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| | Toasting the new Technical Module Chair. Picture L-R: Outgoing TM-Chair Nick Wells, DVB Executive Director Peter Siebert and new TM-Chair Kevin Murray |
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Kevin Murray Takes Over As Chair of DVB-TM
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 The DVB Project is in the midst of an election cycle, with a new Steering Board to be elected at the November 2015 meeting of the General Assembly. Thereafter module chairmen are to be elected by their modules, each subject to endorsement by the February 2016 meeting of the new Steering Board. The Technical Module (TM) is following a slightly different chronology. In September Nick Wells announced his retirement as chair of the TM and, after a call for candidates, Kevin Murray was elected his successor at the October 2015 meeting of the TM. Mr Murray's election will be proposed for endorsement at the November 2015 meeting of the Steering Board.
Commenting on his election Kevin said: "I'm honoured to be taking over the role of DVB TM chair, particularly as I believe this is a very important time for DVB and our members' businesses with the continued growth of IP delivery, the broadening of device types for content consumption, the increased power of devices and the potential of hybrid systems".
In 1997, Kevin joined the research group DMV which later became part of NDS before its acquisition by Cisco. He is a System Architect in SPVSS (Service Provider Video Software and Solutions), actively engaged in a range of research and standards areas related to the television experience. Over the years, Kevin's work has included contributing to the development of HD, new coding techniques, home networking technologies, advanced DVRs, IP delivery of TV, file formats for content, 3DTV and most recently Companion Screens.
Prior to DMV, Kevin was a lecturer in Computer Science at City University in London where he specialised in distributed and parallel systems, networking and computer architectures and was an undergraduate course director.
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UHD-1 Phase 2 Takes An Important Step Forward
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The DVB process towards the specifications for the next phase of UHDTV has moved forward with recent meetings. DVB UHD-1 Phase 1 provided the means to deliver a 2160p image at up to 60 FPS. DVB UHD-1 Phase 2 will allow additional features to be added such as High Dynamic Range (HDR) and High Frame Rate (HFR). These are likely to be available successively in the coming years, with HDR first. The DVB process involves first defining the commercial requirements for a new system, and then specifying the technology that will meet the requirements. The draft commercial requirements, now agreed, will pass through the formal DVB approval processes in the coming weeks. The expectation is that the specification will be available twelve months after the approval processes are complete - thus at the end of 2016. This could allow services with HDR to begin in 2017. The discussions on the requirements were lengthy and difficult, but for a new television system destined to last many decades this (citing a French saying) was surely 'worth the candle'.
David Wood
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WRC-15: What's At Stake For The Broadcasting Industry
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The World Radiocommunications Conference 2015 (WRC-15) is almost here. After nearly four years of preparatory work, more than 3000 delegates are expected to gather in Geneva from 02 - 27 November 2015. The Conference agenda is packed and there is no doubt that the issue of further spectrum allocations to the mobile communication services (IMT) will figure prominently in the negotiations.
Possible candidates for an IMT allocation include: the UHF band (470-694 MHz) which is the core spectrum for Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT) and wireless microphones (PMSE), and the C-band (3.4-4.2 GHz) which is important for satellite broadcast services. The mobile industry seeks a global allocation to IMT in both.
So far, a substantial majority of national administrations and most of their regional groups oppose mobile allocation in the lower UHF band and the C-band. However, some administrations are in favour of the mobile allocation and they try to persuade others to join them.
With respect to the UHF band, a number of studies have been carried out in Europe on the technical, economic, and social implications of a possible mobile allocation in the frequency band 470-694 MHz. All of the studies came to the same conclusion: such an allocation would have no merit for the time being.
Unsurprisingly, the proponents of IMT disagree. They claim that, if mobile allocation is included in the band 470-694 MHz alongside broadcasting, it would provide regulators the flexibility to respond to market demand without having to address this issue again at a future ITU Conference.
The notion of flexibility might appeal to some administrations; however, it would be of little use in practice. As we know from technical studies and practical experience, it is not possible for DTT and IMT to share this band without a significant risk of interference and disruption of services on both sides. The need to manage cross-border interference substantially limits the freedom of any country to use this band differently from its neighbours.
More importantly, whatever the WRC-15 decision will be, it is apt to send a strong political signal about the intentions of national governments with regard to the future of DTT. A mobile allocation below 694 MHz would discourage investments and would most likely lead to a decline of the DTT platform. On the other hand, a decision against the mobile allocation in band 470-694 MHz could stimulate investments and ensure the long-term viability of DTT.
