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 television. DVB has been standardized by ETSI.

This system transmits compressed digital audio, video, and other data in "physical layer pipes" (PLPs), using OFDM modulation with concatenated channel coding and interleaving. The higher offered bit rate, with respect to its predecessor DVB-T, makes it a system suited for carrying HDTV signals on the terrestrial TV channel (though many broadcasters still use plain DVB-T for this purpose).

As of 2014 it was implemented in broadcasts in the United Kingdom (Freeview HD, eight channels across two multiplexes, plus an extra multiplex in Northern Ireland carrying three SD channels), Italy (Europa 7 HD, twelve channels), Finland (21 channels, five in HD), Sweden (five channels), Thailand (41 SD, 9 HD channels) Flanders (18 SD Channels), Serbia (ten SD and HD version of the public broadcaster’s channel RTS), Ukraine (32 SD and HD channels in four nationwide multiplexes), Croatia (two pay-TV multiplexes), Denmark, and some other countries.

History

Preliminary investigation

In March 2006 DVB decided to study options for an upgraded DVB-T standard. In June 2006, a formal study group named TM-T2 (Technical Module on Next Generation DVB-T) was established by the DVB Group to develop an advanced modulation scheme that could be adopted by a second generation digital terrestrial television standard, to be named DVB-T2.

According to the commercial requirements and call for technologies issued in April 2007, the first phase of DVB-T2 would be devoted to provide optimum reception for stationary (fixed) and portable receivers (i.e., units which can be nomadic, but not fully mobile) using existing aerials, whereas a second and third phase would study methods to deliver higher payloads (with new aerials) and the mobile reception issue. The novel system should provide a minimum 30% increase in payload, under similar channel conditions already used for DVB-T.

The BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5 agreed with the regulator Ofcom to convert one UK multiplex (B, or PSB3) to DVB-T2 to increase capacity for HDTV via DTT. They expected the first TV region to use the new standard would be Granada in November 2009 (with existing switched over regions being changed at the same time). It was expected that over time there would be enough DVB-T2 receivers sold to switch all DTT transmissions to DVB-T2, and H.264.

Ofcom published its final decision on April 3, 2008, for HDTV using DVB-T2 and H.264: BBC HD would have one HD slot after digital switchover (DSO) at Granada. ITV and C4 had, as expected, applied to Ofcom for the 2 additional HD slots available from 2009 to 2012.

Ofcom indicated that it found an unused channel covering 3.7 million households in London, which could be used to broadcast the DVB-T2 HD multiplex from 2010, i.e., before DSO in London. Ofcom indicated that they would look for more unused UHF channels in other parts of the UK, that can be used for the DVB-T2 HD multiplex from 2010 until DSO.

The DVB-T2 specification

DVB-T2 test modulator developed by BBC Research & Innovation.

Spectrum of a DVB-T2 Signal (8 MHz Channel)

The DVB-T2 draft standard was ratified by the DVB Steering Board on June 26, 2008, and published on the DVB homepage as DVB-T2 standard BlueBook,. It was handed over to the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) by DVB.ORG on June 20, 2008. The ETSI process resulted in the DVB-T2 standard being adopted on September 9, 2009. The ETSI process had several phases, but the only changes were text clarifications. Since the DVB-T2 physical layer specification was complete, and there would be no further technical enhancements, receiver VLSI chip design started with confidence in stability of specification. A draft PSI/SI (program and system information) specification document was also agreed with the DVB-TM-GBS group.

Tests

Prototype receivers were shown in September IBC 2008 and more recent version at the IBC 2009 in Amsterdam. A number of other manufacturers demonstrated DVB-T2 at IBC 2009 including Albis Technologies, Arqiva, DekTec, Enensys Technologies, Harris, Pace, Rohde & Schwarz, Tandberg, Thomson Broadcast and TeamCast. As of 2012, Appear TV also produce DVB-T2 receivers, DVB-T2 modulators and DVB-T2 gateways. Other manufacturers planning DVB-T2 equipment launches include Alitronika, CellMetric, Cisco, Digital TV Labs, Humax, NXP Semiconductors, Panasonic, ProTelevision Technologies, Screen Service, SIDSA, Sony, ST Microelectronics and T-VIPS. The first test from a real TV transmitter was performed by the BBC Research & Innovation in the last weeks of June 2008 using channel 53 from the Guildford transmitter, southwest of London: BBC had developed and built the modulator/demodulator prototype in parallel with the DVB-T2 standard being drafted. Other companies like ENKOM or IfN develop software (processor) based decoding.

