plasma displays

home platforms

licensing

BBC R&D ANNUAL REVIEW 85

PLASMAS AND DVDThis year, we have seen an increasingnumber of DVD players feeding plasmadisplays directly. The quality of thepictures from DVD can be very good,and the pictures are often matched byfull surround sound, providing a majorimprovement in the viewing experiencewhich many people enjoy.

If this trend continues, plasma panelswill make up a significant proportion ofinstalled displays at home. Thenperhaps we will have to allocate morecapacity in the digital multiplex topremium programmes, to match thequality of the competing productswhich are being delivered by DVD.

STANDARDSPlasma displays are manufactured tomeet a range of different television andcomputer standards. There aredifferent numbers of effective lines ofresolution, horizontal definition, refreshrates, and colourimetry. Some of themost common devices operate oncomputer standards and so there isoften a standards converter built intothe display. The screens themselvescomprise a large number of smallelements which are digitally driven.However the interfaces to the displaywere, in many of the older displays,often analogue rather than digital. Boththe standards conversion process andthe analogue to digital converter werepotential sources of distortion.

STANDARD DEFINITIONDISPLAYSRecently, our development of a directdigital interface for plasmas displays hasmade a tremendous impact on thegrowing market. The pictures from the42" Direct Digital Plasma, marketedunder licence by Electrograph Delphi,are without doubt the best that havebeen portrayed by a 480-line standarddefinition panel and have become anindustry reference point.

This has been achieved by botheliminating unnecessary conversionsfrom digital to analogue signals andback again, and by applying ourproprietary (and patented) knowledgeon format conversions.

HIGH DEFINITION DISPLAYSOur relationships with themanufacturers of plasma displays havehelped us gain early access to hardwarefor high definition displays. We nowhave active co-operation on the supplyof technical information to go withHDTV panels recently acquired fromboth Pioneer and Hitachi and havedeveloped a serial digital interface forthese high-resolution displays. The newinterface design makes no compromiseson picture quality, and sets the standardfor the mass manufacturers to follow.The high definition digital interfaceachieves an impressive quality, farbetter than that achieved by themanufacturers’ own analogueinterfaces. We already have othermanufacturers interested in licensingthe new interface design for bothstandard and high definition displays.

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Cathode ray tubes will continue formany years to be the most commonway of displaying television pictures.However plasma display panels arebecoming popular, especially for largedisplays. There are other technologiesbeing developed in researchlaboratories, but they will takemany years to mature, and soplasma technology is likely to have asignificant period during which it canmake a useful and profitablecontribution to both the televisionand the computer industries.

The technology will haveconsequences for broadcasters, andthe BBC needs to understand and beprepared for the impact that thistechnology will make.

The better quality pictures mayreveal some of the productionprocesses which are not visible on aconventional display tube. They mayalso show up some less obviousfeatures, such as in watermarkingwhere the display can cause apreviously invisible watermark tobecome visible.

We have been working with themarket leaders to determine just howgood this form of display can be,offering advice and suggestions forimprovements, and advising the BBCabout the consequences. In future, it isprobable that plasma displays will haveto be part of our monitoring process.

Plasma display panels are now making an increasing impact at thetop end of the market. Originally they were of interest just forprofessional applications, but increasing numbers are being sold in thedomestic market too. This will have an impact on our productiondecisions. Where is the industry going?

If the benefits of this technology are to beaccessible equally to all our viewers then weneed standards both for the broadcast signal,and for the functionality in the receivers.DVB, the group responsible for thestandardisation of the European digitaltelevision system, published their specificationfor the Multimedia Home Platform inJuly 2000. This may become the standard thatsupersedes the many different andincompatible interactive receiver platformscurrently in use. The TV-Anytime Forum isdeveloping standards for services that usestorage in the receiver. The myTVcollaborative project provides an importantforum for discussion and development ofstandards proposals and has a practical goal:to demonstrate TV-Anytime services runningon a Multimedia Home Platform.

Products exploiting enhanced processingpower and hard-disk storage are appearingon the market. We are evaluating theseproducts to make sure that BBC programmesare prominently available to people who usethe products.

