ENENSYS provides gateway and modulator for Australia DVB-T2 trial

Free TV, TX Australia and Broadcast Australia complete trials of next generation broadcast technology using ENENSYS DVB-T2 Technology

RENNES, France — ENENSYS Technologies has announced that Free TV, TX Australia and Broadcast Australia used its ENENSYS T2Gateway and Teamcast TwisterII modulator for the recent trials of DVB-T2 in Queensland, originating from the TX Australia managed Gold Coast transmission site at Mount Tamborine and the TXA Brisbane transmission site at Mount Coot-tha. The trials are now complete and preliminary results will be presented during the Media Entertainment Technology (SMPTE) conference in Sydney in July.

The trial assessed the performance of DVB-T2 transmission modes in the Australian environment, utilising the UHF band for transmissions in both MFN and SFN configurations. DVB-T2 is being considered as a 2nd generation DTT technology to replace the current DVB-T standard currently used for Australian terrestrial television service delivery. When combined with new video compression technologies (HEVC), DVB-T2 enables broadcasters to deliver significant improvements in picture quality such as High Dynamic Range (HDR) picture quality.

The Queensland tests followed trials in the Sydney area in 2018 and utilised an ENENSYS DVB-T2 Gateway to feed an existing UHF transmitter that had been upgraded to support DVB-T2 with a Teamcast TwisterII modulator.

Colin Prior, APAC Sales Manager at ENENSYS said, “We were very pleased to continue our involvement in these trials that will enable the Australian broadcasters to confirm the capabilities of DVB-T2 in their environment as well as ensure interoperability between equipment manufacturers”.

Roger Bunch, Free TV’s Director of Engineering, said “We have appreciated the extensive support received from ENENSYS towards achieving our objectives. These trials have permitted us to trigger wide technical interest towards establishing guidance for implementing the DVB-T2 system and methods for evaluation of their quality of service performance requirements.”

Michael Ryder, GM Engineering at TX Australia said “We are grateful for the support provided by ENENSYS and other suppliers which partnered with us to enable the DVB-T2 trials. The outcome of these trials will form the basis for future consideration of the adoption of this next generation broadcast standard in Australia.”

Stephen Farrugia, CTO at Broadcast Australia said, “The DVB-T2 trial is an important step to validate that the terrestrial television technology is ready for next generation broadcast, enabling Australian broadcasters to deliver the best possible viewing experience with optimal spectrum efficiency”.