NORDIG published a DVB-T2 receiver specification and performance requirement on the July 1, 2009. In March 2009 the Digital TV Group (DTG), the industry association for digital TV in the UK, published the technical specification for high definition services on digital terrestrial television (Freeview) using the new DVB-T2 standard. The DTG's test house: DTG Testing are testing Freeview HD products against this specification.

Many tests broadcast transmission using this standard are being in process in France, with local Gap filler near Rennes CCETT. DVB-T2 was tested in October 2010, in Geneva region, with Mont Salève's repeater, in UHF band on Channel 36. A mobile van was testing BER, strength, and quality reception, with special PCs used as spectrum analysers, constellation testers. The van was moving in Canton Geneva (Switzerland), and France (Annemasse, Pays de Gex). However, there was none demonstrated in TELECOM 2011 at Palexpo.

The standard

The following characteristics have been devised for the T2 standard:

• COFDM modulation with QPSK, 16-QAM, 64-QAM, or 256-QAM constellations.
• OFDM modes are 1k, 2k, 4k, 8k, 16k, and 32k. The symbol length for 32k mode is about 4 ms.
• Guard intervals are 1/128, 1/32, 1/16, 19/256, 1/8, 19/128, and 1/4. (For 32k mode, the maximum is 1/8.)
• FEC is concatenated LDPC and BCH codes (as in DVB-S2 and DVB-C2), with rates 1/2, 3/5, 2/3, 3/4, 4/5, and 5/6.
• There are fewer pilots, in 8 different pilot-patterns, and equalization can be based also on the RAI CD3 system.
• In the 32k mode, a larger part of the standard 8 MHz channel can be used, adding about 2% extra capacity.
• DVB-T2 is specified for 1.7, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 10 MHz channel bandwidth.
• MISO (Multiple-Input Single-Output) may be used (Alamouti scheme), but MIMO will not be used. Diversity receivers can be used (as they are with DVB-T).
• Multiple PLP to enable service specific robustness.
• Bundling of more channels into a SuperMUX (called TFS) is not in the standard, but may be added later.

System differences with DVB-T

The following table reports a comparison of available modes in DVB-T and DVB-T2.

	DVB-T	DVB-T2
Input Interface	Single Transport Stream (TS)	Multiple Transport Stream and Generic Stream Encapsulation (GSE)
Modes	Constant Coding & Modulation	Variable Coding & Modulation
Forward Error Correction (FEC)	Convolutional Coding + Reed Solomon 1/2, 2/3, 3/4, 5/6, 7/8	LDPC + BCH 1/2, 3/5, 2/3, 3/4, 4/5, 5/6
Modulation	OFDM	OFDM
Modulation Schemes	QPSK, 16QAM, 64QAM	QPSK, 16QAM, 64QAM, 256QAM
Guard Interval	1/4, 1/8, 1/16, 1/32	1/4, 19/256, 1/8, 19/128, 1/16, 1/32, 1/128
Discrete Fourier transform (DFT) size	2k, 8k	1k, 2k, 4k, 8k, 16k, 32k
Scattered Pilots	8% of total	1%, 2%, 4%, 8% of total
Continual Pilots	2.6% of total	0.35% of total

For instance, a UK MFN DVB-T profile (64-QAM, 8k mode, coding rate 2/3, guard interval 1/32) and a DVB-T2 equivalent (256-QAM, 32k, coding rate 3/5, guard interval 1/128) allows for an increase in bit rate from 24.13 Mbit/s to 35.4 Mbit/s (+46.5%). Another example, for an Italian SFN DVB-T profile (64-QAM, 8k, coding rate 2/3, guard interval 1/4) and a DVB-T2 equivalent (256-QAM, 32k, coding rate 3/5, guard interval 1/16), achieves an increase in bit rate from 19.91 Mbit/s to 33.3 Mbit/s (+67%).

