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Integrated Services Digital Broadcasting (ISDB;
Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...
: , ''Tōgō dejitaru hōsō sābisu'') is a Japanese broadcasting standard for
digital television Digital television (DTV) is the transmission of television signals using digital encoding, in contrast to the earlier analog television technology which used analog signals. At the time of its development it was considered an innovative adva ...
(DTV) and digital radio. ISDB supersedes both the
NTSC-J NTSC-J is the informal designation for the analogue television standard used in Japan. The system is based on the US NTSC (NTSC-M) standard with minor differences. While NTSC-M is an official CCIR and FCCNational Television System Committee ( ...
analog television system and the previously used
MUSE In ancient Greek religion and mythology, the Muses ( grc, Μοῦσαι, Moûsai, el, Μούσες, Múses) are the inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge embodied in the ...
Hi-vision analog HDTV system in Japan. An improved version of ISDB-T (
ISDB-T International ISDB-T International, or SBTVD, short for Sistema Brasileiro de Televisão Digital ( en, Brazilian Digital Television System), is a technical standard for digital television broadcast used in Brazil, Argentina, Peru, Botswana, Chile, Honduras, Ve ...
) will soon replace the
NTSC The first American standard for analog television broadcast was developed by National Television System Committee (NTSC)National Television System Committee (1951–1953), Report and Reports of Panel No. 11, 11-A, 12–19, with Some supplement ...
,
PAL-M PAL-M is the analogue TV system used in Brazil since 19 February 1972. At that time, Brazil was the first South American country to broadcast in colour. Colour TV broadcast began on 19 February 1972, when the TV networks Globo and Bandeirantes t ...
, and
PAL-N Phase Alternating Line (PAL) is a colour encoding system for analogue television. It was one of three major analogue colour television standards, the others being NTSC and SECAM. In most countries it was broadcast at 625 lines, 50 fields (25 ...
broadcast standards in
South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the sout ...
and the
Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...
. Digital Terrestrial Television Broadcasting (DTTB) services using ISDB-T started in Japan in December 2003, and since then, many countries have adopted ISDB over other digital broadcasting standards. A newer and "advanced" version of the ISDB standard (that will eventually allow up to 8K terrestrial broadcasts and 1080p mobile broadcasts via the VVC codec, including HDR and HFR) is currently under development.


Countries and territories using ISDB-T


Asia

* * (officially adopted ISDB-T, started broadcasting in digital) * (officially adopted ISDB-T) * (officially adopted ISDB-T HD) * (currently assessing digital platform)


Americas

* (officially adopted ISDB-T International, started broadcasting in digital) * (officially adopted ISDB-T International, started broadcasting in digital) * (officially adopted ISDB-T International, started broadcasting in digital) * (officially adopted ISDB-T International, started broadcasting in digital) * (officially adopted ISDB-T International, started broadcasting in digital) * (officially adopted ISDB-T International, started broadcasting in digital) * (officially adopted ISDB-T International, started broadcasting in digital) * (officially adopted ISDB-T International, started broadcasting in digital) * (officially adopted ISDB-T International, started broadcasting in digital) * (officially adopted ISDB-T International, started broadcasting in digital) * (officially adopted ISDB-T International, started pre-implementation stage) * (officially adopted ISDB-T International, started pre-implementation stage, briefly experimented with ATSC) * (officially adopted ISDB-T International, briefly experimented with ATSC, started broadcasting in digital) * (officially adopted ISDB-T international, started pre-implementation stage) * (currently assessing digital platform) * (currently assessing digital platform)


Africa

* (officially adopted
ISDB-T International ISDB-T International, or SBTVD, short for Sistema Brasileiro de Televisão Digital ( en, Brazilian Digital Television System), is a technical standard for digital television broadcast used in Brazil, Argentina, Peru, Botswana, Chile, Honduras, Ve ...
(
SBTVD ISDB-T International, or SBTVD, short for Sistema Brasileiro de Televisão Digital ( en, Brazilian Digital Television System), is a technical standard for digital television broadcast used in Brazil, Argentina, Peru, Botswana, Chile, Honduras, Ve ...
), started pre-implementation stage) * (In 2013, decided on European digital terrestrial TV. However, Angola reviewed the adoption to ISDB-T International system in March 2019.)


