What is the purpose of a Set top box?

Set-top-boxes (STBs) come in many forms. In general they provide an interface between incoming signals and a television display. Typically a television is not able to accommodate every possible type of input source. Examples could be; cable, terrestrial, satellite, IPTV, internet etc. As most consumers tend to opt for one primary source of programming, it would not be economically viable to build in receivers for every conceivable source when they for the most part will not be used.

Depending on the country, a television receiver may have the most popular method of reception built in and therefore only need a set-top-box if one of the alternatives is also desired. Therefore, television displays exist with built in terrestrial, satellite and cable receivers but not all three at the same time.

How does a set top box work?

A set top box will typically demodulate and decode the incoming signal and then pass it to the display as a baseband signal. In recent times the standard interface between the set-top-box and display is HDMI. The input to the box may come from an aerial (terrestrial), dish (satellite), coax (cable). In addition a phone line or network may be connected to provide two way communication, authorization and/or Internet access. Because the box is unlikely to be linked in to the control system of the display, a remote control is required for channel changing and other interactive features.

The set-top-box may also provide access control with a subscription necessary to receive the services. This control may be achieved by a plug-in smart card or network managed.

What different types of set top boxes are there in the market? What sets them apart?

Set-top-boxes are generally specific to the service supplying them, for example cable, satellite, IPTV, Web or terrestrial.

Also they may be supplied by and branded from a specific service provider.

Different levels of functionality might apply at different price points, for example storage/recording or no storage.

Depending on the country there may be free services available not requiring subscription, usually associated with satellite or terrestrial. In which case several manufacturers may make boxes sold through normal retail outlets competitively based upon price and functionality.

What is a hybrid box? Explain.

“Hybrid box” usually refers to a STB capable of integrating more than one service. Typically this would apply to a combination of cable, satellite or terrestrial together with Internet access. As the demand for interactivity increases, together with a desire to access Video On Demand content, the hybrid box presents the different services as a coherent interface with a single menu. Therefore live programming may come in via terrestrial broadcasting with video downloads or access to other video content achieved through the Internet.

Having a single interface is more consumer friendly and in addition, specific interactive applications can be developed.

How parameters do service providers and networks look for in a set top box?

Don’t understand the question!! Doesn’t make sense?

Is the customer’s appetite for Internet access and apps built into the STB increasing?

Yes, there is a steady growth in awareness of the additional features available. However many of the “apps” are provided free to make the overall sales proposition more attractive.

Why would a consumer pay for a subscription to use a set-top box when “Smart TVs” allow direct access to internet content, such as (OTT), for free?

High quality content is rarely available free and at the very least is paid for by including ads. Content available free through the Internet, if legal, is different to that available from mainstream broadcasters. So popular mainstream programming in most cases requires a license fee, subscription or features advertising support.

“Smart TVs” may well become “gamechangers” especially if the Internet becomes a mainstream source of video content on large screen TVs. Currently many consumers have Internet speed restrictions and also data usage limits. This reduces the quality experience and in many cases makes Internet video unusable compared to live traditional programming. Even more difficult with HD. With improved Internet access then more mainstream programming will be supplied through this route but there will need to be a business model that pays for it.

Will broadcasting in 4K be able to be decoded by regular set top boxes, or will it need new hardware?

Typically for cable, satellite and terrestrial the STB is video format specific. It may handle the current service and some legacy ones but does not second guess future services. Consequently a change in video format is a big issue for broadcasters, requiring receivers and STBs to be changed.

In recent times this applied to High Definition (HD) with no legacy Standard Definition receivers able to receive HD, so there has been a big boost in TV receiver and STB sales.

Whether there is an appetite to change again after such a short period of time will depend on how compelling the proposition is for the consumer and how much of a premium the service provider can charge for 4K.

Service providers may start by offering a premium services at additional cost together with a new STB.

What is the future for set top boxes?

The future of STBs will depend in part on the evolution of Internet sourced video. As we are seeing it is proving easier for display manufacturers to integrate general purpose processing power it to TVs and therefore with a good network connection provide access to content. New apps and functionality can then be downloaded as new features and formats become available.

Similar flexibility has not been forthcoming with satellite, cable and terrestrial receivers making a set-top-box essential if the display does not have a built-in receiver.

Traditional broadcasting is likely to remain a major force for many years to come and therefore the need for STBs is likely to continue. They will however become more capable and “hybrid” with additional features. They may in some cases fill the role of a consumer media server/hub providing content throughout the home.

