Will there be any terrestrial broadcasting in the coming decades?
On ultra-HD…
With 4kand 8k as UHDTV options, and world governments coming together to agree on a spec, there are currently two differing strategic views. There is a school of thought that says that the 8k system is a bridge too far, and we need to start with a 4k approach. That is a view that some broadcasters and consumer manufacturers hold. There is a view that the NHK holds, that 4k will probably only
be around for a few years before the 8k system comes along. You wouldn’t want to re-engineer your studio just for five years, so why not go straight to the 8k system? Which is the right answer - that is a difficult strategic decision, and I wish I had a bigger brain.
On 3DTV… We might have imagined that the broadcasting world would, at
this point in time, be ready to use a service-compatible 3DTV system, which has advantages for broadcasting platforms where there is a premium on spectrum space. But while there has been success in 3DTV, there has not been an avalanche so will there be takers for this second system? It may be that the climate is not yet right for many early adopters to take up DVB-SC services.
On hybrid broadcasting… The killer app is going to be social networks. People will
love watching a TV programme and commenting on it with a
David Wood Chair, World
Broadcast Union Technical Committee Chair DVB CM-3DTV Chair, ITU-R WP6C, EBU Region: Europe
coterie of friends and also having content on a laptop related to that programme. The question is are there things outside those boxes that will make hybrid connected TV interesting to the public?
On terrestrial TV… There is pressure on the world’s broadcast community to
give up more spectrum to wireless and broadband services. The future of terrestrial television is in the air and perhaps up in the air. That is an important issue for countries where terrestrial broadcasting is the major way of providing television services. In Europe, one could ask whether the pressure to use broad- cast spectrum for wireless broadband will block the evolution of terrestrial broadcasting? In fact, will there be any terrestrial broadcasting in the coming decades? Let’s hope the administratiors make future looking decisions – not short term financially-based ones.
Decisions, decisions… It’s a tough time and complex strategic decisions have
to be made - but that’s what executives are paid for. What is going to be both more attractive to the public and practical to provide? Perhaps we need to think about combining more than one of these developments. What is the killer package? CG