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An Advanced Profile of MHEG 5
The UK digital terrestrial platform is the first horizontal market in digital television in the world, with four multiplex operators and an open market in receivers. It is also unique in having chosen an open standard API as its operating system. Exhaustive evaluations by the DTG showed that the ISO MHEG 5 standard, based on the work of DAVIC, has significant technical advantages over alternative proprietary APIs as well as the over-riding advantage of being the only open standards API available.
In order to meet the very tight timescales involved, the profile of MHEG 5 specified for the launch of services in the UK omitted a number of features that were not required immediately. These were allowed for as extensions to be added in the future. EuroMHEG contains those extensions, together with European font requirements and other features that will allow MHEG 5 to stand comparison with proprietary alternatives. The development of such enhancements as interactive services may prove to be critical in the success of emerging digital networks.In partnership with European sister organisation DigiTAG, the DTG has therefore completed the specification of a package of additional features under the name of EuroMHEG. As a source of detailed requirements, the group has worked closely with Aniel, the Spanish Manufacturers Association and a number of Spanish broadcasters and network operators. However, the aim has been to design the profile for general application and to simplify the task of migrating to the future DVB MHP operating system. In detail, the extensions cover:
- access to the return path in a number of ways to suit different requirements.access to files on a remote server and server provided programs. downloading of whole or partial fonts including support for the full Latin character set. text input from remote control or optional IR keyboard. generic access to CA and SI for enhanced EPG applications a financial transaction toolkit for home shopping and other applications.
- VCR control functions
The EuroMHEG group believes it has come up with a compact and elegant solution to the needs of DTT operators, and one that will satisfy the requirement for choice implicit in an open standard. Herman van Wijk, President of DigiTAG, says EuroMHEG is the only available non-proprietary API and the one that will offer the most certain migration to DVB MHP. Much of the EuroMHEG development is generic and will be of equal value to MHP as to MHEG. The majority of members of the EuroMHEG team are common to both projects, which will ensure a similarity of approach that will simplify the migration task.
The UK MHEG 5 document can be downloaded via email from the DTG publications page.
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