Digital Television

based on the
MPEG-2 Standard
 Overview
• MPEG-2
• Digital TV
• DVB
• PSI tables structure
• Digital TV Distribution System
• The MHP system
 MPEG History
• Moving Picture Experts Group was founded in January
1988 by Leonardo Chiariglione together with around 15
experts in compression technology
• Creator of numerous standards like MPEG-1, MPEG-2,
MPEG-4, MPEG-7, MPEG-21 etc.
• The Group has not limited it’s scope to only “pictures” –
sound wasn’t forgot (e.g. MPEG-1 Layer3)
• Because almost all of their work is a success story, the
industry adopted fast the MPEG standard (Philips,
Samsung, Intel, Sony etc)
• MPEG has given birth to a number of technologies we take
now for granted: DVD and Digital TV (MPEG-2), MP3
(MPEG-1 L3)
 MPEG-2
• In 1994, MPEG has published the ISO/IEC-
13818, also known as MPEG-2
• MPEG-2 was the standard adopted by DVD
(Digital Video Disk or Digital Versatile Disk) and
Digital TV
• It is designed for video compression between
1.5 and 15 Mbps
• MPEG-2 streams come in 2 forms: Program
Stream and Transport Stream
 Digital TV
• Why use Digital TV instead of Analog TV?
– ease of transcoding (changing the same perceptual content by
decreasing quality, but with great gains in bitrate)
– ease of storing data for future use and reprocessing
– no quality loss (digitized information does not ”change” in time)
– ability to supply more services (like MHP, EPG etc)
– better and more flexible protection system in commercial TV (encoded
channels)
• It has been discovered that there are more television sets than
telephones in the world – huge market
• The video and audio information is digitized and compressed using the
MPEG compression standard (source coding)
• There are presently three international standards for digital television
– Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB)
– Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC)
– Integrated Services Digital Broadcasting (ISDB)
Digital TV Standards Adoption
Map
Model for MPEG-2 Systems
 MPEG-2 Program Stream

• Similar to MPEG-1 Systems Multiplex

• Combines one or more Packetised Elementary
Streams (PES), which have a common time-base,
into a single stream
• Designed for use in relatively error-free
environments and suitable for applications which
may involve software processing
• Program stream packets may be of variable and
relatively great length
 MPEG-2 Transport Stream
• Combines one or more Packetised Elementary
Streams (PES) with one or more independent
time bases into a single stream (sometimes
called multiplex)
• Elementary streams sharing a common time-
base form a program
• Designed for use in environments where errors
are likely, such as storage or transmission in
lossy or noisy media
• The transport stream is made of packets with
fixed length of 188 bytes
 Packets are idenitifed by PID’s
PID= Packet IDentifier, for video, audio
and other data: Example: satellite transmission parameters
Number of QPSK symbols/sec
Error correction rate
Program idenitification number
Frequency, Video PID
polarisation Audio PID
The Transport Stream Packet
 DVB
• DVB Project is an industry-led consortium of over 300
companies
• The DVB Project was launched on 10th September,
1993
• In 1995 it was basically finished and became
operational
• There are several sub-standards of the DVB standard
– DVB-S (Satellite) – using QPSK – 40 Mb/s
– DVB-T (Terrestrial) – using QAM – 50 Mb/s
– DVB-C (Cable) – using OFDM – 24 Mb/s
• These three sub-standards basically differ only in the
specifications to the physical representation,
modulation, transmission and reception of the signal
 About DVB Standard
• DVB uses the MPEG-2 Transport Stream to carry
it’s data
• DVB has added some features in the MPEG-2
standard (the MPEG standard had a door open for
future additions to the standard)
• Can deliver to the home almost anything that can
be digitized:
– High Definition Television (HDTV)
– Standard Definition Television (PAL / NTSC, SECAM)
– New broadband multimedia data and interactive services
• Several tables have been added to the MPEG-2
Transport Stream specifications (CAT, EIT etc)
 The MPEG-2/DVB Multiplex
• A multiplex is a bouquet of PIDs containing several
channels (television, radio, data etc), basically is a
collection of programs
• This bouquet contains several types of information
(audio data, video data) and a Program Specific
Information (PSI) section made of tables containing
the description of the contents
• Based on the PSI, the decoders can select the
correct PIDs of the desired program in order to
decode them
• All the programs present in the multiplex have
different PIDs for their data (audio, video, pcr,
subtitle, teletext etc)
 DVB Service Information
• DVB-SI provides information to enable automatic configuration of the receiver to
demultiplex and decode the various streams of programs within the multiplex
• Program Specific Information (PSI)
– Program Association Table (PAT): for each service in the multiplex, the PAT indicates
the location (the PID values of the TS packets) of the corresponding PMT. It also gives
the location of the NIT
– Conditional Access Table (CAT): provides information on the CA systems used in the
multiplex; the information is private and dependent on the CA system
– Program Map Table (PMT): identifies and indicates the locations of the streams that
make up each service, and the location of the Program Clock Reference fields for a
service
– Network Information Table (NIT): provides information about the physical network
• Additional Service Information
– Bouquet Association Table (BAT): provides information regarding bouquets
– Service Description Table (SDT): describes the services in the system e.g. names of
services, the service provider, etc
– Event Information Table (EIT): contains data concerning events or programs such as
event name, start time, duration, etc
– Running Status Table (RST): gives the status of an event (running / not running)
– Other tables: TDT, TOT, ST, SIT, DIT
 MPEG-2/DVB PID Allocation
• PAT always has PID = 0
(zero)
• CAT always has PID = 1
• EIT always has PID = 18
• The PMTs have the PIDs
specified in the PAT
• The audio, video, PCR,
subtitle, teletext etc PIDs
for all programs are
specified in their
respective PMT
MPEG-2/DVB PSI Structure
 DVB Subtitles
• Are carried in PES (themselves being carried in TS)
• Timing of presentation is the PTS of the PES (present in the PES
header)
• Information is transmitted in graphical format
• Pixel depths of 2, 4 and 8 bits are supported
• Color information is organized in Color Look-Up Tables (CLUT)
• Subtitles are present in a sequence of pages that are going to be
overlayed on the associated video image
• A subtitle page contains one or more regions (rectangular areas with
specified sets of attributes: position, width, height, depth etc)
• Several regions can be used at the same time (i.e. one region in the
bottom of the screen displaying the subtitle, another in one somewhere
else on the screen displaying some logo)
• There are different events
– page update (when only the changed regions from previous page are
present)
– page refresh (when all the data needed to display the page is present)
The Packetised Elementary
Stream Packet
 PAT Structure

