Deutsche TV-Plattform

The new Working Group “Smart TV” of the German TV-Platform was established at the end of April 2009 and it is chaired by Jürgen Sewczyk (JS Consult). It clearly benefits from the results of the former Working Group IPTV, already chaired by Jürgen Sewczyk, which accompanied the kick-off of broadcast over IP technologies in a managed network. Since its beginnings in 2007, IPTV has become the fourth way of broadcasting transmission in Germany after cable, satellite and terrestrial. In order to achieve this aim, the WG IPTV established a “White Paper IPTV” setting out minimal requirements for End User Devices aiming at the reception of IPTV. The Working Group IPTV of the Deutsche TV-Plattform organised a successful workshop in Berlin in February 2009, presenting its findings to the public. Due to the competent work of this formerWorking Group, the German TV-Platform succeeded in attracting new members outside the classical field of television.

The full name of the new working group is „Hybrid End User Devices for the Integration of Broadband and Broadcast”. It clearly states the main fields of the group’s activities. It is about bringing internet content and web services to TV screens. This is in fact the second phase of the convergence of the media. In the first phase, television became a part of the internet and used this new medium as a further transmission mode and distribution channel for audiovisual and other contents. At the same time, broadband network providers – especially those with modern telephone lines – have started to use their new capacities to attract new customers by offering combined services such as telephony, on-line connections and IPTV.

In the second phase of convergence, major device manufactures such as e.g. Philips, Panasonic, Samsung and Sony develop technical systems to make the internet available over the TV screen, and turn the TV set into the media centre within the home network. Such devices and apropriate applications were shown at the IFA 2009 (Consumer Electronics and Home Appliciances Trade Fair) in Berlin and according the GfK (Gesellschaft für Konsumforschung) nearly one million of these "hybrids" allready sold in Germany until now - as "Hybrid End User Devices", mostly flat screens for broadcast and broadband. The activities of the new Working Group “Hybrid End User Devices” focus on these devices and applications - also for mobile use. Likewise in case of the “IPTV White Paper”, the Working Group develops common basic requirements for hybrid devices. These devices shall be inter-operable and have an open architecture. The requirements of content providers of broadcasting and internet services and network operators have to be harmonised in order to allow for a mass market, offering a diverse range of products and services to consumers and granting a high investment security to the industry. Meanwhile a european consortium with members of the Deutsche TV-Plattform such as Institut für Rundfunktechnik (IRT) and Philips started the standardisation process of Hybrid broadband broadcast Television (HbbTV). The Working Group is actively engaged in creating a basic profile document for all solutions of new TV-Web-combinations. It shall be presented during the year 2010.

“Fast development of the technologies and changing consumption behaviour accelerate the transition of the use of media. Convergence and competition are obvious and lead to a radical change of the market”, said Jürgen Sewczyk, chair of the Working Group Hybrid End User Devices and member of the Board of Directors. “Germany is not a small and remote island in this business. This is why the German TV-Platform attaches great importance to harmonisation. It must be achieved in order to avoid uncertainty of the consumers.”