Introduction

ISDB is maintained by the Japanese organization
ARIB The , commonly known as , is a standardization organization in Japan. ARIB is designated as the center of promotion of the efficient use of the radio spectrum and designated frequency change support agency. Its activities include those previously ...
. The standards can be obtained for free at the Japanese organization
DiBEG DiBEG (The Digital Broadcasting Experts Group) was founded in September 1997 to promote ISDB-T International, the Digital Broadcasting System, in the world. See also *ISDB *ISDB-T International ISDB-T International, or SBTVD, short for Sistema B ...
website and at ARIB. The core standards of ISDB are ISDB-S (satellite television), ISDB-T (terrestrial),
ISDB-C Integrated Services Digital Broadcasting (ISDB; Japanese: , ''Tōgō dejitaru hōsō sābisu'') is a Japanese broadcasting standard for digital television (DTV) and digital radio. ISDB supersedes both the NTSC-J analog television system and th ...
(cable) and 2.6 GHz band mobile broadcasting which are all based on MPEG-2, MPEG-4, or HEVC standard for multiplexing with transport stream structure and video and audio coding (MPEG-2, H.264, or HEVC) and are capable of UHD, high-definition television (
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 g ...
) and standard-definition television. ISDB-T and ISDB-Tsb are for mobile reception in TV bands. 1seg is the name of an ISDB-T component that allows viewers to watch TV channels via
cell phones A mobile phone, cellular phone, cell phone, cellphone, handphone, hand phone or pocket phone, sometimes shortened to simply mobile, cell, or just phone, is a portable telephone that can make and receive calls over a radio frequency link whi ...
,
laptop computers A laptop, laptop computer, or notebook computer is a small, portable personal computer (PC) with a screen and alphanumeric keyboard. Laptops typically have a Flip (form), clam shell Form factor (design), form factor with the computer scr ...
, and
vehicles A vehicle (from la, vehiculum) is a machine that transports people or cargo. Vehicles include wagons, bicycles, motor vehicles (motorcycles, cars, trucks, buses, mobility scooters for disabled people), railed vehicles (trains, trams), ...
. The concept was named for its similarity to
ISDN Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) is a set of communication standards for simultaneous digital transmission of voice, video, data, and other network services over the digitalised circuits of the public switched telephone network. Work ...
as both allow multiple channels of data to be transmitted together (a process called multiplexing). This broadcast standard is also much like another digital radio system, Eureka 147, which calls each group of stations on a transmitter an
ensemble Ensemble may refer to: Art * Architectural ensemble * Ensemble (album), ''Ensemble'' (album), Kendji Girac 2015 album * Ensemble (band), a project of Olivier Alary * Ensemble cast (drama, comedy) * Ensemble (musical theatre), also known as the ...
; this is very much like the multi-channel digital TV standard DVB-T. ISDB-T operates on unused TV channels, an approach that was taken by other countries for TV but never before for radio.


Transmission

The various flavors of ISDB differ mainly in the modulations used, due to the requirements of different frequency bands. The 12 GHz band ISDB-S uses PSK modulation, 2.6 GHz band digital sound broadcasting uses CDM, and ISDB-T (in VHF and/or UHF band) uses COFDM with PSK/
QAM 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 signa ...
.


Interaction

Besides audio and video transmission, ISDB also defines data connections (Data broadcasting) with the internet as a return channel over several media ( 10/100 Ethernet, telephone line modem, mobile phone, wireless LAN (IEEE 802.11), etc.) and with different protocols. This component is used, for example, for interactive interfaces like data broadcasting ( ARIB STD-B24) and electronic program guides (EPG).


Interfaces and Encryption

The ISDB specification describes a lot of (network) interfaces, but most importantly, the Common Interface for Conditional Access System (CAS). While ISDB has examples of implementing various kinds of CAS systems, in Japan, a CAS system called "B-CAS" is used. ARIB STD-B25 defines the
Common Scrambling Algorithm The Common Scrambling Algorithm (CSA) is the encryption algorithm used in the DVB digital television broadcasting for encrypting video streams. CSA was specified by ETSI and adopted by the DVB consortium in May 1994. It is being succeeded by CSA3 ...
(CSA) system called MULTI2 required for (de-)scrambling television. The ISDB CAS system in Japan is operated by a company named ''
B-CAS B-CAS (BS Conditional Access Systems Co., Ltd.) is a vendor and operator of the ISDB CAS system in Japan, largely owned by the public broadcaster NHK with some other electronics companies and broadcasters airing in BSAT. It also refers to the rec ...
''; the CAS card is called ''B-CAS card''. The Japanese ISDB signal is always encrypted by the B-CAS system even if it is a free television program. That is why it is commonly called "Pay per view system without charge". An interface for mobile reception is under consideration. ISDB supports RMP (Rights management and protection). Since all digital television (DTV) systems carry digital data content, a
DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...
or high-definition (HD) recorder could easily copy content losslessly. US major film studios requested copy protection; this was the main reason for RMP being mandated. The content has three modes: "copy once", "copy free" and "copy never". In "copy once" mode, a program can be stored on a hard disk recorder, but cannot be further copied; only moved to another copy-protected media—and this move operation will mark the content "copy one generation", which is mandated to prevent further copying permanently. "Copy never" programs may only be timeshifted and cannot be permanently stored. In 2006, the Japanese government is evaluating using the Digital Transmission Content Protection (DTCP) "Encryption plus Non-Assertion" mechanism to allow making multiple copies of digital content between compliant devices.JEITA、地デジのコンテンツ保護策として暗号方式 EPN を提案:ニュース - CNET Japan
/ref>


