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ABSTRACT:-
A Set Top Box (STB) is a device that enables a television set to receive and decode digital television (DTV) signals. IR Decoders also known as STB has now been enabled with additional features to become interactive. If we add an extra device to existing STBs in order to access internet, then we can call it as IP STB. IP STB’s with an added advantage of internet browsing over the TV with the existing network that they have already established. So, there is a need to integrate Internet browsing feature on Set Top Box (STB) as an additional feature to provide value to interactive television services.
Even though there are ways to perform such a task, but providing a good design with a capable processor and operating system which are capable of handling more present and futuristic with cost effective looks to be challenging. ARM core processors and Linux operating system (OS) may be employed in implementation of interactive television. ARM is one of the most licensed and thus widespread processor cores in the world and used especially in portable devices due to low power consumption and reasonable performance and Linux is an open source operating system with good flexibility and secured tile system.
INTRODUCTION:
Digital Television (DTV)
Digital television, commonly known as digital TV, is a completely new way of broadcasting and is the future of television. It is a medium that requires new thinking and new revenue-generating business models. Digital TV is the successor to Analog TV and eventually all broadcasting will be done in this way. Around the globe, cable, satellite, and wireless operators are moving to a digital environment. Affiliates of the four major networks in the United States—ABC, NBC, CBS, and Fox were slated to begin digital broadcasts by November 1999. By 2006, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in the U.S. has mandated that no more Analog
television signals be broadcast. In Europe, the digital TV train is also rolling out of the station, with broadcasters in France, Ireland, Spain, Germany, Holland, and the U.K. planned to launch digital technologies in 1999.
Digital Television in India is regulated by TRAI (Telecom Regulatory Authority of India) & Information and Broadcasting Ministry. Indian government passed an mandate about digitalization of Television broadcasting to Metro Cities(Tier-1) Chennai, Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata in first phase, and progressing to tier-2 and tier-3 cities and planning for across India to get the full advantage of digitalization in accordance with the Digital India Plan initiated by our prime minister of India.
Most industry analysts are predicting that the transition to digital TV will be an evolution rather than a revolution, changing the way of life for hundreds of millions of families around the world. Companies are acknowledging that the convergence between personal computers, TV sets, and the Internet has already begun and are positioning themselves to maximize revenue from this new computing paradigm.
For consumers, the digital age will improve their viewing experience through cinema-quality pictures, CD-quality sound, hundreds of new channels, the power to switch camera angles, and improved access to a range of exciting new entertainment services. Digital TV also gives subscribers the opportunity to enjoy more programming through cinema-style wide screen TVs. Gone are the days of choosing between a small range of channels. Television will become more fun and powerful to use, yet at the same time simpler and friendlier. For the broadcaster, a move to a digital environment decreases the bandwidth utilization per channel, facilitates the offering of Internet applications to their subscribers, and opens a new era of business opportunities.
The digital technologies will allow cable companies, satellite providers, and Wireless broadcasters to offer a variety of powerful revenue-generating services, including:
1. Internet access at blazing speeds;
2. Multi-user network games;
3. Video on demand;
4. Home banking services;
5. E-commerce applications;
build more revenue generation services there by making digitization more profitable to the cable operators with increased revenue per each STB.
The advancement of cable digitization in combination with the STB software can enable wide variety of revenue generating applications and advertisement revenue to Cable operators. With the current market size of just over 100Cr, the applications and STB ad's market size is expected to grow to around 5000 Cr by the time India achieves full cable digitization. Areas like T-Commerce, Interactive STB Ad's, regional yellow pages, Edutainment, Healthcare and T-
Governance gives an opportunity to target and deliver customized services at a local destination adding huge revenues to cable operators. STB software in conjunction with its partner ecosystem will also enhance the TV experience of the cable subscriber thereby ensuring DTH quality and customer retention.
Broadband bundling with the Cable TV, enabled by Hybrid TV solution "In the process of digitization roll out, we are constantly innovating to generate additional revenue's to our cable operator's there by their broadband investments will have faster payback through our multi screen, OTT enabled Hybrid TV solutions. Our ideas to deliver solutions packaging with the advertisements and value added services as a managed service is to make it even more beneficial to the operators. The operators will have more agile ways of generating visible income through innovative means"
Quality of Watching TV Experience:-
Consumers benefit from regular progress in TV quality since the progressive digitization of television services in the 1990s, consumers have successively benefited from higher quality TV, first with standard digital TV, followed by High Definition TV (HDTV).
The TV experience is enhanced by additional services
The consumer’s linear TV experience is being progressively enhanced through additional information and services relating to a program being watched. The most popular features include more detailed information through the electronic TV program guide, data on live events such as sports statistics, interaction during TV games and talent and reality shows. Consumers are also benefiting from “TV broadcast independent services” such as weather forecasts or road traffic conditions.
Consumers manage this interactivity on the TV screen or through a companion device (smartphone, tablet).
The need for intuitive and unified interfaces
Unified interfaces are vital for dealing with this abundance of content from different sources and consumed through different networks and devices. Confronted with a multiplicity of linear and non-linear services, consumers need tools to:
• Bridge linear TV channels and catch-up programs,
• Select content on one device and view it on another,
• Search across different sources,
• Receive recommendations from social networks.
These commonly required functionalities need to be embedded in one unique, user friendly, device-agnostic interface. One illustration of this type of service is proposed by the RVU system adopted by DirecTV. It allows access from any TV in the house, through the same interface, to the entire content that the household is entitled to receive or has recorded.
Hybrid Broadcast Broadband TV:-
Broadcast networks are well suited to providing homogeneous TV quality on a national scale, but they lack interactivity as demonstrated by the introduction of HDTV through satellite and DTT, broadcast TV networks have pioneered the transition to high quality TV services and consistently play a leading role in the introduction of new TV standards. They are able to deliver new services overnight on a national scale. However, broadcast networks do not benefit from the native return path which is needed to deliver advanced TV services.
Broadband operators can deliver on-demand content and full-scale interactivity but their geographic reach for TV services is limited
Through their IP client-server based infrastructure, broadband networks provide a personal link between the consumer and content, and can handle management of large catalogues of audiovisual content in high-capacity storage centers, making “Any Content, Any Time, Any Device” a reality. However, the penetration of their TV services remains constrained by their network coverage.
Connected consumer electronics devices are flourishing but the promise of the Connected TV market remains to be confirmed Connected TVs, hybrid set-top-boxes and Internet video streaming boxes are fast developing in the market. A number of standards, which can be natively implemented in connected TVs or stand-alone devices, are also available for hybrid broadcast broadband TV integration. Moreover, the progressive implementation of CI+ Common Interface solutions in TV devices is facilitating the integration of encrypted TV channels. With a Connected TV, customers are benefiting from an enhanced user experience thanks to:
Cable MSO(Operators) towards IP path:-
Even as the digitization is happening gradually, India is witnessing the growth of several OTT platforms offering music, movies, catch up TV and also Live TV. Simply put, emergence of Cable-like businesses on the “cloud”. Will this lead to cord-cutting? Seems no for now, as studies show that online content viewing is only an additive, rather than a substitute. However, it will be a lost opportunity if Cable MSOs cannot take a share of this, despite being in the best of positions in terms of having subscribers, in-house content and broadcaster relationships as opposed to new OTT service startups. For these reasons, a multi-screen approach is almost a must-have and the best part is it can be a phased approach.