Digital Terrestrial Television - 2nd generation, DVB-T2 system: Overview

This article is the continuation of the series of three articles already devoted to digital terrestrial television (DTT), concerning the principles [TE 6 146] , the DVB-T and ATSC systems [TE 6 147] , the equipment and deployment of 1 ^re generation DTT [TE 6 148] .

This fourth article describes the DVB-T2 system developed for broadcasting 2nd generation digital television using a terrestrial network of transmitters to fixed, portable or mobile receivers.

Such an evolution appeared necessary, in particular, in view of the development of digital television distribution via telecom networks (via ADSL, fiber or 4G/5G networks to mobiles) and the growing production of HD and then UHD television programs. These latter images require a 30-50% increase in broadcast capacity per channel, compared with the initial DVB-T system.

This challenge has been met thanks to new techniques, some of which stem from the DVB-S2 2nd generation satellite broadcasting system, ensuring increased capacity, greater robustness and greater flexibility.

The description of the DVB-T2 system in this article is essentially that of the functions and parameters of the various system modules, and not of the techniques themselves. Also included are descriptions of the video and audio formats inserted upstream of the DVB-T2 system, as well as that of the T2-Lite profile aimed in particular at broadcasting to portable or mobile terminals.

Although it competes with distribution services (IPTV, streaming) set up by telecom operators via their specific networks, DVB-T2, the new system for broadcasting television via terrestrial transmitters, offers exceptional performance in terms of throughput and protection, particularly suited to the delivery of HD and UHD programs.