The BBC will use the giant IBC exhibition and conference to demonstrate new technology that could be used to deliver mobile TV to smartphones and tablets. The corporation said that its R&D unit plans to show the first public example of DVB-T2-Lite, which is part of the DVB-T2 Freeview HD standard that has been specifically developed for mobile usage.
The BBC said in a press statement that DVB-T2-Lite is a new profile which will support cheaper receiver implementations for applications such as mobile broadcasting. "The profile can be mixed with conventional T2 signals in a single multiplex, to allow separate optimisation of the individual components and also to reuse the existing broadcast transmitter infrastructure," it said.
In other words, the delivery of live TV content to mobile devices would be mixed with conventional DVB-T2 broadcast transmissions in a single multiplex without any need for major network buildouts.
The BBC R&D group said it would be interested in licensing the technology to other parties.
As part of the UK digital switch-over programme, the BBC has already rolled out a nationwide DVB-T2 multiplex which provides several HD terrestrial channels.
For more:
- see this BBC press release
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