Industry Links

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)

The BBC, the largest broadcasting corporation in the world, is a public service broadcaster, established by a Royal Charter and funded by the licence fee that is paid by UK households.  The BBC is at the forefront of the digital television industry and invests major effort in the continuous improvement of broadcast specifications and standards.

 

The Digital Television Group (DTG)

The DTG brings together broadcasters, manufacturers and experts in the digital television field to agree specifications for current and future digital television services.  Cabot sits on several DTG committees:

  • MHEG Interaction Channel
  • MHEG HD (chair)
  • Hybrid IPTV
  • HD Forum
  • SIPSI
  • SI Testing

 

DTG Testing Limited

A subsidiary company of the Digital Television Group (DTG).  The DTG established DTG Testing Ltd in 2000 to carry out interoperability testing on digital television receivers. As the needs of the industry have developed, so the activities of DTG Testing Ltd have expanded in response and now include:

  • Conformance testing of DTT receiver products, including PVR/PDR/DVR devices
  • Development of test materials for use by manufacturers
  • Management of the Engineering Channel for over-air upgrades to receiver software
  • Interactive application testing

 

Digital Terrestrial Television Action Group (DigiTAG)

DigiTAG aims to encourage and facilitate the introduction and implementation of digital terrestrial television services using the standards developed by Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB).  DigiTAG is tackling important steps on the road to the switch-over from analogue to digital terrestrial technology so as to ensure a smooth transition.  DigiTAG offers a dynamic forum for experts in all sectors of the business to share knowledge and to act in coordination to bring digital terrestrial services into the market in a short time period.

 

Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB)

The Digital Video Broadcasting Project (DVB) is an industry-led consortium of over 270 broadcasters, manufacturers, network operators, software developers, regulatory bodies and others in over 35 countries committed to designing open technical standards for the global delivery of digital television and data services. Services using DVB standards are available on every continent with more than 170 million DVB receivers deployed.

 

European Broadcasting Union (EBU)

The European Broadcasting Union is the largest association of national broadcasters in the world.  The EBU promote cooperation between broadcasters and facilitate the exchange of audiovisual content.  In addition, the EBU works to ensure that the crucial role of public service broadcasters is recognised and taken into consideration by decision-makers.

 

Freeview and Freeview Playback

Freeview was launched at the end of October 2002, providing free-to-air television channels, radio stations and interactive services throughout the UK.  Subsequently, Freeview compliance become an essential requirement for digital TV equipment to be awarded the ‘digital tick’ logo.  The Freeview Playback brand was subsequently created by the Digital Television Group (DTG) to raise consumer awareness of Freeview-capable Digital Video Recorders (DVRs).  DVRs that carry the Freeview playback logo have undergone stringent DTG testing to ensure that they meet the specified quality and functional criteria in order to provide the best possible viewing experience. 

 

International MHEG Promotion Alliance (IMPALA)

IMPALA is a not-for-profit organisation whose principal aim is to promote the use of the MHEG-5 international standard in digital TV worldwide.  IMPALA has been formed by software providers who are involved in the use of the MHEG-5 interactivity standard and is supported by consumer electronic manufacturers.  The founder members are Cabot Communications, Strategy & Technology, and Echostar Europe.