The DVB-I Pilot Germany, an initiative comprising 21 stakeholders from the media industry including broadcasters, device manufacturers, software providers and research institutions, has completed phase 1 and published the conclusions in a report.
From September 2022 to March 2023, a proof-of-concept was realised to develop a common view on the technical features of the DVB-I standard and the opportunities and challenges for the German TV market. The report (in English) summarises the results and contains recommendations for a phase 2 to consolidate outstanding points for a possible market launch.
The aim of the DVB-I standard is to be able to continue the well-known and usual simple use of linear TV channels even if the service is no longer distributed exclusively via the established broadcast infrastructures satellite, cable and DTT, but increasingly also via IP streaming.
The DVB-I standard is particularly suitable for providing television use on a new and more flexible technological basis on TV sets, but can also be implemented on pure streaming boxes/sticks or mobile devices. Furthermore, DVB-I offers a flexible distribution solution that can implement new technologies such as UHD and accessibility services, but also enables cost-effective solutions for smaller user groups with specific or regional content.
The following 21 broadcasters, companies and organisations were involved in the German DVB Project: ARD, Bayerische Medien Technik (bmt), Dolby, DVB, EBU, Fraunhofer FOKUS, LG, Media Broadcast, MIT-xperts, OnScreen Publishing, ProSiebenSat.1 Media, rbb, RTL Deutschland, SES, Sofia Digital, Sony, TARA Systems, TP Vision, Vestel, WDR and ZDF.
“We are very pleased that many expectations of the pilot could be fulfilled. The aggregation of the service lists of the participating broadcasting families into a central service list was successfully realised and presented on first prototypical TV devices and mobile apps. The switching from broadcast to IP when disconnecting the TV sets from the broadcast network, moderate switching times between the IP streams as well as the fast integration of services such as HbbTV, content guides, playlists, DRM sign-in, dynamically added event channels and Next Generation Audio were impressive,” said project manager Remo Vogel (rbb).
In the light of the successful trial, the broad support from the broadcasting industry and the positive national and international responses, the members recommend an additional phase 2 in order to consolidate outstanding issues for a possible market launch. The aspects to be considered are the organisation and aggregation of further providers in the central service list, the implementation of DRM and authentication systems for subscription offers, the expansion of the availability of prototype devices as well as the evaluation of new use cases and possible personalisation concepts.
The DVB-I Pilot Germany will also be a topic at German trade fair ANGA COM 2023, which will take place in Cologne from May 23 to 25. Christian Klöckner (WDR/EBU) and Remo Vogel (rbb) will speak along with Paul Higgs (Huawei/DVB Project) on May 25 at 11:00 CEST on the Innovation Stage in the panel “DVB-I: One TV Standard for all Networks?”.
