Australia conducting another DVB-T2 trial
The new DVB-T2 trial is to test and verify interoperability between third-party systems and demonstrate its robustness in seamless transmission performance among multi-vendor DVB-T2 installations
Last November, Australian broadcast entities — TX Australia, Broadcast Australia, and Free TV — commenced a DVB-T2 trial in Gold Coast. This latest trial builds upon trials conducted in Sydney last year to assess the performance of DVB-T2 in the Australian environment.
The DVB-T2 trial originates from a Gold Coast re-transmission site located on Mount Tamborine, which is managed by TX Australia, a joint-venture company of the Seven, Nine, and Ten broadcast TV networks.
Although a similar trial was conducted in Sydney, the capabilities of DVB-T2 will once again be tested, including in an extended single-frequency network (SFN).
DVB-T2 is being considered as a technology to replace the current DVB-T standard, which Australia has been using for TV services since 2001.
One technology partner for this initiative is GatesAir, which has supplied its Maxiva XTE exciters to test for interoperability, 4K/Ultra HD (UHD) quality reception, and IP-based broadband capabilities.
Rich Redmond, president and managing director, international, for GatesAir, commented: “GatesAir has a long history of field trial support in advance of digital transitions worldwide, and this Gold Coast initiative represents an important step in Australia’s consideration of migration from DVB-T to DVB-T2.
“With its 4K/Ultra HD (UHD) picture quality, IP-based transmission, and broadband capabilities, DVB-T2 offers over-the-air broadcasters and viewers many programming advantages. And this collaboration between TX Australia, Free TV Australia, and Broadcast Australia is an example of the innovation and engineering skills within the Australian broadcast industry.”
One key objective of these field trials is to test and verify interoperability between third-party systems being used in both traditional and SFN configuration.
According to Redmond, the GatesAir Maxiva XTE exciter platform has demonstrated “reliable, seamless transmission performance” in multi-vendor DVB-T2 installations across Europe and Asia.
Paul Mullen, executive chairman at TX Australia, said: “It is vital that the Australian broadcast industry keeps abreast of new technologies, and undertakes trials such as this to ensure the best quality content is available to the viewer.
“We would like to acknowledge GatesAir, Rohde & Schwarz, Enensys and Teamcast for providing equipment for this trial.”
