S&T seizes initiative in MHEG Interactive TV technology at Broadcast Asia 2009

The MHEG Interaction Channel enhances established public standards and points the way forward for true hybrid broadcast/IP TV. S&T has enhanced its advanced RedKey™2 MHEG middleware engine and MHEG Presenter application to implement the new MHEG Interaction Channel as specified in the sixth edition of the Digital TV Group’s D-Book. The latest MHEG specifications are also being published as an updated ETSI standard.

 

Unlike proprietary IPTV services, the MHEG Interaction Channel specification provides a public standards-based system that manufacturers can build into receiver devices to enable viewer access to online video content, with optional broadcaster control of content access. Viewers are free to select online content with a full range of playback controls via their remote control.

 

S&T has implemented the full MHEG Interaction Channel specification in RedKey^TM 2 including a parental guidance mechanism to prevent the viewing of inappropriate content, as well as the facility to test the connection speed to manage network QoS and ensure that content is streamed at a suitable bit rate.

 

Answering demands for more immersive, flexible and on-demand television, the MHEG Interaction Channel allows broadcasters to offer a host of value-added services including Catch-Up TV and User Generated Content (UGC) services launched from a broadcaster-managed portal.

 

Broadcasters also have the capability to offer a comprehensive range of information services, secure interactive voting and quizzes, and even the addition of Instant Messenger and Social Networking applications. Interactive Advertising applications include the delivery of on-demand teleshopping video clips, complete with internet-style usage and response statistics.

 

The MHEG Interaction Channel hybrid file system enables content from the broadcast channel to be merged seamlessly with content delivered over IP, and for maximum simplicity uses HTTP streaming, which will work on any network without the need to configure routers and firewalls.

 

The MHEG Interaction Channel is already included within the baseline specification for Freeview HD receivers planned for launch in the UK this autumn.

 

Also new at Broadcast Asia is TSMonitor, S&T’s powerful new product designed for use by broadcasters or playout centres wherever there is a need to monitor broadcast interactive applications, closed captions or subtitles, and other ancillary components within a transport stream.

 

The innovative system implements a number of virtual receivers running on a single server, each executing a pre-defined, scripted functional test case. A web browser based user interface provides a simple ‘Traffic Light’ status display, and enables operational staff to drill down into the detail of alarms from any location with an IP connection to the server. All events are logged for compliance and analysis.

 

The virtual receiver architecture significantly reduces rack and MCR video wall space requirements when compared to existing STB-based monitoring and logging solutions. Warnings or alarms are generated if the broadcast service deviates from the pre-defined test cases, so enabling timely operator intervention to rectify problems with playout.

 

With interactive applications for example, TSMonitor is scripted to check that the application is broadcast at the scheduled time, to monitor the display of ‘call to action’ user prompts, examine launch and exit timings, and to check whether both the content and behaviour of the application is correct. This gives advertisers and others the confidence that interactive elements are played out at the right time and across the right video.

 

For subtitles or closed captions, TSMonitor will not only check that these are being broadcast with programmes scheduled to be subtitled, but also that they are updating correctly without any sticking or freezing. The system can also check the availability of multiple languages where appropriate.

 

“Interactive TV and closed captions/subtitles are now primary components of digital TV broadcast, and the cost of playout errors can be significant,” says Colin Prior, Director of International Sales at S&T. “TSMonitor automates the monitoring of interactive applications and closed captions/subtitles to take the guesswork out of service delivery, whether for operational purposes or for compliance and audit.”

 

Prior also believes that the introduction of the MHEG Interaction Channel will have a significant impact on the television experience. “The implementation of the Interaction Channel in S&T’s advanced RedKey™ 2 MHEG engine and MHEG applications will extend the capabilities of receivers to include on-demand video and other interactive services, all based on cost-effective and proven public standards,” he says.

 

 

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Strategy & Technology Ltd is a specialist company building and implementing technology based on international standards in digital TV. It is the leading independent company in the industry sector that supports the MHEG interactive TV standard, and provides complete interactive applications and systems for broadcasters and manufacturers. S&T’s TSBroadcaster and TSPlayer systems are used for the creation of MHP, MHEG and OCAP interactive TV transmissions, and its RedKey™ MHEG engine is licensed to digital receiver and set top box manufacturers worldwide. For further information visit www.s-and-t.com

 

 

Richard Dean

Manor Marketing

Tel: + 44(0)7986 546 768

 

 

Colin Prior

Strategy & Technology

Tel: + 44 (0)207 183 1511