IEEE Communications Society Seminar, 10th November 1999
HDTV/DTV: Technical Overview and Roadmap
Dr. Nikhil Balram
Vice President of Advanced Technology
Faroudja Laboratories, Sunnyvale, CA
Overview
 HDTV/DTV Overview
•
•
•
•
History & current status
Technical overview
Major players
Barriers to rapid penetration/deployment
 Source
 Channel
 Receiver/Display
 Forecasts
 Summary
 Acknowledgements
 References

Disclaimer: All opinions/material presented in this seminar are solely the responsibility of the author
and do not necessarily represent the views of current or past employers. Any trademarks or brand
names mentioned here are the properties of their respective holders and are hereby acknowledged.
HDTV/DTV Overview
 History
 Technical overview
 Major players
 Barriers to rapid penetration/deployment
HDTV/DTV Overview
History
 1987
• Broadcasters petition FCC to institute rules for terrestrial HDTV broadcast
• FCC creates Advisory Committee on Advanced Television Services (ACATS)
to gather information and recommend a standard
 1988
• US Broadcasters create Advanced Television Test Center (ATTC) to conduct
tests of the proposed systems
 1989/90
• Cable industry through Cable Television Labs (CableLabs) prepares to test
proposed Advanced Television (ATV) systems over cable networks
• 9 systems offered to ATTC for testing: all analog except Zenith hybrid
– Faroudja Labs, MIT, North American Phillips (NAP), Production Services Inc.,
Zenith Electronics, 2 from David Sarnoff Research Center (DSRC), 2 from Japan
Broadcasting Corporation (NHK)
HDTV/DTV Overview
History (cont.)
 1990/91
• FCC favors simulcast (full HDTV with eventual shutdown of NTSC) versus
augmentation
• Shift to digital started by General Instruments (GI) DigiCipher
• 6 systems (4 digital) from different coalitions tested by ATTC
 1992
• Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC) agrees to coordinate task of
documenting standard chosen by FCC
 1993
• Analog options eliminated
• Proponents of the 4 digital systems form Grand Alliance (GA)
– AT&T, DSRC, GI, MIT, NAP, Thomson Consumer Electronics, Zenith Electronics
 1994
• ACATS approves GA system
 1995/96
• ATSC documents and approves standard based on GA system
HDTV/DTV Overview
History (cont.)
 1996
• FCC proposes to adopt GA system as documented by ATSC
• Computer Industry Coalition on Advanced Television Services (CICATS) files
strong objection and proposes progressive SDTV with future path to HDTV
through an augmentation signal
 Dec 24 1996
• FCC adopts ATSC DTV standard except for table 3 with 18 formats (6 HD, 12
SD)
 1997
• HDTV rollout schedule agreed to
–
–
–
–
–
Some stations in top 10 markets to offer some programming by November 1, 1998
Top 10 markets (covering 30% of US households) to be on air by May 1, 1999
Top 30 markets (covering 50% of US households) to be on air by November 1, 1999
All commercial stations on air by May 1, 2002, (public stations get 1 more year)
NTSC broadcasting to cease on May 1, 2006, (later changed to whenever 85% of
market is using HDTV sets)
 Nov 1998
• HDTV broadcasts begin
HDTV/DTV Overview
Current Status
 November 1999
• Overall
–
–
–
–
474 TV stations have filed construction permit applications
220 have been granted DTV construction permits
66 are on air with full facilities
25 are on air with special or experimental DTV authority
• Top 10 market network affiliates - 40 stations
– 32 are on air with full facilities
– 8 have requested second extensions
• Markets 11-30 network affiliates - 79 stations
– 20 are on air with full facilities
 See www.fcc.gov/mmb/vsd/files for more information
HDTV/DTV Overview
Technical Overview
 Video:
• MPEG2 Main Profile @ High Level (MP@HL)
• 18 formats: 6 HD, 12 SD
 Audio:
• Dolby AC-3
 Transport:
• Subset of MPEG2
• Fixed length 188-byte packets
 RF/Transmission:
• Terrestrial:
– 8-VSB (Vestigial Side Band) with Trellis coding
– effective payload of ~19.3 Mb/s (18.9 Mb/s used for video)
• Cable:
– 16-VSB
– effective payload of ~38.6 Mb/s
HDTV/DTV Overview
HDTV/DTV System Layers
layered system with header/descriptors
Picture
Layer
996 Mb/s
Multiple Picture Formats
and Frame Rates
1920 x 1080
@60I
Compression
Layer
Data
Headers
Motion
Chroma and Luma
Vectors
DCT Coefficients
Variable Length Codes
Flexible delivery of data
and future extensability
Packet Headers
Transport
Layer
Video packet
Transmission
Layer
Source:Sarnoff Corporation
Audio packet
Video packet
19.3 Mb/s
6 MHz
MPEG-2 video
and Dolby AC-3
compression
syntax
Aux data
MPEG-2 packets
8-VSB
HDTV/DTV Overview
HDTV/DTV MPEG2 Transport
...packets
with header/descriptors enable flexiblility and features...
