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tech-i

INSIGHT FROM EBU TECHNICAL

Issue 05 September 2010

Contents03 Digital Agenda

04 PLT Interference

05 Internet Governance

06 P2P

08 DTV4All

09 1080p/50 - The Next Format?

10 HbbTV in Germany

12 IST Projects

14 IBC Special

15 Diary

http://tech.ebu.ch

Looking Forwardto 1080p/50

Testing Time at NRK

DONT MISS - EBU SESSIONIBC Conference

Tuesday, 14 September, 09:30 - 13:00

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The mobile satellite company

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Visit http://tech.ebu.ch to subscribe to tech-ifree of charge

Quo Vadis? A digital agendafor the broadcasting industry.

In May 2010, the European Commissionpublished the Digital Agenda for Europe.This is one of the flagships of the Europe2020 strategy, the Commissions newstrategy for economic success in the EU.

from lieven vermaeleviewpoint

tech-i2010

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in tech-iis authorised only with the writtenpermission of the publishers.

The responsibility for views expressed in tech-irests solely with the authors.

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tech-i|http://tech.ebu.ch| september 2010 03

Prepared by Commissioner Kroes, theDigital Agenda includes the Commissionsaction plan for a digital economy (withspecific targets and priority actions) for

the coming five years. It covers issuescrossing different competences like theinternal market, copyright, culture, dataprotection.Overall, Ms Kroes strategy is to mobilisethe great potential of ICT through astreamlined virtuous circle of digitaleconomic activity. This circle works asfollows: attractive content and servicesneed to be made available in aninteroperable and borderless internetenvironment. This stimulates demand forhigher speeds and capacity, which in turncreates the business case for investmentsin faster networks. The deployment andtake-up of faster networks in turn opensthe way for innovative services exploitinghigher speeds.The Digital Agenda is most welcome,but it could be argued that the content

aspects are under developed. It conveysthe impression that what is needed ismainly a strategy to foster broadbanddeployment surely not the case.

On spectrum issues, the Commission willpropose an ambitious European SpectrumPolicy Programme in September 2010 toincrease the efficiency of radio spectrummanagement. This will be a legislativeproposal which means the Council andParliament will be involved. We will bearguing otherwise, but there is a risk thatthe Commission will call into questionthe wisdom of the Telecom Package,i.e., different treatment of spectrum usedfor broadcasting because of its value forsociety.Taken all together, the idea of a DigitalAgenda is very sound. Alignment andcoordination are indeed needed to fosteran open and innovative market of mediaand internet. Public service broadcasting/media organisations are importantstakeholders in this discussion. They

have shown that they have the capacityto innovate and drive new media services.It is crucial that PSMs now set out theirdigital agenda.

At EBU Technical, via our strategicprogrammes, we plan to coordinateand work on those issues that need tobe resolved for all players in the digitalecosystem. We need an agenda onthe evolution of production standards,in order, where possible, to simplify theintegration of media production systems,without losing quality or efficiency. Weneed an agenda on how we will movefrom a hardware broadcasting productionenvironment to a server based one. Weneed an agenda on what should be thecharacteristics and requirements of futurebroadcasting systems, and how these willbe mixed or integrated with mobile andbroadband networks. Finally we need anagenda for an application driven world,where radio and TV are also available viaapps as part of a wider offer.

See page 14

DONT TOUCH THESE ISSUES, THEYRE TOO HOT!

The Unmissable EBU Session at IBCIBC Conference, Tuesday 14 September, 09:30 13:00The hot buttons for media technology at IBC 2010.

Cover: Photo shot during SP-HIPS preparation of 1080p/50 test material at NRK, Oslo.Right is Per Boehler, NRK seen through the lens testing bench. Left is Roger Miles, EBU.

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04 tech-i| http://tech.ebu.ch | september 2010

strategic outlook

PLT ConcernsWalid Sami reports on whether broadcasters should worryabout PLT interference with services in Bands II and III.

Power line telecommunications (PLT) isa technology that uses electrical powerlines for the distribution of high data ratetelecommunication services. There aretwo main types of PLT systems: AccessPLT that covers the last mile between theelectricity supply sub-station and the user;and Indoor PLT which aims to distributedata (for example, coming from access

PLT or DSL) within buildings via theelectricity socket.A further possible use of PLT is SmartMetering. This is part of a greeninitiative to monitor the use of utilitiesand control energy usage. However,PLT is one candidate technology for thisapplication, competing with other wirelesstechnologies.

PLT below 80 MHz: no radiation limitsInitially PLT systems operated in thefrequency bands below 30 MHz, therefore

resulting in potential interference toradiocommunication services in the LF(Low-Frequency), MF (Medium-Frequency)and HF (High-Frequency), where AM radiois received.For several years, different standardisationbodies (CENELEC, CISPR, ETSI) havebeen dealing with radiation limits for PLTsystems. PLT manufacturers have been

very active to avoid radiation limits thatmight be constraining on their systems.On the other side, broadcasters havebeen working to set limits which wouldadequately protect licensed broadcastingservices from co-channel interference.At the ITU level, the attempts to approverecommendations limiting this type ofradiation in the radiocommunication sector,the ITU-R, have so far been unsuccessful.Whilst work is ongoing in all thesestandardisation bodies, the current lack ofa standard for radiation limits applicable to

PLT means that there are no constraintson PLT equipment with regard to theprotection of licensed broadcasting.Recently, the European Commissiontasked the CENELEC to prepare aEuropean standard, based on the workdone so far in CISPR, with the aim to issuea draft standard for Indoor PLT by the endof 2010 and for Access PLT by mid 2011.

