Edition No.28 December 2008 DVB-SCENE Tune in to Digital Convergence Tune 28 A The Standard for the Digital World RIGHTS This issue’s highlights > Scalable Video Coding > Content Protection Copy Management > DVB: Looking Forward > Introduction to DVB-RCS+M > Market Watch ISSUE Multimedia ad A4 18/7/08 11:43 Page 1 FUJITSU MICROELECTRONICS EUROPE MEETING TOMORROW’S HDTV CHALLENGES DVB-SCENE : 02 RAISING THE BAR FOR HDTV SOLUTIONS H.264/AVC encoders, decoders and transcoders higher picture quality - lower power consumption Fujitsu’s DVB system-on-chip solutions for HDTV reach First-class application support during the design-in phase new heights. They include highly integrated multi-standard accelerates time-to-market. decoders, encoders and transcoder devices. Fujitsu, with over 10 years’ DVB silicon development Comprehensive tools and powerful software & middleware experience, delivers high quality audio & video expertise for are available. Strategic partner alliances deliver high-performance equipment. complementary expertise to create one-stop technical solutions. ASK FUJITSU MICROELECTRONICS EUROPE Developed in its European Multimedia hardware and More info: www.fme-multimedia.com software development centre, Fujitsu ensures that European email: [email protected] and global market requirements are fully met. VDVB3.0. 00000000000000000 3.0 .010101011111DVB3.0. M E 00000000000000000 oghan O’Sullivan, arketing and Communications 3.0 .010101011111DVB3.0 00000000000000000 010101010 THE 3.0 .010101 011111DVB3.0. 00000000000000000 PACE OF 3.0 .010101011111B3.0. 00000000000000000 E 00000000000000000 xecutive 3.0 .01010101111 DVB3.0. 00000000000000000 CHANGE . DVB3.0. DVB3.0. 1 00000000000000000 A word from the DVB Project Office .01.111.0000010101010 3.0 .01010101111 3.0 .01010101111 Change has been the buzzword MacAvock, someone who had become between DVB-CPCM and DVB . 3.0 .01010101111 3.0 .01010101111 of choice for politicians this year, synonymous with the DVB Project Conditional Access Systems, a further 000000 particularly throughout the course of the over the last fourteen years. At the step on the path to deployment of this US presidential elections. DVB has also beginning of October he took up a new groundbreaking DVB standard. We DVB3.0. seen some changes in high places and position with the Technical Department also have articles introducing Scalable 1 in this, the final issue of DVB-SCENE of the EBU – and I suppose it’s not out Video Coding (SVC) in DVB and the . 3.0 .010101011111DVB3.0. in 2008, we bid fond farewells to both of the question that he might again be new DVB-RCS+M standard, a revision . 00000000000000000 Theo Peek and Peter MacAvock. involved in DVB in the future, albeit in of the original Return Channel Satellite Theo served the DVB Project with great a different capacity. Nonetheless, the standard that adds support for mobile 00000000000000000 distinction, in particular as Chairman Project Office is not the same without terminals. DVB-SCENE : 03 for a total of 12 years. He has been him and we’re pleased that calling on In 2008 we said au revoir to a couple DVB3.0. 3.0 .010101011111DVB3.0. awarded an Honorary Fellowship of the his unparalleled ‘corporate memory’ of familiar faces, and 2009 will see the DVB Project and I’m pleased to report merely involves taking a short walk arrival of one or two new ones - and of 00000000000000000 that he and his wife Siggi were in fine down the corridor! course the work continues at pace. It’s DVDVB3.0 form on their visit to Geneva in October. Elsewhere in this issue, the focus an exciting and interesting time to be Another long-standing servant of is on innovative technical solutions. involved with the DVB Project! 100000.111111111111.000.1.1.1.1.0101010 DVB that moved on this year is Peter Our cover story looks at the interface . NEW STANDARDS . TS 102 825 V1.1.1 “Content Protection and Copy Management (DVB-CPCM)” (Published on 03/07/2008) TS 103 197 V1.5.1 “Head-end implementation of DVB SimulCrypt” (Published on 21/10/2008) . NEW MEMBERS Eiden Co., Ltd. – Engages in the development, manufacture, and sale of electronic applied measuring equipment for satellite broadcasting, terrestrial broadcasting, mobile communications, optical communications and CATV. www.eiden-gp.co.jp MEDIA BROADCAST GmbH – The company’s core business comprises the planning, installation and operation of multimedia transmission platforms in Germany and internationally for television and radio companies, based on modern transmitter, cable and satellite networks. www.media-broadcast.com Cover image courtesy of Nagravision. Design by Diabolo Design To subscribe free of charge to DVB-SCENE visit: www.dvb.org/subscribe. The views expressed in this newsletter are those Editors: William Daly, Harold Bergin DVB and MHP are registered trademarks of the of the individual DVB members or guests and Editorial and Advertising enquiries to: WHD PR DVB Project. Certain other product names, brand are not necessarily the views of the DVB Project Email: [email protected] names and company names may be trademarks or Office or Steering Board. Telephone: +44 (0)20 7799 3100 designations of their respective owners. Published by the DVB Project Office, All rights reserved. No part of this publication may To obtain extra copies of DVB-SCENE please c/o European Broadcasting Union, be reproduced without prior consent of the publisher. contact Eoghan O’Sullivan at [email protected]. 