[Satellite News 05-20-10] The Broadcast & Beyond 2010 event in London saw executives from BSkyB and SES Astra give updates on 3-D and hybrid TV in Germany.
    Chris Johns, chief engineer, BSkyB presented early statistics related to BSkyB’s launch of 3-D TV in the United Kingdom and said the reaction to BSkyB’s 3-D launch of live soccer events, so far, have been positive with 70 percent of viewers giving it a rating of 8, 9, or 10 [out of 10]. “Over one million 3-D screens are anticipated in peoples’ homes in the United Kingdom by 2011. There are 2.5 million Sky+ HD set-top boxes capable of receiving 3-D TV. We think it will be commercially viable.”
    According to Johns, the momentum behind 3-D TV shows no signs of slowing down as 3-D TV programming becomes more cost-effective to offer. The broadcaster is planning several 3-D sporting events in the future, including the 2012 Olympics. “In the past, it was complicated to film 3-D. In this digital age, it is almost instant. The cameras have evolved. That is why there has been a rapid acceleration of a number of films shot in 3-D. There is more production flexibility. You have file-based storage and editing. You are able to make two kinds of programs (one 3-D, one non 3-D) with only one small incremental cost.”
    On the production side, Johns said shooting 3-D has become more relaxed. “We slow down the rates of cuts. One of the issues to identify is there are going to be issues to watch 3-D for a prolonged period. HD can be a fast paced. With 3-D, you have to slow it down a lot. With 3-D TV, you try to emulate what the eyes are actually doing.”
    Several trade shows have focused on 3-D in 2010 and consumer electronics manufacturers are jumping on the bandwagon. The introduction of Hybrid Broadcast Broadband TV (HbbTV), particularly in Germany, was one of the innovations discussed at the event. HbbTV, a major new pan-European initiative aimed at harmonizing the broadcast and broadband delivery of entertainment to the end consumer through connected TVs and set-top boxes, will combine the inherent advantages of satellite and DSL.
    Thomas Wrede, VP product management media, SES Astra said HbbTV will require a coordinated marketing effort by a number of different partners to succeed in Germany. “In the short term, I think the most important thing is that HbbTV will be standardized and accepted by European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI). This will bring security to manufacturers. There needs to be development of test suites for HbbTV devices. At the ANGA cable show, there were more than 12 set-top box manufacturers exhibiting HbbTV enabled set-top boxes, and another six are working on prototypes. There were 546,000 hybrid devices sold in 2009. But, these are not HbbTV devices. We expect HbbTV enabled flat screens this year.”
    With more TV and set-top manufacturers bringing out HbbTV enabled hardware, popular on-demand Web services like BBCiPlayer or YouTube will transition to the large screen in the living room. While HbbTV services are currently available in Germany, the speakers agreed that with connected TV, it is difficult for providers to anticipate how consumers will use the service as the meaning of content becomes more complex.
    However, consumer demand has been constant, according to David Fell, CTO of ANT, and that has driven the broadcast industry expectations for hybrid services to happen sooner than later. “There is an expectation from consumers and in the industry that hybrid should happen. It is now practical to put hybrid devices in the home. There is experimentation going on.”