BroadcastAsia 2011 - DVB-T2 and Other Highlights
Held at Suntec's Convention Center, we took some time out to chase BroadcastAsia where major film and production players flaunt the best of broadcasting trends and equipment. Without a doubt, the local buzzword this year isn't so much 3D, but DVB-T2.
Annual Infocomm Media Business Exchange Opening Ceremony
Dr Yaacob Ibrahim, Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts, was present at Marina Bay Sands earlier to grace the event's opening ceremony. In his speech, he touched on topics such as local broadcast developments consumers can look forward to in the near future. For instance, he mentioned that consumers will be able to view all of MediaCorp's FTA (Free-to-Air) channels come 2012. More pertinently, he also highlighted ASEAN's commitment to kill analogue TV transmissions within the 2015 and 2020 time frame. On the note of ASEAN's DVB-T adoption, Singapore will also be looking into the early migration of the latest DVB-T2 standard according to the minister. "MDA is now putting in place a nationwide trial network to determine how the new standard can be suitably adopted for Singapore’s terrain. With this network, Singapore will be among the first in the region to establish a wide scale DVB-T2 trial infrastructure. MDA is planning for the trial network to be installed by September 2011", said Dr Ibrahim.
Apart from highlighting MDA's plan to install a trial DVB-T2 network by September this year, Dr Ibrahim also urged industry players to leverage on DVB-T2's coverage to test-drive new content, hardware and services. (Photo: Courtesy of MDA)
A Quick Tour Of BroadcastAsia 2011
Held at Suntec's Convention Center from 21st to 24th June, BroadcastAsia 2011 promises to be a hotbed where film and production professionals converge to showcase state-of the-art equipment as well as trending broadcasting technologies. In essence, we are talking about fancy hardware and emerging standards we don't often get to lay our eyes on. This year, the 16th Broadcasting and Infocomm event has attracted an impressive total of 657 exhibitors from 43 countries, which makes it a highly anticipated event for cinematographers and industry professionals alike. With regards to BCA's International Conference, 80 prominent broadcast professionals will lead discussions on the future of television with emphasis on technological developments.
Sennheiser's troop of microphones, headphones and wireless transmission systems were out in full force at BCA 2011. Spotted in the foreground is the MK4 large-diaphragm true condenser microphone used for professional studio recordings.
Canon's FK30-300 HD-EC CineZoom lenses (extreme left) are one of many professional broadcast lenses on display at the third level of the Convention Center. These high contrast lenses also feature a 11-blade iris deployed in both lenses to achieve a natural bokeh with out-of-focus highlights.
The Sony NEX-FS100PK camcorder uses
an Exmor Super 35mm CMOS sensor and comes with an 18-200mm F3.5-
6.3 E-mount lens. It has a high sensitivity that allows shooting at a minimum illumination of 0.28 lux.
The Digital Video Broadcasting project consortium was also there to showcase their technological wares. Here's a sneak preview of what you can expect from the new DVB-T2 digital standard, embellished with three PLP (Physical Layer Pipes) for three different services.
At the International Conference, Mr Mark Wilson-Dunn, VP for BT Media and Broadcast, gave us a pep talk on why evolving business models for content delivery is essential in the changing broadcast landscape. He also added that we don't necessarily pay for items in the strict traditional sense these days. For example, you may obtain a mobile phone for "free" but you are actually paying the telco a premium via your monthly subscriptions instead.
Singapore is one of the 15 cities responsible for generating 80 percent of global TV and film production content. Are you proud yet? According Mr Dunn's slide, Singapore is also gaining traction as a burgeoning film exporter on the world stage.
Rise Of DVB-T2
Having adopted the DVB-T terrestrial standard with local telcos in tow over recent years, Singapore is apparently ready to test-run the next generation DVB-T2 specification. Over in the UK, broadcast services such as Freeview HD has already been deployed based on T2, while other European countries such as Sweden and Finland are also in the early phases of rolling out T2 services. On the eastern front, Asian countries such as Sri Lanka and India have also registered a keen interest in this new transmission standard apart from Singapore, to quote Mr Peter Siebert, Executive Director of DVB Project Office. Question is, in what ways is DVB-T2 better than its predecessor? We had a little chat with MediaCorp, StarHub and MDA to find out more about their T2 test configuration here at BCA.
A simple diagram of Starhub's DVB-T2 trial architecture. Three outdoor transmitter sites located at Bukit Batok, Ang Mo Kio and Bedok will house T2 modulators and transmitters. Test channels will include Starhub's Discovery Channel and MediaCorp's HD5.
DVB-T2 - Second Generation Terrestrial Explained
Fundamentally, the DVB-T2 protocol can be summed up as an advanced digital terrestrial transmission (DTT) standard capable of higher efficiency and flexibility than DVB-T. Due to its use of Multiple Physical Layer Pipes (MultiPLP), DVB-T2 is able to offer a higher data rate, and more importantly, capable of delivering SD, HD and 3D TV programs on a single frequency. In other words, pushing SD, HD and 3D content in a single pipe is no longer a dream. Similar to DVB-T, the T2 protocol will be based on the MPEG2 transport stream when the trial routine kicks off later this year. Media broadcasters involved in the project will include StarHub and MediaCorp.
For those of you who aren't fazed by technical jargon, here's an overview of DVB-T2's advantage over its predecessor. The standard's MultiPLP feature is what enables it to deliver SD, HD and 3D streams on a single frequency.
SD (bottom right), HD (top right) and 3D (top left) content are fed into the same screen here. DVB-T2's additional 256QAM mode enables it to carry the beefy 3D signal which was lacking in the DVB-T standard.
Set top boxes such as the HUMAX STB shown here are required to decode the DVB-T2 signal. This baby with a built-in 500GB HDD will set you back about S$700 according to MediaCorp. As for HDTVs, the price difference between integrated DVB-T and DVB-T2 tuners is just about US$25 as stated by DVB Project.
Basically, infrastructure requirements for DVB-T2 can be divided into three levels - head site (broadcasters like StarHub or MediaCorp will need a gateway to generate T2-MI packets), remote site (where modulators and transmitters are installed to modulate T2 streams), and lastly, the end-user stage, where a DVB-T2 compatible set-top box and antenna are required to receive and decode the signal. The T2-MI packets are sent over a fiber network to remote sites. For current owners of HDTVs installed with DVB-T tuners, please note that your goggle box will not be compatible with the new T2 specification. Tough luck eh?
Here's a closer look at MediaCorp T2 deployment. At the source, media content is pumped into a DVB (Digital Video Broadcasting) system consisting of an encoding system, multiplexer system and a gateway.
The next step at the remote-site level is where generated T2-MI packets from the gateway are modulated and transmitted as a DVB-T2 signal.
Beyond the nitty gritty tech bits, being able to enjoy SD, HD and 3D programs on a single terrestrial transmission system sounds really cool indeed. As it stands, 68 countries have already deployed DVB-T2 on their TV network.
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