Recommended maximum bit-rate configurations for 8 MHz bandwidth, 32K FFT, guard interval 1/128, pilot pattern 7:

Modulation	Code rate	Bitrate Mbit/s	Frame length LF	FEC blocks per frame
QPSK	1/2	7.4442731	60	50
	3/5	8.9457325
	2/3	9.9541201
	3/4	11.197922
	4/5	11.948651
	5/6	12.456553
16-QAM	1/2	15.037432	60	101
	3/5	18.07038
	2/3	20.107323
	3/4	22.619802
	4/5	24.136276
	5/6	25.162236
64-QAM	1/2	22.481705	60	151
	3/5	27.016112
	2/3	30.061443
	3/4	33.817724
	4/5	36.084927
	5/6	37.618789
256-QAM	1/2	30.074863	60	202
	3/5	36.140759
	2/3	40.214645
	3/4	45.239604
	4/5	48.272552
	5/6	50.324472

Technical details

DVB-T2 at a glance.

Framing structure of DVB-T2.

The processing workflow is as follows:

• Input pre-processing
  • Physical Layer Pipe (PLP) creation: adaptation of Transport Stream (TS), Generic Stream Encapsulation (GSE), Generic Continuous Stream (GCS), or Generic Fixed-length Packetized Stream (GFPS)
• Input processing
  • Mode adaptation
    • Single PLP (mode 'A'): data are assembled in groups called BaseBand Frames (BBFRAMEs), with lengths of $K_{bch}$ bits, defined by modulation and coding (MODCOD) parameters, in a 'normal' length or 'short' length version
      • Input interface
      • CRC-8 encoding
      • BaseBand (BB) header insertion
    • Multiple PLPs (mode 'B')
      • Input interface
      • Input stream synchronization
      • Delay compensation
      • Null packets deletion
      • CRC-8 encoding
      • BB header insertion
  • Stream adaptation
    • Single PLP (mode 'A')
      • Padding insertion
      • BB scrambling: a Pseudo Random Binary Sequence (PRBS) with generator $1+x^{14}+x^{15}$ is used to scramble completely every BBFRAME
    • Multiple PLPs (mode 'B')
      • PLP scheduling
      • Frame delay
      • In-band signaling or padding insertion
      • BB scrambling
• Bit Interleaved Coding and Modulation (BICM)
  • Forward Error Correction (FEC) encoding: each BBFRAME is converted into a FECFRAME of $N_{ldpc}$ bits, by adding parity data. Normal FECFRAMEs are 64,800 bits long, whereas short FECFRAMEs are 16,200 bits long. The effective code rates are 32,208/64,800 (1/2), 38,688/64,800 (3/5), 43,040/64,800 (2/3), 48,408/64,800 (3/4), 51,648/64,800 (4/5), 53,840/64,800 (5/6)
    • Outer encoding: a BCH code, capable to correct 10 or 12 errors per FECFRAME, is used to compute parity data for the information data field. The BCH generator polynomial is of the 160th, 168th, or 192nd grade
    • Inner encoding: a Low Density Parity Check (LDPC) code is cascaded to the BCH
  • Bit interleaving
    • Parity bits block interleaving
    • Twist column interleaving
  • Bit demultiplexing to cell words

    

    Constellation map of the rotated 256-QAM modulation (tilt angle is 3.57 degrees).