Many services can be dynamically multiplexed and delivered to the viewer
video
TEXT
video
audio 1
video
video
audio 2
video
video
PGM GD
188 Byte Packet
184 Byte Payload (incl. optional Adaptation Header)
Video Adaptation Header
(variable length)
4 Byte
Packet Header
Packet sync
Type of data the packet carries
Packet loss/misordering protection
Encryption control
Priority (optional)
Time synchronization
Media synchronization
Random access flag
Bit stream splice point flag
Source:Sarnoff Corporation
video
HDTV/DTV Overview
MPEG2 Video Basics:
Sequence
(Display Order)
GOP
(Display Order,
N=12, M=3)
Picture
B B
I
B B P B B P B B P
Cr
Y
Cb
Slice
Note:
Y = Luma
Cr = Red-Y
0 1
MacroBlock
2 3
Y Blocks
Source:Sarnoff Corporation
Cb = Blue-Y
4
Cr Block
5
Cb Block
HDTV/DTV Overview
MPEG2 Video Basics
 MPEG2 Profiles/Levels
• MPEG specification is generic - intended to cover wide range of applications
• “Profiles” and “Levels” used to put bounds around parameters for applications
– “Profile” is subset of bitstream syntax
– “Level” constrains parameters within allowed syntax
• Main Profile @ Main Level (MP@ML) - DVD
– 4:2:0 I,P,B, bit rates up to 15 Mb/s
• Main Profile @ High Level (MP@HL) - HDTV
– 4:2:0 I,P,B, bit rates up to 80 Mb/s
 Block Diagram of MPEG2 Encoder
Present frame
+
+
DCT
DCT Coefficients
Q
Q-1
“Previous” &
“Future”
Frames
Motion
Compensation
Motion
Estimation
IDCT
Motion Vectors
VLC
HDTV/DTV Overview
MPEG2 Video Basics: Discrete Cosine Transform (DCT)
Spatial
domain
Image
8x8 pixels
8x8
DCT
Transform domain
8x8 coefficients




8x8
DCT-1
Spatial
domain
8x8 pixels
DCT is an orthogonal transformation
2-D DCT is separable in x and y dimensions
Has good energy compaction properties
Close to Karhunen-Loeve Transform (KLT), which is
optimal but depends on image statistics.
 Efficient hardware realization
 Theoretically lossless, but slightly lossy in practice due
to round off errors
Source:Sarnoff Corporation
Reconstructed
Image
HDTV/DTV Overview
MPEG2 Video Basics: Discrete Cosine Transform (DCT)
“DC”
255 255 255 255 255 255 255 255
255 187 204 255 255 255 255 255
255 122 20 102 230 255 255 255
255 153 0 0 35 136 213 255
255 196 0 0 0 0 17 94
255 247 43 0 0 0 0 0
255 255 82 0 0 0 0 0
255 255 128 0 0 0 0 0
pixels
low
8x8
DCT
high
vertical
low
horizontal
high
300 59 89 39
7 -13 -12
137 -94 -35
4 17 16
7
51 25 -42 -20 -14
1
5
-12 40 -8 -16 -4 -4 -5
-8
3 17 -13 -4
0
2
2 14 14
5 -7
0 -1
-1 -3 -2 12
0 -4
0
-6
2 -6
6
8
0
0
frequency coefficients
Note: Transform values in this example are for illustration only.
 8x8 pixel blocks transformed to 8x8 frequency coefficient blocks
 Applied to intra-field blocks and motion-compensated (prediction
error) blocks
Source:Sarnoff Corporation
-7
2
7
-5
-1
0
1
0
HDTV/DTV Overview
MPEG2 Video Basics: Motion-compensated Prediction
F
X
MVF
Previous I or P Picture
Current
Macroblock
Current P or B Picture
Instead of sending quantized DCT coefficients of X, send:
1. quantized DCT coefficients of X-F (prediction error). If
prediction is good, error will be near zero and will need few bits.