Many broadcasters have launched or areplanning digital television services using theDVB system but there has not been aconvergence within the industry on acommon format for interactive applicationssuch as electronic programme guides andinformation services. On the contrary, thelaunch of digital television services across theworld has featured the deployment of avariety of non-interoperable and oftenproprietary platforms, each of which is unableto provide access to all the services availableto consumers. This situation threatens toprevent the evolution of a thriving, open

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Computer technology is now being used in television reception equipment, bothset-top boxes and integrated digital televisions. It is already allowing interactiveapplications such as electronic programme guides and short-term storage ofmany hours of television for time-shifting. The power of digital processing chipsand the capacity of hard-disk storage are both increasing rapidly while their priceis falling dramatically. Together these developments are already changing the waytelevision programmes are selected for viewing and the way they are viewed;soon they may change the way they are scheduled and even the way theyare delivered.

THE TV-ANYTIME FORUMThe TV-Anytime Forum aims todevelop open specifications which willallow consumer electronicsmanufacturers, content creators,broadcasters and service providers toexploit high volume digital storage inconsumer platforms. The TV-AnytimeForum has over 140 members.

We have contributed to theTV-Anytime specification through themyTV project. The specifications ofContent Referencing and Metadata forProgramme Description in particularhave seen a substantial input throughthis route.

Programme Description Metadata isthe data to be used as the basis for theselection of the programme for homerecording and viewing. It can be usedby the viewer or by an agent (a piece ofintelligent software) to attract theviewer to the programme. ContentReferencing is the means of discoveringwhere and when the selectedprogramme is available. This of coursemay be from a number of alternativesources and can be from a traditionaltelevision schedule or an Internet basedprogramme server. In either case, thespecifications being developed by theTV-Anytime Forum will allow theautomatic discovery of the alternativeprogramme locations and subsequentacquisition of the programme by the

personal video recorder Thesetechnologies will be the basis of anintelligent recorder that could act onbehalf of the viewer in the speculativeand selective acquisition of appropriatecontent from the diverse multitude ofsources in the digital age.

In addition to the selection andacquisition technologies outlined above,the TV-Anytime Forum is active in thearea of rights management andprotection and recognises the businessrequirements underpinning anysuccessful uptake of the digital deliveryand storage systems built around thenext generation of personal videorecorders. The TV-Anytime Forum hastherefore established a comprehensivelist of business model scenarios asbenchmarks to identify the requiredfunctionality and constraints necessarywithin its technical specifications.

The TV-Anytime Forum isconcerned with the creation of avibrant and attractive horizontalmarketplace enabling the consumer ina multi channel digital world. As suchit has been embraced by some of theleading players currently supplyingproprietary or vertical solutions asthey look forward to increasing theirown business plans within thewider industry.

myTVThe goal of myTV is to marryTV-Anytime standards, local hard diskstorage, DVB transmissions and set-topboxes containing a Multimedia HomePlatform. Its wider goal is tounderstand how the introduction ofhome storage will affect a viewer'srelationship with broadcast content,and how to provide worthwhileservices that the viewer wants.

The project is an extension of ideasdeveloped earlier in the SMASH andSTORit projects, and was set up

• To develop personalised servicesfor digital television.

• To develop new servicesexploiting local storage, such asnavigational aids, and try outnew forms of content such asnon-linear news or magazineprogrammes.

• To follow emerging technicalstandards in this area andcontribute to their development.

• To demonstrate theinteroperability of openstandards by producing twocompatible set-top boxes withlocal storage that can run thesame applications developed inthe project, and use the sameprogramme description data,although perhaps in differentways and definitely withdifferent user interfaces.

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market for digital receivers andservices. It is also likely to deterinvestment in content for interactivetelevision services since worldwidesales and distribution are impossiblewithout the expensive re-working ofthe material.

DVB MULTIMEDIA HOMEPLATFORMThe primary goal of the MultimediaHome Platform is to enable the birthof horizontal markets for digitaltelevision and multimedia services,where there is open competitionbetween content providers, networkoperators or platform manufacturers ateach level in the delivery chain.A further goal is to exploit thepotential for convergence betweenbroadcasting, the Internet andconsumer electronics.

