[opendtv] Responses to CSA inquiries on DTT HDTV

On 19 December 2006, the French CSA sent out an inquiry among broadcasters and CE manufactuers, to get their opinions on transmitting HDTV over DTT. The responses are in: 

http://www.csa.fr/upload/publication/synthese_consultation_TVHD.pdf
They got back 18 replies, two of which were less that enthusiastic about dedicating spectrum to HD, but the rest of which indicated that HD was the future standard for TV. Some of the responses talked about migrating all programs to HD, and all receivers to H.264, after a period of simulcast transmissions. This seems more ambitious than what the UK is dealing with. Others talked about dedicated HD multiplexes, and maybe even pay channels for HD.
Given that 1080p was not in the cards, all but one response preferred to go to 1080i. Only Canal+ mentioned the test results showing that 720p transmission was the better choice.
Most of the replies indicated that they expected compression efficiencies by early 2008 to allow for 1080i transmission in 7 to 8 Mb/s channels. Some respondents thought that in order not to diminish the quality of HD, only two HD programs should be transmitted in each (64-QAM, 8 MHz) multiplex. Others think three programs would work well.
One contributor wants to reduce the scanning lines of 1080 HD to 1024(!), to save on bandwidth. Others talked about the increase in spectral efficiency promised by DVB-T2 as a way to better manage all the HD programming.
There was discussion of DRM, with one mentioning that DRM could make time-shift copying impossible. But in general, they worry about needing some sort of DRM.
Also, HD transmitted FOTA was generally agreed to be necessary to get HD out there ina big way. Although pay service is also in the thinking. The majority favored an initial offering of three HD programs streams FOTA. Interactivity was not seen as important, and would further put demands on spectrum, resulting in lower HD quality. 

Bert

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