Digital Broadcast Technology Development

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Digital Broadcast Technology Development
Presented by John Yip Chief Engineer RTHK

2006.12.06
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1. Introduction

• Broadcast Development

• DTT/ HDTV
• IPTV
• Mobile TV
• (T-DMB, DVB-H,
• MediaFLO, One Seg)

TV on Cable and Satellite, MUSE analog HD
TV
DAB
1960 1970 1980 1990 2000
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1. Introduction

• Quad-play Mix TV/ IT/ Telecom/ Wireless

DTT/ HDTV, IPTV-SD, 3G, S/T-DMB, WiMax
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1. Introduction

• Convergence

Converging technologies lead to a divergence of
viewers choices.

• Quality

Quality traded-off against mobility,
transmission costs. Video bitrates, from 0.2
Mbps (for mobile phones) to over 100 Mbps
for HDTV. Quality vs user cost, but
technologies provide flexibility, improvements.
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1. Introduction

• Content is King Customer is Queen

Compelling contents can drive people to buy new
technologies, e.g. sports. Peoples habits/ life
styles are then gradually changed by the new
technologies.

• General Trends

- Ubiquitous anywhere, anytime, desired form -
Mobility increases - Threshold of acceptable
quality dropping - Networked environment eg
office, home - Time-shifted viewing/ listening eg
PVR, ipod - Interactive
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2. Technologies
Media Technologies
Wireless Services, MMM
Radio, DDD
TV, TTT
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2. Technologies - Radio

• Radio DAB, DRM, DMB

DAB (Digital Audio Broadcasting) A technology for
multi-channel audio broadcasts. Based on European
Eureka-147 standard, developed in mid
1990s. DRM (Digital Radio Mondiale) An
open-source platform for digital radio
broadcasting in AM, SW or FM bands. Fits within
existing AM channel bandwidth. DMB (or T-DMB,
Digital Multimedia Broadcasting) A digital system
for sending data, radio and TV to mobile devices
such as mobile phones. Developed by S. Korea
(T-DMB, S-DMB). DAB-compatible.
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2. Technologies - TV

• TV - DTT

(Digital Terrestrial TV) Using digital
technology to provide - more channels (SDTV)
and/ or - better picture (HDTV) and sound
(surround) through a TV antenna eg on top of the
roof, instead of using cable, satellite or
internet.
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2. Technologies - TV

• TV - HDTV

• (High Definition TV)
• 16 x 9 aspect ratio.
• Studio Standard 1080/50i in 50Hz countries
  (HK/China). 720/50p is also used in Europe,
  Australia.
• Transmission standard country-dependent.
• Picture information about 5 times that of
  conventional TV
• Needs critical camera focusing and attention to
  the wide aspect ratio. OB can use fewer cameras.
• Compatibility with 4x3 SDTV some down-convert to
  14x9 or 13x9.

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2. Technologies - TV

• TV - DTT / HDTV

Chart 1 World-wide, DTT/ HDTV Transmission
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2. Technologies - TV

• TV - DTT / HDTV

Chart 1 World-wide, DTT/ HDTV Transmission
(Cont.)
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2. Technologies - TV

• TV - IPTV

• (Internet Protocol TV)
• Use of Internet Protocol (IP) for home TV
  transmission, can be over phone lines, via
  optical fibre trunks.
• Flexibility of including interactive services and
  HDTV. Offers many TV channels, viewer-targeting.
• For HDTV, application of MPEG4 AVC (H.264)/ VC-1
  (WMV) coding, VDSL2/ ADSL2 technologies or Fibre
  to the Home/ Building (FTTH/ FTTB).

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2. Technologies - Mobile TV

• Mobile TV

Broadcast to hand-sets (mobile phones, PDAs),
notebook PCs, etc. Interactive and audio
services. T-DMB (Terrestrial-DMB) Evolved from
DAB. Allows video, audio and data to be
transmitted to mobile devices. More efficient
audio coding. Backward compatible with DAB audio
(MUSICAM). DVB-H (Digital Video Broadcasting
Handheld) Tailored for transmitting multiple TV
channels to mobile devices. Time-slicing
technology conserves battery power of mobile
devices.
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3. HDTV and Economics

• Chicken vs egg (govt. industry) vs
  consumers content creation vs consumption
  market size vs consumers costs.
• Economics predictive of a rapid roll-out of
  costly digital HDTV.
• AI (Affordability Index)
• Normalized (GDP GDP-per-capita) (using
  PPP)
• GDP --gt size of economy --gt strength for
  driving technology/ content creation.
• GDP-per-capita --gt consumers ability buy
  new devices/ contents.

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3. HDTV and Economics

• Ranking of Major Economies, by AI

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3. HDTV and Economics

• AI (est. 2004 2005 Data)

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3. HDTV and Economics

• Observations from AI (affordability index) data
• USA, Europe, Japan established DTT/ HDTV
  standards (ATSC, DVB-T, ISDB-T). China (mainland)
  has recently established a standard in Aug.,
  2006. AI of 9.8 seems to be the minimum
  threshold.
• In Europe, the ranking order is Germany, UK,
  France, followed by Italy/ Spain.
• For Europe, a wide-coverage technology such as
  satellites is beneficial (in fact, satellites are
  prevalent).
• HDTV activity is most intense in economies with
  an AI index gt 3.8 (2004 data) or 3.9 (2005
  data), approx.
• AI ranking for the top economies has not changed
  a lot over 2004-2005. (For Hong Kong, AI 1.7
  (2004) and 1.8 (2005) synergy with mainland
  China is an important factor.)

