The technical standard for delivery of live television programmes has been agreed by The Digital Production Partnership (DPP), the organization backed by the UK’s public broadcasters, though with the support of UKTV and Sky.
The new standards form an addendum to the DPP’s existing programme delivery standards, covering programme contribution by satellite links, fibre or microwave links.
It recommends the use of MPEG-4 where possible as it gives a superior quality over MPEG-2 for a given data rate. It also covers recommended practices for the delivery of stereo and multichannel audio, as well as other technical parameters that need to be standardised.
Kevin Burrows, CTO – Broadcast and Distribution, Channel 4, and Chair of the DPP Technical Standards Working Group said, “Having one stand for Live programme delivery across the industry is of huge benefit in standardising current industry practice, improving delivery processes, and saving costs.”
The guidelines are designed to enable production companies and outside broadcast facilities, which supply multiple live programmes to the UK broadcasters, to move to common standards and working practices.
