TV Ônibus
The beginning of DTV transmission in Brazil brought many new ways to watch live TV wherever the viewer is located. The Brazilian standard (ISDB-Tb) is able to transmit a dedicated service to mobile/portable devices; however, this signal has a low transmission rate that does not allow the transmission of any additional information. On the other hand, HD signals do not perform well when received on a moving platform or in a vehicle travelling at high speeds. In light of this, Globo TV created a receiver to meet the growing demand for devices capable of decoding the HD service in moving environments, as well as with the ability to receive additional data transmitted through the digital signal. It permits the sending of dedicated advertising according to the type of transportation to create a new segment dedicated to people who use public transportation in Brazil.
A four-branch diversity receiver was developed to improve the reliability of this full-seg reception in moving environments. The diversity usage allows an average gain of 6dB compared to a receiver that does not use diversity reception. Therefore, the area covered by the digital signal for full-seg service can be increased by up to 20 percent depending on the vehicle speed.
The project has been dubbed TV Ônibus (Bus TV) and was developed by the R&D team from Globo SP and manufactured by Visiontec da Amazônia. It has enabled the transmission of RSS and weather forecast information extracted in real time from the Globo.com website in addition to advertisements that can be static (JPEG or PNG) or dynamic (flash animation).
Globo TV serves 99.5 percent of the Brazilian population and produces 90 percent of its programming, including 2500 hours of soap operas and more than 1800 hours of news programs per year. It is a free-to-air TV network with a business model based solely upon advertising. Every day in São Paulo, 5 million people use 15,000 buses in the route between their home and job, spending an average time of two hours and 43 minutes daily in transit. Therefore, the HD reception of the digital signal in mobile environments enables Globo TV to reach this viewer segment and makes possible the transmission of dedicated additional advertisements. Furthermore, Globo TV is committed to keeping people informed and entertained, no matter where they are.
Globo TV has worked on this project since the end of 2008, when it was in its prototype phase. In 2009, after a request for proposal process, Visiontec was chosen as the partner to produce the receivers. In the beginning of 2010, 30 receivers in 10 different lines were installed in São Paulo to check the receiver performance. In light of the system’s successful performance, Globo TV is in the process of developing 1000 additional units that will be installed through 2011.
- New studio or RF technology — station
Submitted by Globo Comunicação e ParticipaçõesDesign teamCarlos Fini, eng. mgr.; Edson Moura, eng. super.; Carolina Duca Novaes, eng.; Danillo Ono, eng.; Fernando Del Nero, eng.Technology at workVisiontec: VT7000BUS
WiMobilis: WM-PlayTV
© 2010 Penton Media, Inc.