Receiver

There are two types of ISDB receiver:
Television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...
and
set-top box 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 sign ...
. The aspect ratio of an ISDB-receiving television set is 16:9; televisions fulfilling these specs are called ''Hi-Vision TV''. There are four TV types: Cathode ray tube (CRT),
plasma display panel A plasma display panel (PDP) is a type of flat panel display that uses small cells containing plasma: ionized gas that responds to electric fields. Plasma televisions were the first large (over 32 inches diagonal) flat panel displays to be release ...
(PDP),
organic light-emitting diode An organic light-emitting diode (OLED or organic LED), also known as organic electroluminescent (organic EL) diode, is a light-emitting diode (LED) in which the emissive electroluminescent layer is a film of organic compound that emits light i ...
(OLED) and liquid crystal display (LCD), with LCD being the most popular ''Hi-Vision TV'' on the Japanese market nowadays. The LCD share, as measured by JEITA in November 2004, was about 60%. While PDP sets occupy the high-end market with units that are over 50 inches (1270 mm), PDP and CRT set shares are about 20% each. CRT sets are considered low end for Hi-Vision. An STB is sometimes referred to as a digital tuner. Typical middle to high-end ISDB receivers marketed in Japan have several interfaces: * F connectors for RF input. *
HDMI High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) is a proprietary audio/video interface for transmitting uncompressed video data and compressed or uncompressed digital audio data from an HDMI-compliant source device, such as a display controlle ...
or D4 connector for a
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 g ...
monitor in a
home cinema Home cinema, also called home theaters or theater rooms, are home entertainment audio-visual systems that seek to reproduce a movie theater experience and mood using consumer electronics-grade video and audio equipment that is set up in a room ...
. * Optical digital audio interface for an audio amplifier and speakers for 5.1 surround audio in a home cinema. *
IEEE 1394 IEEE 1394 is an interface standard for a serial bus for high-speed communications and isochronous real-time data transfer. It was developed in the late 1980s and early 1990s by Apple in cooperation with a number of companies, primarily Sony an ...
(aka FireWire) interface for digital data recorders (like
DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...
recorders) in a home cinema. * RCA video jack provides
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 sp ...
signal that is sampled down from the HDTV signal for analog CRT television sets or
VCR A videocassette recorder (VCR) or video recorder is an electromechanical device that records analog audio and analog video from broadcast television or other source on a removable, magnetic tape videocassette, and can play back the recording. ...
s. * RCA audio jacks provide stereo audio for analog CRT television sets or
VCR A videocassette recorder (VCR) or video recorder is an electromechanical device that records analog audio and analog video from broadcast television or other source on a removable, magnetic tape videocassette, and can play back the recording. ...
s. * S video is for
VCR A videocassette recorder (VCR) or video recorder is an electromechanical device that records analog audio and analog video from broadcast television or other source on a removable, magnetic tape videocassette, and can play back the recording. ...
s or analog CRT television sets. * 10/100 and modular jack telephone line
modem A modulator-demodulator or modem is a computer hardware device that converts data from a digital format into a format suitable for an analog transmission medium such as telephone or radio. A modem transmits data by Modulation#Digital modulati ...
interfaces are for an internet connection. * B-CAS card interface to de-scramble. * IR interface jack for controlling a VHS or DVD player.


Copy-protection technology

All TV broadcasters in Japan are encrypted with ''Copy-Once'', which allows users to record to a digital medium (such as a
D-VHS D-VHS is a digital video recording format developed by JVC, in collaboration with Hitachi, Matsushita, and Philips. The "D" in D-VHS originally stood for "Data", but JVC renamed the format as "Digital VHS". Released in 1998, it uses the same p ...
, a DVD, or an HDD) but does not allow dubbing to another digital medium. On the other hand, the "Copy-Once" technology does not prohibit all types of dubbing. It is possible to dub to an analog medium (such as standard VHS), and if recorded to an HDD, it allows users to "Move" the contents to a D-VHS, but not copy. In contrast, 1seg digital broadcasts, which are for low-bandwidth mobile reception and occupy 1/13th of a digital channel, are transmitted "in the clear" and do not carry copy protection information. Many users are also anxious about the recent news of severe protection in the future. There are modes in ISDB that do not allow the output of a signal from an Analog connector (such as D-connector, Component,
Composite Composite or compositing may refer to: Materials * Composite material, a material that is made from several different substances ** Metal matrix composite, composed of metal and other parts ** Cermet, a composite of ceramic and metallic materials ...
, or
S-Video S-Video (also known as separate video, Y/C, and erroneously Super-Video ) is an analog video signal format that carries standard-definition video, typically at 525 lines or 625 lines. It encodes video luma and chrominance on two separate chan ...
). There are already plans to restrict analog output (similar to
Blu-ray The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of st ...
and
HD DVD HD DVD (short for High Definition Digital Versatile Disc) is an obsolete high-density optical disc format for storing data and playback of high-definition video. Supported principally by Toshiba, HD DVD was envisioned to be the successor to the ...
) for "Copyright Protection" reasons, making all currently sold STB Tuners, LCD/Plasma TVs (without HDMI inputs), analog-output-only VHS and D-VHS systems, and DVD players, unusable. These more limiting copy protection technologies will all start after analog broadcasting ends (when there won't be any choice for viewers). Currently, no financial assistance schemes have been announced, forcing viewers without proper devices to buy new TVs or STB boxes that receive ISDB broadcasts. Though not clear, it is said that there are also plans to protect all programs with "Copy-Never". The copy protection on ISDB broadcasts can be circumvented with the proper hardware and software. Brazilian standard ISDB-Tb does not implement this copy protection mechanism. For other countries, there are some examples of implementing a CAS system (such as Verimatrix) by the operators' choice.


B-CAS card

The
B-CAS B-CAS (BS Conditional Access Systems Co., Ltd.) is a vendor and operator of the ISDB CAS system in Japan, largely owned by the public broadcaster NHK with some other electronics companies and broadcasters airing in BSAT. It also refers to the rec ...
card is required to decode television broadcasts in Japan. These cards are included with every digital television or tuner at no charge. To use this card, the end-user must agree to the statement written on the registration card. Although the card must be inserted to watch TV, if the end-user refuses to accept the terms/conditions contained within the statement, the user cannot watch digital broadcasts. Essentially, users are "forced" to agree with the statement. Though registration is not required, it is recommended to enjoy interactive programs. Unregistered B-CAS cards display a
watermark A watermark is an identifying image or pattern in paper that appears as various shades of lightness/darkness when viewed by transmitted light (or when viewed by reflected light, atop a dark background), caused by thickness or density variations ...
in the corner of the screen, suggesting the user to register. However, many viewers worry about the leaking of personal information, and the power/rights the TV stations have to access personal information for almost every citizen in Japan. In case of loss or destruction, a new B-CAS card of the same number can be issued for a fee of 2,000
yen The is the official currency of Japan. It is the third-most traded currency in the foreign exchange market, after the United States dollar (US$) and the euro. It is also widely used as a third reserve currency after the US dollar and the e ...
.