2. MVF, the motion vector. This will be differentially coded with
respect to its neighboring vector, and will code efficiently.
This will typically result in 50% - 80% savings in bits.
HDTV/DTV Overview
ATSC Formats
Vertical Horizontal Aspect Ratio
Picture Rate
1080
1920
16:9
60I, 30P, 24P
HDTV 720
1280
16:9
60P, 30P, 24P
480
704
16:9 & 4:3 60P, 60I, 30P, 24P
SDTV 480
640
4:3
60P, 60I, 30P, 24P
“HD0”
 18 formats: 6 HD, 12 SD
• 720 vertical lines and above considered High Definition
• Choice of supported formats left voluntary due to disagreement between
broadcasters and computer industry
– Computer industry led by Microsoft wants exclusion of interlace and initially use of
only those formats which leave bandwidth for data services - “HD0” subset
• Different picture rates depending on motion content of application
– 24 frames/sec for film
– 30 frames/sec for news and live coverage
– 60 fields/sec, 60 frames/sec for sports and other fast action content
 1920 x 1080 @ 60 frames/sec not included because it requires
~100:1 compression to fit in 19.3 Mb/s terrestrial channel,
which cannot be done at high quality with MPEG2
HDTV/DTV Overview
Aspect Ratios
 Two options: 16:9 and 4:3
 4:3 standard aspect ratio for US TV and computer monitors
 HD formats are 16:9
• better match with cinema aspect ratio
• better match for aspect ratio of human visual system
• better for some text/graphics tasks
– allows side-by-side viewing of 2 pages
800
800
600
600
4:3 aspect ratio
450
16:9 aspect ratio
HDTV/DTV Overview
Aspect Ratios
 Aspect ratio conversion will be required
• 4:3 material on 16:9 monitor
• 16:9 material on 4:3 monitor
 Several options (shown below)
Video
Transmission
Format
16 x 9 Display Modes
Full
Zoom
Squeeze
4 x 3 Display Modes
Variable
Expand
Full
Zoom
(b)
(c)
Squeeze
Variable
Shrink
16
9
(a)
4
3
(e)
(f)
(g)
(i)
(h)
(d)
(j)
HDTV/DTV Overview
Viewing Distance Versus Resolution
V
E
R
T
I
C
A
L
MINIMUM VERTICAL LINES
L
I
N
E
S
PER
P
I
C
T
U
R
E
H
T.
Source: McLaughlin Consulting Group
HDTV/DTV Overview
Display Size
 SDTV vs. HDTV
•
•
SDTV is adequate for small size TVs (<30 inches) at normal (>2
meters) viewing distances
Current PC monitor definition offers excellent HDTV imaging at close
viewing distances (<1 meter)
–
•
However, it may not feel the same as a large screen display even though it
subtends the same angle ?
Major opportunity for HDTV is for big screens (>>30 inches) viewed
at > 2 meters
 PC vs. TV
•
•
Both SDTV and HDTV can be displayed on 19”/21” PC monitors
Big screens TVs for family entertainment
 The widescreen requirement
•
•
Major new requirement of DTV is widescreen format
Requires widescreen home PC monitors and SDTVs
HDTV/DTV Overview
Interlace vs Progressive
Odd
Even
Odd & Even
 Reasons for interlacing in NTSC/PAL
• Conserves bandwidth & storage
• Maintains frame rate & vertical resolution
• Minimizes line structure
Direct-view and
projection CRT TVs
typically use interlaced
scanning, alternating
between all odd lines
and all even lines
CRT monitors and
Flat Panel Displays
put lines up in
consecutive order
HDTV/DTV Overview
Interlaced Vertical-Temporal Spectrum: 525 Lines @ 60I
 Spectrum of (NTSC) interlaced video: I is original content, II, III, IV, V are
replicas caused by V-T sampling
 Interlacing artifacts: line twitter/flicker, line crawl, feathering
Spatial Freq. (cycles/picture height)
II
525
IV
C
262.5
D
V
B
E
I
0
A
30
III
F
60
Temporal
Freq. (Hz)
HDTV/DTV Overview
Progressive Vertical-Temporal Spectrum: 525 Lines at 60P
 Spectrum of (NTSC-like) progressive video: I is original content, II, III, IV
are replicas caused by V-T sampling
 Absence of replica V avoids artifacts created by interlacing
 Uses 2X as much bandwidth as 525 @ 60I
Spatial Freq. (cycles/picture height)
II
525
IV
262.5
I
0
III
30
60
Temporal Freq. (Hz)
HDTV/DTV Overview
Addressability vs Resolution
 Addressability refers to number of pixels/lines that can be addressed