The BBC R&D Sustainability Team and BBC Sustainability Committee hosted a one-day event on March 6^th 2013 for invited delegates from our industry and from academia to explore environmental issues related to broadcast and connected digital media technology. The event, which was conceived by Janet West, Senior R&D Technologist at the BBC was held in central London at the BBC’s New Broadcasting House. The day began in the historic Art Deco BBC Radio Theatre with some contributions “setting the scene” from various members of the BBC teams who had helped organise the event. They explained they wanted to encourage very open and frank discussions throughout the day to be conducted under a “Chatham House Rule” so that contributions were not attributed to named individuals or delegate organisations and as such all attendees were asked not to do any live tweeting or blogging.

A key point made that I noted early on was that the BBC felt this topic needed to be addressed because “Broadcasting has a role to play in improving society” – a paraphrase of what is often said to be the original BBC mission statement, set forth by its first general manager, that its purpose was to “inform, educate, and entertain (very much in that order).” (One delegate re-stated this point rather well I thought, during a group discussion later in the day, “If our industry can’t communicate the importance of sustainability, then who can?” – which is especially true for a public service broadcaster like the BBC.)

However, it was clear that there was a lack of clarity for what “sustainability” actually means and particularly for the operation of this industry and it was hoped that the day’s discussions might lead to some kind of agreed definition. It was also recognised that persuading small and medium sized organisations to adopt sustainable practices with long term benefits is difficult in the tough economic climate we all have to endure currently, but they are often forced to do so anyway because of supply chain pressure from other organisations upstream and downstream of them who have already business objectives that promote sustainability or “green” choices.

The BBC discussed its Victoria Tool which allows the assessment of the sustainability of complete broadcast technology projects and its Project Albert online carbon calculator now made available for the whole industry via BAFTA. An indication of the way in which broadcasting is changing was given by the fact that the BBC had noticed the number of consumers using the I-Player to view programmes on mobiles and tablets had doubled just after Christmas this year.

This was followed by four very interesting presentations from speakers working on sustainability issues in academia.  Conceptual ideas around sustainable design and real consumer needs were discussed by one speaker, whilst another spoke of life-cycles not just of the product itself, but also its method of manufacturing. The need to understand where the responsibility for sustainability lies was also examined, with one contributor stating that we must all take ownership of this now and stop being so concerned about what will happen in the future.

It was also argued that the true cost of an individual’s or organisation’s actions should be considered, including both the social cost and environmental cost – citing even the carbon cost of a Google search being measured by other researchers.

Sustainability on a global scale was discussed in that we continue to hear of rapidly declining sources of key materials needed for the manufacture of modern electronic goods being extracted from the Earth, yet these same materials are returned to the Earth in an unrecoverable format as waste (“WEEE”). This has encouraged organisations to look at “urban mining” of such waste, with one of the speakers explaining that there can be as little as 5g of gold in a tonne of raw mined ore, yet up to 500g contained in WEEE.

Another noted that environmental policy is often conflicted, citing examples of news published just six days apart last year, one decrying unprecedented loss of Greenland’s sheet ice, followed by another noting the beneficial opportunity to exploit mineral resources now made accessible by that loss.

Four presentations from speakers representing equipment suppliers finished the morning’s discussions, describing various initiatives within their organisations that address sustainability in their operations, concerning both the use of hazardous substances and energy usage. One speaker asked if other delegates were carefully controlling the chemical content of their products to ensure compliance with global regulations in place or impending, noting that a first cut audit in their own organisation even with controls in place found 20% of items tested failed to comply. Another noted that each part of their organisation had environmental objectives, but that a fully integrated approach meant that if just one part failed to meet its objectives, the whole organisation was deemed to have failed.

In the afternoon, we moved to an open plan room in New Broadcasting House for group discussions. 14 different topics had been prepared and the delegates chose ones which were most relevant to their interests. There was a reasonably even split across most of the topics, although not all were selected. Some examples were:

“What do you know about what is in our industry related products that we use and sell and how they are made?”

“What might the business model be to transition to 4K and then to Super HiVision within environmental constraints?”

“Does embracing the circular economy make business sense for this industry?”

Each group discussed its chosen topic freely and noted down key ideas, which were then shared with all the other groups in a final open discussion session. It was noticeable that, given the sometimes controversial nature of the topics, there was a surprising degree of consensus of views with no inamicable dissent between any delegates who were from all parts of our industry.