PLT up to 300 MHz: potentialinterference to FM and T-DAB servicesDevelopments in PLT technology havemade it possible for PLT systems tooperate up to 300 MHz, thus overlappingwith the broadcasting Bands II (87.5-108 MHz) and III (174-230 MHz) wheremainstream FM and DAB radio servicesare located. The standardisation sectorof the ITU, the ITU-T, has approved aRecommendation specifying these highspeed PLT systems for home networkingwhich, in the broadcasters view, does not

take into account the adequate protectionof broadcasting services. Preliminary testsof one commercially available PLT deviceare very worrying for broadcasters (seeYouTube link below). The graph showsmeasured radiated levels from an indoormains network transmitting PLT signals.The measured levels are signicantlyhigh in all frequencies up to 300 MHz.However, further tests are needed toassess the real risk of interference on thereception of radio services. Coordinationbetween broadcasters is ongoing in orderto undertake tests and dene commonpositions on this issue in the relevant

standardisation forums.At the last ITU-R group meeting on thePLT subject, in June 2010, good progresswas made with regard to the preparation ofa Recommendation on PLT radiation limitsin frequencies below 30 MHz. Furthermore,decisions were made to liaise with otherstandardisation organisations, namelyETSI, CENELEC and IEEE, and to improvethe internal coordination with the ITU-Tsector on this subject.

Setup for the PLT interference radiation measurements

Extracts from the ITU-R working document towardspreliminary draft new report ITU-R SM. [PLT + 80

MHz] - July 2010.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3yVu5IfaEY

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1 www.intgovforum.org

tech-i| http://tech.ebu.ch | september 2010 05

No doubt about it media delivery bybroadband internet is here. Within veyears, 50 percent of broadcasters reach inEurope will come via broadband internet.But we are in unchartered waters aboutmany of the things that will shape theservices we offer, and dene the technologywe use to do so. Enter the UN InternetGovernance Forum1 (IGF), which meets inSeptember 2010.Nations, with their constituency ofbroadcasters, manufacturers, and networkfacility providers, have always beentheir own masters of what happens to

broadcasting. Decisions about how to useradio spectrum are taken nationally, withinthe international interference requirementsof the ITU. The same is true for regulationson programme content, licences tobroadcast, and so on. For tomorrows mediadelivery world via broadband, its goodbyeto all that.With the internet, nations (or regions) arenot masters of their own. The internetis a worldwide system of delivery. It isbeing run by well, who knows? Will thereeventually be the internet equivalent ofthe worldwide maritime laws? Will thereever be regulation to level playing elds

across the world? In whose interests will thetechnology be?About six years ago the UN agreed toestablish an annual Internet GovernanceForum open to all with a serious interest,to exchange views across the world, andacross the different interest groups. 2010sees the nal meeting of the ve-year cycle.The UN will need to decide whether it hasbeen useful, and whether it should be givenanother term.One of the triggers for the IGF was thefeeling in some countries that the internetwas being arranged in the interests of the

US, rather than the world. The internetstarted in the US so it was inevitable thatit should be the centre of the internet

universe. The body which controls theaddressing system, ICANN, is located inCalifornia and is answerable to the USgovernment. One of the achievements ofthe IGF is to encourage ICANN to be moreanswerable to the world as a whole.The technology of the internet comes froma group of open, but rather US centric,bodies, the IETF, the W3C, and the IEEE.For some, they are an example of howworldwide standards can be achieveddemocratically without governmentinuence the principle of decisions byrunning code. For others, they represent

indirect control by the large US blue chipinternet companies - the only ones withthe nancial resources to participate in allthe standards groups. Almost all of the tenmost successful companies on the internetare US companies.The questions of when and how the worldcan move to IPv6 are often discussed.The problem is that many developedcountries lack the nancial incentive tochange because they already have enoughaddresses, while the countries who wouldbenet most from the increase in addressesIPv6 would bring, are the least able to affordto introduce it.

Mechanisms for rights protection and copymanagement are always on the table,together with the means to ensure privacyand protect young people. There is usuallysome divide between the engineers whoknow that no technical system can everbe made unbreakable and thus call forlegal measures as insurance, and thelawyers who argue that obtaining worldwideagreement on legal matters is just toodifcult for human beings to achieve, andthus that technology must come to therescue.The EBU has participated in the IGF, along

with several EBU broadcasters (BBC, NHK,FT) since its inception, and apart fromtaking part in the general discussions, in

recent years has focused on how to makemedia, broadcast and internet accessibleto those with disabilities. There is aregulatory element to this since there is aUN Recommendation, binding on signatorynations to do all they can to make mediaas accessible to those with disabilities asto those without. This obligation will fall onEBU Members in future.There have been ve years of IGF,over which time delegates have muchbetter understood the range of internetgovernance issues. Knowing if there hasbeen much solid outcome from the IGF

years is more difcult. Will the seedsplanted in the IGF bear fruit, and if sowhen? No one really knows. At the timeof writing, it seems that the UN SecretaryGeneral is likely to recommend a furtherve-year term for the IGF.

David Wood poses the question ofWhos in the drivers seat withbroadband internet?

Mechanisms for rights

protection and copymanagement arealways on the table,together with the meansto ensure privacy andprotect young people.

Internet

Interests

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Technical Report 009 entitled Peer-to-Peer (P2P) Technologies and Servicessummarises the studies carried out by theEBU Project Group D/P2P (Peer-to-Peer)since 2006. The Group was tasked toinvestigate the new internet-based mediadelivery mechanisms based on grid-type(distributed, serverless) technologies andassess their suitability for broadcasters todistribute large scale, high quality audiovisual streams and les to the generalpublic in a cost efcient, reliable, and userfriendly manner.The EBUs involvement in P2P startedby preparing an exploration workshopentitled From P2P to broadcastingheld in February 2006. At that time, P2Ptechnology was still largely associatedwith illegal le sharing and tainted by itsassociation with copyright piracy as aresult of the activities of Napster, Kazaa,Glockster, etc. The usage of internet wasexceedingly expensive for broadcasters,as Internet Service Providers (ISP)charged them for each delivered stream (ingigabytes). Broadcasters therefore becamevictims of their own success: The morepopular their content, the more they neededto pay for the distribution of their content.

