Mobiles Working with the EU Mobile TV Standard

Finland's Hantro has demonstrated, with Freescale Semiconductor a mobile solution capable of playing DVB-H broadcasted TV signals. The H.264 multimedia solution from Hantro is fully compliant with the DVB-H standard, and meets IP-IRD capability level A as specified for UMTS phones. Freescale's i.MX21 multimedia applications processor brings easy scalability to QVGA resolution and power management necessary for a low power, high quality, real-time viewing experience.

"This application demonstrates the powerful multimedia capabilities of the i.MX21 processor together with optimized software like our h.264 software decoder and mobile TV player" said Eero Kaikkonen, President and CEO, Hantro.

Various "regional flavors" of mobile videocasting are already being established in large North American, European and Asian markets. In addition to DVB-H, current standards include terrestrial DVB (DVB-T), satellite DVB (DVB-S), cable DVB (DVB-C), Integrated Services Digital Broadcasting - Terrestrial (ISDB-T) in Japan, Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB), Qualcomm's MediaFlo, Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC) and Multimedia Home Platform (MHP).

Connectivity and mobile multimedia markets are expected to grow by leaps and bounds, and as more handsets become mobile TV-enabled, DVB-H is expected to be the leading standard. Players in the new mobile TV value chain, from network operators to broadcasters to advertisers, are all likely to benefit from the possibility of new, diversified revenue streams.

Formally adopted as a European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) standard in November 2004, DVB-H is an open, non-proprietary standard for digital mobile television that will promote growth throughout the mobile entertainment market, allowing mobile TV handsets and services to reach the mass market faster and at a lower cost to consumers.

As an extension to the existing DVB-T standard, DVB-H provides new tools for mobile and handheld reception and delivers improvements on battery life, mobility with high transmission data rates, improved noise tolerance and seamless handovers."

Posted to the site on 23rd June 2005