Already a defacto standard in Europe, HbbTV trials are being carried out globally, explains Daimon Hall, senior systems architect, Screen
Screen’s recent experience of the HbbTV (Hybrid Broadcast Broadband TV) market is that
minds are changing and the harmonisation of over-the-air and broadband based services
needs addressing, and quickly. Just by thumbing through recent announcements and
considering significant new tenders, there is convincing evidence that HbbTV has taken a major step towards being the de facto standard. Broadcasters are seeing
broadband speeds increase, their VoD and Catch-up TV services are growing in popularity along with return on investment through increased advertising revenue.
16:30 - 18:00 RED: From acquisition to post to presentation, RED and HP come together to show RED workflow
Sunday 9 September
11:30 - 12:30 CONFERENCE SESSION Hyper-Reality: High-Res Digital Cinema Transforming Film Making
18:30 (doors open at 18:00) IBC AWARDS CEREMONY
Saturday 8 September 11:00 - 12:30
CANON: Power to Tell Stories. A 4K screening of movies created using Canon’s latest Cinema EOS cameras
14:00 - 15:30
ARRI: The Power to Dream, the Vision to Innovate. Cinematographer Roger Deakins, ASC, BSC, (Skyfall, In Time), will be talking about his experiences with ALEXA
16:00 - 17:30 ASSIMILATE: Creative Storytelling with RED Epic cameras and ASSIMILATE’s SCRATCH RED and ASSIMILATE demo real-time EPIC and SCRATCH workflow – dailies through grading, compositing, and finishing
18:30 (doors open at 18:15) IBC MOVIE: PROMETHEUS - in Stereoscopic Dolby 3D & Dolby 7.1 ‘Courtesy of Twentieth Century Fox International'
Monday 10 September
09:30 - 11:00 CONFERENCE SESSION Exploring 3D: The New Grammar of Stereoscopic Filmmaking
11:30 - 12:30 CONFERENCE SESSION Why Budget Wary Producers Should Wake Up To Stereoscopic 3D
13:00 - 14:30 CONFERENCE SESSION Does digital imaging now hold all the ACES over film?
15:00 - 16:30 CONFERENCE SESSION Start-To-End Digital Production Tools
18:30 (doors open at 18:15) IBC Big Screen Showcase: Christie present the World’s first screening of a feature length movie in high brightness 3D using laser projection technology. Don’t miss out on this exciting opportunity to glimpse into the future of 3D content.
However, the majority of homes are witnessing a widening generation gap in relation to television viewing habits. Mature viewers are fixed to the traditional linear TV with younger generations naturally multitasking; watching their choice of programmes when they like, interacting through social media messages and playing games simultaneously. HbbTV is a catch-all, where linear DVB-T/S/C TV can be delivered over-the-air with a low bandwidth information service for maybe mature audiences without a broadband connection. Yet, for viewers with a broadband connection, full and compelling news, information, advertising and social media services can be made available alongside the already popular VoD and Catch- up TV services, and of course gaming on set-top-boxes (STBs) is commonplace today. These are all delivered via a programme guide within a single viewer experience. Trials are now being carried out in all four corners of the earth from China to Argentina with several countries having already decided to skip the basic DVB-T/2 launch and move directly to an HbbTV solution. Germany and France have
TM
already deployed HbbTV services with Spain moving quickly to launch services. Even in the UK where YouView was expected to be the predominant solution, HbbTV has controversially been added to the DTG D Book (the technical specification for UK digital terrestrial television) and as a result the next generation of Freeview STBs. Middleware/firmware for HbbTV STBs has been in development for some years and is available from various software companies including ANT Software in the UK, HTTV in France and Ocean Blue Software in the UK, but we are likely to see more suppliers towards the end of 2012. Evaluation numbers of DVB- T/T2/S/C variant STBs and TV sets for HbbTV trials have been in short supply until now, but we are now starting to see availability as the markets interest has grown more recently. Currently broadcasters and operators are at a stage of looking to set-up cost effective trials. As for Screen, well we too couldn’t ignore the signs and in cooperation with digital carousel and STB partners have developed a Cloud-based HbbTV service able to deliver both a broadband and over-the- air service. 1.C49