DVB channel coding standards for broadcasting compressed video services

Video compression has been of interest to broadcasters for many years. Professional applications based on ITU-R standards are already in use in the contribution and distribution chain. The goal of transmitting digitally compressed video to the home was also approached but with reduced success until the development of video compression standards, such as MPEG, which permit the low bit rates needed to support consumer services. Following the agreement on source coding processes the emphasis turned to digital transmission techniques suitable for broadcast media such as satellite, cable, terrestrial and multichannel multipoint distribution systems (MMDS). Whereas in some parts of the world proprietary schemes have emerged, in Europe the Digital Video Broadcasting Project was convened to develop such transmission standards as would be complementary to MPEG. A number of different solutions have been necessary and these are described together with an overview of practical development of systems and hardware