The work of ETSI on Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB™) falls into two parts: system specifications and standards to assist equipment to be placed on the market in line with European legislation (Harmonized Standards).
DVB™system specifications
ETSI standards for DVB™ system specifications are developed in the ETSI/EBU/CENELEC Joint Technical Committee 'Broadcast', based on proposals from the Digital Video Broadcasting Project (DVB™) Project, an industry-led consortium. Services using DVB™ standards are available on every continent. Topics addressed by the DVB™ Systems Specifications include:
- Transmission
- Multiplexing
- Source coding
- Subtitling
- Interactivity
- Multimedia Home Platform (MHP)
- Interfacing
-
DVB™ over Internet Protocol (IP) Networks
-
IP datacast over DVB-H (the version of DVB™ for handheld devices)
- Conditional Access
- Measurement
DVB™algorithms and MHP test suites
ETSI is the custodian of the DVB™ Common Scrambling Algorithm (CSA) and the MHP Test Suites. The CSA has been designed to prevent unauthorized access to programme content. The MHP test suites contain thousands of tests to be run on a candidate MHP implementation.
DVB™equipment specifications
ETSI is responsible for developing standards for DVB transmitters: standards for DVB™ receivers are available from CENELEC. DVB™ transmitters placed on the European market are required to comply with the R&TTE Directive, which sets requirements on safety, electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) and correct use of the radio spectrum to avoid harmful interference.
Standards related to safety are available from CENELEC, whilst ETSI's technical committee ERM is responsible for developing and maintaining the EMC standards. These include two Harmonized Standards which may be used to demonstrate compliance of terrestrial television broadcasting transmitters (including DVB™) with the R&TTE Directive:
-
EN 301 489-1 (General EMC requirements for radio equipment)
-
EN 301 489-14 (specific requirements for terrestrial television broadcast transmitters).
ERM also creates standards related to the use of the radio frequency spectrum, and of these EN 302 296 applies to terrestrial DVB™transmitters.