FEATURE
Current Status of Internet Protocol Television in Japan - Introduction to NHK on Demand
Kiyohiko Ishikawa and Yoichi Tokoro NHK Japan
1. Introduction
The successive roll-out of full-scale Internet protocol television (IPTV) services throughout Japan began in 2008 and broadcasters, such as NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation), have begun distributing digital content with high-definition (HD) quality through the IPTV services. This paper reviews the introduction of IPTV services in Japan and will be of particular interest to broadcasters who intend to utilise this technology in the future.
In total, more than 70 million set-top boxes (STBs) and digital TV sets had been shipped in Japan by the end of March 2010. The number of broadband contracts had also reached 30 million by December 2009. These factors have greatly contributed to the spread of certain IPTV services. The fact that Internet connectivity is now possible through digital STBs and digital TV sets has created an environment in which users can easily take advantage of IPTV services. The current report describes how NHK has distributed programmes, as digital content, through IPTV.
2. Challenges to Full-scale IPTV Services
NHK on demand (NOD) services, which provide NHK’s TV programmes, are high-quality video-on-demand (VOD) services.
It was necessary to confront three challenges when launching the NOD services: The first was establishing open specifications for IPTV; the second was revising the legal system for distributing TV programs over the Internet and the third was enforcing policy to allow prompt permission to be obtained from content holders for the use of content by IPTV. It was also crucial to have the infrastructure for a high-speed network.
This section describes the measures taken to address these three challenges when introducing the NOD services.
2.1 Measures to satisfy IPTV specifications
The IPTV Forum Japan [1] is promoting the standardisation of receivers along with common specifications for advanced
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IPTV services. A variety of services can be conveniently and safely used within consumer TV sets connected to network with unified open specifications. These are expected to promote and broaden the use of IPTV services. The IPTV Forum Japan specifications are outlined in Fig. 1.
Figure 1: Specifications of the IPTV Forum Japan
The IPTV Forum Japan specifications were divided into three main groups: Service-delivery specifications; service- approach specifications; and those for IP retransmission which distributes the same content as digital broadcasting over the Internet. The first group of specifications in the upper part of Fig. 1 contains those for IP broadcasting (which is a linear video broadband service), streaming services by VOD, and download services.
The service-approach specifications, in the lower part of Fig. 1, stipulate methods of accessing IPTV services relating to the scope of content delivery networks (CDNs) and the Internet, and Integration with broadcasting services. The CDN-scope service approach specification applies to closed optical fibre networks, similar to those used in next- generation networking (NGN), a typical closed network that is secure and has stable bit rates. The Internet-scope service approach specification applies to open networks, including digital subscriber lines (DSLs). Integration with broadcasting service refers to a function that accesses IPTV from the broadcast environment.
Since the open specification reduces the confusion of multiple specifications, IPTV service by consumer Digital TV is spreading.
One of the most important specifications is digital-rights management (DRM), the DRM specifications for serving content, are also included in all of the IPTV specifications described above. The operator of a DRM system, who
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