Services

A typical Japanese broadcast service consists as follows: # One HDTV or up to three SDTV services within one channel. # Provides
interactive television Interactive television is a form of media convergence, adding data services to traditional television technology. It has included on-demand delivery of content, online shopping, and viewer polls. Interactive TV is an example of how new informatio ...
through
datacasting Datacasting (data broadcasting) is the broadcasting of data over a wide area via radio waves. It most often refers to supplemental information sent by television stations along with digital terrestrial television (DTT), but may also be applied ...
. # Interactive services such as games or shopping, via telephone line or broadband internet. # Equipped with an
electronic program guide Electronic programming guides (EPGs) and interactive programming guides (IPGs) are menu-based systems that provide users of television, radio and other media applications with continuously updated menus that display scheduling information for ...
. # Ability to send firmware patches for the TV/tuner over the air. # During emergencies, the service utilizes
Emergency Warning Broadcast system J-Alert ( ja, J-ALERT/Jアラート, J Arāto; full name ja, 全国瞬時警報システム, Zenkoku Shunji Keihō Shisutemu, National Early Warning System, label=none) is the early warning system used in Japan. J-Alert was launched in Febru ...
to quickly inform the public of various threats for the areas at risk. There are examples providing more than 10 SDTV services with H.264 coding in some countries.


ISDB-S


History

Japan started digital broadcasting using the DVB-S standard by PerfecTV in October/1996, and DirecTV in December/1997, with communication satellites. Still, DVB-S did not satisfy the requirements of Japanese broadcasters, such as
NHK , also known as NHK, is a Japanese public broadcaster. NHK, which has always been known by this romanized initialism in Japanese, is a statutory corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television license fee. NHK operates two terrestr ...
, key commercial broadcasting stations like Nippon Television, TBS,
Fuji Television JOCX-DTV (channel 8), branded as and colloquially known as CX, is a Japanese television station based in Odaiba, Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Owned and operated by the it is the key station of the Fuji News Network (FNN) and the Fuji Network S ...
,
TV Asahi JOEX-DTV (channel 5), branded as (also known as EX and and stylized as TV asahi), is a television station that is owned and operated by the subsidiary of certified broadcasting holding company , itself controlled by The Asahi Shimbun Comp ...
,
TV Tokyo JOTX-DTV (channel 7), branded as and known colloquially as , is a television station headquartered in the Sumitomo Fudosan Roppongi Grand Tower in Roppongi, Minato, Tokyo, Japan, owned and operated by the subsidiary of listed certifie ...
, and WOWOW (Movie-only Pay-TV broadcasting). Consequently,
ARIB The , commonly known as , is a standardization organization in Japan. ARIB is designated as the center of promotion of the efficient use of the radio spectrum and designated frequency change support agency. Its activities include those previously ...
developed a new broadcast standard called ISDB-S. The requirements were HDTV capability, interactive services, network access and effective frequency utilization, and other technical requirements. The DVB-S standard allows the transmission of a bitstream of roughly 34 Mbit/s with a satellite transponder, which means the transponder can send one HDTV channel. Unfortunately, the NHK broadcasting satellite had only four vacant transponders, which led ARIB and NHK to work on ISDB-S: the new standard could transmit at 51 Mbit/s with a single transponder, which means that ISDB-S is 1.5 times more efficient than DVB-S and that one transponder can transmit two HDTV channels, along with other independent audio and data. Digital satellite broadcasting (BS digital) was started by NHK and followed commercial broadcasting stations on 1 December 2000. Today,
SKY PerfecTV! is a direct broadcast satellite (DBS) service that provides satellite television, audio programming and interactive television services to households in Japan, owned by parent company SKY Perfect JSAT Corporation. SKY PerfecTV! is also a direct ...
(the successor of Skyport TV and Sky D), CS burn, Platone, EP, DirecTV, J Sky B, and PerfecTV!, adopted the ISDB-S system for use on the 110-degree (east longitude) wide-band communication satellite.


Technical specification

This table shows the summary of ISDB-S (satellite digital broadcasting).


Channel

Frequency and channel specification of Japanese Satellites using ISDB-S


ISDB-S3

New satellite version supporting 4K, 8K, HDR, HFR, and 22.2 audio.


ISDB-C

ISDB-C is cable digital broadcasting specification. The technical specification J.83/C is developed by JCTEA. ISDB-C is identical to DVB-C but has a different channel bandwidth of 6 MHz (instead of 8 MHz) and roll-off factor.


ISDB-T


History

HDTV was invented at NHK Science & Technology Research Laboratories (Japan Broadcasting Corporation's Science & Technical Research Laboratories). The research for HDTV started as early as the 1960s, though a standard was proposed to the ITU-R (CCIR) only in 1973. By the 1980s, a high definition television camera, cathode-ray tube, videotape recorder, and editing equipment, among others, had been developed. In 1982 NHK developed MUSE (Multiple sub-Nyquist sampling encoding), the first HDTV video compression and transmission system.
MUSE In ancient Greek religion and mythology, the Muses ( grc, Μοῦσαι, Moûsai, el, Μούσες, Múses) are the inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge embodied in the ...
used digital video compression, but for transmission
frequency modulation Frequency modulation (FM) is the encoding of information in a carrier wave by varying the instantaneous frequency of the wave. The technology is used in telecommunications, radio broadcasting, signal processing, and computing. In analog fre ...
was used after a digital-to-analog converter converted the digital signal. In 1987, NHK demonstrated MUSE in Washington D.C. as well as NAB. The demonstration made a great impression in the U.S., leading to the development of the ATSC terrestrial DTV system. Europe also developed a DTV system called
DVB Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB) is a set of international open standards for digital television. DVB standards are maintained by the DVB Project, an international industry consortium, and are published by a Joint Technical Committee (JTC) o ...
. Japan began R&D of a completely digital system in the 1980s that led to ISDB. Japan began terrestrial digital broadcasting, using ISDB-T standard by NHK and commercial broadcasting stations, on 1 December 2003.


