Goal: Demonstrations und contributions to the standardization process of TV transmission of H.264/MPEG4-AVC-coded video over DVB networks.
The transmission of audio visual media data via broadcast channels is all along an important application of the entertainment business. With the digital features defined in DVB a much more efficient transmission can be achieved compared to transmissions over analog channels. The first specification version of the DVB project used MPEG-2 as the one and only standard for video coding. But especially for the transmission of SD and HD TV signals via DVB-T channels the highest feasible channel efficiency is required due to the relatively small available transmission bit rate. Therefore the Image Communication Group has worked on the development of transmission schemes of H.264/MPEG4-AVC over DVB-T.
For a first transmission over DVB-T, the ICG-developed IP-based streaming system for H.264/MPEG4-AVC was used and inserted in a DVB-T network via Multi Protocol Encapsulation (MPE). Thus at an early state a standard-conforming transmission of H.264/MPEG4-AVC over DVB channels could be achieved. This transmission is based on the specification for IP transmission over DVB channels TS 102 005. As an editor of TS 102 005, Thomas Wiegand is responsible for the video part of the specification. With H.264/MPEG4-AVC a transmission of TV content at half the bit rate compared to MPEG-2 could be achieved while maintaining the same quality. That was world wide the first transmission of H.264/MPEG4-AVC over DVB channels and it was presented at the IFA 2003.
Furthermore active work has been applied on the standardization of the transport of H.264/MPEG4-AVC within MPEG2 Transport Stream. For that the DVB specification TS 101 154 was used for which Thomas Wiegand was responsible for the video part. The embedding of H.264/MPEG4-AVC within MPEG2 Transport Stream was implemented by the Image Communication Group.
H.264/AVC transmission over DVB-T
Exhibitions
2004
- Thomas Wiegand and Thomas Schierl:
H.246/AVC Video Transmission over DVB-T,
CeBIT 2004, Hannover, Germany, March 2004.
2003
- Thomas Wiegand and Thomas Schierl:
Efficient H.264/AVC Video Transmission over DVB-T,
Internationale Funkausstellung (IFA 2003), Berlin, Germany, September 2003.