OMEN
07-21-2009, 03:44 PM
BBC iPlayer will be coming to Freeview "as soon as possible", the Digital TV Group has told Digital Spy.
The industry body is currently overseeing the technical development of new set-top-boxes for receiving high definition Freeview when the service launches at the end of the year.
DTG director general Richard Lindsay-Davies has revealed that the organisation is also "working very hard" to ensure the deployment of iPlayer on Freeview HD.
"We are doing a lot of work to ensure that is achieved," he explained. "This also includes the basis of all products so that people will not have to buy a new product even if iPlayer becomes available after the launch of Freeview HD."
As the new Freeview HD receivers will require an internet connection, part of this process will involve utilising the bandwidth available to boost the user experience.
DTG technology director Simon Gauntlett said that there are "several aspects" involved with introducing greater functionality around Freeview services.
"Things like a shopping channel where people press the red button and actually purchase a product and go through transactions and things. That doesn't need much more that a dial up connection. The product would still need a broadband connection but in terms of speed, there would not be a massive requirement there," he said.
"But when you start talking about more bandwidth hungry applications such as stream to video and audio, we've set our benchmark to achieve two megabits per second as a requirement. But actually if you look at iPlayer on the PC, you find that SD programmes are considerably less than that. So you can certainly get very good video experiences through lower bit rates."
The government's Digital Britain report has pledged to guarantee broadband of a minimum speed of 2Mbps for every UK household by 2012.
However, there are concerns that many areas will not have sufficient internet speeds to effectively access VOD content in the medium term.
Lindsay-Davies indicated that the DTG is working with internet service providers to "optimise the bandwidth that is required and to make sure there is appropriate buffering and so on".
However, he added: "Ultimately, we cannot disadvantage the consumers that are able to stream iPlayer for those who might find it difficult because they don't have adequate broadband speeds. So to a certain extent we are in the lap of the broadband market.
"Also, it depends on what resolution the content is broadcasted in and I believe that the iPlayer team is working hard to use MPEG-4 compressed suitably so that there isn't a burden on the network.
"What we shouldn't do is not launch iPlayer universally because of these broadband issues which are really out of our control but will hopefully be dealt with once broadband Britain rolls out."
Many of the services are already deployed on the market, including IP Vision's recently launched Freeview+ box which offers access to iPlayer and other VOD content.
In terms of the BBC, BT and ITV joint venture Project Canvas, Lindsay-Davies explained that this initiative would develop a "service wraparound" to provide easier access to content.
This, he said, could provide another "possible way" to get iPlayer to the consumer, especially as the service forms part of the TV licence fee.
"It's also worth mentioning that we are in negotiations with other on-demand content providers than iPlayer but I can't reveal anything more at this stage," he added. "It's also early days as we haven't yet launched the Freeview HD proposition yet."
DS
The industry body is currently overseeing the technical development of new set-top-boxes for receiving high definition Freeview when the service launches at the end of the year.
DTG director general Richard Lindsay-Davies has revealed that the organisation is also "working very hard" to ensure the deployment of iPlayer on Freeview HD.
"We are doing a lot of work to ensure that is achieved," he explained. "This also includes the basis of all products so that people will not have to buy a new product even if iPlayer becomes available after the launch of Freeview HD."
As the new Freeview HD receivers will require an internet connection, part of this process will involve utilising the bandwidth available to boost the user experience.
DTG technology director Simon Gauntlett said that there are "several aspects" involved with introducing greater functionality around Freeview services.
"Things like a shopping channel where people press the red button and actually purchase a product and go through transactions and things. That doesn't need much more that a dial up connection. The product would still need a broadband connection but in terms of speed, there would not be a massive requirement there," he said.
"But when you start talking about more bandwidth hungry applications such as stream to video and audio, we've set our benchmark to achieve two megabits per second as a requirement. But actually if you look at iPlayer on the PC, you find that SD programmes are considerably less than that. So you can certainly get very good video experiences through lower bit rates."
The government's Digital Britain report has pledged to guarantee broadband of a minimum speed of 2Mbps for every UK household by 2012.
However, there are concerns that many areas will not have sufficient internet speeds to effectively access VOD content in the medium term.
Lindsay-Davies indicated that the DTG is working with internet service providers to "optimise the bandwidth that is required and to make sure there is appropriate buffering and so on".
However, he added: "Ultimately, we cannot disadvantage the consumers that are able to stream iPlayer for those who might find it difficult because they don't have adequate broadband speeds. So to a certain extent we are in the lap of the broadband market.
"Also, it depends on what resolution the content is broadcasted in and I believe that the iPlayer team is working hard to use MPEG-4 compressed suitably so that there isn't a burden on the network.
"What we shouldn't do is not launch iPlayer universally because of these broadband issues which are really out of our control but will hopefully be dealt with once broadband Britain rolls out."
Many of the services are already deployed on the market, including IP Vision's recently launched Freeview+ box which offers access to iPlayer and other VOD content.
In terms of the BBC, BT and ITV joint venture Project Canvas, Lindsay-Davies explained that this initiative would develop a "service wraparound" to provide easier access to content.
This, he said, could provide another "possible way" to get iPlayer to the consumer, especially as the service forms part of the TV licence fee.
"It's also worth mentioning that we are in negotiations with other on-demand content providers than iPlayer but I can't reveal anything more at this stage," he added. "It's also early days as we haven't yet launched the Freeview HD proposition yet."
DS