The first live transmissions of the second generation cable standard DVB-C2 have taken place in Germany. The initial transmissions were made at the Technische Universitaet Braunschweig on April 22 and followed up this week by a public demonstration at ANGA Cable in Cologne.
DVB-C2 brings in the latest modulation and encoding techniques that offer a spectrum efficiency some 30% higher than through the current DVB-C.
Prof Ulrich Reimers, of the Institut fuer Nachrichtentechnik, Technische Universitaet Braunschweig and chairman, DVB Technical Module said the tests demonstrated that DVB-C2 could be implemented practically. “DVB-C2 is a radically new system which includes a huge number of innovations. The performance of DVB-C2 is so excellent that it is hardly possible to devise an even better standard in the future. Up until now, our knowledge about the features and performance of DVB-C2 was based on simulations. I am extremely pleased that my team has now concluded our development of a real DVB-C2 chain.”
A number of cablenets have expressed an interest in DVB-C2, but the configuration means it is likely to be introduced for just a portion of an operator’s spectrum, perhaps for advanced VOD services where a wholescale replacement of cable set-tops would not be necessary.