As the situation became increasinglyuntenable, the EBU Delivery ManagementCommittee launched the D/P2P ProjectGroup which held an exploratory meetingin April 2006. In the three years of itsexistence, the Group held nine meetings,the last one being held in May 2009in Geneva. The Group counted 96members from the public and commercialbroadcasters, telecoms, ISPs, CDNs,P2P operators, technology providers,manufacturers, chip developers,universities, and legal experts. The Groupexamined almost 150 input documents andorganised a real life trial of the EBU P2Pmedia portal involving several EBU TV andradio stations.

Today, P2P has become an establishedservice; several broadcasters andportals carry regular P2P services fordownloading, VoD and streaming usingseveral commercially available P2Psystems. However, these services are notinteroperable and are only available via PC.The market trend is that P2P is increasinglybeing used in conjunction with other deliverymechanisms such as CDNs, as opposedto standalone P2P systems. These hybridapproaches are increasingly popular inthe internet distribution market (examples:Octoshape going with CDNetworks, Joostmoving to CDN, etc). It should be madevery clear that the adaptive HTTP streamingapproach is a very strong candidate,potentially displacing P2P from the numberone position. However, it remains to beseen how the promising technology will beconverted into a viable market proposition.Pure P2P systems are most successful at

low bitrates (such as live radio/audio onlystreaming) but, due to the asymmetricity oftodays broadband networks, high qualityvideo broadcasts (1 Mbit/s or more) aremore challenging and require additionalmechanisms (super peers, edge caching,CDNs, etc.). P2P is most efcient for local,close area services but seems to be lesssuitable for inter-domain services involvingtwo or more different ISPs, especially if thebroadband network is star based (example:Netherlands, UK, etc.).Several P2P smart approaches haverecently been developed to understandthe broadband network topology, so thatmedia ows can be optimised (e.g. smallestnumber of hops, shortest latency, lowesttransport cost, etc.) examples: Octoshape,Tribler (NextShare), P4P. Another smartP2P example is libswift developed byP2P-Next. It is lightweight, inexpensiveand simple, so that it can be smoothly


infocus

EBU P2P Media Portal trial powered by Octoshape

Peer2

PeerThe EBU Project Group D/P2P recently completed itsinvestigation into the new internet-based media deliverymechanism based on gridtype technologies. Franc

Kozamernik provides an overview of the Groups ndings.

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integrated in any thin client mobile andportable devices. These systems areable to potentially substantially ease thenetwork load and improve service quality,compared to traditional P2P systems (suchas BitTorrent, Kazaa, etc.). It is importantto develop, test, standardise and marketas soon as possible a smart P2P algorithmwhich is network topology aware. Suchalgorithms are being developed by the ECfunded project P2P-Next, Napawine andothers. (See page 13.)

Advanced P2P systems are attractive forthe following reasons: P2P is an overlay to the existingbroadband network infrastructure and doesnot require any additional elements Relatively low service cost (per GBdelivered) Low investment and maintenance cost Scalability to millions of concurrent users High service reliability No single point of failure Lower server bandwidth and networkload (compared to unicast).It has been shown that P2P clients can beimplemented (not only in PCs) but also onlow cost consumer devices. Pioneer hasalready developed a rst low cost prototype

P2P enabled STB which is able to performlive TV streaming. However, in order toaccommodate P2P enabled CE devicesin the market, there is a requirement tostandardise P2P algorithms, together withother layers of the stack (e.g., video coding,middleware, metadata, signalling, etc.).This report provides some reections onhow P2P could be successfully introducedin inexpensive consumer electronic devicesand home network gateways.In order to overcome the high asymmetricityof DSL type access networks, possiblecontributions of passive or standby P2Penabled devices to the aggregate uploadcapacity would be highly advantageous. Itwould be important to identify mechanismsthat encourage users not to switch-offtheir devices when they are no longerwatching TV programmes. Overall energyconsumption of potentially millions of such

standby devices should be minimised.All internet TV players should endeavourto establish a suitable legal frameworkthat would disallow unfair blocking ordegradation of content, and preventarbitrary discrimination against particularproviders of content, applications, servicesor devices. ISPs play an important role inthis effort and should be able to developtheir businesses and obtain the fair revenuestreams for them (example: subscription,multi-tier service levels, etc.).A vision of an Open Service Sphereplatform that can be used globally todevelop any application of user interest

is now being promoted by the EuropeanCommission. Such an open service

platform will integrate innovative webbased services, sensor networks, mobilenetworks and cloud computing platforms todevelop new business applications for theinternet. It goes without saying that P2Pbased network technologies may provide asuitable technology framework for such aplatform.In conclusion, this report states that itis presently not possible to take a clearcut position in favour of using P2P for allpurposes. It is not possible to recommendP2P as a single best solution without anyreservations. There are many excellentsolutions now available in the internetmedia distribution market and there is agood prospect of more solutions to comein the near future. Nevertheless, P2P isan attractive novel technology, which maypotentially revolutionise the business ofmedia distribution over the open internet.

P2P technologies are still being developedand rened and will denitely nd theirplace in the media distribution landscape.P2P is highly disruptive but is likely to bringthe distribution costs further down. Indeed,it has already brought the prices down bya factor of magnitude. In order to exploitthe full potential of P2P, broadcasters needan open, standardised, licence-free P2Psolution that could be embedded in a rangeof consumer electronic devices.

The report was coauthored by 20 EBUand external experts. The document wascompiled by Franc Kozamernik. It was

proofread and edited by Ed Wilson andRoger Miles (EBU Technical).


There are manyexcellent solutions nowavailable in the internetmedia distributionmarket and there is agood prospect of moresolutions to come in thenear future.