table_id (= 0x00)
section_syntax_indicator network_PID
marker_bit
reserved (2 bits) yes no
section_length
transport_stream_id program_number program_number = 0 ? finished
reserved (2 bits) reserved (3 bits) ?
version_number no yes
current_next_indicator
section_number
TS_program_map_table_PI
last_section_number CRC_32
D

stuffing_bytes_to_end_of_TS_packet
 CAT Structure

table_id (= 0x01)
section_syntax_indicator
marker_bit
descriptor_tag (=9) no
reserved (2 bits)
descriptor_length
section_length
CA_system_ID finished CRC_32
reserved (18 bits) yes
reserved (3 bits) ?
version_number
CA_PID
current_next_indicator
private_data_bytes
section_number
last_section_number

stuffing_bytes_to_end_of_TS_packet
 PMT Structure

table_id (= 0x02)
section_syntax_indicator
marker_bit ‘0’
reserved_bits (2 bits)
section_length
program_number stream_type
no
reserved_bits (2 bits) reserved (3 bits)
version_number elementary_PID finished
current_next_indicator reserved (3 bits) ?
section_number (=0) ES_info_length yes
last_section_number (=0) ES_descriptors()
reserved_bits (3 bits)
PCR_PID
CRC_32
reserved_bits (4 bits)
program_info_length
program_descriptors()

stuffing_bytes_to_end_of_TS_packet
What is
MHP
• FOR MULTIMEDIA ORIGINATING
FROM DIGITAL TELEVISION
APPLICATION DEVELOPMENT
PLATFORM IS MHP – MULTIMEDIA
HOME PLATFORM DEVELOPED
BY EUROPEAN DVB ORGANISATION

IT WAS ACCEPTED FOR NORDIC

COUNTRIES IN MARCH 2001
 DVB in the home
DVB – Digital Video Broadcasting, covers digital TV delivery
by S - satellite, C- cable and T- terrestrial plus networking

DVB-S

DVB-MS
DVB-MC Integrated Receiver- SDTV / EDTV / HDTV
Decoder (IRD)

INTERACTIVE INTERACTIVE
DVB-C

PC

DVB-T

B-ISDN, ASDL, DVD DVC

PSTN, GSM
 The Uses of DVB - a Scenario
TV Receiver Multimedia PC
Multichannel
Microwave
Satellite Distribution
System (MMDS)

Cable / (S)MATV Integrated Receiver

Decoder (IRD)

Terrestrial Broadcast
Reception
B-ISDN Interactivity
ADSL etc.
DVD etc. DVC etc.
 Convergence of Application Domains

EPG
Home
Shopping
Broadcast
TV
PPV

TV with e-mail WWW

WWW (enhanced
increasing (limited
processing features)
graphics)
Internet Interactive
Telephony Multimedia
Interactivity Home Services
Audio on
Demand Video
PC Conferencing
with DVB
Decoder Internet
Full Internet Access Telephony
(ftp, WWW, e-mail, ..)
Interactive
PC
• The Multimedia Home Platform consists of a user terminal including all possible
low- to high- functionality implementations, its associated peripherals, and the
in-home digital network.
• The MHP solution encompasses the whole set of technologies necessary to
implement the MHP including protocols, common languages (API), interfaces,
and recommendations.
• The MHP supports several levels of interactive services / applications. These
are defined as:
– Enhanced broadcasting (including local interactivity)
– Interactive broadcasting (using a return channel)
– Internet access
The Scope of MHP

