Siemens will show at CeBIT the connection between mobile television and soccer. The company will be showing that mobile radio can do more than simply bring TV to a small screen. With mobile phone connections acting as the return channel, mobile phone TV becomes interactive, and viewers can directly participate in the program.
The Soccer World Cup 2006 Germany will see the first larger-scale pilot experiments in Germany with mobile television: the right technology for mobile broadcasting is a must and the transmissions of TV programs have to be adapted for the mobile phone. “Suitable for the mobile phone� means that the pictures appear needle-sharp on the phone’s display and that the restricted screen size is taken into account. When soccer matches are transmitted, the live pictures have to be processed so that the ball is not just seen as a tiny dot on the pitch in the overall picture. To achieve this, the picture is zoomed in on, and the enlarged section then transmitted “near live� – with a short delay due to the extra processing involved.
The soccer tournament will be used as the test-piece for deciding which technology is the best for mobile broadcasting. The final will be DMB vs. DVB-H. DMB (Digital Multimedia Broadcast) is based on the standard used for digital radio and DVB-H (Digital Video Broadcasting – Handheld) is based on DVB-T, the technology used for terrestrial transmission of digital television (DVB – Terrestrial).
The Siemens Communications Group and many other mobile communications companies show a clear preference for DVB-H. This technology allows TV broadcasts to be received without difficulty on mobile equipment, including inside buildings and on underground trains, and a larger variety of programs to be provided. Instead of just the four to eight programs that are possible with DMB, up to thirty mobile phone TV programs can be provided with DVB-H. Interactive services are easier to implement with DVB-H – with mobile phone connections serving as the return channel. This makes completely new services possible – such as betting, voting for the “super star� or the “goal of the month�, interactive advertising formats and mobile-phone TV shopping channels.
In cooperation with a broadcaster Siemens DVB-H radio technology will be covering the greater Hanover area with DVB-H television for CeBIT. Visitors will be able to test at first hand the new DVB-H terminals and prototypes being presented at the event with television programs being broadcast by ARD, ZDF, Sat1 or DSF.