Much as the USA is currently implementing its ATSC 3.0 digital television standard for migration of existing terrestrial broadcast services, Brazil is already planning for the next stages of evolution from its ISDB-Tb standard, which was successfully adopted in 2007. ISDB-Tb was an evolution of the original Japanese Digital Terrestrial Broadcasting System - ISDB-T, and currently powers most digital terrestrial broadcast services across Latin America.
In July 2020, the Brazilian Terrestrial Television System Forum (SBTVD) issued the Call for Proposals (CfP) for a next-generation Digital TV system called TV 3.0. The CfP called for the most advanced technologies and addressed each layer of a next-generation TV system. For the audio component, Fraunhofer IIS, Ateme, the Digital Broadcasting Experts Group (DiBEG, Japan), and the Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC, USA) proposed MPEG-H Audio, the most advanced Next Generation Audio (NGA) codec.
The technical evaluation phase was conducted by an independent test lab appointed by the SBTVD Forum and funded by the Brazilian Ministry of Communications. Using an end-to-end production and broadcast chain for the evaluation, the MPEG-H Audio system successfully fulfilled all mandatory requirements of the TV 3.0 CfP, demonstrating its maturity and unmatched capabilities.
In addition to the technical evaluation of the candidate technologies, market and intellectual property aspects were considered for the selection. At the end of the process, the SBTVD Forum selected MPEG-H Audio as the sole mandatory NGA system for Over the Air (OTA) and Over the Top (OTT) services. TV 3.0 is expected to launch in 2024.
"We are proud that our technology has achieved an outstanding result in the evaluation and was consequently selected as the sole mandatory codec for the TV 3.0 terrestrial broadcast in Brazil," says Adrian Murtaza, Senior Manager Technology and Standards at Fraunhofer IIS. "The selection of MPEG-H opens a new chapter in our work with the SBTVD Forum and broadcasters in Brazil. Our team there is excited to work closely with the Brazilian industry to bring MPEG-H Audio into the regular TV services and an enhanced experience to the audience."
The SBTVD Forum has forwarded its recommendations for the selection of candidate technologies for all TV 3.0 components to the Brazilian Ministry of Communications. The Ministry of Communications has agreed to the publication of the results by the SBTVD Forum.
"Viewers increasingly expect better and more engaging video experiences. While high-quality images are part of that, sound is just as important. We are really looking forward to enabling immersive and personalized sound for Brazilian viewers," says Mickaël Raulet, CTO at Ateme.
More information about MPEG-H available here.
More information about SBTVD and the TV 3.0 Project available here.
www.ateme.com | www.dibeg.org
www.iis.fraunhofer.de
