Tag: TV standards

Article

Traditional TV will maintain relevance but is to integrate Internet as a means of delivery

Industry group to lead access of Free to Air on connected TVs | TV Tonight

My Comments

Free-to-air TV is still seen as highly relevant. This is more so in countries like UK, Europe and the Asia/Pacific regions due to a well-known and well-loved public-service broadcaster funded primarily by government line-funding of some sort of a public-service-broadcasting levy like a TV licence fee. In most of these countries, commercial private free-to-air TV came later while some of these countries don’t place value on cable or satellite pay-TV services.

As well, in those countries that value free-to-air TV, single-family houses have a TV aerial installed on their rooftops. Or multiple-premises buildings like apartment blocks along with buildings like hotels and hospitals have a subsystem based around a common TV aerial that effectively services each TV within the building with the broadcast signal from the free-to-air broadcasters. In some geographical areas like Europe, the satellite dish or cable-TV infrastructure is used as an alternative means of delivering free-to-air TV with Germany adopting an “RF-medium” agnostic approach to delivering free-to-air TV. Let’s not forget that the TV set’s own tuner or a tuner integrated in a retail-supplied set-top box is preferred as the device to watch TV with.

DVB-I and allied technologies may reduce reliance on RF infrastructure like TV aerials or satellite dishes even for free-to-air TV

In most countries, the free-to-air TV channels are considered a “sacred cow” where they are guaranteed frequency allocations on the VHF or UHF TV wavebands. As well, there is a legal guarantee to assure availability of these channels through cable, satellite or IPTV platforms such as through “must-carry” requirements or a platform-independence mindset for running TV services. This typically assures access everywhere or allows “one-remote” operation for your TV viewing experience.

There is also legal protection in most of these countries for access to the sports and cultural events that matter via free-to-air TV. This is in the form of “anti-siphoning” regulation that proscribes pay-TV providers from gaining exclusive broadcast rights to these fixtures, with some countries wanting to apply the same prohibition to subscription-driven online streaming providers as well.

Let’s not forget that the free-to-air channels in most of these countries work on a unified platform like Freeview which provides common technical, marketing and advocacy support for the free-to-air TV experience.

Watching TV, especially free-to-air TV, has been associated with a known and loved user experience. This includes channel surfing with the “up” and “down” buttons on the remote control, keying in a channel number commonly associated with that channel on a numeric keypad or using a button to flip between the last two viewed channels.

In the online era

Traditional free-to-air TV has had to implement online strategies in order to stay relevant. This is more so as younger people are drifting away from traditional media to whatever media is being served up on the Internet, especially social media or YouTube videos.

Could this also open up an extra feature for gaming-ready 4K TVs?

The connected-TV experience in most countries has been augmented through free-to-air TV broadcasters running an online video-streaming platform of their own, known as a “BVOD” (Broadcaster Video On Demand) service. This typically provides “catch-up” viewing of prior shows and has lately provided for binge-viewing of TV series and even has provided supplementary video content for some shows.

This service is currently furnished through a Website ran by the TV broadcaster themselves in addition to native apps for mobile or connected-TV platforms. They are also extending the BVOD apps towards providing “free streaming TV” channels which don’t exist on the TV broadcaster’s RF platforms. These channels are also known as “FAST” channels, short for “Free Ad-supported Streaming TV” because most such operators are in a position to sell advertising time on these channels. It allows them to provide supplementary traditional linear TV content without needing to license extra RF spectrum.

In most countries, free-to-air TV broadcasters who run advertising have been considered a brand-safe area for advertisers to advertise within. This is because of long-time legal and social expectations associated with the privilege of using the airwaves to broadcast. It is an issue that has come forth thanks to issues like fake news, disinformation, propaganda and hate speech and advertisers don’t want to tarnish their brand image by being associated with that kind of material. These values also extend to the BVOD platforms that these broadcasters run.

Technically, standard have been released to allow for hybrid Internet-and-broadcast TV with the goal of providing the same traditional TV installation and user experience. The first of these is the DVB-I and DVB-HB standards that allow reception of TV content via a local-area network whether from the Internet or a broadcast-LAN server device.

Let’s not forget that these standards are also about providing a seamless user experience between broadcast and broadband TV experiences thanks to HBBTV, ATSC 3.0 NextGenTV and DVB-I TV. This brings with it the idea of interactive TV or access to supplementary content on TV. There is even research in to companion-screen integration for editorial and advertising content so as to provide seamless access to relevant services on your smartphone or tablet when you watch TV.

