Draft:DVB-I

DVB-I is an open Digital Video Broadcasting specification for Service Discovery and Programme Metadata.

The DVB-I specification defines ways in which devices and displays connected to the internet can discover and access sets of audiovisual media services. These can include services delivered online through fixed and wireless Internet Protocol connections as well as broadcast radio and television channels received over radio frequency networks using traditional cable, satellite, or terrestrial transmissions.

DVB-I defines an online request and response mechanism by which available audiovisual media services can be discovered through a Service List Registry. The specification defines the schema and signalling to describe an ordered Service List of audiovisual media services, with provision for logical channel numbers and service logos, together with technical parameters by which one or more instances of a service can be accessed over various networks. It also defines methods and metadata to enable online access to programme information for channel schedules and programme catalogues that can be presented in electronic programme guides. This allows services to accessed in a coherent and consistent way over diverse networks. Support for regulated service lists provides a method for national regulators or their representatives, operators and trademark licensors to offer a list of trusted, legitimate, authorized, or regulated services.

As an open standard, based on HTTPS and XML, DVB-I can be freely implemented in any application, device, or display, enabling a competitive consumer market. It does not impose any form of presentation on how the information provided is rendered by the client. This may be supported directly by the software operating environment, a native application, or within a web browser. The HbbTV standard for hybrid broadcast broadband television has been extended to provide full support for DVB-I. Media services can be accessed using various established standards, including the DVB suite of specifications for satellite, cable, and terrestrial transmission, and DVB-DASH for online delivery using adaptive bitrate streaming.

History
The DVB Project established a working group to begin the definition of DVB-I in October 2017. Work on the commercial requirements for DVB-I began in January 2018 and the terms of reference were agreed in March 2018.

The DVB-I specification was approved by the DVB Project in November 2019 and first published as DVB BlueBook A177 in June 2020 and as an ETSI standard TS 103 770 in November 2020.

The Service List Registry was established in 2022 to provide a global platform for service discovery using DVB-I.

Work began in 2023 to enable interoperability of DVB-I with 5G mobile network standards.

The latest release of the DVB-I specification was published in February 2024 as DVB BlueBook A177 Rev. 6.

Italy
Italian broadcaster Mediaset launched a DVB-I proof-of-concept in 2019. Following the completion of two phases, a commercial trial was announced in September 2023, with commercially available receivers.

Germany
A multi-stakeholder group of broadcasters, vendors, service providers and others launched a pilot DVB-I service in Germany in 2022. A report on the first phase of the pilot was published in May 2023. The pilot won the 2023 IBC Special Award for Innovation and a second phase was announced in September 2023.

Client
A DVB-I client may be integrated into the user interface of a device such as a television or set-top box or may be part of an application on devices such as a mobile phone or tablet.

Service
A DVB-I service is any service which may be discovered using the mechanisms defined in the specification, available using one or more delivery systems including DVB-DASH and traditional DVB cable, satellite, or terrestrial transmissions. A service may be received by devices without a broadcast tuner or coaxial connection, including mobile devices, or on devices with a traditional DVB-C/S/T/IPTV receiver or using SAT>IP. A service may only be accessible under certain conditions, such as location, rating restrictions, conditional access, or subscription package. It may be linear or on-demand, and may include audio, video, subtitle, or access components, and may have linked applications.

Service Instance
A DVB-I service instance refers to the delivery of a DVB-I service using a single delivery mechanism and provides related information to enable it to be accessed by a DVB-I client.

Service List
A DVB-I service list may list services from one or more content providers. A service list provider may manage the service list and provide service ordering and numbering information. The service list may be targeted at a particular platform brand, geographic region, language, or genre. Clients marketed under a particular platform brand may use a single service list for that platform. Clients may offer a selection of service lists and present the user with a view of services from only one service at any one time. Alternatively, clients may combine several service lists and present them, with or without filtering options.

Service List Registry
A DVB-I Service List Registry provides a DVB-I client with a list of one or more Service List Servers in response to a request that may include query parameters. A service list registry provides an HTTP endpoint at a known URL and in response to a request query returns a list of service entry points. A service list registry may be operated by or on behalf of various kinds of organisations, such as device manufacturers, national or regional regulators, an operator or platform brand, third-party service list aggregators, or as a central service list registry for all compatible clients, providing information on a wide set of service lists.

Service List Server
One or more servers may deliver a Service List to a DVB-I client. A Service List Server may aggregate service list fragments from multiple content or service providers.

Content Guide Server
One or more servers may respond to requests from a DVB-I client for content guide data. The content guide server or servers for an individual service are referenced in the service list entry for that service.

Stream Server
One or more servers may be involved in the delivery of audiovisual streams, including a Playlist Server, an MPD Server providing the Media Presentation Description for DVB-DASH services, and a Stream Server, including Multicast Gateways, that deliver DASH media segments to a DVB-I client.