DVB-T
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

DVB-T, short for Digital Video Broadcasting – Terrestrial, is the DVB European-based consortium standard for the broadcast transmission of
digital terrestrial television Digital terrestrial television (DTTV or DTT, or DTTB with "broadcasting") is a technology for terrestrial television in which land-based (terrestrial) television stations broadcast television content by radio waves to televisions in consume ...
that was first published in 1997 and first broadcast in
Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...
in February, 1998. This system transmits compressed digital audio, digital video and other data in an MPEG transport stream, using coded orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (COFDM or OFDM) modulation. It is also the format widely used worldwide (including North America) for Electronic News Gathering for transmission of video and audio from a mobile newsgathering vehicle to a central receive point. It is also used in the US by Amateur television operators.


Basics

Rather than carrying one data carrier on a single
radio frequency Radio frequency (RF) is the oscillation rate of an alternating electric current or voltage or of a magnetic, electric or electromagnetic field or mechanical system in the frequency range from around to around . This is roughly between the uppe ...
(RF) channel, COFDM works by splitting the digital data stream into a large number of slower digital streams, each of which digitally modulates a set of closely spaced adjacent sub-carrier frequencies. In the case of DVB-T, there are two choices for the number of carriers known as 2K-mode or 8K-mode. These are actually 1,705 or 6,817 sub-carriers that are approximately 4 kHz or 1 kHz apart. DVB-T offers three different modulation schemes ( QPSK,
16QAM Quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) is the name of a family of digital modulation methods and a related family of analog modulation methods widely used in modern telecommunications to transmit information. It conveys two analog message signal ...
, 64QAM). DVB-T has been adopted or proposed for digital television broadcasting by many countries ( see map), using mainly VHF 7 MHz and UHF 8 MHz channels whereas Taiwan, Colombia, Panama and Trinidad and Tobago use 6 MHz channels. Examples include the UK's Freeview. The DVB-T Standard is published as EN 300 744, ''Framing structure, channel coding and modulation for digital terrestrial television''. This is available from the ETSI website, as is ETSI TS 101 154, ''Specification for the use of Video and Audio Coding in Broadcasting Applications based on the MPEG-2 Transport Stream'', which gives details of the DVB use of source coding methods for
MPEG-2 MPEG-2 (a.k.a. H.222/H.262 as was defined by the ITU) is a standard for "the generic coding of moving pictures and associated audio information". It describes a combination of lossy video compression and lossy audio data compression methods, w ...
and, more recently, H.264/MPEG-4 AVC as well as audio encoding systems. Many countries that have adopted DVB-T have published standards for their implementation. These include the D-book in the UK, the Italian DGTVi, the ETSI E-Book and the Nordic countries and Ireland NorDig. DVB-T has been further developed into newer standards such as DVB-H (Handheld), which was a commercial failure and is no longer in operation, and DVB-T2, which was initially finalised in August 2011. DVB-T as a digital transmission delivers data in a series of discrete blocks at the symbol rate. DVB-T is a COFDM transmission technique which includes the use of a Guard Interval. It allows the receiver to cope with strong multipath situations. Within a geographical area, DVB-T also allows single-frequency network (SFN) operation, where two or more transmitters carrying the same data operate on the same frequency. In such cases the signals from each transmitter in the SFN needs to be accurately time-aligned, which is done by sync information in the stream and timing at each transmitter referenced to GPS. The length of the Guard Interval can be chosen. It is a trade-off between data rate and SFN capability. The longer the guard interval the larger is the potential SFN area without creating
intersymbol interference In telecommunication, intersymbol interference (ISI) is a form of distortion of a signal in which one symbol interferes with subsequent symbols. This is an unwanted phenomenon as the previous symbols have a similar effect as noise, thus maki ...
(ISI). It is possible to operate SFNs which do not fulfill the guard interval condition if the self-interference is properly planned and monitored.


