PANELLISTS
❝ There is no single architecture that stands out as the best fit for all digital terrestrial television ( DTT ) network deployments .❞
20
March 2018
Time to switch off analogue TV
APB chats with Dr Peter Siebert , executive director of the DVB Project , on the merits of DTT , and how a new digital terrestial network architecture can potentially hasten the demise of analogue TV .
Teradek streams official torch relay for Winter Olympics
Teradek ’ s Bond II cellular bonding video encoder was deployed for the flame torch relay leading up to the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang , South Korea . Providing Internet redundancy for live streaming , the Bond II combines up to 6x USB 4G / LTE modems into a single Internet connection so that if any single Internet source goes down , the others will provide automatic failover and keep the stream running .
4K / UHD HEVC live coverage for Winter Olympics
The recent Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang , South Korea , saw LiveU , for the first time , provide 4K / Ultra HD ( UHD ) HEVC / H . 265 live video coverage . LiveU supported global broadcasters from over 40 countries with a record number of bonded cellular units , including the LU600 portable transmission solution . The company first covered the Summer Games in Beijing in 2008 and has been providing live video coverage at every major international sports event since . Later this year , LiveU will also support the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia .
Next Month @ Distribution
DTH Delivery
PANELLISTS
Martin Coleman
Executive Director Satellite Interference Reduction Group
Amitabh Kumar
Director , Corporate Zee Network
Shalu Wasu
Managing Director Eleven Sports Network
In the April 2017 issue of APB , the argument put forth was this : if broadcasters were to harness the full benefits of emerging technologies such as 4K / Ultra HD ( UHD ), 8K , virtual reality ( VR ) and IP , all roads start with digital .
Today , that position has not weakened ; on the contrary , the case for broadcasters to complete the transition to digital terrestrial television ( DTT ) is perhaps stronger than it has ever been .
While broadcast TV started with analogue terrestrial transmission , which for a long time was the preferred way to receive TV signals , many countries have now switched off analogue signals and commenced digital terrestrial transmission , notes Dr Peter Siebert , executive director of the DVB Project .
He tells APB : “ Digital can offer more choices , better video and audio quality , and because of additional metadata , greater ease-of-use . Whereas these advantages apply to all delivery schemes , there are additional benefits for the terrestrial platform .
“ It is the easiest to set up for the end-user — no cable connection is necessary and no satellite dish needs to be installed and pointed . For portable in-door reception , a simple rod
No one-size-fits-all for DTT
There is no single architecture that stands out as the best fit for all digital terrestrial television ( DTT ) network deployments . The onus is on operators to carefully consider a number of commercial and technical parameters before making their choice , advised Hans Massart , market
Despite what appears to be compelling arguments for broadcasters to complete a full transition to digital terrestial television , the analogue switchover remains largely uncompleted in regions such as Asia-Pacific .
director , broadcast , Newtec .
He told APB : “ These include the commercial parties involved in the project , the commercial constellation , any legal constraints , the geographical situation , the terrestrial access to the towers , the future prospects of the deployment and any time constraints or obligations imposed by regulators .”
However , for every DTT deployment , the total cost of ownership of the distribution network ( playout towards the towers ) needs to be considered as a whole , as does whether there is a universal service obligation ( USO ) in place . Massart
❝ There is no single architecture that stands out as the best fit for all digital terrestrial television ( DTT ) network deployments .❞
— Hans Massart , Market Director , Broadcast , Newtec antenna may give reception in any room of the household , without the need for heavy indoor networking . Furthermore , DTT is the only broadcast platform supporting mobile
explained : “ For commercial operations , there is often more content available , which allows a complete satellite transponder to be filled . At the same time , there may be no obligations to cover 100 % of a geographical area or 100 % of a population [ as stated in a USO ].”
Efficiencies , thus , can be improved by making use of technologies such as multistream , DVB-S2X and DVB-S2X channel bonding , he added .
For deployments where analogue distribution is replaced by digital distribution , such as for state broadcasters , there may be an obligation to fulfil the full terms of a USO . “ In this case , often the reach of the DTT distribution is complemented by direct-to-home ( DTH ) to fill the gaps ,” said Massart . “ In order to improve space segment efficiency , the DTT and DTH carriers are overlaid . Today , these deployments are limited by specifications of standard DTH set-top boxes , for example , 8PSK and a roll-off of 15 % rather than 5 %.”
He also identified an integral con-
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