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Today, 38 million people living in Europehave some form of disability. For them,there are barriers to participation in theinformation society. And they are not theonly ones. Today 20% of the population isabove 60, and it will be 30% in 2030. We arefaced with the major challenge of facilitatingthe access to television for individuals with

physical, age-related or cognitive disabilities.There are numerous initiatives worldwideto improve the accessibility to broadcastprogrammes for all. One important exampleis the DTV4All project funded by theEuropean Commission, which illustrateswhat is happening today.DTV4All has seven partners from Denmark,Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK whocollaborate to pilot access services anddemonstrate technical solutions thatcould help to improve access to televisionprogrammes by all. Associated with DTV4Allare the EBU and partners from Japan and

Australia.The objective is digital television for all,regardless of age or disabilities. The use oftelevision should be facilitated for individualswith physical, age-related or cognitivedisabilities.The primary goal is to assess existingaccess services through comprehensiveeld tests in four European member states Denmark, Germany, Italy, and Spain in order to realise barrier-free access inday-to-day operations on a pan-Europeanscale. The European Commission is thusenhancing its efforts to integrate all peoplein the Information Society and allow them to

partake in the quality of life associated withthis access.There are good prospects to achieve thisgoal in the switchover from analogue todigital television. After this, services thatsome public service broadcasters arealready offering, such as subtitling and signlanguage for the hearing impaired, or theadditional audio description for individualswith impaired eyesight, will be more stronglyestablished throughout Europe.New methods for barrier-free services arebeing developed in the DTV4All project.Hybrid TV receivers that can receivebroadband and internet services will enableimproved on screen display options andonline access via the remote control. Viathe internet, textual information or subtitlescan be made easier to read. A video signal

of sign language interpreters can be sentover the internet and superimposed onto thebroadcast image of the hybrid TV receiver,or a video of the broadcast programmewith the signer images already inserted canbe pulled from the internet to replace thebroadcast programme. The latter methodis a simpler method than delivering merelythe signer video over the internet since itavoids the need for time synchronisation ofthe broadband and the broadcast content,as well as the need for a second videoplayer/renderer in the TV set or set-top box.However, superimposing the video of thesigner onto the broadcast programme has

the advantage that the size and position ofthe image of the signer on the screen couldbe determined by the end-users accordingto their individual needs and preferences.Sign languages are not universal but differin the way spoken languages do. Thus,in multilingual environments, several signlanguage videos need to be available forselection by the end-user.With respect to audio technology, the cleanaudio method is progressing. For betterunderstandability for the hearing impaired,complex audio content can be simplied todialogue only. Background noises or musicthat may be disturbing can be suppressed(ideally, adjusted by the end-user).Generally, aids for people with disabilitiescan be of help to all TV consumers (signingfor the deaf is a notable exception). Given

the individual circumstances of viewing andlistening, consumers may benet from TVand audio subtitles, audio description orclean audio for improved intelligibility.Numerous tests have been carried out withaccess services for handicapped andnon-handicapped users. The ndings havebeen disseminated at a number ofconferences and trade fairs. They arereported in public deliverables available fromthe DTV4All website. An event for membersof the European Parliament is scheduled for28 October 2010, and a Joint Workshop withthe ITU and EBU will be held in Geneva23-24 November 2010 (to be announced on

the EBU website).DTV4All will be nalised in December 2010.It will then be for both the manufacturersand the broadcasters to take account ofthe developments and conclusions of thisimportant project.DTV4All is exhibiting at IBC in Amsterdam,10-14 September 2010. The stand is onceagain hosted by the EBU in Hall 10.

www.psp-dtv4all.org

Barrier-free TV


in focus

Christoph Dosch of IRT informs on the initiative to improve

the accessibility to broadcast programmes for all.

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Whilst many forums discuss HDTV formats,we see a trend in the professional industry tomigrate step-by-step to the next generationHDTV format, the 1920x1080p/50 (or 60)HDTV format.In the past, for legacy, political andtechnical reasons, different HDTV formatssuited different applications, and the EBUTechnical Committee responded to thiswith the Tech 3299 document, in whichfour HDTV baseband formats are dened:720p/50, 1080i/25, 1080p/25, and 1080p/50.The rst three formats are in widespread usein programme production and broadcasting.They all have similar bit rates, similar pixelrates, and offer similar basic, in the studio,picture quality.

The EBU Technical Committee suggestedthat HDTV production equipment should beswitchable between these formats, and thishas mostly been achieved.The production community has seen severalgenerations of studio compression for theseformats.The EBU Technical Committee included the1080p/50 format in its set of four becauseit seemed likely to represent the future ofboth HDTV production and broadcasting.And this was also mentioned in the EBURecommendation R112.1080p/50 programme production would bevaluable whatever format was broadcast.

Having 1080p/50 for production mightnot produce a major difference in picturequality when seen in the studio next to apristine 1080i/25 or 720p/50 picture, butthe difference would come in processingheadroom. Eventually the viewer wouldbenet from the quality, just as our audiobenets from recording at super highresolution and sampling frequencies. So,the advantage of 1080p/50 productionwould come in the longevity of the productsmade using it, and the additional qualitywhich the viewer would see whatever thebroadcast format, after the passage of

the signal through post production anddistribution to the home. The EBU andmajor manufacturers are therefore workingtogether on technologies for 1080p/50, viathe Strategic Programme SP-HIPS. New

studio compression formats and the 3GSDI interface are being studied. Both areneeded for the successful establishment of1080p/50 in production, so that the user andindustry can benet from a reduced numberof formats.Could we ever broadcast 1080p/50?This is quite a complex question. Whenyou see side by side 720p/50, 1080i/25,and 1080p/50 pictures in uncompressedform you can see very little difference,and you could wonder if there was ever aneed for broadcasting in 1080p/50. But assoon as broadcast compression is applied,the benets of 1080p/50 (and 720p/50too) become apparent by allowing highercompression efciency. The benets would

be as follows: 1080i/25 and 720p/50 are very goodformats for displays which have a maximumsize of 42-46-50. Provided the viewer isseated at 3 times picture height or furtherback, the eye is, in principle, saturatedwith detail. But larger screens than this willneed more resolution to saturate the eye.