Technical description of a DVB-T transmitter

With reference to the figure, a short description of the signal processing blocks follows. * Source coding and MPEG-2
multiplexing In telecommunications and computer networking, multiplexing (sometimes contracted to muxing) is a method by which multiple analog or digital signals are combined into one signal over a shared medium. The aim is to share a scarce resource - a ...
(MUX): Compressed video, compressed audio, and data streams are multiplexed into MPEG program streams (MPEG-PSs). One or more MPEG-PSs are joined together into an MPEG transport stream (MPEG-TS); this is the basic digital stream which is being transmitted and received by TV sets or home
Set Top Boxes A set-top box (STB), also colloquially known as a cable box and historically television decoder, is an information appliance device that generally contains a TV-tuner input and displays output to a television set and an external source of s ...
(STB). Allowed bit rates for the transported data depend on a number of coding and modulation parameters: it can range from about 5 to about 32 Mbit/s (see the bottom figure for a complete listing). * Splitter: Two different MPEG-TSs can be transmitted at the same time, using a technique called ''Hierarchical Transmission''. It may be used to transmit, for example a standard definition
SDTV Standard-definition television (SDTV, SD, often shortened to standard definition) is a television system which uses a resolution that is not considered to be either high or enhanced definition. "Standard" refers to it being the prevailing spe ...
signal and a high definition
HDTV High-definition television (HD or HDTV) describes a television system which provides a substantially higher image resolution than the previous generation of technologies. The term has been used since 1936; in more recent times, it refers to the ...
signal on the same carrier. Generally, the SDTV signal is more robust than the HDTV one. At the receiver, depending on the quality of the received signal, the STB may be able to decode the HDTV stream or, if signal strength lacks, it can switch to the SDTV one (in this way, all receivers that are in proximity of the transmission site can lock the HDTV signal, whereas all the other ones, even the farthest, may still be able to receive and decode an SDTV signal). * MUX adaptation and energy dispersal: The MPEG-TS is identified as a sequence of data packets, of fixed length (188 bytes). With a technique called energy dispersal, the byte sequence is decorrelated. * External encoder: A first level of error correction is applied to the transmitted data, using a non-binary block code, a Reed–Solomon RS (204, 188) code, allowing the correction of up to a maximum of 8 wrong bytes for each 188-byte packet. * External interleaver: Convolutional interleaving is used to rearrange the transmitted data sequence, in such a way that it becomes more rugged to long sequences of errors. * Internal encoder: A second level of error correction is given by a punctured convolutional code, which is often denoted in STBs menus as FEC ( Forward error correction). There are five valid coding rates: 1/2, 2/3, 3/4, 5/6, and 7/8. * Internal interleaver: Data sequence is rearranged again, aiming to reduce the influence of burst errors. This time, a block interleaving technique is adopted, with a pseudo-random assignment scheme (this is really done by two separate interleaving processes, one operating on bits and another one operating on groups of bits). * Mapper: The digital bit sequence is mapped into a base band modulated sequence of complex symbols. There are three valid
modulation In electronics and telecommunications, modulation is the process of varying one or more properties of a periodic waveform, called the '' carrier signal'', with a separate signal called the ''modulation signal'' that typically contains informat ...
schemes: QPSK, 16- QAM, 64-QAM. * Frame adaptation: the complex symbols are grouped in blocks of constant length (1512, 3024, or 6048 symbols per block). A frame is generated, 68 blocks long, and a ''superframe'' is built by 4 frames. * Pilot and TPS signals: In order to simplify the reception of the signal being transmitted on the terrestrial radio channel, additional signals are inserted in each block. Pilot signals are used during the synchronization and equalization phase, while TPS signals (Transmission Parameters Signalling) send the parameters of the transmitted signal and to unequivocally identify the transmission cell. The receiver must be able to synchronize, equalize, and decode the signal to gain access to the information held by the TPS pilots. Thus, the receiver must know this information beforehand, and the TPS data is only used in special cases, such as changes in the parameters, resynchronizations, etc. * OFDM modulation: The sequence of blocks is modulated according to the OFDM technique, using 1705 or 6817 carriers (2k or 8k mode, respectively). Increasing the number of carriers does not modify the payload bit rate, which remains constant. * Guard interval insertion: to decrease receiver complexity, every OFDM block is extended, copying in front of it its own end ( cyclic prefix). The width of such guard interval can be 1/32, 1/16, 1/8, or 1/4 that of the original block length. Cyclic prefix is required to operate single frequency networks, where there may exist an ineliminable interference coming from several sites transmitting the same program on the same
carrier frequency In telecommunications, a carrier wave, carrier signal, or just carrier, is a waveform (usually sinusoidal) that is modulated (modified) with an information-bearing signal for the purpose of conveying information. This carrier wave usually has ...
. * DAC and front-end: The digital signal is transformed into an analogue signal, with a
digital-to-analog converter In electronics, a digital-to-analog converter (DAC, D/A, D2A, or D-to-A) is a system that converts a digital signal into an analog signal. An analog-to-digital converter (ADC) performs the reverse function. There are several DAC archi ...
(DAC), and then modulated to radio frequency (
VHF Very high frequency (VHF) is the ITU designation for the range of radio frequency electromagnetic waves (radio waves) from 30 to 300 megahertz (MHz), with corresponding wavelengths of ten meters to one meter. Frequencies immediately below VHF ...
,
UHF Ultra high frequency (UHF) is the ITU designation for radio frequencies in the range between 300 megahertz (MHz) and 3 gigahertz (GHz), also known as the decimetre band as the wavelengths range from one meter to one tenth of a meter (on ...
) by the RF front end. The occupied bandwidth is designed to accommodate each single DVB-T signal into 5, 6, 7, or 8 MHz wide channels. The base band sample rate provided at the DAC input depends on the channel bandwidth: it is f_s = \frac B ''samples/s'', where B is the channel bandwidth expressed in Hz.