The Multimedia Home Platformuses the Java programming language, alanguage widely used on the Internet.It has developed a new version calledDVB-J that provides extensions tosupport broadcast- and TV-specificrequirements. The use of Java providescontent developers with a high degreeof control and flexibility for theirapplications. For example, we can nowtailor the behaviour of applications tosuit user preferences. It also allowsapplications to deal with many

protocols and data formats that are notspecifically supported by the basicplatform, providing an element offuture-proofing.

We are developing enhancementswhich support the recording ofprogrammes and interactiveapplications on mass storage devicesand which permit the transfer ofcontent and services between differentreceivers distributed around the home.

If the Multimedia Home Platform issuccessful and becomes widelyadopted it may eventually provide asolution to the problems created bythe current diversity of platforms.However, UK broadcasters, includingthe BBC, are already providinginteractive services using otherplatforms. A significant challenge forbroadcasters wishing to support theMultimedia Home Platform istherefore the migration from theirexisting platforms and applications.DVB has provided some help byallowing the new platform to includeoptional plug-in decoders to providesupport for legacy application formats.However, the Multimedia HomePlatform first needs to succeed in newmarkets for digital television wherethere are no legacy systems. It maythen look increasingly attractive as afuture upgrade path for broadcastersin the UK.

understanding of the needs andrequirements of our viewers and usingthis information as the basis of assessingthe success of the applications andservices. This process will help usidentify which programme data isnecessary for both users and agentsand to develop an understanding ofwhich programmes viewers want ormight like.

By developing real boxes and realapplications and broadcasting them,myTV will test the ideas of TV-Anytime.This means the project can givepractical feedback on how well thestandards work, and we will be able toadvise the BBC how best to apply thesestandards to ensure viewers find ourprogrammes and enjoy the newservices made possible.

PERSONAL VIDEORECORDERS The personal video recorder is a set-top box which incorporates a hard diskfor short-term storage of TVprogrammes for time-shifting , fulfillingthe same functions as an analogue videorecorder, but offering many newfacilities too. The hard disk can recordand replay at the same time, giving theviewer the opportunity to pause aprogramme whilst it is being broadcast,or even to go back and repeat a part of

the transmission, without having to missany of the action.

Devices manufactured by TiVo andReplay TV have been available in theUSA for over a year. TiVo has recentlylaunched in the UK.

We have worked with TiVo to offertechnical advice on their UK launch.The BBC is now present on TiVo’sChannel Highlights feature which offersthe broadcaster the opportunity topromote selected programmes to theTiVo viewer, who may choose torecord them at the touch of a button.The content for Channel Highlights isprepared by the Personal TV group inBBC Television/New Media; we haveworked with them to offer technicaland hardware advice to TiVo and tosupport field trials. An extension to thiswork now under discussion will developmethods and standards for trailerselection, enabling a viewer to select aprogramme or series to record byclicking a button during the broadcastof a trailer.

All personal video recordersultimately rely on the accuracy ofmetadata describing the programmes,which may be broadcast with the TVsignal or – as is the case with TiVo –downloaded during an automatic dailyphone call. For BBC programmes to beaccessible it will be important thatdescriptive data is captured as

programmes are made and is availablefor editing to support navigationservices on personal video recorders.This service could be supplied directlyby the BBC or via third parties.

We have also made contact withAxcent Media, who have developed apersonal video recorder that is now onsale in Germany.

THE FUTURE OFINTERACTIVITYTechnology is changing its nature tobecome ubiquitous, domestic, inter-connected and often mobile. As itdevelops more users will be interactingwith more technology than ever before.No longer will high technology be thepreserve of the specialist.

As technology becomes moreprevalent, the importance of design willbecome paramount. Users will requiresimple and usable methods ofinteraction. This is particularly so in thedomain of television, and the personalvideo recorder and the futurecapabilities offered by homenetworking. Already technology ischanging viewing behaviour

This is no Utopian vision. With thegreater functionality will come greaterproblems for the traditionally passivetelevision viewer. No longer will theysimply view. They will use. Users willbe able to use a variety of methods to

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Although myTV hopes to use the newMultimedia Home Platform, this doesnot yet include provision for hard diskstorage. myTV is developing theconcepts to allow storage to workwith the Multimedia Home Platformand is also developing andimplementing the interfaces necessaryfor many TV-Anytime features. Byimplementing TV-Anytime ideas on aconcrete platform myTV can test boththe platform and the ideas, andprovide feedback on both.

