RF Shorts for Feb. 1, 2013

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ITU Approves HEVC Setting Stage for UHDTV Distribution

Video compression is usually not considered part of RF transmission, but improvements in video compression allow higher resolution images to be transmitted over the same amount of bandwidth, or transmission of more program streams in today’s resolutions without increasing occupied bandwidth.

SatNews.com reported earlier this week ITU... Innovative Technology Set to Stun Standards. The article says, “ITU-T’s Study Group 16 has agreed first-stage approval (consent) of the much-anticipated standard known formally as Recommendation ITU-T H.265 or ISO/IEC 23008-2. It is the product of collaboration between the ITU Video Coding Experts Group (VCEG) and the ISO/IEC Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG).”

SatNews.com included this quote from ITU Secretary-General Hamadoun I. Touré: “The industry continues to look to ITU and its partners as the global benchmark for video compression, and I have no doubt that this new standard will be as effective as its predecessor in enabling the next wave of innovation in this fast-paced industry.”

I saw HEVC demonstrated at CES, with transmission of a UHDTV 4K signal at 35 Mbps via a 6 MHz wide channel using DVB-T2. Other demonstrations showed HEVC being used to compress 1080P HDTV signals to bitrates ranging from 3 to 4 Mbps.

The SatNews.com article has additional information on the new standard. It will be interesting to see where it shows up at the NAB Show this year.

Comments and RF related news items are welcome. Email me at dlung@transmitter.com.

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.