The broadcasting industry and their partners continue to demonstrate the value of DTT as well as other use of the UHF band, in particular PMSE. This value has been recognised by the national authorities and is reflected in their current positions against the mobile allocation at the WRC-15. Active cooperation with the administrations needs to continue throughout the conference in order to ensure a favorable outcome for our respective industries and our users.
Darko Ratkaj, EBU
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WSG Seeks EU Support On Spectrum Policy
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"The needs of Europe's audiovisual, creative and cultural ecosystem should be a top priority of the EU's Spectrum Management Policy". This was the message from the Wider Spectrum Group's meeting last week in Brussels. The meeting comes ahead of major international policy decisions at next month's World Radiocommunications Conference 2015, and the elaboration of a long-term EU strategy for the UHF band next year.
One year after the Lamy report's publication, senior representatives from broadcasting, network infrastructure, trade unions, viewer groups and media organizations met in Brussels to engage with Pascal Lamy and EU Commissioner Günther Oettinger on spectrum policy and the future of Europe's audiovisual, creative and cultural sector.
The Lamy Report published in September 2014 on the future allocation of spectrum in Europe recommended namely, that the 700 MHz band should be released at the earliest in 2022, and the 500 and 600 MHz bands not before 2030, subject to an evaluation in 2025. It also stressed that any future decision on spectrum allocation must be based on a robust cost/benefit analysis and in-depth impact assessment on incumbent users and citizens.
The Conference entitled 'Free-to-Air | Free to Create | Free to Grow' allowed voices from diverse sectors and communities to call for a EU spectrum policy that takes a comprehensive approach to the realities of content production and distribution and the wider downstream impact of spectrum allocation.
Pascal Lamy stated that "The European audiovisual model is specific compared to other models, in terms of free access, territorial differences, user friendliness and creativity. The consistency of spectrum policies needs to be ensured at EU level. The good news is that the 20-25-30 model is now the backbone of EU spectrum policy".
Günther Oettinger stated that "The creation and distribution of audiovisual content is one of the main drivers of the digital economy. Reaching 250 million Europeans, Digital Terrestrial Television is an integral part of the European audiovisual model".
Europe's unique AV, radio and live performance model is built on cultural diversity and media pluralism and is Europe's greatest competitive asset in the global digital race. Spectrum allocation is one of the key foundations supporting a virtuous cycle of public access, broadcasting and infrastructure innovation, local investments in works and jobs, and diversity of content.
The creative and cultural industry sector taken at large is accounting for 6.8% share of EU GDP (€860 billion) and 6.5% of Europe's employment (approximately 14 million direct and indirect jobs).
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Important Industry Liaison Established With USB Implementers Forum
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DVB has entered into a formal liaison arrangement with USB Implementers Forum. DVB already actively works with a number of organisations in the area of technical standardization for digital media. It shares with these organisations the goal of ensuring the industry and consumers benefit from the voluntary adoption of interoperable open standards.
The non-profit USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF) was formed to provide a support organization and forum for the advancement and adoption of USB technology as defined in the USB specifications. USB-IF facilitates the development of high-quality, compatible USB devices through its globally-recognized USB Logo and Compliance Program, as well as promotes the benefits of USB and the quality of products that have passed compliance testing. This DVB and USB-IF liaison will explore the possibility of integrating existing mechanisms for content security devices within the USB ecosystem.
Further information on the USB Implementers Forum can be found here.
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DVB Forms Liaison With HDMI Forum
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DVB has announced that it has entered into a formal liaison arrangement with the HDMI Forum.
The HDMI Forum is designed to foster broader industry participation in the development of future versions of the HDMI Specification. The purpose of the DVB liaison is to better inform the HDMI Forum to ensure that future versions of the HDMI Specification serve the needs of future broadcast standards. The relevant technologies include video formats and their quality aspects related to higher frame rates, color gamut, high dynamic range as well as additional meta data, which must be transmitted without any restriction over a future HDMI connection.
Further information on the HDMI Forum can be found here.
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DVB World Masterclass - Learn From The Masters
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Each year DVB experts and other digital television technology experts share their specialist knowledge with a small group of DVB World delegates in a DVB World Masterclass.
Past Masterclass speakers and topics have included: David Wood (DVB/EBU) - UHD: More Pixels & Power; Carter Eltzroth (DVB) - IPR: More Rights & Rules; Prof. Ulrich Reimers (Technical University Braunschweig) - DVB Second Generation Broadcast Systems; David Wood (EBU) and David Daniels (BSkyB) - 3DTV and UHDTV; Thomas Wiegand and Benjamin Bross (Fraunhofer, Heinrich-Hertz-Institut) - High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC).
