CAGLIARI, ITALY—More than 100 of the best minds in the field of television engineering have gathered here for the 2017 Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineering (IEEE) Broadband Multimedia Systems and Broadcasting (BMSB) conference. The June 7-9 event is designed to stimulate interchange of ideas in the areas of video content capture, processing and distribution technologies among all areas and levels, including industry professionals, broadcasters, content creators and distributors, academics and engineering students.
Maurizio Murroni
The conference got underway with a welcoming address from the assistant professor of communications at the University of Cagliari’s department of electrical and electronic engineering, Maurizio Murroni, who stated that his organization was pleased to both host the BMSB event and also the high attendance level at the conference, given the difficulties sometimes associated with long distance travel in today’s world.
“We are happy to host people and are proud of our traditions,” said Murroni. “We have been a bridge of communication for several centuries and this [the island of Sardinia] is a good place for a conference on communications.”
ATSC 3.0 IN THE SPOTLIGHT
Richard Chernock
Triveni Digital CTO Richard Chernock led off the technical proceedings with an update on the ATSC 3.0 digital television transmission standard, remarking that it was nearly complete.
“At the stage we’re at now, most of the standard is finished,” said Chernock, who is also chairman of the ATSC Technology Group. “We’re still tweaking a few elements, but the bottom line is that ATSC 3.0 is mostly competed.”
Chernock acknowledged the rollout of ATSC 3.0 in Korea and described some of the features embodied in the standard and how these will help broadcasters better serve their audiences. His presentation is one of several on the BMSB program agenda involving ATSC 3.0.
Chernock’s remarks were followed by a session from Alberto Messina, senior research engineer and research and development coordinator at Italy’s RAI television center for research and technological Innovation, on ways to make content more accessible to consumers.
“Today the situation is very fragmented, as the signals come not only from satellite, but also [terrestrial] broadcasters and the Internet,” said Messina. “The problem is too much content; consumers are drowning in it. It’s difficult for them to find something they want to view. Our work is to make sure that every consumer’s needs are satisfied.”
Alberto Messina
Messina’s remarks provided a lead-in to three days of nearly continuous presentations accomplished in three separate tracks in order to handle the volume of the information exchange at the conference.
MULTITUDE OF TOPICS AND PRESENTATIONS
Topics on the agenda at this year’s BMSB event include video coding, light field imaging, signal processing and modulation technologies, the convergence of broadcast and broadband, use of increasingly higher frequencies in satellite communications, emergency alerting technologies, transmission system field trials, energy-saving and spectrum-conserving technologies, and more.
The 2017 BMSB event marks the 12th anniversary of the conference. It has been held in the United States, Korea, Japan, Spain, Belgium and England.