17a Ancienne Route, All content correct at time of printing. Delivery charges will apply. CH-1218 Grand Saconnex, Switzerland. © DVB-SCENE 2008. Printed by Lithmark Limited. www.dvb.org, www.mhp.org, www.dvb-h.org, www.dvbworld.org 3.0 .01010101111 00000000000000000 3.0 .010101011111B3.0. SCALING NEW 3.0 .01010101111 HEIGHTS Scalable Video Coding within DVB 1 Ken McCann, ZetaCast, Chairman of TM Ad Hoc Group on Audio-Visual Content (TM-AVC) 1 The two main DVB Audio-Visual tools have been included in the MPEG- benefit compared to using a simple 3.0 .01010101111 . Coding specifications, for broadcast 2 video specification for many years simulcast approach. In the absence 3.0 .01010101111 . applications based on the MPEG- but have been rarely used in practice. of a commercially interesting DVB 2 Transport Stream and for DVB However there are two very good application where MPEG-2 scalability applications delivered directly over IP reasons why scalable video coding would have been technically beneficial, 00000000000000000 3.0 .01010101111 00000000000000000 protocols, are currently being revised is now of much greater relevance. we decided that the MPEG-2 scalability . DVB3.0. 00000000000000000 to add new options to the toolboxes. Firstly, compression techniques have tools should not be included in the DVB Probably the most significant of these improved and the new H.264/AVC toolbox. 00000000000000000 new options is Scalable Video Coding scalability tools simply work more By contrast, a recent evaluation of the 3.0 .010101011111B3.0. (SVC), defined by an amendment to the efficiently than the old MPEG-2 tools. options for a future launch of 1080p 3.0 .010101011111DVB3.0. H.264/AVC specification. Secondly, there are now a range of HDTV has shown that this is a situation . Scalable video coding is sometimes applications being considered which where SVC tools would offer significant 00000000000000000 referred to as hierarchical coding or are inherently more conducive to the benefits. There are three basic layered coding. The objective is to use of scalable coding. Two key issues approaches that could be followed 3.0 .01010101111 00000000000000000 . produce an encoded signal that has that affect suitability are whether any when launching 1080p services: single DVB3.0. 011111DVB3.0. DVB-SCENE : 04 the capability of being decoded to give coding layer uses interlaced video and layer, simulcast or scalable video. DVDVB3.0 video, albeit at reduced quality, from the proportion of the total bitrate that is Single layer H.264/AVC 1080p would “...a recent evaluation of the options for a future launch of 1080p HDTV has shown that this is a situation where SVC tools would offer significant benefits.” 00000000000000000 only part of the bitstream. There are allocated to the base layer; the higher obviously require the lowest bitrate; three basic methods that can be used: the proportion, the greater the benefit 13Mbit/s was found to give reasonable 00000000000000000 • Temporal scalability, where that can be gained through the use of quality with the software-based encoder 3.0 .010101011111DVB3.0 intermediate video frames are encoded scalable video coding. used in the evaluation. However, . in a way that allows them to be dropped For example, one potential application today’s 720p/1080i HDTV receivers • Spatial scalability, where video is that was considered many years ago would be incapable of decoding this DVB3.0. encoded in a way that allows it to be was a scalable MPEG-2 HDTV system signal at all. Adding a reasonable 00000000000000000 decoded at multiple spatial resolutions with conventional interlaced SDTV as quality 720p simulcast signal to provide • Fidelity scalability, sometimes called the base layer. This scenario was not backwards compatibility required SNR scalability or quality scalability, well suited to the use of scalability, a further 8Mbit/s, giving a total of where video is encoded at a single since the bitrate for the base layer was 21Mbit/s. Alternatively, 15.4Mbit/s was 3.0 .010101011111DVB3.0. spatial resolution but in a way that generally less than a quarter of the found to be sufficient when using SVC allows it to be decoded at different total and interlace was used in at least tools to provide backwards compatibility subjective qualities one layer. When the use of the old with a two-layer 720p/1080p signal of At first sight, the current degree of MPEG-2 scalability tools was evaluated the same subjective quality with the 00000000000000000 3.0 .01010101111 excitement about scalable video coding for this application, the conclusion same encoder.