1080p/50 has double the potential resolutionof 720p/50 or 1080i/25, and is thus morefuture proof. The compressed bit rate needed by a1080p/50 broadcast should be the sameor less than that needed by a 1080i/25broadcast, because the use of adaptivecompression is more efcient than xedinterlace compression. In other words,broadcasting 1080p/50 should, in terms ofbroadcast bit rates, be free to those who use1080i/25 today. It will, however, need about20% more bit rate than 720p/50. Weighed against the advantagesof broadcasting 1080p/50, we need toremember that the downside is not thebit rate needed, but the complexity of the

receivers decoder. The decoder has to workat twice the clock rate and have twice theinternal storage. Until recently, chipmakersclaimed that it was impossible to do this ata consumer saleable price. But it is only amatter of time and Moores law before thesituation changes and 1080p/50 decoderchips become practical in home receivers.


Dr. Hans Hoffmann looks at the various formats and argues

the case for the possible use of 1080p/50 for future use.

Is 1080p/50the next format

for HDTV production andbroadcasting?

Shooting 1080p/50 test material at NRK, Oslo

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standardisation and interoperability update

HbbTV currently lists over 60 supporters onits website from broadcasters, softwareproviders and CE device manufacturers.Following product demonstrations at IFAand IBC, the rst HbbTV products beganshipping in Germany in December 2009.With the publication of the HybridBroadcast Broadband TV standard

ETSI TS 102 796 in June 2010 thestandardisation process of the HbbTVspecication reached a major milestone.During the last year, interest in HbbTV hasbeen signicantly growing on the side ofthe service providers as well as on the sideof the CE manufacturers.For the German market, the state of HbbTVdevelopment is regarded mature enoughnow for a much broader deployment. IFAat the beginning of September in Berlin willbe the major milestone in 2010 to start ageneral market introduction of HbbTV inGermany.

Starting with IFA 2010, all four majorbroadcasting groups in Germany(ARD/ZDF/RTL/Pro7Sat1) are expectingto provide the rst set of HbbTV services.They will include advanced teletextservices, catch-up TV services, shoppingapplications and more. These addressclear user demand. But as HbbTV is anopen hybrid system that is also suitable forbroadband-only services, it provides theopportunity for smaller or completely newoperators to provide new services. Someexamples of this will also be shown at IFA.On the CE manufacturer side, some 20manufacturers are working on HbbTV

implementations and a number of themwill exhibit their products at IFA and aim tobring them to the market before Christmas.More products are expected to appear inthe market during 2011.As the HbbTV feature can be integrated ina very modular way, devices that includean HbbTV option will cover all marketsegments: HbbTV will be integrated inIDTVs as well as in set-top boxes. Forsome, it will be combined with a PVRfunction or with CI+ interfaces.The combination of broadcasting andinternet gives signicant added value for all

types of broadcast channels. There will bedevices on the German market by the endof this year with DVB-S, DVB-C and DVB-Tfront-ends. Also, under consideration is theapplication of HbbTV to IPTV systems forthe German market.

The HbbTV specication supportsbroadband-only, internet style applications,including the creation of portals. Thisbroad range shows that the HbbTVconcept is not only valid for specic marketsegments but its commercial value isrecognised as fundamental and generic.In order to ensure good interoperability

between the various devices andservices, the IRT will host a third HbbTVInteroperability Workshop before IFA.This event will provide a nal technicalcrosscheck of all developments. Anyremaining issues on either side canthen be xed before the show or at thelatest, before the actual deployment ofthe products. Workshops like this offer apragmatic testing approach as the nal

HbbTV test suite is not yet available.Communication to all market participants,

both B2B and B2C, is accompanied byan interim licensing regime of the HbbTVlogo - the nal usage of the logo onHbbTV products will be tied to test suitecertication.The HbbTV consortium and a numberof major market players have set thecourse for a broad and sustained marketintroduction of HbbTV in Germany - andpresumably many more countries.

The HbbTV initiative announced in August 2009 its intention

to work on the harmonisation of the delivery of broadcast andbroadband services through connected TVs and set-top boxes.One year on, IRTs Klaus Merkel gives a progress report.

HbbTVin Germany

ETSI publishes HbbTV Standard

ETSI published the HbbTV specication as ETSI-TS 102 796 (ETSI Technical Specication) on 10 June2010. The body which worked on the standardisation was the EBU/ETSI/CENELEC Joint TechnicalCommittee on Broadcast chaired by EBU Technical Director, Lieven Vermaele. JTC is also the route viawhich DVB, WorldDMB and DRM standardise their outputs it is also the body which has standardisedMHEG-5 and MHP.The draft specication was submitted for approval in February 2010, with a deadline of March 2010.Some comments to the original specication were received which led to a resolution meeting to producea nal draft. This was the draft that was ultimately approved and published as TS 102 796 in June. Aseemingly complex process, but designed to ensure the quality and acceptance of the nal deliverable.Of course, standardisation is only the start, the HbbTV Group which is in the process of forming willhave to concentrate on implementation issues in order to ensure that HbbTV becomes the commercialsuccess that many expect. One of the rst jobs of the consortium will be to enter into partnership withETSI so that future generations of HbbTV can be standardised through this route.

Peter MacAvock

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tech-i| http://tech.ebu.ch | june 201011

standardisation & interoperabilityupdate

3d tv go deeper

3D TV has generated an enormous

amount of interest in the industry

following the latest success in

the screening of a number of

prestigious sports events to

cinemas. With many of the World

Cup games screened in 3D,

viewers were able to experience

3D TV in the comfort of their home

sooner than expected. Further 3D

TV channel launches have been

announced and within a very shortperiod viewers will have a bouquet

of 3D TV services to choose from.

