The Mobile Digital TV Market
Mobile digital broadcast TV (DTV) combines the two best-selling consumer products in history - TVs and mobile phones. TV will be an ingredient that drives demand for the next generation of wireless mobile phones because consumers want both communications and entertainment - all in one place and in one device. It is currently assumed that users will "snack" on 15-20 minutes of TV programming at a time to catch up on news, sports, weather, major events such as the World Cup or Olympics, and more in real-time using their mobile phone at speeds comparable to watching their TV at home.
At every level of the mobile DTV value-chain carriers, handset providers, infrastructure owners, content providers, broadcasters and semiconductor suppliers are putting increased efforts behind their mobile DTV plans. And for good reason -- according to Vision Gain, the mobile DTV handset market is expected to grow to over 105 million units by 2009 from the expected five million units in 2005.
Standards Landscape Worldwide
Like most new technologies, there are several different standards for mobile DTV around the world. These include three primary open standards for the mDTV marketplace:
- DVB-H (digital video broadcast - handheld) is quickly gaining ground with trials in Europe, the U.S., Australia, and parts of Asia.
- ISDB-T (integrated services digital broadcast - terrestrial) is the standard in Japan and will be in trials later in 2005.
- DMB (digital media broadcast) has deployed today in Korea with several handsets already in-market to support the standard and is expanding to Europe and other parts of Asia.
| |
DVB-H |
FLO™ |
ISDB-T |
DMB |
| Standard |
Open |
Proprietary |
Open |
Open |
| Regions |
US
Europe
parts of Asia |
US |
Japan |
Korea
expanding to other countries |
| Air Interface |
OFDM |
OFDM |
OFDM (sub-banded) |
OFDM |
| Trials |
Today |
N/A |
Today |
Done |
| Service Availability |
2006-2007 |
N/A |
Early 2006 |
Today |
| Handset Availability |
Today from several OEMs |
N/A |
Today from several OEMs |
Today from several OEMs |
 |
The 3G and upcoming HSDPA networks will have a role in the mobile DTV market as well. While the economics and bandwidth requirements of streaming live broadcasts over the cellular network would impact voice services, using 3G or HSDPA networks to download clips or full television shows to memory is practical. Users could watch live events using the broadcast link on their phone and download news or sports clips like they do today on the Internet using their PC. And as personal video recording (PVR) capabilities and user preference programming becomes available on mobile phones, carriers will be able to provide overnight download programming or clips to a user's mobile phone while cellular network utilization is extremely low.
DVB-H: An Open Standard to Accelerate Digital Mobile TV Deployment
DVB-H is an open, non-proprietary standard that will foster growth throughout the wireless ecosystem, allowing mobile Digital TV (DTV) handsets and services to reach the mass market faster and at a lower cost to consumers.
Benefits of DVB-H include:
- Openness - DVB-H is an open industry standard that was developed by the DVB Project, an industry consortium and is currently being supported by leading companies throughout the wireless industry. An open ecosystem in the DTV marketplace enables all companies in the value chain to increase their revenue opportunities with mobile TV services and products.
- Rapid, Cost-Effective Deployment - DVB-H commercial services are expected to begin rolling out in 2006. The services will use new equipment on existing cellular towers in the US and tall towers in Europe and other regions for the UHF band. Additionally in the US, DVB-H will use unencumbered and available spectrum that is available today, without interfering with existing analog TV stations or other TV or wireless services.
- Channel Changing Time - DVB-H can deliver a channel changing time of 1.5 seconds with MPE-FEC (multi-protocol encapsulation forward error correction) and short synchronization time.
- Number of Channels and Programming Choices - DVB-H can provide 9 to 18 channels of content in 6MHz of spectrum, depending on the resolution of the programming (15 or 30 frames per second). In addition to mobile TV programming, DVB-H can support digital radio and audio services and is complementary to clipping services that will be downloaded via the cellular network.
- Picture Quality - DVB-H supports 15-30 frames per second transmissions enabling consumers to get their living room TV watching experience in the palm of their hand. Additionally with support of QCIF, CIG and QVGA screen resolutions the picture will only get better as these formats become more wide spread on mobile phones.
- Long Battery Life and Viewing Time - DVB-H uses time slicing to enhance the battery life by leaving the RF front end off 90% of the time. This means that with an 850Ahr battery, DVB-H can deliver a viewing time of at least 3.5 hours. The majority of the battery consumption is from the display usage on the phone.
- Proven Technology - DVB-H comes from the proven DVB standard used in Europe for standard DTV transmission with a low power mode for battery-powered devices. DVB-H is in over 10 trials today around the world to prove out the technology and speed commercial deployments.
Visit the official DVB-H website (maintained by the DVB Project Office) to learn more about the DVB-H standard.
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