 Resolution is number of pixels (lines) that can be resolved
• Measured as line pairs or TV-lines
 Resolution is usually less than addressability due to
• Bandwidth of channel and electronics
– cables, video amplifiers, etc
• Characteristics of reconstruction filter (display system)
– CRTs (horizontally): Gaussian spot
– described by Modulation Transfer Function (MTF)
– FPDs (and CRTs in vertical direction): spatially varying
– this is why NTSC is considered to have ~330 lines of resolution even though there are
480 active lines. # active lines is derated by Kell factor of 0.7
– described by Multi-valued Modulation Transfer Function (MMTF)
 Major implications for design of optimal video display system
HDTV/DTV Overview
Interactivity & Data Services
 DTV bandwidth can be used for digital data
• Allows new data enhanced viewing modes
– instant access to information such as player statistics, profiles of actors, etc.
• Simulated and actual interactivity
– real interactivity possible if platform has backchannel
 Sophisticated electronic programming guide needed to manage much
greater choice created by multicast of SDTV streams
• HDTV channel can be used to send multiple audio/video stream
– exact number depends on format and content.
 Infrastructure for data services and interactivity lagging
HDTV/DTV Overview
Major Players
 Content providers
• Studios
• Broadcasters
 Highway providers
• Cable
• Direct Broadcast Satellite
• Broadcasters
 Receiver/Platform providers
• Consumer electronics
• Computer
 Technology providers
• Equipment
• Semiconductor
 Supervisors/regulators
• FCC
• Congress
 Consumers
HDTV/DTV Overview
Distribution of US TV Viewers
1998
Total households
~ 100M
2002
~ 105-110M
Total TV households
~ 99M
~ 104-107M
Total Cable subscribers
~ 65M
~ 65-70M
Total DBS subscribers
~ 8M
~ 13-20M
Total Terrestrial only
~ 25M
~ 20-22M
 Cable dominates and will continue to do so
• ~ 2/3 of US viewers
HDTV/DTV Overview
Barriers to Rapid Deployment
 Source
• Infrastructure costs
– New towers, transmitters, antennae
• Equipment costs
– Large amount of NTSC equipment
• Operating costs
– Higher electricity bills
– Greater programming costs - chicken & egg problem with viewers vs advertising
revenues
• Existing archives
– Huge existing archives of material will still need to be used
HDTV/DTV Overview
Barriers to Rapid Deployment
 Channel
• Approx 2/3 of US TV households get programming via cable
• Cable BW is NOT free
– Huge investments made by cable companies to increase bandwidth
– More choice (of SD or 480i channels) and data services may offer better ROI than
HD programming
– No “must carry” rules yet
 Receiver/Display
• Large high resolution displays are very expensive
• New electronics is expensive and still evolving
• Chicken & egg problem
– volumes vs cost
Crossing the Barriers: Source
 Upconversion of 480i to ATSC
• Huge NTSC archive and installed base of NTSC equipment can continue to be
used by addition of Digital Format Translator (DFT) which upconverts 480i
(NTSC, S-Video, D1, D2) to any ATSC HDTV format in real-time
• Allows gradual introduction of HD equipment as volumes increase and costs
drop
480i
Digital Format
Translator
ATSC formats
Crossing the Barriers: Source
Upconversion
 480i (NTSC, S-Video, D1, D2) to any ATSC HDTV format in real-time
Network Broadcast:Cable:Satellite
Video Source
Tape Archive
or Disk Source
Network
Switching
Analog or
CCIR601
Digital
Format
Translator
HD MPEG2
Compressor
Transmission
Satellite Uplink
To Affiliates
TV Affiliate or Cable Operator
From
Network
Satellite Downlink
Affiliate
Receiver &
Decompressor
HD MPEG2
Compressor
Broadcast
Affiliate
Transmission
Television Tower
Video Source
Tape Archive
or Disk Source
Digital
Format
Translator
Cable System
Crossing the Barriers: Channel
 Cable adding significant capacity by upgrading to hybrid fiber/coax
• fiber from headend to node
• coax from node to homes
 Premium channels/content might use full HD
