Introducing DVB-H

The key to making Mobile TV a high quality, compelling service for consumers is in combining traditional broadcasting standards with features specific to handheld devices. Namely, smaller screens and antennas, indoor coverage and reliance on battery power. The technology that can best achieve this is called IP Datacasting over DVB-H, a combination of digital broadcasting and internet protocol, which enables service reception in handheld devices. The Digital Video Broadcasting – Handheld (DVB-H) standard has been created specifically to meet the unique challenges that mobile TV presents and was formally adopted by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) as the standard in Europe for Mobile TV services in November 2004. DVB-H builds on the existing terrestrial TV infrastructure (DVB-T) which is used widely to deliver terrestrial digital television services. The fact that DVB-H relies on an existing television standard means that the initial investment in setting up Mobile TV services is reduced. In addition to being an approved and open standard, the benefits of DVB-H are as follows: • It provides the best user experience in the mobile environment, with an energy saving handset that is only ‘on' 10% of the time, electronic programme guide, soft handover and in-building coverage • It offers an excellent, broadcast-quality picture with a screen resolution equivalent to VHS • Battery consumption is reduced by 90% due to time-slicing technology • The efficient use of bandwidth means that DVB-H can offer up to 55 mobile channels • It is supported by publicly available air interface specifications helping to drive device interoperability and market development • Its security includes end-to-end control of stream encryption, generation of decryption keys and delivery of keys to consumers in a billing-integrated way DVB-H will be accessible by an audience of approximately 300 million mobile users by the end of this year. Source : wirtel.co.uk