  • Gray mapping of cell words to constellations: either QPSK (4-QAM), 16-QAM, 64-QAM, or 256-QAM maps are used
  • Constellation rotation and cyclic quadrature (Q) delay: optionally, the constellations may be tilted counterclockwise by an amount of up to 30 degrees. Furthermore, the quadrature (imaginary) part of the cells is cyclically shifted by one cell
  • Cell interleaving
  • Time interleaving
• Frame building: the transmitted stream is organized in super frames, which are composed by T2 frames and FEF (Future Extension Frame) parts
  • Cell mapping: cells are mapped to OFDM symbols. A T2 frame is composed by a P1 symbol, one or more P2 symbols, regular data symbols, and a Frame Closing symbol (for certain configuration parameters). The P1 symbol is used for synchronization purposes, the P2 symbols convey L1 parameter configuration signaling, whereas the data symbols carry PLP data (there are three types: common PLPs, type 1 PLPs, and type 2 PLPs), auxiliary streams, and dummy symbols used as space filler
  • Frequency interleaving: random interleaving is done on every OFDM symbol (except P1)
• OFDM generation
  • Multiple-Input Single-Output (MISO) processing: Alamouti pre-processing is optionally applied to pairs of OFDM symbol cells. Given $a_{i}$ the input cells, $e_{i}^{(1)}$ and $e_{i}^{(2)}$ transmitter group 1 and 2 cells, the mapping is done as $e_{i}^{(1)}=a_{i}$ and $e_{i+1}^{(1)}=a_{i+1}$ for group 1, and as $e_{i}^{(2)}=-a_{i+1}^{*}$ and $e_{i+1}^{(2)}=a_{i}^{*}$ for group 2
  • Pilot insertion and dummy tone reservation: three classes of pilot tones are added. They are either continual (fixed position), scattered (cyclically moving position), or edge (boundary positions). There are 8 different configuration for scattered pilots (PP1 ... PP8). Moreover, a number of dummy carriers are not modulated and reserved to reduce the dynamic range of the DVB-T2 output signal (it helps to combat nonlinear phenomena in power amplifiers during broadcast).
  • Inverse Discrete Fourier Transform (IDFT): classic IDFT is used to switch from the frequency domain into the time domain, after having adjusted carrier position relevant to the central transmit frequency. 1k (1024) to 32k (32768) carriers are available. There is also an extended mode, which allows to fill more data in the available bandwidth, using more active carriers and reducing the number of guard band (null) carriers.
  • Peak-to-Average-Power-Ratio (PAPR) reduction
  • Guard interval insertion: a cyclic prefix is inserted before the IDFT symbol, to recover from transmit channel echoes (multipath). Lengths from 1/128 to 1/4 of the IDFT length are allowed.
  • P1 symbol insertion: the P1 symbol is a particularly crafted 1k OFDM symbol, always inserted at the head of a T2 frame. It conveys few bits of information (spread, scrambled and DBPSK modulated), as it is mainly dedicated to fast synchronization (both in time and in frequency) at the receiver side. It is prepended and postpended by frequency shifted repetitions of itself, to ease receiver lock even if the nominal center frequency of the T2 signal is up to 500 kHz off.
  • Digital-to-Analog Conversion (DAC): the T2 samples are converted into an analog BB complex (I&Q) signal at a sample rate that depends on the channelization bandwidth. For instance, in 8 MHz wide channels, the complex sample time is 7/64 μs.

Market adoption

When the digital terrestrial HDTV service Freeview HD was launched in December 2009, it was the first DVB-T2 service intended for the general public. As of November 2010, DVB-T2 broadcasts where available in a couple of European countries.

The earliest introductions of T2 have usually been tied with a launch of high-definition television. There are however some countries where HDTV is broadcast using the old DVB-T standard with no immediate plans to switch those broadcasts to DVB-T2. Among countries using DVB-T for nationwide broadcasts of HDTV are France, Ireland, Italy, Norway, Denmark and Spain, though usually with MPEG4. Only Australia is using the earlier DVB-T with MPEG2 for HD.

Countries where DVB-T2 is in use include:

• Afghanistan: Four multiplexes, first Kabul test transmissions 1 June 2014.
• Albania: One multiplex full launch in July 2011.
• Argentina: Launch in February 2014 (Antina - UHF operating DVB-T in Buenos Aires area).
• Austria: three multiplexes (D,E,F), full launch in April 2013, 22 transmissions sites
• Belgium: Expected to begin in March 2013.
• Colombia: Adoption starts in 2012
• Denmark: one multiplex, with TV2 Danmark in HD will launch April 2012.
• Estonia: one multiplex, soft launch in December 2012 (not all transmitters)
• Finland: five multiplexes, soft launch in January 2011, full launch in February 2011
• Iceland: Adoption to begin in 2013 and finish by end of 2014
• Indonesia: Adoption to begin in 2012 and finish by end of 2018 or more (depends on 2018 situation later)
• Israel: Expected to begin in 2014.
• Kenya: Multichoice Africa using the GOTV brand launched in September 2011
• Middle East: One multiplex full launch in 2013.
• New Zealand: One mulitplex with a full launch in 2012 via the Igloo platfoorm - A joint venture bewteen Sky Television and Television New Zealand
• Romania: Now DVB-T, but full launch of DVB-T2 is expected in June 2015, with four multiplexes. Also Romania will stop analog broadcasting in 2015. This DVB-T2 shift is somehow forced, as Romania is being late in DVB-T adoption.
• Russia: one multiplex, full launch in March 2012.
• Serbia: two multiplexes, soft launch in March 2012, full launch in April 2013 is postponed till June 2015.
• Sri Lanka: Expected to begin in 2015 with the completion of Lotus Tower, Colombo.
• Sweden: two multiplexes, full launch in November 2010.
• Thailand: Expected to begin in 2013.
• Turkey: Experimental three multiplex. Full launch in 2013. Analog broadcasting will be abolished in 2015.
• Ukraine: four DVB-T2 multiplexes × 167 transmission sites, 150 of which have been officially launched on October 10, 2011
• United Kingdom: Three multiplexes, soft launch in December 2009, full launch in April 2010. An additional DVB-T2 multiplex was launched in Northern Ireland in October 2012, and extra one launched across selected areas of the UK in December 2013.
• Vietnam: three multiplexes, launched in November 11, 2011, by the Audio Visual Global JSC.