 Channel bandwidth can be conserved by combination of good down/up
conversion
• Cable (and DBS/DSS) control both sides of channel that delivers content to the
home
ATSC
formats
ATSC
formats
480i or 480p
Downconvert
Upconvert
channel
Headend or
node
Set-Top box
inside home
HDTV/DTV
Crossing the Barriers: Receiver/Display
 Receiver and display currently separated in most offerings
• Enhanced DTV
–
–
–
–
–
addressability < 720 lines vertically
cost < $5000
direct-view and rear projection
usually include line doubler (de-interlacer)
Hitachi, Samsung, Panasonic, and many others
• HDTV-capable
–
–
–
–
–
–
full HD addressability
cost typically > $5000
no HD receiver
HD input from external receiver, often via proprietary interface
mainly rear-projection, but some direct-view
Mitsubishi HD1080 Diamond Series with 4:3 and 16:9 options, Panasonic,
Faroudja, Hitachi, Samsung, and many others
• HDTV-ready
–
–
–
–
full HD addressability
includes HD receiver and possibly others (e.g., DirecTV)
mainly rear-projection but some direct view
Thomson, Sony, Toshiba, Hitachi, Samsung, and others
Crossing the Barriers: Receiver/Display
Receiver/Display Options
 Display options
• Direct-view CRT TV
• Rear-projection CRT TV
• Rear-projection LCDs & DMDs
– Liquid-Crystal-On-Silicon (LCOS) devices could offer cheap high-def solution
•
•
•
•
•
Front-projection LCDs & DMDs
LCOS Headsets
Plasma
Direct-view LCD
17”-21” CRT computer monitors
– rapid decline in price + rapid increase in volumes
 Receiver options
• Set-Top Box (STB)
– simplest option is simple decoding device similar to DSS/Cable STB
– most popular option under development is low-cost multi-functional computer that can
be used for gaming, DVD, digital VCR, interactivity, Internet surfing, etc
• PC-DTV
– PC with low cost DTV receiver
Crossing the Barriers: Receiver/Display
Set-Top Box
 Basically a PC-like device
• Low cost: < 500$
• Multi-functional
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
HDTV/DTV tuner, demux, decode, conversions
NTSC tuner, decode, upconversion
3D Games
DVD player
Interactivity & data services
Internet surfing
Digital VCR
• Open architecture
– Not necessarily using Windows or x86
• Leveraging PC components and approach
– PCI bus
– Graphics and video components leveraged from PC
– Software APIs to allow ISVs to offer enhanced services
 DBS/DSS and Cable STBs pursuing similar direction
Crossing the Barriers: Receiver/Display
Set-Top Box: System View
MTS 100
Stream
Player
HD
Digital
Disk
Recorder
DTV
NIM
S/PDIF In
TV
Tuner
Audio
Amplifier
S/PDIF Out
Reference
SDI In
SDI Out
Evaluation
RS232
JTAG Tap
Composite Out
Svideo Out
R (R-Y)
G (Y)
B (B_Y)
TL850
S
CPU
Software Development Tools
Application Control Program
Modem
Telco
USB/P1394 Smartcard
USB Peripherals
(Scanners, Keyboards,
Joysticks, Printers )
Source:TeraLogic, Inc.
IR/IRDA
Remote Control
(or IRDA Peripherals)
Crossing the Barriers: Receiver/Display
Set-Top Box: Structure and I/Fs
Source: TeraLogic Inc. Cougar DTV Reference Platform HW
Crossing the Barriers: Receiver/Display
Set-Top Box: SW Architecture
Source: TeraLogic Inc. Cougar DTV Reference Platform SW
Crossing the Barriers: Receiver/Display
DTV-STB Receiver Architecture
SDRAM
Descrambler/
CA sub system
DTV Tuner
Demodulator
PCI Bus
RS-232
Parallel
USB
IDE
Transport
Stream
NTSC/
PAL
Decod
er
NTSC
IIC
SC
PWM
GPIO
DTV
Decoder
HD Video Out
Audio Out
CCIR601
Aux. Video Out
CCIR601 Digital
NTSC/PAL
Encoder
STB I/O
1394 Link
PCI Bridge
Super I/O
EPROM
1394 PHY
IR
CPU
FLASH
SDRAM
Crossing the Barriers: Receiver/Display
PC-DTV Platform
 Near-term solution
• add-in card with HDTV/NTSC tuner and demux/decoder
– offers HDTV/DTV viewing on conventional CRT computer monitor or HD monitor
– enhanced services and interactivity possible through other PC HW/SW
– low cost: likely < 300$ in 2H99
• add-in card with HDTV/NTSC tuner
– HW NTSC decode
– SW HD demux and decode (with IDCT+Motion Compensation assistance from
graphics accelerator - MP@HL likely by 1H00).