• Independent developers
• Different service providers
Applications
• Various application areas

Generic SW Interface (API)

• Independent implementations
• Different hardware
MHP Terminals
• Different software
• All kind of terminals
(low-end STB / high-end PC)
PC
Objectives for Standardization

• To deliver bridging between

• hardware and software worlds
• consumer and computer worlds
• existing and future business environment
• thus providing an evolution
• from today´s fragmented vertical markets
• to future unfragmented horizontal markets
Some of the key MHP requirements
• User friendly
Affordability, appropriate lifetime, interoperability
Designed for all, improving the user experience, customisation
Protecting privacy e.g. no unauthorized access to personal data or
parental control signaling
• Market friendly
Open standards, Stable, reliable, evolutionary, compatible with CA-
systems, Compatible with copy management and content protection
Performing at least as well as proprietary solutions and supporting
migration
• Innovation friendly
Interactivity, secure transactional services
Internet links and / or full access
• Regulation friendly
National or international
e.g. Respect of power consumption strategies
Application Oriented Requirements

• Enhanced Broadcasting with local interactivity

benchmark applications
• built-in navigator
• EPG
• Interactive Services using a return channel

• Internet Access
MHP System Definition

• Equipment (hardware, software)

• home terminal / receiver
set top box, integrated TV set, multimedia PC
• local cluster
peripherals, in-home digital network

• Services / applications (content)

• enhanced broadcasting with local interactivity
• interactive services using a return channel
• internet access
• An Application Programming Interface (API) is used in a terminal device
to implement certain functionalities that allow hardware-independent
development of content and applications. It allows differentiation in terms
of the capabilities of the end user platform.
• The Navigator is the basic user-interface of a terminal device used in the
enhanced broadcasting mode. It is defined by the manufacturer of the
terminal device. Each MHP provides a Navigator.
• The Electronic Program Guide (EPG) is the higher-level consumer
navigation device in the enhanced broadcasting mode. It is an application
which can be provided by different parties and may be delivered via the
broadcast channel.
 Typical MHP Applications
• Electronic program guides
• “Super Teletext”
• Applications synchronised to TV content
• Games
• E- commerce
• Interactive advertising
• Internet access
Examples for MHP applications

Electronic Program Guides Information Services (“super teletext”,

(EPG) news tickers, stock tickers)

E-Commerce and Applications synchronised to TV Content

Secure Transactions (score cards, local play-along games)
Example of a MHP-based Electronic
Program Guide
ZDF.vision EPG
Application Synchronised to TV Content
Golf Game
• Select a product. Learn more about it.

•Make a purchase decision

Easy navigation
using scroll bar to
select product
from range
• And complete the transaction!
Top of the Pops
Interactive Advertising

• Upon entering
enhanced
content, video
scales.

• While viewing,
audio/video
continue to be
available.
Airport Information System
Airport Information System
 Technical
Specification
 MHP Specification Overview

• Based on DVB-Java
• HTML / XML
– part of Internet Access profile
• Existing (legacy) APIs to be handled as
plug-ins
Specification Elements (1)
• MHP architecture
• Detailed profile definition
enhanced and interactive broadcasting
• Content formats
including PNG, JPEG, MPEG-2
Video/Audio, subtitles and
resident and downloadable fonts
• Mandatory transport protocols
including DSM-CC object carousel
(broadcast)
and IP (return channel),
 MHP Architecture (1)
Ap
p li c
a ti Application 1 . . . . Application n
on
s
MHP
API Sy
ste Application Manager APIs
m (Navigator)
So
ft w Transport Virtual Machine
a re Protocols

Interaction Re
Channel s ou MPEG Processing Graphics
rc e
Broadcast s
I/O Devices Memory CPU
Channel
 MHP Architecture (2)

Appl. 2
Appl. 3 Applications
Appl. 1 Appl. n
Cond. Access e.g. Home-
e.g. EPG e.g. Game shopping
separated
from API
API
Middleware L
O
CA A
D
Operating System E
R

Drivers

Hardware
 Reference Model of the MHP
The architecture of the MHP is described by 3 layers:

Interope- Interope- Interope- Interop. Possible

rable rable rable Applica- Control
Applica- Applica- Applica- tion Applica-
tion 1 tion 2 tion 3 Library tion
API
System Software

Hardware and Software Resources

 MHP summary
• MHP is very comprehensive system for
applications on digital TV
However, it has not been universally
accepted in similar way as teletext. Its
future is thus uncertain.