France announced in May 2014 DVB-T2 tests in Paris for Ultra HD HEVC broadcast with objectives to replace by 2020 the current DVB-T MPEG4 national broadcast.

The Southern African Development Community announced in November 2010 that DVB-T2 would be the preferred standard for the region. In Serbia, both SD and HD broadcasts will air in DVB-T2.

The Media Development Authority of Singapore announced in June 2012 that the country's free-to-air TV channels will go fully digital by the end of 2013 using DVB-T2.

It has been trialled in Spain and Germany. Sri Lanka Austria is also expected to use it.

Currently Malaysia, which has yet to officially launch its DVB-T transmission, is running tests on DVB-T2. Whether the system will be adopted only for HD channels or will replace its existing trial DVB-T system, if adopted at all, remains unannounced.

Broadcasters in the United States are starting experimental trials of DVB-T2 in the Baltimore, MD area on WNUV-TV in the early morning hours as of February 15, 2013. The tests are to determine viability as a broadcast standard for mobile devices and UltraHD.

Albania

In July 2011 "DIGITALB" started DVB-T2 broadcasting in Tirana.

Belgium

On April 2013 starts Teletenne with DVB-T2 broadcasting in Flanders

Colombia

Colombia adopted DBV-T2 on 2012 as the national standard for terrestrial television, replacing DBV-T, the previously selected standard for digital TV, which was selected after technical evaluation of several digital TV standards. The two standards will coexist until 2015. The digital TV has been deployed gradually across the country, starting at the four main cities, Bogotá, Medellín, Cali and Barranquilla followed by other smaller cities as Armenia, Bucaramanga, Cartagena, Cúcuta, Manizales, Pereira and Santa Marta by the end of the year. By 2014 many main cities has digital TV, however the signal is not available in the entire country.

First two available signals were emitted by the two private open tv channels RCN TV and Caracol TV. RTVC the national government tv broadcaster started to use the standard by 2013.

The digital system is know in Colombia as TDT which means Televisión digital para todos (Digital Television for everybody).

Croatia

On October 13, 2011, the Croatian Post and Electronic Communications Agency granted license for MUX C and MUX E, both in DVB-T2 standard.

Also in October 2011 OiV - Transmitters & Communications started testing on UHF channel 53 from Sljeme.

Indonesia

The project to adopt DVB-T technology in Indonesia was started about 2007 with 'full' government support (the project initiator). All television broadcasters were offered to transform their analog broadcasts into the new digital form, some interested to follow suit and started to test their new digital broadcasts and some are still uninterested back then.

During the DVB-T testing period, the government of Indonesia (via its Information & Communication Technology [ICT] Ministry) wanted to switch to DVB-T2 technology that provides better signal capacity and corrections (than T1) and HD content. The TV broadcasters still testing their T1 broadcasts all agreed to join the T2 conversion programme offered by the government since they saw the significant benefits by switching to T2 (such as higher data rate for HD content and better carrier-noise ratio management), even though it would cost more for those who have bought T1 equipment. The official switch to T2 from T1 was started February 2012, based on ICT Minister decree (about 5 years from T1 introduction and adopting/nurturing period in Indonesia).

Middle East

Nilesat started DVB-T2 broadcasting took place on January 2013 in Qatar, February 2013 in UAE and Oman, March 2013 in Saudi Arabia, June 2013 in Bahrain, July 2013 in Iraq, August 2013 in Egypt and Jordan, September 2013 in Kuwait and Lebanon, October 2013 in Syria and Yemen.

