Interactive Television The Living Room Revolution Jordan Millard Jon Guerber ECE 477, Spring 2006

Introduction What is iTV? Current and Future Applications History of Interactivity iTV Delivery and Hardware Resources iTV Protocols Issues, Problems, and Solutions The Future of iTV

What is Interactive Television (iTV) We are all used to normal Non-Interactive TV iTV is an addition to the Current Television Setup Allows for 2-way communication between the broadcaster and the customer Users can actively participate in TV programming Makes television more enjoyable and productive

iTV Applications Displaying Customized Information Facts about Characters on a Drama Custom News for the Busy Programming Guides Sports Information

iTV Applications Cont. Video On Demand Voting and Quizzes American Idol Game Shows Education Interactive Meetings Custom Camera Angles TV Gaming

iTV Applications Cont. Shopping Real Time Auctions 3d Shopping Buying what you see in Programming Gambling Business and Marketing Demographic Data Collection Targeted Advertising Interactive Ads

History of Interactivity Many Different Non-Technology Based Forms of Interactive media First Major iTV Provider: QUBE ( ) Offered Interactive Games Shows, Polls, Educational Programming Teletext (1979-Present) Allowed text to be displayed over images

History of Interactivity Cont. Today iTV is popular throughout Europe and Asia, starting up in America 40% of Western European Households have iTV Test runs of iTV are happening in select cities Major Companies like Microsoft and CNN are involved

iTV Distribution Similar to Conventional TV with Interactive software attached Requires a middle person Software sent over internet and combined with Video in a Set-Top Box

iTV HardWare -- The Set Top Box This is where the video and data content come together and for iTV Named because it is often a physical box on top of a TV set

Jobs of the Set-Top Box Acts as a Network Interface Decodes digital Streams of Audio and Video Due to the fact that most iTV is digital, most often Compressed with MPEG-2 or 4 Provides a buffer Allows for Network inconsistencies Synchronizes Audio, Video and Data

iTV Network Protocol Structure Physical Display Application Layer (Java based Apps like MHP) Transport Layer Network Layer Data Link Layer Physical Layer Similar to Normal Televisions and Computers

iTV Sent Over the Network BroadcasterReceiver (Set-Top Box) Internet Connection is added for remote interactivity

iTV Sent Over the Network Reminder: iTV is normally transmitted similarly to digital television but with additional data This diagram represents how iTV is transmitted with MPEG-2 Many iTV distribution now uses MPEG-4 More efficient but more complicated

iTV Networking – The Transport Layer Transport Layer Defines how iTV is sent Method 1: Send Video and Audio over MPEG Stream Send Data over the internet Receiver must receive information from both sources and synchronize Not often used anymore

iTV Networking – The Transport Layer Method 2: Send all Information over Same MPEG Transport Stream Broadcasts sent in Elementary Streams of Video, Audio and Data Video, Audio and Data must be linked in Application Used Most often

iTV Networking – Application Layer Defines how interactive applications sent in iTV will be processed and displayed Many different types of execution environments are being used Important to use the same standards for all iTV distribution By Far the Most Common and widely accepted platform for execution is the Java based DVB-MHP

iTV Protocols – DVB-MHP DVB-MHP Stands for the Digital Video Broadcasting Multimedia Home Platform Defines how iTV data received in a set-Top box will be processed and displayed Developed in the 1990s as a way to streamline all the ways of transmitting iTV to different types of hardware Now used in Europe and derivatives are being created for the United States

iTV Protocols – DVB-MHP Goal of MHP is to combine digital broadcasting standards with internet standards Open Software Runs with HTML or Java applications Most Commonly is run on top of Java Virtual Machine Disliked due to long and cumbersome nature of standard About 1448 pages long

iTV Protocols – DVB-MHP MHP is based on the idea of Multiple Planes iTV applications are displayed on separate panes as conventional video

iTV Issues: Security iTV allows for more user interaction which also means potential for security threats Possible Security Problems could arise due to: Access to Copyrighted Information The use of iTV for Shopping and Banking The privacy of TV choices Made by the Consumer Immature people who have fun hacking into iTV systems and disrupting the normal operation

iTV Issues: Security Solutions Encryption Translating sensitive information into a non- understandable message re-translating Make it readable again with the use of an encryption key Digital Signatures Used to authenticate that the user receiving information is indeed the correct user

iTV Issues: Security Solutions Cont. Unauthorized Viewing Protection Current Set-Top Boxes will scramble programming that user has not paid for Copyright Protection Modern Set-top boxes equipped with the ability to read a copyright protection bit sent with iTV data Will prevent the recording of copyrighted material like movies, but allow for the recording of free TV, even with VCRs

iTV Issues: Production Often production can be labor intensive due to creation of programming on top of Video Could require longer time to get program on the air Middleman who incorporates software with video must be flexible and creative Live iTV broadcasts are more difficult but not impossible

iTV Issues: Technological Challenges Currently Many systems run into problems and failures of iTV systems not seen in Conventional TV Failures in the internet come into play TV providers need to find a way to maintain and repair systems economically Switching from Conventional TV systems to iTV requires massive overhead and is initially more complex for the user

iTV Issues: Societal Challenges American Television is Designed for a lazy person Often people in North America arent looking for more interactivity in TV Many feel the complexities of iTV production may lend itself to more co-operation among Cable Operators and producers Lowers competition among companies, could lower potential quality

iTV Issues: Societal Challenges User voting could impact television production Newscasts can generate stories based on interest polls Reporters can be fired based on how viewer polls rate them in comparison to others Real time iTV polls can be relayed to politicians as they speak, showing them what people liked and allowing them to change their speech topics on the fly

The Future of iTV European market is young but well established Many trial areas are being started in the US Just a matter of time before demand rises for iTV knowledge about iTV spreads Asian iTV Market is Growing fast Potential Worldwide Market of 70 Million

How do I get iTV? Many companies like Dish Network offer limited iTV like VoD and allow for live program pausing Wait until interest in generated in US Move to Europe

Questions ?