Chapter 13. Standards and Specifications

Chapter Objectives

• Overview key iTV standards

• Explain differences in focus between these standards

• Present key issues and standard features addressing them

Standardization efforts have spanned over a decade covering several iTV technology layers , from signal modulation, through data encapsulation, through basic digital video encoding technology, through synchronization, through interfaces for conditional access and transmission technologies, to advanced standards that enable advanced interactive services. In the U.S. and Korea, the ATSC and the OpenCable consortium have been the major proponents of standards. In Europe, South America, and parts of Asia, the Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB) consortium has had the most influence. In Japan, the ARIB is dominant. The W3C has developed the widely used markup content and IP standards. Building on W3C's standards, the Society of Motion Pictures and Television Engineers (SMPTE) was the dominant organization for standardizing iTV integration content technologies and formats [SMPTE]. Common to all these standards is the underlying MPEG-2 foundation, which is used by virtually all systems deploying digital video services today.