Romania

Although Romania started DVB-T Broadcasting in 2005 with the MPEG-2 standard for SD broadcast and MPEG 4 for HD, it was only experimental. In June 2011 Romania shifted to MPEG4 both for SD and HD. In 2012, Romania stated DVB-T2 will be used for terrestrial broadcasts. The European committee have stated that Romania should use DVB-T2, as Romania is very late in the adoption of DVB and there are no more free multiplexes. Romania planned to stop analogue air transmission in 2012 and 2013, but did not. Analogue transmissions are scheduled to end in 2015, using DVB-T2 from then on. As of October 2013, Romania still uses analogue broadcasting. DVB-T is in experimental use only in Bucharest and Sibiu, whilst tests are being conducted in Brasov, Cluj, Galati. Although tests are being conducted using DVB-T, in 2015 all of them will converted to DVB-T2. Most TV sets (and DVB-T set top boxes) sold in Romania until 2012 and after can only receive DVB-T; however, most new equipment is designed for DVB-T2 reception. Digital and analogue cable and direct-broadcast satellite are overall the most popular methods, with satellite being the most popular in rural areas and cable being used in urban areas. IPTV is also becoming popular , but mainly present in business segment rather than home users . However , some people say that , DVB-T2 is adopted, and also transition to digital terrestrial is delayed , just to support the interests of cable and satellite providers , and avoid people from receiving on air broadcasts, to force them pay . According to lasts statements, only one multiplex will be free to air , that of TVR1 and probably TVR2 ,TVR3, TVR Info and TVR HD, and some regional broadcasts, the others will be encrypted . There are rumors that the rest of broadcasters ( like MediaPro, Antena GROUP, Prima TV )will give up terrestrial broadcasting and will be available only on pay-tv services , like cable, satellite and IPTV . It is also rumored that DVB-T standard ( with MPEG-4 encoding ) will continue until 2018 . In Romania there are very few channels available on air, making terrestrial reception low in demand , thus determining people to choose satellite or cable.

Russia

In September 2011 Russian governmental authorities have approved the decision that since this date all newly built terrestrial digital TV networks will use the DVB-T2 standard. In some regions of Russia DVB-T/MPEG-4 networks (mostly consisting of one multiplex) have already been deployed before this decision was made.

On March 1, 2012 "Russian Television and Radio Broadcasting Network" has started DVB-T2 broadcasting in Tatarstan. This is the first region in Russia where DVB-T2 is being used.

Serbia

On May 2009, the Serbian Ministry of Telecommunications and Information Society officially announced that the DVB-T2 standard will be the national digital terrestrial broadcasting standard for both SD and HD. Serbia has become one of the first countries to commit to the DVB-T2 standard. First public test with DVB-T2 signal in Serbia was during Telfor 2009 conference in Belgrade. Analog switch off has been planned for April 4, 2012. But it was postponed to 2013. And now final switch off is planned to finish till 15 June 2015. On 21 March 2012 JP ETV started trial DVB-T2 transmission across Serbia offering viewers a total of 10 SD channels and a HD version of the public broadcaster’s channel RTS. On 14 November 2013 JP ETV has updated initial network for digital terrestrial television, and now DVB-T2 signal is available to over 75 percent of the population of Serbia.

South Africa

On January 14, 2011, the South African Department of Communication officially announced that the DVB-T2 standard will be the national digital terrestrial broadcasting standard. Analog switch off has been planned for December 2013.

Sri Lanka

DVB-T2 digital terrestrial broadcasting standard will be introduced to all television channels in Sri Lanka by the year 2015 with the opening of Colombo Lotus Tower. Initially in 2012 the conversion would be phased out in the Western and the Northern provinces, and there on will be extended to the other seven provinces and the Sri Lankan government would shut off the Analog system by 2017.

Sweden

Further information: Digital terrestrial television in Sweden

On June 17, 2010, the Swedish Radio and TV Authority and the Swedish Government granted a total of nine licenses to broadcast channels in HDTV spread over two multiplexes using DVB-T2.

Broadcasts started on November 1, 2010, with five channels available initially: SVT1 HD, SVT2 HD, MTVN HD, National Geographic HD and Canal+ Sport HD. From this date a coverage of 70% of the population is achieved, with 90% expected by mid-2011 and nationwide coverage by 2012.

Thailand

On January 25, 2013, The Royal Thai Army’s Radio and Television station, Channel 5, has launch a trial DVB-T2 service. The service have 6 SD Channels plus 2 HD channel. It has successfully completed Thailand’s first DVB-T2 digital terrestrial TV trial with the help of Harris and one of its Maxiva UAX air-cooled UHF transmitters. On March 4, 2013, Free Television Channel 3, 5, 5HD, 7, 9, NBT, ThaiPBS, ThaiPBS HD get temporary permission to broadcast Digital TV in DVB-T2 system until issue actual license that expect to be released in the middle to end of 2013.