Features

ISDB-T is characterized by the following features: * ISDB-T (Integrated Services Digital Broadcasting-Terrestrial) in Japan use UHF 470 MHz-770 MHz, bandwidth of 300 MHz, allocate 50 channels, namely channels 13 to 62, each channel is 6 MHz width (actually 5.572 MHz effective bandwidth and 430 kHz guard band between channels). These channels are called "physical channel(物理チャンネル)". For other countries, US channel table or European channel table are used. * For channel tables with 6 MHz width, ISDB-T single channel bandwidths 5.572 MHz has number of carriers 5,617 with interval of 0.99206 kHz. For 7 MHz channel, channel bandwidth is 6.50 MHz; for 8 MHz 7.42 MHz. * ISDB-T allows to accommodate any combination of HDTV (roughly 8Mbit/s in H.264) and SDTV (roughly 2Mbit/s in H.264) within the given bitrate determined by the transmission parameters such as bandwidth, code-rate, guard interval, etc. Typically, among the 13 segments, the center segment is used for 1seg with QPSK modulation and the remaining 12 segments for the HDTV or SDTV payloads for 64QAM modulation. The bitstream of the 12 segments are combined into one transport stream, within which any combination of programs can be carried based on the MPEG-2 transport stream definition. * ISDB-T transmits a
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 g ...
channel and a mobile TV channel 1seg within one channel. 1seg is a mobile terrestrial digital audio/video broadcasting service in Japan. Although 1seg is designed for mobile usage, reception is sometimes problematic in moving vehicles. Because of reception on high speed vehicle, UHF transmission is shaded by buildings and hills frequently, but reported well receiving in
Shinkansen The , colloquially known in English as the bullet train, is a network of high-speed railway lines in Japan. Initially, it was built to connect distant Japanese regions with Tokyo, the capital, to aid economic growth and development. Beyond l ...
as far as run in flat or rural area. * ISDB-T provides interactive services with data broadcasting. Such as Electronic Program Guides. ISDB-T supports internet access as a
return channel In communications systems, the return channel (also reverse channel or return link) is the transmission link from a user terminal to the central hub. Return links are often, but not always, slower than the corresponding forward links. Examples whe ...
that works to support the data broadcasting. Internet access is also provided on mobile phones. * ISDB-T provides
Single-Frequency Network A single-frequency network or SFN is a broadcast network where several transmitters simultaneously send the same signal over the same frequency channel. Analog AM and FM radio broadcast networks as well as digital broadcast networks can operate ...
(SFN) and on-channel repeater technology. SFN makes efficient utilization of the frequency resource (spectrum). For example, the Kanto area (greater Tokyo area including most part of Tokyo prefecture and some part of Chiba, Ibaragi, Tochigi, Saitama and Kanagawa prefecture) are covered with SFN with roughly 10 million population coverage. * ISDB-T can be received indoors with a simple indoor antenna. * ISDB-T provides robustness to
multipath interference In radio communication, multipath is the propagation phenomenon that results in radio signals reaching the receiving antenna by two or more paths. Causes of multipath include atmospheric ducting, ionospheric reflection and refraction, and ref ...
("ghosting"), co-channel analog television interference, and electromagnetic interferences that come from motor vehicles and power lines in urban environments. * ISDB-T is claimed to allow HDTV to be received on moving vehicles at over 100 km/h; DVB-T can only receive
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 sp ...
on moving vehicles, and it is claimed that ATSC can not be received on moving vehicles at all (however, in early 2007 there were reports of successful reception of ATSC on laptops using USB tuners in moving vehicles).