The BBC had created an excellent and well organised event and it was clear that a lot of thought and planning had been put into it.

Find this article interesting?

The IABM have collaborated with BBC R&D to provide a webinar for members.

Sustainabilty for Broadcasting and Connected Digital Media will be on Wednesday 24 April, 4:00 pm – 5:00pm (GMT)

Click here for more information

TagStation is the next generation of hybrid radio Tag Station provides broadcasters with an easy-to use, standardized, and cost-effective way to deliver a rich audio, visual experience. It supports the back office operations in an efficient and user friendly way.

Pocket Probe is an iPhone app that enables objective analysis of real network performance of streaming media from a portable device at every point in the network, at any time. It’s available from Apple’s App Store in free and paid-for versions.

IABM and NAB have announced the winners of the second-annual Game Changer Awards. The Award recognizes five products judged to have the greatest potential to revolutionize the industry. This year’s distinguished winners are Bridge Technologies for PocketProbe, Masstech for Emerald for News, TC Electronic for LoudnessRadar, isovideo for Viarte, and Emmis for TagStation.

“The NAB Show always provides an exciting glimpse into future possibilities for the broadcast industry’s growth and development,” said IABM Director General Peter White. “The five products honored today with Game Changer Awards are an exceptional sampling from this year’s exhibition, demonstrating both an awareness of the challenges that face broadcasters today and the opportunities that tomorrow brings.”

“The NAB Show offers the perfect opportunity to recognize the ongoing innovation that drives our industry forward,” said Chris Brown, executive vice president of conventions and business operations at the NAB. “Each year, vendors devote significant time and resources to bringing their best new developments to the show floor. The Game Changer Awards honor this effort and the forward-looking solutions it yields.”

The Game Changer Awards were open to all broadcast, digital media, and entertainment industry manufacturers and their products, and the award winners were selected by a panel of impartial experts who toured the show undercover and reviewed products and solutions during the first two days of the show. Award trophies were presented today at the IABM booth N6418 on the NAB Show floor.

Well judging by my two visits BVE attendance was good and for the IABM session also, it was a capacity crowd. We had a great panel including: Steve Sharman CTO of Mediasmiths, Mike Nash, Product Manager at Signiant plus Ian Beushaw, Head of Digital Media, ITFC/Deluxe.

The starting point was of course the disappointing current status with so much media still being exchanged on tape. We all understand the elegant concept of transferring files but it seems pragmatically, tape is surviving much longer than its “sell-by” date. Why?

Well, file exchange is a minefield, we have standards but until recently they have not been fit for purpose in the way the industry requires. The debate suggested engineers designing for users was a part of the problem. Recent initiatives such as the “Digital production Partnership” (DPP) and FIMS (Framework for Interoperable Media) are starting to address the balance with users at the helm.

In addition poor experiences with interoperability have given file transfers a bad name. Hopefully initiatives like the ones above which constrain the number of options and reduce the potential for failure will help.

Ian Beushaw also suggests: “Most of the value in standardising a format is to the benefit of broadcasters due to the reduction in material processing requirements; overall costs for production companies could be slightly higher”.

According to Mike Nash there are still technology limitations in networks and higher speed networks will potentially open the flood gates.

Towards the end of the session negativity was replaced with a feeling that the obstacles will be removed and file transfers an inevitable destination for most. The ongoing challenge seems to be Metadata which can be more complex that the video and audio content. Metadata is essential to make sense of the content and seems to have adopted a higher degree of importance than the programming itself!

Please visit the IABM website for more information on events and conference sessions.

Another great event with the BBC, despite the rail system cancelling trains and trying to stop me chair the evening.

This was much more than “Archives” in the traditional sense. I was pleased to see the topic quickly move on to a more all-embracing content storage and management strategy.

An excellent overview from Deon Cotgrove describing the scale of the challenge to move BBC legacy content to file formats from wax cylinders to film to D3 tape to Betacam and more.

Maggie Lydon has responsibility for media management strategy which touches every part of the BBC including encouraging changes in workflow. Another tough job I guess.

But there was a clear message that file formats do signal better days ahead. Once away from proprietary video tape formats, files are agnostic to the storage medium. So automated high speed migration of entire libraries is becoming a reality rather than the manual real time process of dubbing video tapes. Also greater access to content is a key objective.

Thanks to our three member companies; Front Porch Digital, Spectra Logic and Suitcase TV for their positive contributions, much appreciated.

Again the success of this event has spurred us on to think about a topic for the next, ideas welcome!