Ericsson has been active in the

3D TV arena for some time and

recently announced that it is

providing ESPN, the industrys

rst 3D sports television network,

with a complete standards based

3D TV video solution featuring

Encoders and Professional

Receivers tuned for ESPN 3D

broadcasts as well as for high

quality HD. The complete end-

to-end solution supports the

highest picture quality from venue

to viewer. ESPN has deployed a

wide range of Ericsson 3D and HD

products including the complete

solution for direct-to-home andcontribution and distribution of

3D content.

Ericssons unique 3D contribution

solution is based around the

latest CExH42 encoder that offers

advanced contribution features,

such as 4:2:2, 10 bit precision

and 1080p50/60 formats. When

fully congured, the encoder

can deliver full HD resolution for

both left and right 3D channels

with a single MPTS output for

distribution direct to the studio.

Once received in the studio the

dual channels are decoded by the

RX8200 Professional Receiver in

preparation for studio processing.

Left and right channels remain

perfectly aligned through use ofEricssons unique Simulsynch-3D

technology, an option available

on the RX8200 Receiver. When

not in use for 3DTV applications,

the equipment can be readily

re-purposed for other high quality

contribution applications.

Ericsson Television Limited

Tel: +44 (0) 23 8048 4000

Email: [email protected]

www.ericsson.com/television

To learn more about Ericssons 3D TV contributionand distribution solutions please contact us :

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And you thought stereo 3DTVis a challenge? Then you willbe impressed by the EuropeanMUSCADE project, which isshooting 3-dimensional contentusing four cameras per position.Two cameras form a traditionalstereo-pair, while the other twoare satellite cameras, providingadditional information for extraviews. Extra angles are needed to

watch 3DTV without glasses, on so-called autostereoscopic displays.This summer the MUSCADE teamperformed its rst test shoots in aFraunhofer studio in Erlangen. 3Dpioneer KUK Film productions hadbuilt a special rig, which allowsfor each of the four cameras to beadjusted in six directions (positionand angles). The biggest challenge

was the setup of the 4-camera rig.To make sure the cameras are wellaligned, a software tool called STANis used. This system, developed

by Fraunhofer HHI, tells the crewwhich camera to adjust and in whatdirection.The test shoot in Germany waspromising. The STAN systemworked well and alignment couldbe achieved to a good level ofaccuracy. Next steps in the projectinclude encoding tests, using higherresolution cameras, performing 50fps shoots (current material is in25 fps) and extending the STANsoftware with additional testingoptions.

The EBU participates in MUSCADEto, quite literally, keep an eye onthe direction the 3DTV evolutionis taking and to contribute tostandardisation efforts early on.While broadcasting multiple 3Dviews to the home is somethingfor the future, and even current(stereo) 3DTV remains unproven,timely participation in technologicalinnovation is key for strategic

investments and productionplanning for broadcasters.

Frans de Jong

www.muscade.eu

MUSCADE - 3DTV with Quadruple Cameras

The EBU is one of the nine partners,the others being universities,broadcasting research institutes andmanufacturers, from seven countries

in total, who began the European 7thFramework Programme 3D VIVANTthree year project in March 2010.3DTV in the cinema and lately inbroadcasting is proving to be ratherpopular with a number of satelliteservices in trial and early phasesof operation. The present 3DTVand cinema technology is oftendescribed as 3D Stereoscopic sinceit provides left and right eye views ofthe scene captured by twin camerasmounted some centimetres apart tosimulate the left to right eye spacing.

To experience a 3D Stereoscopicscene, the viewer usually wearsspectacles, typically of the polarisedor shutter type.

The 3D VIVANT project is intenton taking a signicant step beyond3D Stereoscopy, to provide animmersive 3D visual and spatial

sound experience without the needfor spectacles or headphones andhence viewer and listener fatigue-free. The project is designing a3D Holoscopic single aperturecamera which will provide real-timecapture of 3D scenes. The imageswill ultimately be displayed on adedicated 3D display using theprinciples of holographic geometryfor high quality viewing withoutspectacles.Further parts of the project will takethe captured images and process

them for 3D object extraction,depth processing, and to providea scalable 3D Holoscopic robustvideo coding for transmission. In

addition to broadcasting, the projectis also developing the use casesfor applications of 3D Holoscopyto the internet to provide onlinehyperlinking of 3D objects. Theproject also plans to develop anappropriate new spatial soundsystem, to provide a more naturalrepresentation of the sound eld

where the images are captured,and to playback the sounds throughloudspeaker arrays which will beacceptably simple to use in a typicaldomestic home.The 3D VIVANT Project Coordinator,Dr Amar Aggoun from the School

of Engineering and Design atBrunel University in London, will bepresenting a paper on 3D Holoscopyat IBC 2010.

Ed Wilson

www.3dvivant.eu

3D VIVANT - Providing an Immersive Visual & SpatialSound Experience

standardisation and interoperability update

STAN - stereoscopic analyzer

KUK Films

4-Camera rigsetupused to shoot

multi-view3D content

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OCEAN - CDN for OnlineMultimedia Content

The Open ContEnt Aware Networks(OCEAN) is an EC funded R&Dproject for online multimedia contentdelivery using Content DeliveryNetworks (CDN). This three yearproject started in February 2010. Theproject includes nine partners and is

led by France Telecom (Orange).