Turkey

Turkish Radio and Television Corporation (TRT) is testing TRT HD in Ankara-Dikmen UHF channel 31.

Ukraine

Ukraine's national terrestrial TV network (built and maintained by the Zeonbud company) uses the DVB-T2 standard for all four nationwide FTV (cardless CAS "Irdeto Cloaked CA") multiplexes, for both SD and HD broadcasts. Before settling for DVB-T2, Ukraine was testing both DVB-T/MPEG-2 and DVB-T/MPEG-4 options, and some experimental transmitters operating in those standards are still live. Ukraine has never had a full-fledged nationwide DVB-T network, thus not having to do a DVB-T-to-DVB-T2 migration.

Zeonbud's network consists of 167 transmitter sites, each carrying four DVB-T2 multiplexes, with transmitter power ranging from 2 kW to 50 W (all in MFN mode). As of 2011 October 10, 150 of the 167 transmitter sites have officially gone live. The biggest problem of Ukraine's DVB-T2 rollout for now is the acute shortage of inexpensive DVB-T2 set-top-boxes.

The four multiplexes carry in total 28 nationwide channels (same for all transmitter sites, distributed via satellite) and 4 local channels. Up to 8 of those 28 nationwide channels can broadcast in HD format.

As of 2013 March there were 12 channels available on the air in Kyiv; up from 4 channels in 2012 October.

United Kingdom

Main article: Freeview HD

On the terrestrial television system in most of the UK, there is only one multiplex (the slot corresponding to one channel in analog broadcasting and to many channels in digital broadcasting) assigned to digital broadcasting in the DVB-T2 standard. This multiplex is controlled by the service company Freeview HD, which has offered to host up to five DVB-T2 HD channels on it.

Freeview HD started its "technical launch" on December 2, 2009, hosting BBC HD, and ITV HD. On March 30, 2010, Freeview HD had its official launch, and added Channel 4 HD to its broadcasts. The fourth channel hosted is BBC One HD, while the 5th slot is used for a high-definition simulcast of CBBC during the daytime and a high-definition simulcast of BBC Three during the evening.

The 5th HD stream on the DVB-T2 multiplex was going to be used by Channel 5 for their HD service, but they withdrew their application to Ofcom for the slot in December 2011.

In June 2012, the BBC launched a temporary stream in order to broadcast a high-definition red button service for the 2012 Olympics on Freeview, alongside BBC One HD and BBC HD. At the time, it was still undecided as to the permanent use of the 5th stream after the Olympics.

In Northern Ireland however, a second DVB-T2 multiplex was launched on October 24, 2012. This multiplex carries RTÉ One, RTÉ Two and TG4. All three channels on this multiplex are carried in SD rather than HD.

On 16 March 2013 the BBC announced that it will launch BBC News HD, BBC Three HD, BBC Four HD, CBeebies HD and CBBC HD on all digital television platforms which carry HD channels. On Freeview HD (and YouView), BBC Three HD and CBBC HD will use capacity on the BBC’s existing HD multiplex covering 98.5% of UK homes; BBC News HD, BBC Four HD and CBeebies HD will use new HD capacity which will cover part of the UK and grow in coverage over time. These high-definition simulcasts are available on the second multiplex, but the second multiplex is only broadcast from selected transmitters, providing around 70% coverage across the whole of the UK.

On 26 March 2013 BBC HD was replaced by BBC Two HD.

Vietnam

As of November 11, 2011, two DVB-T2 SFN networks of the Audio Visual Global JSC have been officially launched in both Hanoi an HoChiMinh city. Each network with three multiplexes carry totally 40 SD, 05 HD and 05 audio channels (MPEG-4/H264).

See also

• OFDM system comparison table

References

• DVB document A122, Frame structure channel coding and modulation for a second generation digital terrestrial television broadcasting system (DVB-T2),
• DVB document A133 Implementation guidelines for a second generation digital terrestrial television broadcasting system (DVB-T2) and
• DVB document A136 Modulator Interface (T2-MI) for a second generation digital terrestrial television broadcasting system (DVB-T2) are available at the dvb.org website.
• DVB-T2 Fact Sheet, March 2010
• Freeview UK

External links

• Website of the DVB Project
• DigiTAG handbook on DVB-T2
• OFCOM DTT future
• OFCOM Pilots
• Overview of DVB-T2 by Enensys