Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Malaya: Euro or Japan digital TV standard?

THE National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) has asked television broadcasting companies which of the European and Japanese standards for digital terrestrial television (DTT) is technically and economically better for local use. 
In a technical presentation of the two standards at the NTC last Friday, NTC Commissioner Gamaliel Cordoba gave broadcast firms and other stakeholders until Wednesday to submit their recommendations. 
Cordoba said the broadcast firms should assess the impact of each standard on consumers as to the price of set-up boxes, program choice, quality and timing. 
On the broadcast side, the price of commercial rollout, speed and take-up should be considered while on the regulators’ side, frequency planning and analog switch-off are the prime concerns. 
Based on initial technical comparisons, the European DVB-T2 was found better in terms of transmission transfer rate of a channel; robustness of the transmission to improve coverage; number of countries adopted, and; payload capacity. 
The Japanese ISDB-T, however, are cheaper at $20.50 to $55 against DVB-T2’s $33.50 to $62. 
After the receiving the papers of the broadcast companies, the NTC will take more than a week to review these come up with a decision. 
The NTC planned to issue the implementing rules and regulations on DTT this month, but the deadline is expected to be extended if NTC chooses the European technology. 
The NTC chose the Japanese standard in June last year, but the Aquino administration has given the European consortium owning DBB-T2 another chance to make a presentation. 
Earlier, the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas (KBP) said its members favor the Japanese standard as the cost of set-up boxes is much cheaper. 
The Japanese government has also promised funding and technical support for the country’s migration digital television. 
"The Japanese government earlier said it will support the country’s transition into the DTT era by, among other things, setting up a factory here for the manufacturing of set-top boxes. This will create jobs for Filipinos and make the equipment more accessible," said Atom Henares, chairman of the KBP Television Committee. - Myla Iglesias, dated 11 July 2011
Source: Malaya

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