The EBU has joined this projectfor two reasons. Firstly, broadbandnetworks are increasingly used to

carry high denition and 3D content.And secondly, online content trafcis sharply increasing over theinternet and CDNs have becomethe cornerstone of online multimediacontent delivery.It is estimated that today aboutone third of the internet mediatrafc (150 MB per day, per user) isdelivered through CDNs. Yet todaysCDNs have several shortcomings,perhaps the most important beingthe congestion of the CDN last milewhich represents the major bottleneckand which requires some novel QoSsolutions. The CDN last mile is the

network section between the end-userand the closest CDN server, whichincludes the last mile access, theaggregation network and sometimeseven part of the regional network.The second problem which OCEANis trying to resolve is that of

standardisation. Today, CDNs areclosed systems with proprietary,vendor specic mechanisms andinterfaces, forcing the networkoperator to deploy multipleproprietary servers (for different CDNoperators) next to each aggregationor access node. It is clear that onlya standardised system that caninterwork with legacy systems anddeliver content from any origin is aviable solution.In order to provide high qualitymultimedia delivery, a contentdelivery system will have to interactwith network level mechanisms from

network operators. Hence, someincentives for all parties involved inthe future evolution of network andservice infrastructures will have to bestrengthened, while being compliantwith regulation guidelines.In order to meet these challenges,

the project plans to develop a newstandardised caching architecturethat allows caching content closer tothe user than traditional CDNs. Noveldynamic distributed self-learningcaching algorithms will be developedto cope with the highly unpredictablelocation and time dependentconsumption patterns. Finally,OCEAN will develop innovative mediaaware congestion control mechanismsand content-aware media deliverytechniques.

Franc Kozamernik

www.ict-ocean.eu

With the support of FIAT/IFTA, theEuropean Broadcasting Union and theEDL Foundation, the EUscreen BestPractice Network aims at developing

a portal through which over 35,000items that capture Europes televisionheritage (videos, photographs,articles) will be made available online.

EUscreen is designed to be theaudiovisual branch of Europeana, theEuropean Digital Library.EUscreen started in October 2009 asa three year research project fundedby the eContentplus programme ofthe European Commission. FourteenEBU Members and EBU Technical,participate in the project in additionto national audiovisual archives andother distinguished partners.EUscreen has developed acontent selection policy andmetadata framework that alignsthe heterogeneous collections held

throughout Europe and encourages

the exploration of Europes culturalheritage and European televisionhistory in particular.Building on the EBU Core metadataschema (EBU Tech 3293) and openweb standards, EUscreen is workingon standardisation in order to providethe technical solutions needed toachieve interoperability.The EUscreen portal fulls twofunctions. It provides an interfacethrough which users look for contentof their interest. It is also the point ofaccess for content providers to submitnew items from their collections,each of them being documented viaan online form. This information issubsequently stored and exchanged,e.g., with other projects such as

Europeana, in the form of EBU Core

metadata.EUscreen is also looking at SemanticWeb. During its recent projectconference on metadata, EBUTechnical was invited to presentits work in this domain and theharmonisation already achievedaround the EBU class model, EBUCore, W3C MAWG (Media AnnotationWorking Group) and IPTC.EBU Technical is particularly satisedwith its participation in a projectwhere EBU Members are activelycontributing. It is also the opportunityto work and collaborate with otherpartners and institutions of highexpertise and reputation.

Jean-Pierre Evain

www.euscreen.eu

Distribution of radio and televisionprogrammes, movies, music,ringtones, games, and various dataapplications to the public is todaypossible via a variety of dedicatednetworks. As broadband internetbecomes ubiquitous, all contentdistribution services will be combined(bundled) and conveyed to the

public via a common pipeline theinternet. Several internet technologiescan be used: unicast (client-servercommunication), IP multicast, contentdistribution networks, and most

recently, Peer-to-Peer (P2P). Possibleadvantages of P2P, compared toother approaches, are low distributioncost, no investments in the broadbandinfrastructure networks required,excellent scalability and no singlepoint of failure.The P2P-Next Project is the largestand arguably one of the mostimportant next generation internet

content delivery projects conductedwithin the EU FP7 CollaborativeResearch1. It started in January2008 and is due to end in 2011. Theobjective of P2P-Next is to buildan open, standardised P2P-basedcontent delivery platform, supportingbroadband video portals and deliveringcontent via P2P to television screensand STB sets. P2P-Next involves 21

partners from 12 different countries,including public broadcastingorganisations RTVSLO, BBC and theEBU, several SMEs, universities andR&D institutes.The former EBU Project Group D/P2P was one of the prime initiators ofthe project. The successor to D/P2P,the new ECB-ICD (Internet ContentDelivery) community will be actively

involved in the P2P-Next LivingLaboratory campaign, with more than20,000 peers involved and which willtake place during the summer of 2010.During the rst 30 months theP2P-Next project team developedthe streaming video-to-STB solution(exhibited at IBC 2008) and showedthe internet HD quality end-to-endstreaming distribution of professional

content to low-cost STB hardware atIBC 2009. P2P-Next collaborates withthe DVB and DLNA projects, so thatfuture television consumer devicesand home networks would not onlybe able to receive satellite, cable andterrestrial services but also broadbandservices, both live and on-demand.

Franc Kozamernik

www.p2p-next.org

EUscreen - Content Selection& Metadata Framework

P2P-Next - A Next GenerationDelivery Platform

1 Its overall budget amounts close to 20 million.

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ARRI Lighting the way ahead

ARRI Lighting Solutions GmbH, Ernst-Augustin-Str. 12, 12489 Berlin,

Germany, Tel.: +49 (0)30 678233 0, Fax: +49 (0) 30 678233 99

VISIT US AT IBC

Hall 11 # F21

10.-14.09. 2010, Amsterdam

We will present new products on both

the LED and traditional lighting side and

our staff will be on hand to discuss

turnkey studio solutions.

www.arri.de

Made in Germany

In a new departure for IBC, the IBC 2010Conference continues on the morning ofTuesday 14 September 2010. The EBU hasbeen invited to organise the session. Markyour diary now.

