Strategy & Technology to Launch Interactive TV and Closed Caption Monitoring Tool

At the NAB show in Las Vegas next week, Strategy & Technology--a UK-based company that specializes in solutions for standards-based interactive TV (its products include the TSBroadcaster and TSPlayer systems, which are used for the creation and transmission of MHP, MHEG, tru2way and ETV applications; and the widely licensed RedKey MHEG engine)--will unveil a new tool that it says monitors broadcast interactive TV applications, closed captions/subtitles, and other ancillary components within a transport stream, in order to help ensure that they are dependably delivered to viewers. Dubbed TSMonitor and intended for use by broadcasters and playout centers, the new tool implements a number of virtual receivers running on a single server, each executing a pre-defined, scripted functional test case. It offers a Web-browser-based user interface (can be used from any location with an IP connection to the server), which S&T says provides a simple "traffic light" status display and enables operational staff to drill down into the details of alarms. It also logs all events, and the behavior of all elements, for compliance and analysis, the company says.

According to S&T, TSMonitor's virtual receiver architecture significantly reduces rack and MCR video wall space requirements when compared to existing set-top box-base monitoring and logging solutions. Warnings or alarms are generated if the broadcast service deviates from the pre-defined test cases, the company says, so as to allow operators to intervene in a timely fashion to rectify playout problems. With interactive TV applications, for example, S&T says, TSMonitor is scripted to check that the app is broadcast at the scheduled time, to monitor the display of "call-to-action" user prompts, to examine launch and exit timings, and to check whether both the content and the behavior of the application are correct. According to the company, this enables TSMonitor to play a key role in interactive advertising campaigns, because it gives advertisers confidence that interactive elements are played out at the right time and across the right video.

When used for subtitles or closed captions, meanwhile, TSMonitor not only checks that these are being broadcast with programs schedule to be subtitled, S&T says, but also that they are updating correctly without any sticking or freezing. In addition, the company says, the system can check the availability of multiple languages where appropriate. "Interactive TV and closed captions/subtitles are now primary components of digital TV broadcast and the cost of playout errors can be significant," Colin Prior, S&T's director of international sales, said in a prepared statement. "TSMonitor will be an essential tool for broadcasters and playout operators who wish to automate the monitoring of interactive applications and closed captions/subtitles, whether for operational purposes or for compliance and audit."

According to S&T, TSMonitor is currently available with MHEG-5 middleware and EBU Teletext subtitles. The company says that support for DVB and Line 21 closed captions, as well as ETV/EBIF middleware is "in preparation, with other middleware standards support to follow."

