Chapter 6 Digital Television

Distribution Local terrestrial DTV / 4K / UHD OTA: over the air Oculus Rift example – HMD OTT – over the top television non-broadcast, Internet-streamed video content viewed on a digital display What is the line between broadcast/cable/DBS-delivered “linear” television and that of on-demand streamed content We had this discussion as we started video

Digital Distribution All-encompassing term: Internet-Delivered Television or I-DTV. The use of this meta-term would include current things called OTT, Connected, and IPTV streamed programming

Digital Distribution Displays are also changing. Screen size LCD, LED, OLED, (plasma), DLP Consider a 4K TV if you want your TV to be acceptable five years from now. OLED TVs look much better than a typical LED/LCD, but they are very expensive. Curved TVs are a fashion statement. They don’t benefit image quality. “smart” televisions now common

Chap 6—History & Development Evolution of digital OTA TV Today: HD vs. multicasting Network & syndication deals Extra channels: HD or SD Local market stations and local programming vs. national Local creation and distribution…

Do we need local OTA signals? Two primary areas affecting the diffusion of digital television and video in the United States— An ongoing battle over the digital television spectrum between broadcasters, regulators, and mobile telecommunication providers—and the diffusion of new digital technologies such as 4K-resolution DTV, mobile DTV, thin-screen displays such as OLED, and the advent of smart televisions.

Communication Technology RTV 151 Multichannel TV Services And Streaming Media

MVPD Multichannel Video Program Distributors Cable, DBS, IPTV SMATV, MMDS, TVRO (see earlier chapter) Pay TV PPV, VOD, NVOD

Cable TV Started late 1940s Growth began in 1970s (HBO) Tree and branch architecture Headend Reception from --, conversion, channel assignment Trunk Line Feeder lines Drop lines Backfeed lines amplifiers Local geographic areas - but MSOs

Some Cable TV issues A la carte Must carry Franchising / IPTV -- statewide -- FCC Digital cable Telephony (VoIP) -- Skype, Vonage, Google Voice... High speed internet (slow down issue) Coax / copper wires / hybrid / all fiber Multicasting DTV channels

DBS issues Location of satellites (dishpointer)dishpointer Location of uplink facilities DirecTV: Castle Rock, CO DISH: Cheyenne, WY Local into local HD roll-out -- MPEG-4 AVC Satellites Launching / How launched video / multiple dishes LaunchingHow launched video HD locals

HD bandwidth problem Ultra HD program production and distribution For cable, satellite … any distributor: bandwidth High-Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) uses advanced compression algorithms in a new global H.265 DTV standard adopted in January of 2013 by the International Telecommunications Union. It superseded their H.264 AVC standard and uses half the bit rate of MPEG-4

Handling 4K One of the things holding 4K back has been a lack of programming and content.4K Netflix got the ball rolling earlier this year by streaming of House of Cards and other original series in 4K NetflixHouse of Cards DirecTV started development for providing 4K video on demand last year. DirecTV “Currently, 4K is being streamed in H.265/HEVC BT.709 color gamut, 4:2:0 color subsampling, and 8-bit dynamic range.”HEVC

Handling 4K But current advancements and standards committees also looking at an ultra high definition spec of 10-bit color and…standardsspec Google has a competing VP9 UHD codec. StreamingMedia.com article

IPTV issues Service locations / regulations FiOS vs. U-verse FiOSU-verse IPTV vs. cable vs. DBS vs. --- Internet broadband 2-way benefits vs. other MVPDs Bundles -- benefits?

The Aereo Controversy Aereo, a U.S. company founded in 2012, was a unique Over-The-Top MVPD service designed to ‘provide a remote, over-the-air antenna to each subscriber.’ What about it… ?

Streaming Media UStream Netflix, Hulu, Pandora, iHeart, etc. Live radio stations and live ‘TV stations’ Copyright issues (who owns what?) Original site or extra distribution outlet? Roku, Apple TV RokuApple TV ‘you’ll need somebody to log in from their cable’ Siri demo, Google Now OK Google demo Siri demoGoogle Now And do you need a thingcharger?thingcharger

Established streaming platforms Microsoft / Windows Media Player RealPlayer / RealProducer as encoder Apple QuickTime Apple iTunes Streaming sites Livestream Ustream Also... Macromedia/Flash -- technically a plug-in

Podcasting, etc. RSS - really simple syndication ; not live streaming EV-DO -- Verizon’s Evolution Data Only Network -- ‘V-cast’ wireless mobile video service (or ‘optimized)V-cast Compare to mobile TV? (mDTV)mDTV DVB exampleexample FiOS TV -- Verizon’s fiber optic to the home service that offers broadband Internet, IPTV and phone service AT&T’s U-verse IPTV service

Other terms and ideas… Streaming architecture -- handles and synchronizes digital files: QuickTime, Flash… Codec -- compression/decompression: a compression algorithm (or coder - decoder) A codec (the program) is not the coding or compression format or standard – a format is the standard, a way of storing data; The codec is the program used to read or write such files. ISMA / interoperability -- Internet Streaming Media Alliance

Other interactive TV issues Streaming players: (comparison)comparison Apple TV Roku Google TV Boxee Sling Player / Sling box (‘TV anywhere’) UGC / licensing content and channels

Social issues Who is using what type media? Teen and younger use of and access to Predators? Subversion of parental roles? (webcams, online videos, social impact) Loss of public service journalism Mobile media, new narrative conventions University and business training -- podcasts, streams, online training and education