DVB puts finishing touches to UHD-1 specification

The DVB steering board has approved final revisions and updates to the DVB UHD-1 specification. The standards body says the UHD-1 standard is now complete.

The revisions and updates pertain to DVB-DASH, audiovisual coding and bitmapped subtitles. The DVB approved the revision of ETSI TS 103 285, the DVB MPEG-DASH Profile for Transport of DVB Services over IP Based Networks. This now supports the provision of live text messages and slideshows for use with Hybrid Digital Radio; support for linking interactive applications to broadcast services delivered by DVB-DASH as well as HDR, higher frame-rates and next-generation audio.

Peter MacAvock

The DVB also approved amendments to TS 101 154, the DVB video and audio coding specification. The amended specification contains H.264/AVC and HEVC video conformance points for use with MPEG DASH. These are aligned with the broadcast codec conformance points, supporting a similar feature set, but take into account the specific requirements of adaptive bitrate delivery over IP-based networks, according to the DVB.

Finally, amendments to DVB Subtitling Systems (ETSI EN 300 743) add explicit support of subtitling for UHDTV services, as defined in ETSI TS 101 154 and ETSI EN 300 468.

Peter MacAvock, DVB chairman said: “UHD is a key part of many broadcasters’ portfolios. DVB has worked tirelessly to finalize a comprehensive set of specifications for UHD. While work continues, DVB is certain that broadcasters can confidently implement UHD on the basis of its specifications.”

The DVB has struggled to secure universal agreement on HDR as part of its UHD-1 Phase 2 specs. HDR is the element of UHD that gives extra ‘sparkle’ to images by increasing the brightness of highlights and detail in the blacks.

The DVB last year agreed the inclusion of the Hybrid Log Gamma (HLG) system developed by the BBC and NHK, which is compatible with SDR TV sets and designed with live broadcast in mind, supported alongside the Perceptual Quantizer (PQ-10) system developed by Dolby and favoured by some movie studios and Netflix.

Some companies have however requested the inclusion of add additional dynamic metadata to both systems in the spec.