Mobile TV systems fight it out
DVB-H
and DMB mobile TV systems to demo at 3GSM world congress
February 2006
Mobile TV, the next big marketing buzz for mobile
phones, will be much in evidence at the 3GSM
World Congress. Visitors will be able to access content over
both DVB-H
and DMB systems.
Broadcasters MTV and Endemol, creator of Big Brother, will both deliver keynotes on mobile TV at the Congress and a dedicated mobile TV network is being set up for the four-day event.
MTV will be providing three DVB-H channels at the
event featuring MTV shows and music, Paramount Comedy, Nickelodeon
and IFILM, a new MTV brand dedicated to filmmaking. At the same
time BT will unveil its launch device for the new BT Movio TV
and radio service delivered over the competing DMB standard.
Vodafone,Orange and 3 already use 3G to stream TV
to mobiles, but the system uses a large amount of bandwidth which
has to be paid for by the customer who has to be in an area of
3G coverage. By contrast, the systems on show at 3GSM are more
like usual TV.
DVB-H
(Digital Video Broadcast Handheld) is based on the specification
for digital terrestrial television and adds features that account
of the limited battery life of mobiles. It has been adopted by
the European Telecommunications Standards Institute for use with
the portable devices and requires the users to be in range of
DVB-H transmitters.
O2 and NTL are collaborating to trial this system in Oxford, UK.
The 375 participants are able to access 16 channels on their mobile
phones.
"The Oxford Mobile TV trial has proved there is
a market for mobile broadcasting and now we're looking to make
it happen with the collaboration of the whole industry" , said
Dr Hyacinth Nwana, managing director of Arqiva's Mobile Media
Solutions.
DMB
(Digital Multimedia Broadcasting) is part of the DAB
family of compatible standards, and already delivers digital radio,
multimedia and Mobile TV. The DAB
family also offers a DAB-IP
Mobile TV option which is used in the BT Movio / Virgin Mobile
joint venture for mobile TV.
DAB-IP uses IP tunneling with "Enhanced Packet
Mode" to carry DRM
encoded Windows Media streams. DAB
MOT data channels
can be decoded and it provides an EPG
for content navigation.
Deployment of DAB
based systems will be faster and cheaper since network infrastructure
is already in place. However it will offer less channel choice
than rival DVB-H.
DVB
Project
DVB-H
World
DAB Forum
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