Technical description of the receiver

The receiving STB adopts techniques which are dual to those ones used in the transmission. * Front-end and ADC: the analogue RF signal is converted to base-band and transformed into a digital signal, using an
analogue-to-digital converter In electronics, an analog-to-digital converter (ADC, A/D, or A-to-D) is a system that converts an analog signal, such as a sound picked up by a microphone or light entering a digital camera, into a digital signal. An ADC may also provide ...
(ADC). * Time and frequency synchronization: the digital base band signal is searched to identify the beginning of frames and blocks. Any problems with the frequency of the components of the signal are corrected, too. The property that the guard interval at the end of the symbol is placed also at the beginning is exploited to find the beginning of a new
OFDM symbol In telecommunications, orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) is a type of digital transmission and a method of encoding digital data on multiple carrier frequencies. OFDM has developed into a popular scheme for wideband digital commun ...
. On the other hand, continual pilots (whose value and position is determined in the standard and thus known by the receiver) determine the frequency offset suffered by the signal. This frequency offset might have been caused by
Doppler effect The Doppler effect or Doppler shift (or simply Doppler, when in context) is the change in frequency of a wave in relation to an observer who is moving relative to the wave source. It is named after the Austrian physicist Christian Doppler, ...
, inaccuracies in either the transmitter or receiver clock, and so on. Generally, synchronization is done in two steps, either before or after the FFT, in such way to resolve both coarse and fine frequency/timing errors. Pre-FFT steps involve the use of sliding correlation on the received time signal, whereas Post-FFT steps use correlation between the frequency signal and the pilot carriers sequence. * Guard interval disposal: the cyclic prefix is removed. * OFDM demodulation: this is achieved with an FFT. * Frequency equalization: the pilot signals are used to estimate the Channel Transfer Function (CTF) every three
subcarrier A subcarrier is a sideband of a radio frequency carrier wave, which is modulated to send additional information. Examples include the provision of colour in a black and white television system or the provision of stereo in a monophonic radio bro ...
s. The CTF is derived in the remaining subcarriers via interpolation. The CTF is then used to equalize the received data in each subcarrier, generally using a Zero-Forcing method (multiplication by CTF inverse). The CTF is also used to weigh the reliability of the demapped data when they are provided to the Viterbi decoder. * Demapping: since there are Gray-encoded QAM constellations, demapping is done in a "soft" way using nonlinear laws that demap each bit in the received symbol to a more or less reliable fuzzy value between -1 and +1. * Internal deinterleaving * Internal decoding: uses the Viterbi algorithm, with a traceback length larger than that generally used for the basic 1/2 rate code, due to the presence of punctured ("erased") bits. * External deinterleaving * External decoding * MUX adaptation * MPEG-2 demultiplexing and source decoding


