DVB Sets the Stage for Next Phase of UHDTV

At the 81st meeting of theDVB Steering Board, commercial requirements for the next phase ofUltra High Definition Televisionwere approved, allowing the technical work on the specification to progress. The aim of UHDTV is to bring higher technical quality and greater realism to television viewers.

The path toUHDTVwas set in the ITU,International Telecommunication Union, in 2012 with a potential list of new attributes for future television, ITU-R BT.2020. Since then, DVB has developed, and continues to develop, systems to allow appropriate attributes to be practically delivered to the public. Another turning point for television has now been reached with the agreement on the requirements for a UHD-1 Phase 2 delivery format.   

HDR, Audio, HFR

The first system developed by DVB in 2014, DVB UHD-1 Phase 1, opened the possibility for content providers to deliver services with images with four times the resolution of 1080p HDTV.  This resolution is available and is in use, but in future it will be possible to also provide services with further characteristics to enhance the viewing experience. This is termed DVB UHD-1 Phase 2.
 
A major new attribute will be the capability to provide images with ahigh dynamic rangeor HDR, extending the difference between the blackest black and the whitest white in the image.  Television sets of the future will allow higher values ofpeak screen brightnessthat can exploit the HDR, recognized as a significant, potential gain in image quality, adding a special attraction to screen images.
 
Other enhancements may be available for UHDTV within the same timetable, for example, improving audio by adding several newoptions for sound.  There is also a potential for delivering images with ahigher frame rateor HFR, resulting in more sharply rendered moving objects. However, the development of practical consumer equipment for high frame rates may take longer than HDR and audio improvements, and consequently it may follow several years after them.   
 
Technical specifications are to be included that would allow, when needed by the service operator, users already using Phase 1 to make use of Phase 2 services – in other words, backwards compatibility.

Defining Technical Specs

TheDigital Video Broadcastingconsortium, DVB, comprises over 200 broadcasters, manufacturers, network operators, software developers, regulators and others from around the world committed to designing open, interoperable technical standards for the global delivery of digital media and broadcast services.  DVB standards cover all aspects of digital television - from transmission to interfacing, conditional access and interactivity for digital video, audio and data.
 
DVB is now the primary digital broadcasting environment. Thousands of broadcast services around the world use DVB’s standards, and hundreds of manufacturers build and ship DVB-compliant equipment.

TheDVB Technical Modulemust now translate the Commercial Requirements into a technical specification for submission to the European Telecommunications Standards Institute, ETSI, for standardization. It is expected that the specification will be finalized in2016. This could mean that the first DVB UHD-1 Phase 2 services, that include the HDR capability, would be available from2017onwards.     
 
“This is a major achievement for DVB and the television industry.  We now have a plan for the evolution of television into the age of Ultra High Definition Television.  It’s an exciting future that will bring a new quality of experience to television,” said DVB ChairmanPhil Laven.   www.dvb.org