– very low cost possible: could be < $100 in 1H00
 Long-term solution
• PC-based Integrated Digital Media Platform
– Modular secure architecture based on compact enclosed receiver modules (Device
Bay) with SW acting as bridge between receiver and renderer.
– Big push by Microsoft in this direction
Crossing the Barriers: Receiver/Display
PC-DTV Add-in Card
 Add-in card option based on dual-input tuner and HW DTV decoder
 Could be < $300 in 2H99
PCI or AGP Graphics Card
RGB
VIP Port,
8/16/24
Memory 4/8/16 MB
64
HD Digital
Video
Loop-back Cable
Antenna
CATV
ATSC/NTSC
Tuner
VSB Demod.
Xport
Janus
DTVPC
Decoder
CCIR656
HD
RGB
HDTV
CCIR656
Video
NTSC Decoder
32
PC Monitor
Analog
Switch
PCI Bus
Source: TeraLogic Inc.
Crossing the Barriers: Receiver/Display
DTV Decoder IC
 Highly integrated DTV decoder IC
• Comprehensive set of features: transport demux, MPEG2 MP@HL decode, video
processing, 2D graphics for GUI support, display processor, PCI I/F
 Suitable for STB or PC-DTV
Memory
4/8/16 MB
Janus
(8)
HD Transport
Stream
Digital Video
(8)
(6)
Memory Controller
2D Graphics
•32 bit engine
•Anti-alias filter
•Alpha blending
VIP Port
Transport
Transport
Demultiplexer
Demultiplexer
•ATSC
•DVB
•DSS
CCIR656
Audio IN
(64)
Audio
Processor/
Mixer
Digital Video Decoder
•MP@HL MPEG2
•Decodes all 18
ATSC formats
•1HD or 4 SD streams
•Decodes DVD video
•ATSC, ARIB, DVB
compliant
Display Processor
•Multiple formats
- 1080i, 720P,480P, 480i .
•PC Formats
- VGA, SVGA, XVGA
•Letterbox mode
(32)
PCI Bus
Source: TeraLogic Inc.
RGB/YPbPr
(3)
Audio Out
(6)
Video Scaler
• 19 tap H/V filters
PCI Controller
Digital HD Video
•Line Doubler
•High Quality
up/down
conversion
CCIR656
SD Video
(9)
Crossing the Barriers: Receiver/Display
Philips Coney PCI ATSC/NTSC Reference Design
 Low cost add-in card option
• NTSC/ATSC reception with single tuner
• ATSC transport stream, scaled 656, and BTSC stereo audio sent out via PCI
• Could be < $100 in high volume
Crossing the Barriers: Receiver/Display
PC-DTV: HW/SW Partitioning
 HW/SW partitioning for low cost Coney card option
NTSC/CC
app/UI
Analog/dig
tuner driver
VSB demod
driver
Tuner
AC3 decode
DShow
sound
MP@HL
video decode
DShow video
renderer
PCI Bridge
WDM
Software
Hardware
TS demux
DTV
app/UI
Analog TV
demod
Digital TV
demod
PCI
Bridge
Gfx driver
MP@HL
h/w assist
Gfx hardware
Crossing the Barriers: Receiver/Display
PC-DTV: System View
Enhanced
programming
Cable
NTSC
Video
Audio
Data
1394 Device
Bay or external
C.A. Receiver
Module
1394
Cable
8VSB PCI
Receiver
Module
Analog
(MPEG
Encoding)
Receiver
Module
PCI
WDM driver
Graphics
chip/card
On-chip MPEG
acceleration
PCI
WDM driver
AGP
WDM driver
PC motherboard and software
TS split
CS create
CS store/retrieve
CS split
MPEG
decode
support
Driver
Crossing the Barriers: Receiver/Display
PC-DTV: Long-term System Architecture
 Receiver functions separate from rendering functions
• All streams go through Microsoft DirectShow SW layer
Cable
Video
display
subsystem
Terrestrial
Satellite
ADSL
Telco
DirectShow
(value adding filters)
Audio
subsystem
????