Some of the benefits of theproject are:

• Trailer selection – the abilityto simply click to select aprogramme or series forrecording whilst watchinga trailer (promotion) forthat programme.

• Downloadable navigator – thenew platform allows us todownload our own applications.We are developing our ownnavigator which can replace the

resident navigator in the box.Thus we can provide enhancedprogramme information andour own user interface to bothon-air programmes and what isstored on the box. Agentsacting on behalf of the userwill be an important part ofthis work.

• New forms of content – harddisk storage enables new formsof content that are not limitedby linear viewing as the viewercan move to any part of thedisk instantly. Ideas such assegmented magazineprogrammes and interactivedramas become possible andwe are exploring the viability ofthese ideas.

As TV-Anytime is intended to improveour viewers’ experiences it isimportant to bear in mind theirreactions to new services. We haveadopted a user-centred designapproach in the project, developing an

BBC R&D ANNUAL REVIEW 95

Licence fee evasion in Britain continues to falldue to improvements in detection methods,combined with media publicity to ensure thatevaders recognise the risk of being caught.

Evaders are tracked down with the helpof handheld detectors and a fleet of detectorvans, using a national database oflicence holders.

At BBC R&D we are working on a projectto develop new detection methods tosupplement those already in use. We haveinvestigated a wide range of methods andchosen for development those which arequickest and most accurate, with a view tominimising the time spent by a detector vanat each target site. We have added asatellite-based navigation system which helpsminimise the time spent travellingbetween sites.

The detection equipment in the van iscontrolled by a PC, which presents a veryuser-friendly interface to the operator.The detection results are recordedautomatically. The van will be in frequentcontact with TV Licensing’s database to checkwhether the viewer has a current licence.

It is possible that detection activities maybe circumscribed by the new EuropeanHuman Rights Act, so (for example) we maynot be permitted to know the channel beingviewed or the make of set being used. In thiscase, the detection equipment would informthe operator of what it had determined; thisdata (although it would not be revealed orrecorded) would still be a powerfulconfirmation of detection.

All of the equipment is containedwithin the van without exterior aerials.This offers the choice of covert operation,or alternately of high-profile operationsimply by emblazoning the van with the‘TV Licensing’ logo.

We are working with BBC Consulting andProjects to produce a fleet of vans equippedwith currently proven detection equipment,while the development of some furtherdetection methods nears completion, andthat of others is still in progress.

We are also investigating the furtherpossibilities of handheld detectors. Indeed,our first product was a handheld magneticdetector designed for use where van access isimpracticable; since then we have added ashirt-pocket equivalent for covert operation.

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choose programmes. Electronicprogramme guides, trailers,broadcaster recommendations, andinput from web sites and other deviceswill all compete to inform consumers.Software agents will automaticallydevelop viewing profiles and act uponthis information to speculatively findnew content of interest to a viewer.However, to access these services willrequire the design of a new generationof user interfaces that can suit thepopulation at large. They must besophisticated enough to satisfy theexpert, yet simple enough for the oldand young. In addition they must allowdisabled and other users full accessto the services.

We are investigating ways toharness these technical developmentsto produce new forms of content.Enhanced applications alreadysupplement traditional linearprogrammes. With hard-disk systems itwill be possible to exploit the storagecapabilities to offer a new generationof interactive content. The myTVproject is already exploring thepossibilities for segmented

programmes, allowing users to watchparts of a programme in any orderthey wish. This principle can beextended much further.

Non-linear programmes, such as aninteractive drama, create a host ofproblems for both producers andusers. The traditional means ofplanning, development and productionbecome difficult as non-linear dramasare characterised by users makingchoices. Story boards becomeimpossible to plot as there are multiplenarrative paths that can be taken, andthus many different possible versionsof the story. We are in the process ofdeveloping tools to aid the productionof non-linear programmes and alsoresearching the usability and humanfactors issues associated withnavigating around these non-linear programmes

Only by detailed understanding ofthe context of use for this newtechnology, the domestic environment,can the true potential of thetechnology be realised.

art work byKevin Claydon and Keren Greene, BBC R&D

BBC R&D ANNUAL REVIEW 96

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