Adoption

ISDB-T was adopted for commercial transmissions in Japan in December 2003. It currently comprises a market of about 100 million television sets. ISDB-T had 10 million subscribers by the end of April 2005. Along with the wide use of ISDB-T, the price of receivers is getting low. The price of ISDB-T STB in the lower end of the market is ¥19800 as of 19 April 2006. By November 2007 only a few older, low-end STB models could be found in the Japanese market (average price U$180), showing a tendency towards replacement by mid to high-end equipment like PVRs and TV sets with inbuilt tuners. In November 2009, a retail chain
AEON The word aeon , also spelled eon (in American and Australian English), originally meant "life", "vital force" or "being", "generation" or "a period of time", though it tended to be translated as "age" in the sense of "ages", "forever", "timele ...
introduced STB in 40 USD, followed by variety of low-cost tuners. The Dibeg web page confirms this tendency by showing low significance of the digital tuner STB market in Japan.
Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
, which used an analogue TV system (PAL-M) that slightly differed from any other countries, has chosen ISDB-T as a base for its DTV format, calling it
ISDB-Tb ISDB-T International, or SBTVD, short for Sistema Brasileiro de Televisão Digital ( en, Brazilian Digital Television System), is a technical standard for digital television broadcast used in Brazil, Argentina, Peru, Botswana, Chile, Honduras, Ve ...
or ''internally''
SBTVD ISDB-T International, or SBTVD, short for Sistema Brasileiro de Televisão Digital ( en, Brazilian Digital Television System), is a technical standard for digital television broadcast used in Brazil, Argentina, Peru, Botswana, Chile, Honduras, Ve ...
(''Sistema Brasileiro de Televisão Digital-Terrestre''). The Japanese DiBEG group incorporated the advancements made by Brazil -
MPEG4 MPEG-4 is a group of international standards for the compression of digital audio and visual data, multimedia systems, and file storage formats. It was originally introduced in late 1998 as a group of audio and video coding formats and related ...
video codec instead of ISDB-T's MPEG2 and a powerful interaction middleware called Ginga- and has renamed the standard to "
ISDB-T International ISDB-T International, or SBTVD, short for Sistema Brasileiro de Televisão Digital ( en, Brazilian Digital Television System), is a technical standard for digital television broadcast used in Brazil, Argentina, Peru, Botswana, Chile, Honduras, Ve ...
". Other than Argentina, Brazil, Peru, Chile and Ecuador which have selected ISDB-Tb, there are other South American countries, mainly from
Mercosur The Southern Common Market, commonly known by Spanish abbreviation Mercosur, and Portuguese Mercosul, is a South American trade bloc established by the Treaty of Asunción in 1991 and Protocol of Ouro Preto in 1994. Its full members are Arge ...
, such as Venezuela, that chose ISDB-Tb, which providing economies of scale and common market benefits from the regional South American manufacturing instead of importing ready-made STBs as is the case with the other standards. Also, it has been confirmed with extensive tests realized by Brazilian Association of Radio and Television Broadcasters (ABERT), Brazilian Television Engineering Society (SET) and Universidade Presbiteriana Mackenzie the insufficient quality for indoor reception presented by ATSC and, between DVB-T and ISDB-T, the latter presented superior performance in indoor reception and flexibility to access digital services and TV programs through non-mobile, mobile or portable receivers with impressive quality. The ABERT–SET group in Brazil did system comparison tests of DTV under the supervision of the CPqD foundation. The comparison tests were done under the direction of a work group of SET and
ABERT Abert is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * John James Abert (1788–1863), American cartographer * James William Abert (1820–1897), explorer * Johann Joseph Abert (1832–1915), composer *Hermann Abert (1871–1927), music his ...
. The ABERT/SET group selected ISDB-T as the best choice in digital broadcasting modulation systems among ATSC, DVB-T and ISDB-T. Another study found that ISDB-T and DVB-T performed similarly, and that both were outperformed by
DVB-T2 DVB-T2 is an abbreviation for "Digital Video Broadcasting – Second Generation Terrestrial"; it is the extension of the television standard DVB-T, issued by the consortium DVB, devised for the broadcast transmission of digital terrestrial tele ...
. ISDB-T was singled out as the most flexible of all for meeting the needs of mobility and portability. It is most efficient for mobile and portable reception. On June 29, 2006, Brazil announced ISDB-T-based SBTVD as the chosen standard for digital TV transmissions, to be fully implemented by 2016. By November 2007 (one month prior DTTV launch), a few suppliers started to announce zapper STBs of the new Nippon-Brazilian SBTVD-T standard, at that time without interactivity. As in 2019, the implementation rollout in Brazil proceeded successfully, with terrestrial analog services (PAL-M) phased out in most of the country (for some less populated regions, analog signal shutdown was postponed to 2023).


Adoption by country

This lists the other countries who adopted the ISDB-T standard, chronologically arranged. * On June 30, 2006, Brazil announced its decision to adopt ISDB-T as the digital terrestrial television standard, by means of presidential decree 5820/2006. * On April 23, 2009, Peru announced its decision to adopt ISDB-T as the digital terrestrial television standard. This decision was taken on the basis of the recommendations by the Multi-sectional Commission to assess the most appropriate standard for the country. * On August 28, 2009, Argentina officially adopted the ISDB-T system calling it internally SATVD-T (Sistema Argentino de Televisión – Terrestre). * On September 14, 2009, Chile announced it was adopting the ISDB-T standard because it adapts better to the geographical makeup of the country, while allowing signal reception in cell phones, high-definition content delivery and a wider variety of channels. * On October 6, 2009, Venezuela officially adopted the ISDB-T standard. * On March 26, 2010, Ecuador announced its decision to adopt ISDB-T standard. This decision was taken on the basis of the recommendations by the Superintendent of Telecommunications. * On April 29, 2010, Costa Rica officially announced the adoption of ISDB-Tb standard based upon a commission in charge of analyzing which protocol to accept. * On June 1, 2010, Paraguay officially adopted ISDB-T International, via a presidential decree #4483. * On June 11, 2010, the Philippines ( NTC) officially adopted the ISDB-T standard. * On July 6, 2010, Bolivia announced its decision to adopt ISDB-T standard as well. * On December 27, 2010, the Uruguayan Government adopts the ISDB-T standard., voiding a previous 2007 decree which adopted the European DVB system. * On November 15, 2011, the Maldivian Government adopts the ISDB-T standard. As the first country in the region that use European channel table and 1 channel bandwidth is 8 MHz. * On February 26, 2013, the
Botswana Botswana (, ), officially the Republic of Botswana ( tn, Lefatshe la Botswana, label= Setswana, ), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory being the Kalaha ...
government adopts the ISDB-T standard. As the one of the first country within the SADC region and even the first country within the continent of
Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
as a whole. * On September 12, 2013, Honduras adopted the ISDB-T standard. * On May 20, 2014, Government of Sri Lanka officially announced its decision to adopt ISDB-T standard, and on September 7, 2014 Japanese Prime Minister
Shinzo Abe Shinzo Abe ( ; ja, 安倍 晋三, Hepburn: , ; 21 September 1954 – 8 July 2022) was a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan and President of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) from 2006 to 2007 and again from 2012 to 20 ...
signed an agreement with Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse for constructing infrastructure such as ISDB-T networks with a view to smooth conversion to ISDB-T, and cooperating in the field of content and developing human resources. * On January 23, 2017, El Salvador adopted the ISDB-T standard. * On March 20, 2019, Angola adopted the ISDB-T standard.