Data
subsystem
DVD
MPEG Enc
Storage
(Network)
Crossing the Barriers: Receiver/Display
PC-DTV: Long-term View
Integrated Digital Media Platform
(“PC-Inside”)
Satellite TV
receiver
Cable box
Atsc box
Telco box
A/V receiver
VCR
DVD player
Web browser
Game console
Subsumes
functionality
of some or
all of these
Forecasts
 Depends on whether PC-based DTV (or PC-like STB-based DTV) can
provide quick ramp up in volume
• PC-DTV add-in cards for $99-$299 coupled with 17”-21” CRT monitors could
provide significant early deployment to create the positive spiral needed for fast
growth
• PC & CE industry will try
– ultimately depends on consumer preferences
 Traditional approach based on HDTV sets and vanilla HD receivers will be
much slower
Effective
advertising
Large installed base of
eyeballs
Low cost
interactive
receivers
Positive spiral
Better free
programs
Large volume
receiver market
Summary
 Transition to HDTV/DTV began with November 98 broadcasts
• Current status is 66 stations on air with full facilities, 25 with partial
 Many barriers to rapid deployment, but most can be overcome
• Upconversion
• STB and PC DTV low cost receiver platforms
– New functionality such as digital recording, interactive television, data services, at low
cost could attract high volumes
– PC/semiconductor industry price pressure could offer price-points as low as $99 (for
lowest functionality option).
• Emerging display technologies such as LCOS, low cost large PC CRT monitors,
and enhanced CRT SDTVs could provide high quality viewing options at
reasonable cost.
 Could be a significant opportunity for “enhanced TV”
 Ultimately will depend on consumer preferences
Acknowledgements
 Speaker gratefully acknowledges material and/or information provided by
•
•
•
•
•
•
Chuck McLaughlin, McLaughlin Consulting Group
Mark O’Brien, TeraLogic, Inc.
Terry Smith, Sarnoff Corporation
Dave Marsh, Microsoft Corporation
Mark Farley, S3 Incorporated
Glen Sakata, Broadcast Group, Faroudja Laboratories
References
 HDTV/DTV
• “HDTV Status and Prospects”, B. Lechner, SID 1997 Seminar M-10.
– detailed history of development of HDTV
• “The Impact of DTV on Television and Computer Displays”, R. Cooke,
McLaughlin, McLaughlin Consulting Group, December 1998
– provides in depth analysis of US market and a detailed product and technology
forecast
– www.mcgweb.com/reports/dtv.htm.
• “Opportunities for Displays in the DTV Era”, R. Cooke, C. McLaughlin,
McLaughlin Consulting Group, April 1999
– abridged version, summarizes market trends and forecasts DTV rollout
– www.mcgweb.com/reports/dtvopps.htm.
• www.atsc.org
– web site for Advanced Television Systems Committee
• www.teralogic-inc.com
– white papers on set-top box and PC implementations of DTV
• www.microsoft.com/winhec
– presentations and white papers on PC-centric DTV
• www.fcc.gov/mmb/vsd
– web site for FCC - up-to-date information on TV stations DTV transition
C.
References
 MPEG2
• “An Introduction to MPEG-2” B. Haskell, A. Puri, A. Netravali, Chapman &
Hall, 1997
 PC multimedia architecture
• “Multimedia Accelerators”, N. Balram, SID 1998 Seminar M-7.
• Datasheets and data books from various multimedia accelerator companies
 Image/Video/Television
• “Video Demystified: A Handbook for the Digital Engineer”, K. Jack, HighText
Publications, 1993.
• “Digital Television”, C. P. Sandbank (editor), John Wiley & Sons, 1990.
• “High Quality Video De-interlacing”, N. Balram, B. Herz, Windows Hardware
Engineering Conference (WinHEC98), 1998.
• “Video Processing for Pixellized Displays”, Y. Faroudja, N. Balram,
Proceedings of SID International Symposium, May, 1999.
• “Principles of Digital Image Synthesis”, Vols 1 & 2, A. Glassner, Morgan
Kaufmann Publishers, 1995.