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3. HDTV and Economics

• Expanded List showing Rollouts

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3. HDTV and Economics

• Factors Accelerating HDTV
• Other factors impact on HDTV rollout regulatory,
  pricing, marketing, etc.

Propelling Factor (HDF) M (r,p,m,o)(GDPGDP-per
-capita)
where GDP is based on the PPP method,
and (GDPGDP-per-capita) Affordability
factor, M is a function of regulatory/ pricing/
marketing/ other factors

• For 0ltMlt1 retarding For Mgt1 accelerating
• As (HDTV sets-per-capita, ) increases with HDF,
  hence
• M is proportional to (HDTV sets-per-capita, )
  divided by AI.

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3. HDTV and Economics
Factors Accelerating HDTV (cont.)
Propelling Factor (HDF) M (r,p,m,o)(GDPGDP-
per-capita)
On breaking down function M
HDF (Ar Ap Am Ao) (GDPGDP-per-capita)
Strategic factors to foster HD development Ar,
Ap, Am, Ao
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3. HDTV and Economics
Factors Accelerating HDTV (cont.)
Ar regulatory, mandating early rollout/ early
cessation of analog TV, built-in digital tuners
in TV sets, HD on-air quota, spectrum allotments,
licensing regime, standardization Ap subsidies
by governments/ operators, assisting viewers eg
on HDTV STB Am Promotional/ marketing
campaigns, to promote viewers awareness Ao
leapfrog into HD (eg Canada and S. Korea, using
ATSC, have achieved fast rollouts), adopting HDV/
low-cost EFP production, D-cinemas/ communal/
public viewing.
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4. CD DC Model
Supply
Consumption
Contents (HD)
Delivery eg. Terrestrial, IPTV, etc.
Display
Contents
(IPTV is just one more method for delivering HDTV
but it is not affected by spectrum scarcity. IT
technologies are used in the delivery process to
connect the contents to the services.)
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5. IP TV and Economics

• IPTV (HD, SD) and Economics
• IPTV-HD is subject to the economics of HDTV.
  However, for IPTV-SD content production is less
  expensive than that of HDTV.
• Consumer spending power is an important issue.
  ROI for the operators is critical.
• The upgrading and roll-out of a high-bandwidth
  and scalable network is a major investment.
  Population density is an influencing factor. Is
  Hong Kong no. 1 ?

Propelling Factor (IPTF) Mi (r,p,m,o)
(GDP-per-sq. km)
Equation applies to targeted cities, for IPTV-SD.
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6. Mobile TV and Economics

• Mobile TV and Economics
• Content production is far less expensive than
  that of HDTV.
• Affordability is an issue hardware and content
  costs, plus high functional obsolescence (short
  replacement cycles).
• Terrain is an issue (HK being one example.)

Propelling Factor (MTF) Mm (r,p,m,o) T
(GDP-per-capita)
where T Terrain factor, 0 lt T lt 1. Terrain
factor is technology (VHF, UHF, satellite) and
frequency-band dependent, for targeted Cities.
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7. Influencing Factors

• IPTV no spectrum issues.
• Other factors may also apply, such as consumer
  behaviour.
• (H/ M/ L high/ medium/ low impact)

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8. Status of Digital Broadcast Technologies
Sources wilkipedia, internetworldstat.com, etc.
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9. Convergence, HK

• On digital broadcast technologies not FMC.
• HK gt67 broadband penetration, gt131 mobile
  subscriber penetration, and gt2M 2.5G/3G mobile
  users. Leading with gt0.7M IPTV subscribers and
  high mobile penetration. Lots of potential.
• Synergy with mainland China on DTT/ HDTV
  development HK has one of the highest GDP/
  capita and mainland China is near the top in GDP.
  HK can help accelerate HDTV roll-outs.
• Chinese CMMB mobile standard uses STiMi for
  S-CMMB and T-CMMB (terrestrial gap fillers),
  30-3000MHz. HK, with high rise buildings and
  rough terrain, is very challenging for mobile TV
  using wide-area transmission ie T-CMMB or DVB-H
  (unlike cellular 3G). FTA may be less problematic.

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10. Summary

• TTT (Triple TV Technologies) and digital sound
  broadcasting developments are perplexing but
  interesting.
• Techno-economic equations and an AI index have
  been introduced to enhance the understanding of
  world-wide developments.
• Technological development and economics are
  closely related. Other factors such as
  regulatory, pricing, marketing and even terrain
  exert influences on growth.
• Technological diffusion in broadcasting depends a
  lot on content and consumer behaviour operators
  have to evaluate techno-economic and market
  factors in order to succeed.

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HDTV Development paper published (searchable
on Google, Yahoo HK ),IPTV Development
available in late Dec. 2006.The EndThank
You!yipjcs_at_rthk.org.hk