Issues with free-to-air TV in the connected age

Issues currently seen with free-to-air TV are that all services aren’t consistently available across the country with a desirable consistent quality of service. This can apply to countries that have large rural areas like Australia or countries that have a lot of mountainous terrain like Switzerland.

Add to this that not all areas have access to a decent standard of Internet service, whether via a fixed-broadband or a mobile-broadband means. This is typical primarily of rural areas but can also extend to poorer urban areas where there has been some “redlining” taking place.

As well, not every room in a house would have its own conveniently-located TV-aerial socket to assure reliable reception of free-to-air TV around the house. This typically leads to the use of indoor antennas that aren’t really reliable for TV reception, especially antennas that are offered at the cheap end of the market.

An issue of concern to the free-to-air TV community is that TV manufacturers and smart-TV platforms give priority to subscription video-on-demand or advertising video-on-demand services that offer the most money to the platform or manufacturer. It can also include electronic programme guides not featuring the local free-to-air TV channels in a prominent position. This causes free-to-air content including BVOD services to be placed at the bottom of the pack.

You can do more with your Chromecast with Google TV if you use a USB-C hub or dock that offers Power Delivery pass-through

Then there is the popularity of Apple TV, Chromecast, Roku and Amazon Fire TV as set-top-based alternatives to the smart-TV approach. Such platforms are being valued as a way to add this kind of functionality to any TV with an HDMI socket no matter its age. This is more so about the integration of those platforms with a user’s desktop, mobile or smart-home computing environment and brand loyalty. As well, these devices cater to the reality that older TVs are moved to secondary lounge areas or bedrooms when you buy a newer TV that has the latest technology.

Even the broadcaster video-on-demand services don’t really understand “multiple adult households” easily when they ask for user login details to create a personalised user experience. This is something I have previously covered in a separate article about supporting many different user logins on online media services when used on smart TVs and the like.

Tablets like this Lenovo Yoga Tab Android tablet are an example of a screen-based device that could show TV but doesn’t have a TV tuner for this purpose.

Not all screen-equipped devices have TV tuners and may have to support Internet / LAN delivery of TV content with standards like DVB-I and DVB-HB. Such standards could provide for a traditional TV user experience and access to free-to-air TV. This doesn’t just relate to regular desktop and laptop computers or mobile computing devices but is encompassing a new breed of computer monitors and small lifestyle TV-type devices that have “smart-TV” functionality but don’t have a broadcast-TV tuner of any form.

What can be done

Mobile and desktop software for free-to-air TV

Free-to-air TV platforms could work on mobile-platform apps and desktop software that provide access to this kind of TV content, including “broadcaster video-on-demand” services from the Internet through a single interface. This could include a “virtual-remote” interface to allow channel surfing or direct-entry channel selection along with the electronic programme guide so you can know “what’s on”.

Increased support for TV via your home network

The new Samsung M7 and M5 monitors also double as Internet TVs with direct access to Netflix & co and are in a position to benefit from TV delivered by the Internet

TV via your home network or Internet service could be encouraged in may ways.

For the ATSC 3.0 NextGenTV standard used primarily in North America, there has to be work on standardising free-to-air-TV via the Internet and home network. There was some work being achieved for the North American market as far as “broadcast-to-LAN” is concerned, mainly as a way to achieve market competition for cable-TV set-top boxes. But this was effectively scuttled during the presidency of Donald Trump thanks to him installing FCC commissioners who protect the established pay-TV companies.

Smart TVs of or greater than a certain screen size like 32”  could be required to receive TV via a broadcast tuner and Internet / home network facilities. For Europe, Asia, Australia and the like, this would mean support for DVB-I and DVB-HB standards alongside DVB-based RF-delivery broadcast TV standards.

The “broadcast-LAN” product segment could be developed further with more companies offering such server devices to the market. Here, this would be about making sure that such devices are working to particular standards like DVB-HB. Value-priced “broadcast-LAN” devices could be offered with multiple tuners so that multiple household members can receive TV content from different channels concurrently.

As far as UK, Europe, Australia, Asia and other countries who value the DVB TV standards go, they could place importance on DVB-I as an important part of the free-to-air TV broadcast platform. This would include a requirement to simulcast “socially-protected” free-to-air TV channels through DVB-I as well as traditional RF technologies.