DVB World 2016 in Venice will feature a DVB-T2 Masterclass lead by Ulrich Reimers (Technical University Braunschweig). The highlight of the Masterclass will be a report of the system evaluation carried out for Germany prior to the country's decision to migrate to T2. Everything that DVB-T2 offers including mobile reception was tested for the evaluation. The first part of the session will be about what DVB-T2 is and how it works and the second part is about test results. In a third part of the session Prof. Reimers will inform the participants on the work undertaken at the Technical University Braunschweig in extending the capabilities of DVB-T2 without modifying the standard. Topics will be "Redundancy on Demand" and "Tower Overlay (using DVB-T2) over LTE-A+ (TOoL+)". Don't miss this opportunity to learn everything there is to know about DVB-T2, and more!
The DVB World Masterclass is not part of the regular DVB World program and requires a separate registration. Keep your eye out for the early-bird registration to take advantage of the generous discount. You can get the latest up to date information on the conference program and registration details by opting to receive DVB World Conference emails. Sign up here.
DVB World 2016 will feature a small exhibition space adjacent to the main conference room. This area will be filled with conference attendees before and after the conference sessions and during the coffee breaks, offering the potential to target a concentrated audience across the three days of the event. As every year, exhibition places are limited and very popular, so please reserve as early as you can! An early reservation guarantees a discount on the regular price. To find out more about exhibiting at DVB World visit the event website.
Don't forget to save the date in your diary, Venice, 14 - 16 March to take part in what promises to be a rewarding DVB World. Network and learn.
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Thanks For The Excellent Work
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What a pity! After a little more than three years as chairman of the DVB Technical Module (TM) Dr. Nicholas D. Wells has retired from this important position. The 92nd meeting of the TM in September 2012 was the first one he chaired; the 101st meeting in October 2015 was the last. As his very last official duty in DVB, Nick is going to present the report about this meeting to the DVB Steering Board in November and then he will retire from the BBC at the end of the month.
Chairing 10 meetings over 37 months may not sound a lot, but as an insider I know that it is a lot. And, Nick had a long and extremely successful career in DVB before his start as TM chair. From January 2006 he was chairman of the ad-hoc group TM-T2. In this capacity he was responsible for important DVB milestones such as the DVB-T2 study mission report (2006), the DVB-T2 specification (2008), the DVB-T2 implementation guidelines, et cetera, et cetera. In September 2006 Dr. Wells accepted the position as vice-chair of the DVB Technical Module and for the following nearly six years I was happy to have his support in my work as TM chairman.
In recognition of his outstanding contributions to the development of DVB-T2, he was awarded the "IEEE Consumer Electronics Society Engineering Excellence Award 2010" on the occasion of the 14th IEEE International Symposium on Consumer Electronics (ISCE).
Among the many new innovations which the Technical Module developed under his chairmanship let me just mention the DVB-S2X specification, the comprehensive three-part specification for "Companion Screens and Services" or the DVB-Profile of MPEG-DASH.
In preparing this farewell message I dared asking members of the TM about Nick´s role as chair. The messages I heard were extremely positive. People commended several aspects of his work. For instance, he was always extremely well prepared. He always tried his utmost to achieve consensus and he kept a close contact with the chairman of the Commercial Module - something that is extremely important, especially in difficult situations.
On behalf of the DVB Members, and very personally, I thank Dr. Wells for the excellent work through all those years. I wish him all the best for his next phase of life and very much hope to meet this great guy again sometime, somewhere. Farewell, Nick. It was a pleasure to have had the opportunity to work with you.
Ulrich Reimers
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DVB Welcomes Its Newest Member
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The DVB consortium consists of some of the world's most distinguished broadcasters, manufacturers, network operators, software developers, regulatory bodies and others from over 35 countries that are committed to designing open and interoperable standards for the global delivery of digital media and broadcast services.
DVB would like to welcome its newest member, the large-scale high-tech corporation, Shenzhen Skyworth Digital Technology Co., Ltd (Skyworth). The company provides its global customers with digital TV products and services. Skyworth dominates the Chinese domestic display industry market and is one of the top ten color TV brands in the world. It is ranked 14th among the top 100 electronic enterprises in China.
For further information on how to become a DVB Member contact Eva Markvoort in the DVB Project Office - markvoort@dvb.org.
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