Archive notice: This article was originally published on September 16, 2008. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.
DVB-T2 provides efficiency gains of between 30 and 50 percent over DVB-T in the same frequency range and is regarded as a key enabler for HDTV over Freeview in the United Kingdom.
Pace is involved in developing the preliminary DVB-T2 standard, focusing on important technological aspects such as optimisation and error resilience. The standard was confirmed only in June this year.
“The rollout of HD services in mature television markets is gathering pace, and we expect substantial growth over the next five years,” says Darren Fawcett, Technical Director for Wireless Systems at Pace. “Until now, however, HD content has been available only through cable and satellite. DVB-T2 is an important milestone if terrestrial services are to compete with other platforms. As with the introduction of DVB-S2 for satellite television, the efficiency gains are crucial to offering HD over digital terrestrial channels.”
With DVB-T2, the DVB Project offers broadcasters a forward-looking technology that uses available spectrum as efficiently as possible. The United Kingdom is expected to become the first country to introduce DVB-T2, where analogue switch-off has already begun. According to regulator Ofcom, which plans to convert a national multiplex to DVB-T2, multichannel HDTV is expected to begin broadcasting at the end of 2009.
Test transmissions began immediately after approval of the new standard in June 2008.
Further links:
- Pace