Examining interactive TV technologies and making best use of them

Where the TV platforms support interactivity, this feature needs to be exploited and developed further.

This could be about working on a quick-to-operate simplified link to the “supplementary screen” like your smartphone, tablet or computer. Or it could be about facilitating transactions in a 10-foot “lean-back” environment including knowing what would work well in such an environment. It may even include the ability to use driverless printing to obtain hard copy from interactive TV resources.

Add to this things like targeted advertising so that it underscores local relevancy without being too invasive or threatening. This includes establishing policies for political advertising that is targeted towards specific electorates or neighbourhoods.

Redefining broadcast-TV market-area policies

Broadcast policies would also need to factor in situations where metropolitan economic areas that are a broadcast market in themselves sprawl in to neigbbouring communities that are part of other broadcast markets.

This is facilitated when urban areas build or upgrade transport infrastructure to bring the city’s periphery closer to the main economic centre as far as travelling time is concerned. It makes the city’s periphery or neigbbouring city attractive to commute to the other area for work, study or to benefit from what that area offers.

Or it can be the creation of additional attractive economic hubs on the outskirts of the city in order to increase more varied economic activity there. This can include adding commercial and industrial activity to what was a commuter town to diversify its economy.

In the same context, there are the neighbouring country towns with tourist attractions that are up to three hours’ drive from the metropolitan area being considered attractive for holidays, remote working or retirement. This leads to strong interest from the town’s community and the government in investing in these towns.

Examples of this include two or more cities facing conurbation or towns and cities on the edge of a city’s metropolitan area forming part of that area’s commuter belt. In a significant number of federation countries like Australia or the USA, there are alt least a few of these conurbations or commuter belts that straddle at least one state border and some countries with land borders may face this situation.

Typically, the TV broadcasting for the different geographic areas may be different as far as news content or advertising is concerned. As well, some areas may benefit from different programming of local interest like sports fixtures or rural-interest programming that is shown in its own time window. In a significant part of continental Europe, this is also represented by the public-service broadcasters running a TV channel such as a “third channel” that is dedicated to programming local to a particular geographic region.

But for those communities, there has to be some support where users can select content pitched at a neighbouring area especially where there is a significant difference in the content available. This could be facilitated through IP-based technologies like DVB-I that allow the creation of channels and channel lineups relevant to areas like commuter-belt communities.

Here, there has to be a willingness to re-examine broadcast market areas where it is noticed that one or more towns and cities are growing significantly or becoming “closer together”. This may also include providing special support when it comes to handling broadcast services for commuter belts and similar neighbouring regions while preserving programming peculiar to particular areas.

Conclusion

Traditional free-to-air TV will still be relevant in the online age in many forms. This could be about using the Internet as a complementary means to distribute the broadcasts. Or it could be about using online services to augment the editorial or advertising broadcast material.

Article

DVB-I could continue to push the traditional TV interface to Internet TV

DVB wants to enable streaming channels without app complexity | VideoNet

From the horse’s mouth

DVB

Press Release

My Comments

It is often said that today’s cool young viewers have done away with watching TV the traditional way where you select a channel and view a sequence of shows run on that channel.

Rather they are seen to prefer to watch on-demand content offered by one of many different on-demand services including “catch-up” TV services, making more of an effort to choose the kind of shows that interest them. It is underscored by the practice of “binge-watching” a TV series where one watches multiple episodes of that TV series along with Netflix and co implementing recommendations engines to list shows that one may be interested in.

It will maintain the traditional remote-control experience like channel surfing

But this traditional approach to  TV content consumption is still practised by most viewers, especially those of older generations.

Some viewers still like the idea of “channel surfing” where one flicks through the channels to discover something that could be of interest to them. In some areas like some of Australia’s capital cities, it was facilitated with some channels that were neighbouring each other on the dial. This habit has been made easier since television sets were equipped with remote controls or could be connected to devices like video recorders or cable boxes that provided remote-control channel change.

As well, it is seen by some of these viewers, including children, to be relaxing to watch a run of TV shows offered by one of the channels. Examples include an afternoon after school where children watch cartoons or similar TV shows, or the practice of having a TV news channel play while one engages in ordinary daily activities.

