Advanced Television

Standards

Doordarshan to adopt MPEG-4

India’s public broadcaster Doordarshan’s ‘Freedish’ DTH service is to switch to MPEG-4 transmission, and thus increase to 112 the number of channels it can offer to viewers. The ‘Freedish’ option is extremely important to consumers in rural India where cable systems are limited. ‘Freedish’ is also to encrypt. Viewers need a Conditional Access key in […]

March 14, 2016By Chris Forrester

FCC: STB proposal about open vs closed standards

FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler has refuted suggestions that the Commission’s proposal to introduce competition into the set-top box marketplace will require changes in the programming business practices of pay-TV providers or require consumers to purchase new boxes; nor will it harm minority programming opportunities, contending that the proposed rulemaking is about whether the standard for […]

March 3, 2016By Colin Mann

‘Next-Gen’ TV platform coming soon

Anne Schelle is MD of the Pearl TV partnership, a grouping of more than 200 TV broadcasters, many of them affiliated to the major networks in the US, is focused on exploring “innovative ways of developing digital media” for the industry. She believes that the US’s current ATSC 1.0 digital TV system, almost 20 years […]

March 3, 2016

Deutsche Telekom, Orange, Singtel, Telefónica launch Go Ignite

At the ‘Four Years From Now’ (4YFN) tech and start-up event taking place at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, the innovation arms of Deutsche Telekom (hub:raum), Orange (Orange Fab), Singtel (Singtel Innov8), and Telefónica (Telefónica Open Future) have launched Go Ignite – a new brand for the alliance, formed in September 2015 to connect the […]

February 24, 2016

ATIS launches eCON Initiative

ATIS has launched its Evolution to Content Optimized Networks (eCON) Initiative, a transformative effort that is says will establish an evolutionary path from today’s IP-based routing network to a future network that leverages the increasingly important role of content. This work will assess developments such as Information Centric Networking (ICN) and related research, with the […]

February 24, 2016

CI+ tops 450m deployments

CI Plus-equipped IDTVs now top 450 million installed units at the end of 2015.  The CI Plus standard allows subscribers to access pay-TV on their IDTVs without having to use an operator supplied STB. It was first introduced in 2009 and is claimed to

February 23, 2016By Chris Forrester

Tech majors form Open Connectivity Foundation

A group of major industry leaders who are invested in the future of the Internet of Things, are unifying as the Open Connectivity Foundation (OCF), an entity whose goal will be to help unify IoT standards so that companies and developers can create IoT solutions and devices that work seamlessly together. Via cross-industry collaboration, the […]

February 22, 2016

India’s Trai considers STB freedom

In a similar move to the FCC in the US which is proposing to free up set-top box supply, India’s broadcast and telecom regulator Trai is looking at making set-top boxes interoperable. “We are working on introducing interoperability on set-top boxes. The idea is to make them more like a telecom device,” Trai chairman Ram […]

February 22, 2016By Colin Mann

Japan makes 4K commitment

Japan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs & Communications says the country is likely to have between 19 and 22 4K channels on air by 2018. Some Japanese broadcasters, notably JSAT’s SkyPerfecTV, are already transmitting UHD programming. The Ministry says that these 4K channels are a precursor to the even higher quality 8K ‘Super Hi Vision’ broadcasts […]

February 18, 2016By Chris Forrester

Freeview Play specs available for all

Digital UK has published the technical specification for Freeview Play, opening the connected TV service to broadcasters, platforms and equipment manufacturers worldwide. Previously available only via formal registration, the document details the technologies required to design and implement Freeview Play TVs and boxes. The publication follows strong interest in the service from both UK manufacturers […]

February 18, 2016