighted the growth of tablets as a device for media consumption, which he said has a strong impact on development platforms. But he said that the best long term strategy for broadcasters would be to use HTML5 for their apps.

A wide-ranging panel discussion (pictured above) featured contributions from Polish Radio, Russia's RTR, VRT of Belgium, and the RTL Group, representing a diversity of situations and circumstances. Topics covered included the impact of the financial crisis, the prospects for increased automation at broadcasters, and the need for increased bandwidth to carry the ever-increasing quality that has come with the move from SD to HD and - in future perhaps - on to UHD.

Change

Change was on the agenda after lunch: change in public service media, change in production and change in distribution. A trio of excellent presentations provided valuable insights. Bram Tullemans introduced the EBU's landmark Vision2020 project, that will help public broadcasters to ensure they remain indispensible. YLE's Atte Jääskeläinen explained how the Finnish broadcaster has made its news production more integrated and more efficient. And leading German broadcasting guru Ulrich Reimers talked about how media distribution is changing and the implications for broadcast networks.

The TA came to a close with a lively review of the last year and the formal endorsement of the workplan for the coming year. Technical Committee chairman Arild Hellgren thanked the hosts, Bayerischer Rundfunk, and also noted that it would be Lieven Vermaele's last TA as director. He thanked Lieven for all he has done for the EBU over the past six years.

TA2014 will be hosted by Czech Television in the ciy of Prague.

Read more about this year's Technical Assembly on the EBU Events Blog.