Let’s not forget that news and sports content totally lend themselves to this kind of viewing. In some cases, there may be two concurrent sporting fixtures of interest, such as the Boxing Day ritual in Australia where households flick between the Seven Network for the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race and the Nine Network for the Boxing Day Test cricket match. Or one could flick through channels running different coverage of the same news event to compare how they cover it or look for further detail about that event.

Let’s not forget that the on-demand TV experience can be “linearised” for a viewer through being led on to recommended content or subsequent episodes of a series.

What is DVB doing to bridge the linear TV experience with the Internet?

The DVB Consortium who define the digital-TV standards that Europe, most of Asia and Oceania work with are working towards defining the DVB-I standard. I would suspect that most of this effort has been driven by Germany’s approach to free-to-air and pay TV where the idea of delivering TV service is to be media-agnostic and most, if not all, TV stations in the German-speaking countries are delivered by the traditional TV aerial, a cable-TV infrastructure or satellite TV.

The DVB-I standard is an IP-based TV broadcasting standard that supports the provision of linear-streaming TV services through the open Internet. Here it is intended to provide an app-free experience in a similar manner to TV services received via the traditional TV aerial, cable TV infrastructure or satellite dish. This means that a TV or set-top box can be connected to a home network and Internet service then the customer can be asked to add Internet-hosted streaming services to the programme lineup with the set discovering these services from a directory like what has happened with Internet radio.

There has been an earlier attempt at this goal in the USA with RVU technology that is part of the DLNA VidiPath specification, but it has been used primarily as an attempt to deliver cable-TV to secondary TV sets without the need for extra set-top boxes. This was also as part of an Obama-era effort to require cable-TV providers to deliver their pay-TV services to households without the need for each household to rent a set-top box from that provider.

One app will be all that is needed to deliver TV to a smartphone, tablet or laptop

The goal will also be about providing a similar experience for Internet-streamed linear TV content as what we have traditionally experienced with broadcast TV, whether free-to-air or subscription (pay) service. This includes the ability to support logical channel numbers that allow for direct access to particular channels, the ability to quickly change channels no matter the source thus continuing the “channel-surfing” tradition.

But on the other hand, some service providers such as cable-TV providers will want to convey their branding and user interface to the end-user. This may also be seen as being important with broadcast-LAN device manufacturer, building owners / strata committees who run MATV setups, or hoteliers who want to persist their identity to the end-user. It can also apply to end-users who are using budget-level equipment where not much thought has been put in to the user interface. HBBTV has answered this need through the use of an “OpApp” or “Operator App” standard to permit the ability to deliver that operator-level interface, which would appeal to TV-service platforms of the Freeview kind.

For broadcasters, DVB-I would do away with the need to create and maintain client software that viewers would need for access to their content. This also does away with various platform issues that creep up with maintaining these apps including catering to each new smart-TV, computer or video-peripheral platform. It also means that people who own older Smart TVs or video peripherals based on platforms that have been abandoned or neglected by the set’s manufacturer aren’t at a disadvantage.

Some of the key benefits that could come about include:

A transport-medium independent operation approach for receiving linear TV broadcasts. This means that TV manufacturers and broadcasters can work towards a simplified “single line-up” for traditional TV broadcast services no matter whether they are carried over the Web or via satellite, cable or terrestrial RF means.

The ability to support broadcast-LAN infrastructure including cable-TV and master-antenna-TV (single antenna or satellite dish serving many TVs like in an apartment block) setups driven totally by IP (Internet Protocol) technology. This approach will be relevant with infrastructure-level broadband providers wanting to use their infrastructure to deliver free-to-air and/or pay-TV services, something being approached by Chorus in New Zealand.

Ability for niche TV services with traditional-style TV experience to exist via Internet due to no need to obtain broadcast-spectrum licences, set up transmitter equipment or get on board cable-TV infrastructure. In a lot of ways, this could reignite the possibility of community TV services coming back on board and not living in fear of losing their access to broadcast spectrum.

With the use of HBBTV (Hybrid Broadcast-Broadband TV), this standard could lead towards a rich linear + on-demand TV setup through traditional TV sets and set-top boxes without the need for special client software. Similarly, it could lead to the creation of gateway software for regular or mobile computer devices to provide access to commonly-available video content services through these devices, knowing that this software can work with newer IP-based broadcasters.

The DVB-I approach could then open up the pathway for a universal TV service that makes use of Internet-based infrastructure like next-generation broadband infrastructure without the need for it to be app-centric.