Countries and territories using DVB-T or DVB-T2


Americas

* (decided on 10 July 2007) * (decided on 28 August 2008) (Uses DVB-T/H.264/ MPEG-4 for SD and HD since 2011) *
Nuuk TV
* * (decided on 12 May 2009) (uses DVB-T/
MPEG-2 MPEG-2 (a.k.a. H.222/H.262 as was defined by the ITU) is a standard for "the generic coding of moving pictures and associated audio information". It describes a combination of lossy video compression and lossy audio data compression methods, w ...
for SD and DVB-T/H.264/ MPEG-4 for HD transmissions.) * * (experimental DVB-T MPEG2) * (experimental ATSC) * (In 2008 KTV Ltd. implemented DVB-T, 64QAM, 7/8, 1/32, MPEG2 for both SD and HD transmissions)


Europe

* (uses
MPEG-2 MPEG-2 (a.k.a. H.222/H.262 as was defined by the ITU) is a standard for "the generic coding of moving pictures and associated audio information". It describes a combination of lossy video compression and lossy audio data compression methods, w ...
for SD and H.264/MPEG-4 AVC for HD transmissions). * * (transition to DVB-T2) * (uses DVB-T
MPEG-2 MPEG-2 (a.k.a. H.222/H.262 as was defined by the ITU) is a standard for "the generic coding of moving pictures and associated audio information". It describes a combination of lossy video compression and lossy audio data compression methods, w ...
and DVB-T2 H.264/MPEG-4 AVC) * (uses DVB-T H.264/MPEG-4 AVC for SD and HD transmission and DVB-T2 for pay SD and HD transmissions) * ( H.264/MPEG-4 AVC, FEC=2/3, guard interval – 1/4, 64 QAM. Official simulcast started in March 2013, full switch has been done on 30 September 2013.) * From 2020 the transmission is on DVB-T2 H.265/HEVC with HD 1080p50 – see Television in Croatia * (MPEG-2, DVB-T2 HEVC H.265 started in 2017) * (H.264/MPEG-4 AVC video) * (uses H.264/AVC for SD and HD transmissions. See DVB-T in Denmark.) * (uses H.264/AVC video) * * * (uses H.264/AVC for free HD, pay SD and pay HD transmissions. See Digital terrestrial television#France.) * (partly still DVB-T
MPEG-2 MPEG-2 (a.k.a. H.222/H.262 as was defined by the ITU) is a standard for "the generic coding of moving pictures and associated audio information". It describes a combination of lossy video compression and lossy audio data compression methods, w ...
, SD only; since 2016 transition to DVB-T2 H.265/HEVC with HD 1080p50 – see Television in Germany) * * Both provider
Digea
an
ERT
use H.264/MPEG-4 AVC) * (brande
MinDigTV
uses H.264/MPEG-4 AVC video exclusively.) * * (uses H.264/MPEG-4 AVC for HD and SD transmissions, see
Saorview Saorview ( ) is the national digital terrestrial television (DTT) service in Ireland. It is owned by RTÉ and operated by 2RN. The service began operation on 29 October 2010 on a trial basis with a full launch on 26 May 2011. By legislation i ...
) * (uses MPEG-2 for SD, H.264/MPEG-4 AVC for HD). Transition to DVB-T2 scheduled in 2022. * (uses H.264/MPEG-4 AVC) * (uses H.264/MPEG-4 AVC) * (uses DVB-T
MPEG-2 MPEG-2 (a.k.a. H.222/H.262 as was defined by the ITU) is a standard for "the generic coding of moving pictures and associated audio information". It describes a combination of lossy video compression and lossy audio data compression methods, w ...
for SD and H.264/MPEG-4 AVC for HD) * ( DVB-T in Macedonia) * * (uses