Our approach has been to look underneaththe stones at the most critical topics for theindustry in 2010. Where do broadcastersstand, and why does the industry(sometimes) think they are wrong? Attendingthe session may even give you all you needto nish your company IBC report.In the rst part of the morning we examinethe most critical strategic issues forbroadcasters for programme delivery.Peter MacAvock looks at hybrid broadcastbroadband. Today we know that newsystems continue to be developed, andthere are at least six in the world. Peter willask if there is hope for a common standard.

Andy Quested, who chairs the EBU 3DTVgroup, will reect on whether free-to-airbroadcasters really need 3DTV. Radio isnot forgotten, and Mathias Coinchon willtake a cold look at radios future. Once aired,two manufacturers will be asked if what theyheard makes sense.In the second part of the morning, weexamine the hot issues for production. Firstof all, one of the most advanced ideas for

IT programme production, the integratedprogramme bank, will be explained bysomeone who has actually done it, SverreReiten. Secondly, the great when will ithappen question for production, which isthe use of 1080p/50, 60 is explained by Dr.Hans Hoffmann. Be prepared with largechequebooks. Thirdly, via Florian Camerer,we look at the potential great saviour ofviewer and listener patience, the use of

loudness to monitor and set audio levels.Given the background, once again we askthe manufacturers if what they heard makessense, or was it wishful thinking.The session wraps up with a view of whatto look out for the next IBC. Be sure not tomiss it.

David Wood

IBC 2010 EBU Session, IBC Conference, Tuesday 09:30-13:00

What are the

Hot Buttonsfor IBC 2010?(Aka: Dont touch these issues, theyre too hot!)


IBCspecial

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Visitors to this years EBU stand at IBC(10.D21) will be treated to demonstrations

showing the depth of media technologyinnovation and experience amongst EBUMembers.3DTV is a major technology innovation ondisplay at IBC. EBU Members and staffhave been familiar with this technologysince the 1980s, and EBU leads part ofthe DVBs current work in this domain. Butmuch remains to be learnt. How can webuild 3D into a modern production chain atreasonable cost? What are the productiongrammar issues for 3DTV? Are the futuresystems beyond stereoscopic 3D viable?What is the impact of viewing stereoscopic3DTV for long periods? The EBUs work

will endeavour to address many of thesequestions to ensure that the viewersinterests are best served by this new andexciting technology.To aid the assessment of HDTV systems,the EBU has produced a number of testsequences shot in 1080p/50 which will beavailable for download at IBC 10.Barrier-free access to TV and radio andmultimedia remains an important dimensionwhen planning digital and hybrid techniquesin production and distribution. Representingpublic service broadcasters, the EBUgives this domain a high priority and

this years IBC will see Access Servicesdemonstrations from the BBC, RAI,DTV4All and NHK - helping broadcastersaddress the needs of those with disabilities.Analogue TV switch-off is on the horizon

for many European countries, and Hybrid

Broadcast Broadband systems are beingdeployed now by broadcasters, consumerelectronics vendors and IPTV networks. Itsan exciting time for the innovations, andIRT, RAI and others will be demonstratingsome of the HBB options for TVbroadcasters.Radio is also critically important, and hybridtechniques will have just as far-reachingimpact on the radio stations of the future:With the help of Canadian CommunicationsResearch Centre and Global Radio,EBU will show an entire radio productionchain broadcasting using some of the

major digital radio standards and offeringhybrid functionality, all for modest capitalinvestment.Another important issue is that ofloudness. The EBU has been successful

in bringing together broadcasters and

the audio industry and this will lead toa recommendation that promises tobring real benets to the viewer/listener.Understanding the impact of the work willbe the topic of regular presentations onthe EBU stand. It will be something nobroadcaster can afford to miss.EBU is a reference point for industryprofessionals seeking to understand thedetails behind the headlines in industrydevelopments. Our remit is to build thecommunities of industry professionalsand to bring tangible benets to thebroadcasting consumer. With 3DTV,

Access Services, HBB on radio and TV andour work with loudness, EBU remains atthe centre of media innovation.

Peter MacAvock

EBU Village IBC 2010

DIARY2010


Further information can be found at http://tech.ebu.ch/events

Joint EBU/OCEAN Workshop7 Sep / Geneva (CH) / No fee. Participate at the joint EBU and OCEAN Workshop on Internet Content Distribution.

MXF Masterclass 201021 - 22 Sep / Geneva (CH) / Fee. This 2 day Masterclass in MXF will enable you to gain expert knowledge in MXF inorder to better evaluate the operational challenges related to migration.masterclass

AIEMPro 201025 - 29 Oct / Florence (IT) The third international workshop on Automated Information Extraction in Media Production(AIEMPro) is organised in conjunction with ACM Multimedia 2010.

Forecast 201016 - 17 Nov / Geneva (CH) / Members only / Fee. An annual specialised meeting on Spectrum and Delivery technologytopics, organised by the Delivery Management Committee and the Spectrum Management Committe.

EBU EUROTRAVEL17 - 18 Nov / Brussels (B) / Fee. Join the annual Eurotravel Conference which brings together all the major players fromthe TTI marketplace.

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At Harris, were delivering the future today.

For nearly a century, Harris has pioneered the technologies that drive the worlds leading television and radio

broadcast operations.

Today, Harris is the industrys total communications leader uniquely merging traditional broadcast and IT systems

with powerful media software to streamline your current workow and unlock all-new markets such as 3DTV,

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Where are we headed tomorrow? Wherever you and your audience want to go.

See us at IBC2010 Hall 7 Stand G20 or visit us at www.broadcast.harris.com.

Europe+44 118 964 [email protected]

UK, Israel, Africa+44 118 964 [email protected]

Southern Europe+33 1 42 87 09 [email protected]

North, Central, Eastern Europe+49 89 149 049 [email protected]

Middle East+971 4 433 [email protected]

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