Technical specification

Segment structure ARIB has developed a segment structure called BST-OFDM (see figure). ISDB-T divides the frequency band of one channel into thirteen segments. The broadcaster can select which combination of segments to use; this choice of segment structure allows for service flexibility. For example, ISDB-T can transmit both
LDTV Low-definition television (LDTV) refers to TV systems that have a lower screen resolution than standard-definition TV systems. The term is usually used in reference to digital TV, in particular when broadcasting at the same (or similar) resol ...
and HDTV using one TV channel or change to 3 SDTV, a switch that can be performed at any time. ISDB-T can also change the modulation scheme at the same time. The above figure shows the spectrum of 13 segments structure of ISDB-T.
(''s0'' is generally used for 1seg, ''s1''-''s12'' are used for one
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 g ...
or three
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 sp ...
s)


Summary of ISDB-T

* H.264 Baseline profile is used in one segment ( 1seg) broadcasting for portables and Mobile phone. * H.264 High-profile is used in ISDB-Tb to high definition broadcasts.


Channel

Specification of Japanese terrestrial digital broadcasting using ISDB-T.


ISDB-Tsb

ISDB-Tsb is the terrestrial digital sound broadcasting specification. The technical specification is the same as ISDB-T. ISDB-Tsb supports the coded transmission of OFDM signals.


ISDB-Tmm

ISDB-Tmm (Terrestrial mobile multi-media) utilised suitable number of segments by station with video coding MPEG-4 AVC/H.264. With multiple channels, ISDB-Tmm served dedicated channels such as sport, movie, music channels and others with CD quality sound, allowing for better broadcast quality as compared to 1seg. This service used the VHF band, 207.5–222 MHz which began to be utilised after Japan's switchover to digital television in July 2011. Japan's
Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications The is a cabinet-level ministry in the Government of Japan. Its English name was Ministry of Public Management, Home Affairs, Posts and Telecommunications (MPHPT) prior to 2004. It is housed in the 2nd Building of the Central Common Government Of ...
licensed to NTT Docomo subsidiary ''mmbi, Inc.'' for ISDB-Tmm method on September 9, 2010. The MediaFLO method offered with
KDDI () is a Japanese telecommunications operator formed on October 1, 2000 through the merger of DDI Corp. (Daini-Denden Inc.), KDD (Kokusai Denshin Denwa) Corp. (itself a former listed state-owned enterprise privatized in 1998), and IDO Corp. It ...
was not licensed. The ISDB-Tmm broadcasting service by ''mmbi, Inc.'' is named モバキャス ( pronounced ''mobakyasu''), literally short form of mobile casting on July 14, 2011, and had been branded as NOTTV since October 4, 2011. The
Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications The is a cabinet-level ministry in the Government of Japan. Its English name was Ministry of Public Management, Home Affairs, Posts and Telecommunications (MPHPT) prior to 2004. It is housed in the 2nd Building of the Central Common Government Of ...
approved the start of operations of ''NOTTV'' on October 13, 2011. Planning the service with monthly subscription fee of 420
yen The is the official currency of Japan. It is the third-most traded currency in the foreign exchange market, after the United States dollar (US$) and the euro. It is also widely used as a third reserve currency after the US dollar and the e ...
for south Kanto Plain,
Aichi is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshū. Aichi Prefecture has a population of 7,552,873 () and a geographic area of with a population density of . Aichi Prefecture borders Mie Prefecture to the west, Gifu Prefecture ...
,
Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of ...
,
Kyoto Kyoto (; Japanese language, Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the island of Honshu, Kyoto forms a part of the Keihanshin, Keihanshin metropolitan area along wi ...
and some other prefectures from April 1, 2012. The deployment plan was to cover approximately 73% of
household A household consists of two or more persons who live in the same dwelling. It may be of a single family or another type of person group. The household is the basic unit of analysis in many social, microeconomic and government models, and is i ...
s by the end of 2012, approximately 91% by the end of 2014, and 125 stations or
repeater In telecommunications, a repeater is an electronic device that receives a signal and retransmits it. Repeaters are used to extend transmissions so that the signal can cover longer distances or be received on the other side of an obstruction. Som ...
s to be installed in 2016 to cover
cities A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...
nationwide. Android
smartphone A smartphone is a portable computer device that combines mobile telephone and computing functions into one unit. They are distinguished from feature phones by their stronger hardware capabilities and extensive mobile operating systems, whic ...
s and tablets with ISDB-Tmm receiving capability were also sold mainly by NTT DoCoMo, although a separate tuner (TV BoX manufactured by
Huawei Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. ( ; ) is a Chinese multinational technology corporation headquartered in Shenzhen, Guangdong, China. It designs, develops, produces and sells telecommunications equipment, consumer electronics and various smar ...
; or StationTV manufactured by Pixela) could be purchased for iPhones and
iPad The iPad is a brand of iOS and iPadOS-based tablet computers that are developed by Apple Inc. The iPad was conceived before the related iPhone but the iPhone was developed and released first. Speculation about the development, operating ...
s as well as Android smartphones and tablets sold by au by KDDI and
SoftBank Mobile is a Japanese multinational conglomerate holding company headquartered in Minato, Tokyo which focuses on investment management. The Group primarily invests in companies operating in technology, energy, and financial sectors. It also runs the Vi ...
to receive ISDB-Tmm broadcasts. Due to the continued unprofitability of NOTTV, ''mmbi, Inc.'' shut down the service on June 30, 2016.