In other recent news from Strategy & Technology:
--The company's TSBroadcaster2 interactive playout appliance was used by Comcast Media Center's HITS AxIS platform at the NCTA Cable Show in Washington, DC earlier this month to showcase a series of interactive TV applications that were delivered over a live cable headend. (Note: HITS AxIS--whose name stands for "Headend In The Sky Advanced Interactive Services," and which was developed in collaboration with Vidiom and TVWorks--is a centralized platform that operates on the NAS and DAC headend-management platforms and that is billed as being designed to support developers of advanced OCAP/tru2way and ETV/EBIF interactive TV applications and to facilitate the deployment and management of those applications on cable systems serving small- to mid-sized markets. CMC claims to be working with over 20 leading ITV developers that are developing apps for HITS AxIS; it has signed up four cable MSO's to serve as beta sites for the service: Buckeye CableSystem, Bend Broadband, Metrocast Communications, and Sunflower Broadband.) The live delivery of the apps was the centerpiece of a CMC demo of the HITS AxIS service that was held at the Cable Show's Broadband Nation exhibit (note: S&T says TSBroadcaster2 can deliver apps to a live cable headend via satellite or fiber). "The live demo in Broadband Nation will allow Cable Show attendees to experience a number of the ITV applications that are currently being delivered via HITS AxIS to our cable MSO beta sites," CMC SVP and COO, Gary Traver, said in a prepared statement. "The S&T team is playing an invaluable role in allowing us to showcase a number of ITV applications from our developer partners, including dashboard RFI and tcommerce demonstrations, over a live cable headend." According to S&T, TSBroadcaster2 allows MSO's and channels to deliver interactive applications in both ETV and tru2way, as well as other data delivery mechanisms such as Common Download and signaling for DTA. (Note: for a detailed write-up of CMC's HITS AxIS demo at the Cable Show, see the story published on itvt.com March 31st.)
--Last month, the company announced that it had been "instrumental" in developing a new technical specification "to combine the power of the Internet with interactive TV." The spec, published last month in the sixth edition of the Digital Television Group's D-Book, is intended to enable the next generation of set-top boxes for the UK's free-to-air digital terrestrial service, Freeview, to support "hybrid TV" services, including interactive streamed TV via a broadband connection. The spec will also allow four channels of HD content to be delivered over the new DVB-T2 transmission format, to start broadcasting this fall. Products that support the new spec are expected to come to market early next year; and HD DTT is expected to be rolled out across the UK until the completion of the UK TV digital switchover in 2012. "This development provides a new connection giving viewers a seamless experience when using interactive services sourced both from the Internet and broadcast TV," S&T's managing director, David Cutts, who chaired the group that developed the new spec, said in a prepared statement. "We don't say anything in the specification about how the IP packets are sent, and are not attempting to add Web services on a TV. Instead we are facilitating additional Internet-assisted TV services, using bandwidth supplied by ISP's to meet viewers' needs as capacity expands to meet demand." The hybrid TV system enabled by the new spec is an extension of the MHEG-5-based interactive system that is included in all Freeview and Freesat (note: the latter is the UK's free-to-air satellite-TV service) receivers. In addition to interactive applications delivered over the air, it will allow viewers to download applications and content from online services: these could include enhancements to on-air programming, such as voting, quizzes, news and information, as well as on-demand services such as the BBC iPlayer or Channel 4's 4oD service. The spec allows a receiver to use a standard broadband link to connect to TV apps and content, using Internet communications, and then presents them using TV technology. S&T says it will provide a number of products and services to support the new spec, including its RedKey 2 MHEG software (sold to CE manufacturers for inclusion in set-top boxes and integrated digital TV's); MHEGPresenter, a set of applications that provides interactive TV using the broadcast channel and red-button Interaction Channel delivery; and MHEGServer, for use on servers connected to the Interaction Channel. "We hope that this technology, developed in co-operation with broadcasters, network operators and equipment manufacturers, can provide a simple base from which to develop a whole new range of services for users on digital TV," Richard Lindsay-Davies, director general of the DTG, said in a prepared statement. "The launch of next-generation services such as HD and hybrid IPTV services on the Freeview platform is a landmark in British broadcasting, and I am intensely proud of the role the DTG and its members are playing."
--Last month, the company announced that it had partnered with Tandberg Television, Sony and Neotion to deliver a VOD solution that enables cable operators to deliver network-based time-shifted services and targeted advertising directly to the TV, without the need for a set-top box. By allowing standard TV's to support VOD "right out of the box," the companies say, the new solution will result in lower deployment costs for cable operators, and reduced energy usage and faster service availability (in that they will not have to wait for a visit from an engineer) for consumers. The companies also say that the solution will allow operators to maintain full control over applications and the look-and-feel of their user interface, and will provide consumers with full PVR functionality. The solution is based on a new common interface specification, called CI Plus, that was defined by Sony and Neotion and other companies in the CI Plus Forum. According to the companies behind the spec, it will soon be supported by 80% of Sony digital televisions and around 70% of all new integrated digital TV's. Coupled with "more secure conditional access," the companies say, the new interface will enable applications, once downloaded from the CI Plus module, to be launched from a browser in a CI Plus-enabled television set or other compatible receiver, thus enabling VOD and targeted ad insertion. Tandberg and Neotion say they have implemented a standards-based VOD system which combines Neotion's CI Plus module with Tandberg's OpenStream Digital Services Platform, and which handles the management of content, session control, billing, catalog generation, ad-insertion and resource management. By being able to run a full VOD platform--that includes timeshifted TV and network PVR--on any CI Plus-enabled TV, without needing to use a set-top box, the companies behind the new spec say, cable MSO's will avoid the large capital expenditure needed for deployment by teams of technicians, as the system is simply installed by end-users. The companies say that this will dramatically cut operators' costs for migrating from analog and digital, and--because PVR functionality is delivered from the network rather than from an internal hard drive--the life of installed devices will also be extended. S&T says that it has developed a data-driven MHEG application that runs within the CI Plus browser on the TV set, allowing end-users to quickly and easily navigate through an entire content catalog, select on-demand titles and control media playback. According to the company, this VOD application runs across the entire range of CI Plus-enabled TV's and other CI Plus-equipped devices, ensuring that operators can provide a consistent and visually rich VOD experience. "MHEG was originally conceived as a technology for delivering device-independent VOD solutions, and so is ideally suited to this kind of application," S&T's Colin Prior said in a prepared statement. "The inclusion of MHEG in the CI Plus specification means it is relatively easy to develop, deploy and update such dynamic applications to a broad range of suitably equipped CE devices."
--In February, the company announced that it had licensed its RedKey 2 MHEG-5 interactive TV middleware to TechniSat. The latter company, which is based in Daun, Germany, specializes in DVB products and offers a range of set-top boxes, DVR's, PC cards, CA modules and IDTV's with embedded Conditional Access and Common Interface for SD and HD services. "We have a longstanding relationship with S&T and we believe that RedKey 2 provides key new features that will extend the power of MHEG-5, including return path capabilities," Martin Cole, managing director and CTO of TechniSat's UK subsidiary, said in a prepared statement. "S&T is our partner for the development of interactive technologies and we are working with the company across solutions for a number of markets. We believe MHEG-5 is a beneficial solution for the global ITV market. It has been and is being deployed in huge numbers and provides an effective solution for interactive applications. The addition of a return path enables easy tcommerce transactions, access to additional content and operator services." (Note: for more on RedKey 2, see [itvt] Issue 7.77 Part 2b.)
--In January, the company announced the appointment of Mike Alexander as regional sales manager for Europe. His 20-year resume includes stints at set-top vendor, Pace; at pioneering IPTV company, Kingston Interactive Television; and at ecommerce software specialist, Pindar Systems.