Advanced Television

ETSI adopts GEM/MHP

February 16, 2010

Global digital standards body the DVB has confirmed that the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) has formally adopted as standards the new release versions of the MHP 1.2.2 (Multimedia Home Platform) and GEM 1.2.2 (Globally Executable MHP) specifications. This marks the culmination of the refactoring work that makes GEM a self-contained specification. GEM now takes over the role of DVB's primary middleware specification, and MHP becomes a derived specification based on GEM.

The DVB admitted that the acknowledged importance of GEM due to its adoption in Blu-Ray, tru2way and other Java based TV standards led to its decision to make GEM the primary middleware specification.

GEM enables the creation of interoperable TV applications, which can run on various digital TV devices such as terrestrial, satellite and cable set-top boxes, IPTV terminals and gateways, and Blu-Ray players. The fact that GEM is essentially network independent makes it particularly useful in IPTV and hybrid broadcast/broadband environments, suggests the DVB.

“The formal adoption by ETSI of GEM as the primary middleware specification comes at a time when latest figures show that the deployment of GEM/MHP based set-top boxes continues to rise. Latest estimates show the number of devices has reached over 50 million, clearly demonstrating the market's commitment to this standard for interactivity,” commented Peter Siebert, Executive Director, DVB Project.

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