Introduction - Digital Video and Audio Broadcasting Technology - page 4

for roof antenna reception, or about 13 to 15 Mbit/sec for portable indoor
use. Germany is currently completely changing, region by region, from
analog terrestrial TV to DVB-T.
In North America, other methods are in use. Instead of DVB-C, a very
similar system which conforms to ITU-J83B is used for cable transmis-
sion. Terrestrial transmission makes use of the ATSC method where ATSC
stands for Advanced Television System Committee. In Japan, too, other
transmission methods are used, such as ITU-J83C for cable transmission,
again very similar to DVB-C (which corresponds to ITU-J83A), and the
ISDB-T standard for terrestrial transmission. Yet another terrestrial trans-
mission system is being developed in China (DMB-T). The common factor
for all these methods is the MPEG-2 baseband signal.
In 1999, another application was given the green light, namely the digi-
tal versatile disc, or DVD. The video DVD also uses an MPEG-2 data
stream with MPEG video and MPEG or Dolby Digital audio.
In the meantime, the range of digital television has been extended to
mobile reception with the development of standards for use with mobile
telephones, designated as DVB-H (Digital Video Broadcasting for Hand-
helds) and T-DMB (Terrestrial Digital Multimedia Broadcasting).
This topic deals with all present-day digital TV transmission methods,
i.e. MPEG, DVD, ATSC and ISDB-T. The video DVD is also discussed to
some extent. The discussion is focused on dealing with these subjects in as
practical a way as possible. Although mathematical formulations are used,
they are in most cases only utilized to supplement the text. The mathemati-
cal ballast will be kept to a minimum for the practical field engineer. This
has nothing to do with any possible aversion the author may have against
mathematics. Quite on the contrary. In the course of many seminars in-
volving thousands of participants throughout the world, forms of presenta-
tion were developed which have contributed to a better and easier under-
standing of these in some cases highly complex subjects. The topic also
contains chapters dealing with basic concepts such as digital modulation or
transformations into the frequency domain, some of which can be skipped
by a reader if he so desires. Experience has shown, however, that it is bet-
ter to read these chapters, too, before starting with the actual subject of
digital television. A major emphasis is placed on the measuring techniques
used on these various digital TV signals. Necessary and appropriate meas-
uring techniques are discussed in detail and practical examples and hints
are provided.
As far as possible, practical findings and experiences have been incor-
porated time and again in the individual chapters. The content of this topic
is structured in such a way that it starts with the analog TV baseband sig-
nal and then continues with a discussion of the MPEG-2 data stream, digi-