2.6 GHz Mobile satellite digital audio/video broadcasting

MobaHo! is the name of the services that uses the Mobile satellite digital audio broadcasting specifications. MobaHo! started its service on 20 October 2004. Ended on 31 March 2009


Standards

ARIB The , commonly known as , is a standardization organization in Japan. ARIB is designated as the center of promotion of the efficient use of the radio spectrum and designated frequency change support agency. Its activities include those previously ...
and JCTEA developed the following standards. Some part of standards are located on the pages of
ITU-R The ITU Radiocommunication Sector (ITU-R) is one of the three sectors (divisions or units) of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and is responsible for radio communications. Its role is to manage the international radio-frequency sp ...
and
ITU-T The ITU Telecommunication Standardization Sector (ITU-T) is one of the three sectors (divisions or units) of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). It is responsible for coordinating standards for telecommunications and Information Comm ...
.


Table of terrestrial HDTV transmission systems


See also

General category *
DiBEG DiBEG (The Digital Broadcasting Experts Group) was founded in September 1997 to promote ISDB-T International, the Digital Broadcasting System, in the world. See also *ISDB *ISDB-T International ISDB-T International, or SBTVD, short for Sistema B ...
– The Digital Broadcasting Experts Group *
Digital television Digital television (DTV) is the transmission of television signals using digital encoding, in contrast to the earlier analog television technology which used analog signals. At the time of its development it was considered an innovative adva ...
*
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 consumers' ...
*
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 sy ...
* DMB * 1seg *
B-CAS B-CAS (BS Conditional Access Systems Co., Ltd.) is a vendor and operator of the ISDB CAS system in Japan, largely owned by the public broadcaster NHK with some other electronics companies and broadcasters airing in BSAT. It also refers to the rec ...
*
Data broadcasting Datacasting (data broadcasting) is the broadcasting of data over a wide area via radio waves. It most often refers to supplemental information sent by television stations along with digital terrestrial television (DTT), but may also be applied ...
*
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 sp ...
, EDTV,
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 g ...
*
ISDB-T International ISDB-T International, or SBTVD, short for Sistema Brasileiro de Televisão Digital ( en, Brazilian Digital Television System), is a technical standard for digital television broadcast used in Brazil, Argentina, Peru, Botswana, Chile, Honduras, Ve ...
(
SBTVD ISDB-T International, or SBTVD, short for Sistema Brasileiro de Televisão Digital ( en, Brazilian Digital Television System), is a technical standard for digital television broadcast used in Brazil, Argentina, Peru, Botswana, Chile, Honduras, Ve ...
) – Brazilian Digital Television System based on ISDB-T *
Tokyo Skytree is a broadcasting and observation tower in Sumida, Tokyo. It became the tallest structure in Japan in 2010Kanto Plain Transmission technology * ATSC Standards – Advanced Television Systems Committee Standard * DMB-T – Digital Multimedia Broadcast-Terrestrial * DVB-T – Digital Video Broadcasting-Terrestrial *
MPEG The Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG) is an alliance of working groups established jointly by ISO and IEC that sets standards for media coding, including compression coding of audio, video, graphics, and genomic data; and transmission and f ...
*
Single-frequency network A single-frequency network or SFN is a broadcast network where several transmitters simultaneously send the same signal over the same frequency channel. Analog AM and FM radio broadcast networks as well as digital broadcast networks can operate ...
(SFN), multi-frequency network (MFN)


References


External links


Welcome to ISDB-T Official Web Site!
Digital Broadcasting Experts Group (DiBEG)
ISDB-T International Web Site!


HK
The ISDB-T System
ITU (link is down, 2012/10/28)
Comparison Test Results in Brazil, Clear Superiority of the ISDB-T system
HK
Digital Television Laboratory and Field Test Results - Brazil
ITU
ISDB-T: Japanese Digital Terrestrial Television Broadcasting (DTTB)
(PDF) Asian Institute of Technology
Final report of the Digital Terrestrial Television Peruvian Commission (In Spanish)


Digital Broadcasting Experts Group (DiBEG)

HK * ttp://www.nhk.or.jp/strl/publica/bt/en/pa0005.html ISDB-S – Satellite Transmission System for Advanced Multimedia Services Provided by Integrated Services Digital Broadcastingdiv class="linkinfo_desc">NHK , also known as NHK, is a Japanese public broadcaster. NHK, which has always been known by this romanized initialism in Japanese, is a statutory corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television license fee. NHK operates two terrestr ...

The Association for Promotion of Digital Broadcasting (Dpa)


HK * ttps://web.archive.org/web/20110323015803/http://www.gov-online.go.jp/eng/publicity/book/hlj/html/201009/201009_08.html Switching On to ISDB-T DigitalHighlighting Japan September 2010 (Public Relations Office Government of Japan) * ISDB-Tmm *
Introducing ISDB-Tmm mobile multimedia broadcasting system
ITU_(May_2010) *
Deployment_of_Mobile_Multimedia_Broadcasting_based_on_ISDB-Tmm_technology_in_Japan
–_[_ITU(May_23,_2011) {{DEFAULTSORT:Isdb ISDB.html" ;"title="ITU (May 2010) *
Deployment of Mobile Multimedia Broadcasting based on ISDB-Tmm technology in Japan
– [ ITU(May 23, 2011) {{DEFAULTSORT:Isdb ISDB"> Broadband Broadcast engineering Digital television High-definition television Radio broadcasting Mass media companies established in 1981 Satellite television Television transmission standards Japanese inventions Standards of Japan Mass media companies of Japan 1981 establishments in Japan 2000 introductions 2003 introductions