Austria Launches DVB-T2 Tests in Vienna, Graz

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Through the use of new coding and optimized modulation methods, DVB-S2 [PDF] provided a way to achieve the efficiencies needed to transmit HDTV over satellite without quadrupling the RF bandwidth. A more recent standard, DVB-T2 [PDF] aims to bring similar efficiency and robustness to terrestrial DTV.

Last week the Austrian Broadcasting Service ORS announced it plans to launch the country's first DVB-T2 trial during soccer's World Cup this summer. Rapid TV News reported the tests would take place in Vienna and Graz. The article said broadcasts using the current DVB-T standard will continue until at least 2016 in Austria. Also last week, Humax announced the Humax HD-FOX T2 went on sale on Saturday, Feb, 13 in London. This set-top box will give viewers a way to receive DVB-T2 broadcasts currently being transmitted from the Crystal Palace in South East London and Winter Hill in North West Britain.

It is interesting to see that Austria may be willing to phase out DVB-T as soon as 2016 in favor of the improved DVB-T2 standard. Do you think U.S. broadcasters would be allowed to switch to "ATSC 2.0" in five years and use H.264 video compression to open up more bandwidth for mobile DTV services?

Doug Lung
Doug Lung
Contributor

Doug Lung is one of America's foremost authorities on broadcast RF technology. As vice president of Broadcast Technology for NBCUniversal Local, H. Douglas Lung leads NBC and Telemundo-owned stations’ RF and transmission affairs, including microwave, radars, satellite uplinks, and FCC technical filings. Beginning his career in 1976 at KSCI in Los Angeles, Lung has nearly 50 years of experience in broadcast television engineering. Beginning in 1985, he led the engineering department for what was to become the Telemundo network and station group, assisting in the design, construction and installation of the company’s broadcast and cable facilities. Other projects include work on the launch of Hawaii’s first UHF TV station, the rollout and testing of the ATSC mobile-handheld standard, and software development related to the incentive auction TV spectrum repack. A longtime columnist for TV Technology, Doug is also a regular contributor to IEEE Broadcast Technology. He is the recipient of the 2023 NAB Television Engineering Award. He also received a Tech Leadership Award from TV Tech publisher Future plc in 2021 and is a member of the IEEE Broadcast Technology Society and the Society of Broadcast Engineers.