New mobile TV standard completes testing

Development opportunity

Europe’s Digital Video Broadcasting – Handheld (DVB-H) standard has successfully passed technical testing by a consortium of 22 participants in eight countries.

This is one of three mobile standards that are vying for the attention of broadcasters and manufacturers of cell phones and other handheld devices. The DVB Forum says completion of the tests will ensure DVB-H is accepted as the European standard.

The DVB Forum, an industry-wide consortium for developing digital broadcasting, has devised DVB-H to link digital terrestrial broadcasting and mobile telephone networks. The tests included verifying the compatibility of DVB-H with terrestrial digital services, checking the interoperability of appliances, and setting goals for broadcasting services.

The project, funded by Eureka, is supported by the European Commission with the aim of maintaining Europe’s position against competing standards, notably those developed in South Korea and the US.

The forum claims DVB-H provides significant benefits at each end of the broadcast channel. While operators can avoid new costs by making use of existing TV infrastructure, the system of broadcasting signals in ultra-short bursts, or time slicing, means consumers save up to 90 per cent of the battery power of their devices.

Time slicing also helps to avoid networks getting overloaded. The high bandwidth of DVB-H has the capacity to carry more than 50 programmes.

http://www.dvb-h.org/technology.htm