MPEG-2 MPEG-2 (a.k.a. H.222/H.262 as was defined by the ITU) is a standard for "the generic coding of moving pictures and associated audio information". It describes a combination of lossy video compression and lossy audio data compression methods, w ...
. H.264/AVC is being tested.) * * (uses DVB-T2, operated by Digitenne) * (uses H.264/MPEG-4 AVC for SD and HD transmissions) * (uses H.264/AVC video for SD and HD transmissions; see '' DVB-T in Poland'') * (uses H.264/AVC video;) * DVB-T was only used experimentally in two cities, and is being phased out. The official terrestrial broadcasting standard in Romania is DVB-T2, and implementations started in 2015. * (uses DVB-T2 H.264/AVC) * (uses DVB-T2 H.264/AVC) * (uses
MPEG-2 MPEG-2 (a.k.a. H.222/H.262 as was defined by the ITU) is a standard for "the generic coding of moving pictures and associated audio information". It describes a combination of lossy video compression and lossy audio data compression methods, w ...
for SD and H.264/MPEG-4 AVC for HD, testing DVB-T2 H.264/AVC) * (uses H.264/MPEG-4 AVC video since 2007. See
DVB-T in Slovenia The following is a list of television stations in Slovenia. The channels are being broadcast in Slovenia and are sorted by regions of coverage and type of content the channels broadcast. The list does not contain internet-only television stations. ...
) * (uses DVB-T
MPEG-2 MPEG-2 (a.k.a. H.222/H.262 as was defined by the ITU) is a standard for "the generic coding of moving pictures and associated audio information". It describes a combination of lossy video compression and lossy audio data compression methods, w ...
for SD and DVB-T H.264/ MPEG-4 for HD transmissions.) * (uses
MPEG-2 MPEG-2 (a.k.a. H.222/H.262 as was defined by the ITU) is a standard for "the generic coding of moving pictures and associated audio information". It describes a combination of lossy video compression and lossy audio data compression methods, w ...
and H.264/MPEG-4 AVC) for SD, and DVB-T2 with H.264/AVC for SD and HD transmissions. See DVB-T in Sweden.) * (one regional DVB-T station remaining. Terrestrial national TV broadcasting restored using DVB-T2 near Austria, soon near France) * (Not officially rolled out. Last known DVB-T2 test broadcasting
TRT 4K TRT 4K, is an UHD television channel established by TRT on Türksat 3A. TRT 4K started test broadcasting February 19, 2015. TRT4K is the first UHD FTA TV channel in Turkey and Europe. TRT4K uses HEVC (H.265) codec with 4K Ultra HD resolution ...
ended on 1 June 2017) * (uses DVB-T
MPEG-2 MPEG-2 (a.k.a. H.222/H.262 as was defined by the ITU) is a standard for "the generic coding of moving pictures and associated audio information". It describes a combination of lossy video compression and lossy audio data compression methods, w ...
for SD and DVB-T2 H.264/AVC for HD transmissions. See DVB-T in United Kingdom.) * (uses DVB-T2 H.264/AVC for all nationwide broadcasts)


Oceania

* (mostly uses
MPEG-2 MPEG-2 (a.k.a. H.222/H.262 as was defined by the ITU) is a standard for "the generic coding of moving pictures and associated audio information". It describes a combination of lossy video compression and lossy audio data compression methods, w ...
for SD transmissions and H.264/AVC for HD transmissions, refer to this list of digital television channels in Australia) * (uses MPEG-4/H.264 video; see Freeview New Zealand) * * * * * * * * * *


Asia

* (uses DVB-T2 MPEG-4 launched April 2015) * (in assessment) * (Announced) * (uses DVB-T2) * (uses
MPEG-2 MPEG-2 (a.k.a. H.222/H.262 as was defined by the ITU) is a standard for "the generic coding of moving pictures and associated audio information". It describes a combination of lossy video compression and lossy audio data compression methods, w ...
for SD and MPEG-4 for HD transmissions) * (adopted DVB-T2 H.264/AVC on 2 February 2012) * (uses DVB-T MPEG-4/H.264/AAC SD :720x576i HD :1920x1080i); since 2020 transition to DVB-T2 H.265/HEVC with HD 1080p50 – see
Television in Iran Television was first introduced to Iran in 1958, as a privately-owned and commercially-operated enterprise, before being nationalised, remaining a state-controlled monopoly, first of National Iranian Radio and Television, and following the Iranian ...
) * (started in Kurdistan region-Iraq by MIX Media 31 December 2011 uses MPEG-4) * (uses MPEG-4/H.264 video) * * (will use DVB-T2) * (DVB-T2) * * (7 DVB-T channels across 2 transponders during trial, final system uses DVB-T2 nationwide, 17 TV channels and 14 radio channels across 2 transponders in UHF, analog shutdown on 31 Oct 2019. Uses H.264 video and AAC audio) * (uses DVB-T2) * * (uses DVB-T2, trial began on 2012) * (in assessment) * (in assessment) * * (4 DVB-T Channels on 1 January 2007 and 7 DVB-T2 Channels on 13 December 2013) * * (using DVB-T, MPEG-2 and MPEG-4.) * (uses DVB-T/
MPEG-2 MPEG-2 (a.k.a. H.222/H.262 as was defined by the ITU) is a standard for "the generic coding of moving pictures and associated audio information". It describes a combination of lossy video compression and lossy audio data compression methods, w ...
for SD and DVB-T/H.264/ MPEG-4 for HD transmissions) * (DVB-T2) * (uses DVB-T2 H.264/AVC with HE-AAC codec for both SD and HD transmissions launched on April 1, 2014) * * * *


Africa

* * * * * * * * (Experimental DTMB) * * * * * * * * * (Will use DVB-T2 MPEG-4) * * (use DVB-T2 on paid network) * * * * * * * * * * (is already using DVB-T/ MPEG-4 and will soon migrate to DVB-T2) * * * * * (will use DVB-T2, after briefly considering ISDB-T) * * * * * (experimental) * *


DTT switch-off

While many countries have expected a shift to digital terrestrial television, a few have moved in the opposite direction following unsuccessful trials. * Switzerland : Swiss public broadcaster SRG terminated DTT network on 3 June 2019. A regional station from the Geneva area has kept broadcasting. A DVB-T2 antenna was later activated in the east of the country to relay Swiss TV to Austrian cable operators. A similar broadcast is planned to cover Grand Geneva. *
Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...
terminated DTT network on 1 June 2017.


See also

* ATSC (Advanced Television Systems Committee, North American Standard) *
Digital Audio Broadcasting Digital radio is the use of digital technology to transmit or receive across the radio spectrum. Digital transmission by radio waves includes digital broadcasting, and especially digital audio radio services. Types In digital broadcasting syst ...
(low bit rate video suitable for moving receivers) * Digital Video Broadcasting (technical standards underpinning DVB-T) * DTV channel protection ratios * DVB over IP * DVB-T2 *
Digital terrestrial television Digital terrestrial television (DTTV or DTT, or DTTB with "broadcasting") is a technology for terrestrial television in which land-based (terrestrial) television stations broadcast television content by radio waves to televisions in consume ...
* DMB-T – Digital Multimedia Broadcast-Terrestrial * Interactive television * ISDB – Integrated Services Digital Broadcasting ** ISDB-T International * Multimedia Home Platform (standard to deliver interactive TV applications over DVB) * OFDM system comparison table * Personal video recorder * Spectral efficiency comparison table *
Teletext A British Ceefax football index page from October 2009, showing the three-digit page numbers for a variety of football news stories Teletext, or broadcast teletext, is a standard for displaying text and rudimentary graphics on suitably equipp ...


Notes


References

* ETSI Standard: EN 300 744 V1.5.1, ''Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB); Framing structure, channel coding and modulation for digital terrestrial television'', available a
ETSI Publications Download Area
(This will open ETSI document search engine, to find the latest version of the document enter a search string; free registration is required to download PDF.)


External links


Website of the DVB Project

Official factsheet of DVB-T

DigiTAG website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dvb-T Digital Video Broadcasting Television transmission standards Video formats