Methodology & definitions

Background
TV Technology Intelligence provides up-to-date global information, analysis and forecasts on the technology deployments required to transmit TV content to the home over satellite, cable, IPTV and terrestrial networks.

A major focus of TV Technology Intelligence is the digital broadcast infrastructure of global pay TV operators. This includes set-top boxes, conditional access, middleware, components and transmission infrastructure.

Data methodology
Screen Digest's TV Technology data is based on information gathered directly from:

• Broadcasters and TV operators
• Manufacturers and vendors
• Local consumer electronics associations
• Key executives at vendors, integrators and trade bodies
• Retail tracking services
• Consumer market research studies

While some data is publically available, most of the published data is based on detailed data collection and modelling of the requirements and growth of operators and platforms. Where possible, the data has been checked for consistency with operators and manufacturers. However, the nature of the granularity of data shown in TV Technology and the markets that are covered means that virtually all the information shown is not available through any public source.

A key component of TV technology is set-top box deployments. These have been calculated with reference to the demand of individual operators with the assumption that demand will be matched by box supply over a similar time frame given the general trend for just-in-time supply. As a result, set-top box shipments and supply has been defined in the data as set-top box demand.

Forecast methodology
TV Technology Intelligence has used Screen Digest's pre-eminent global TV database, Television Intelligence, to develop forecasting methodology that ties together technical requirements with subscriber growth and coverage of households. This means that all TV Technology data is methodologically reflective of Screen Digest's Television forecasts.

TV Technology Intelligence also tracks relationships and deals between manufacturers and vendors of technology and global TV operators and platforms. This data allows us to build up an overview of the relative strategies and positioning of manufacturers' and to forecast manufacturer-by-manufacturer opportunities cross referenced to operator-by-operator needs.

Glossary

• Cable - Any TV service that is broadcast over an internal wired infrastructure to a STB. Common digital transmission standards include DVB-C and ISDB-C, both of which use QAM modulation exclusively. Most digital signals are transmitted in MPEG-2 although there is a high penetration of analogue cable still active. All cable is considered pay TV although there are lower levels of 'utility cable' penetration, primarily in Europe and often supplied through MDUs
• Chipset - The silicon components within a STB or other hardware. In most cases Screen Digest are referring to SoC in a STB
• Conditional Access Module (CAM) - CAM refers to a non-integrated CA system, usually in the form of a PCMCIA card slot, containing the STB-end CAS. CAM will normally include a card slot for a smart card
• Conditional Access System (CAS) - The encryption and control system used to protect delivered content from being decoded outside of the authorised network of STBs. Includes an encryption system at the transmission side and a companion decryption system in the STB, usually activated using a smart card
• Deals - In TV Technology Intelligence, deals are defined as any relationship where a vendor or manufacturer supplies a broadcaster, operator or another vendor with a certain type of equipment or service. TV Technology Intelligence tracks deals by set-top box, chipset, CAS, middleware and infrastructure vendor
• Digital video encoding - Compression and standard used to transmit a signal. Common standards include MPEG-2, MPEG-4 (AVC), VC-1 (WM-9) and AVS. MPEG-4, VC-1 and AVS standards are derived from MPEG H.264
• DTH satellite - Direct-to-home (DTH) satellite services are TV services that broadcast via a geo-stationary satellite to a receiver that is directly connected to a single house. Common transmission standards include DVB-S, DVB-S2, ISDB-S and S-DMB. Most signals are transmitted in the KU-band in MPEG-2. All DTH satellite provision covered is digital
• Free-to-air (FTA) TV - Any TV content that is delivered at no subscription cost to the consumer
• HD PVR - Defined as a class of STB capable of decoding an HD signal and including a PVR. Usually H.264 derived chipset
• HD standard - Defined as a class of STB capable of decoding an HD signal and without a PVR. Usually H.264 derived chipsets
• High definition (HD) - HD is a loose term to define any resolution standard over 1280x720 pixels of data, almost exclusively utilising a 16:9 aspect ratio. Full HD is considered to start at 1920x1080 pixels and is the size used for Blu-Ray Disc (BD) resolution
• Hybrid - Hybrid STB refers to the integration of more than one delivery platform (satellite, cable, IP, DTT) into the same STB. This generally refers to the integration of IP into a broadcast platform or of a FTA service into an IPTV box
• IPTV - Any TV service multicast or unicast over wired infrastructure to a STB using IP. All signals are digital and are encoded in a variety of forms including MPEG-2, MPEG-4 (AVC) and VC-1 (WM-9)
• Middleware - Middleware is the firmware and software layered to control the workings of a STB through to the interface and applications. This will usually include some base-level of operating system integration (from the STB manufacturer) stacked with functional layers (PVR, VoD), interface layers (EPG, UI) and applications (games, rich content)
• Multi-dwelling unit (MDU) - A 'mini-headend' that collects signals distributed via broadcast satellite, cable, DTT or IPTV and distributes to the local wiring of an otherwise unconnected group of dwellings. Most pay TV MDUs are to apartment blocks, although a similar architecture is deployed in hospitality such as hotels and cruise ships
• Pay TV - Any TV content that is delivered at a subscription cost to the consumer or is associated with a paid for package or channels or services
• Personal Video Recorder (PVR) - An integrated hard disk drive (HDD) function built into a STB. Excludes external consumer HDDs activated through a USB port
• Regional headend - Wired platform infrastructure. Takes a main feed from a super headend containing the majority of linear channels and adds local content and often where VoD servers are housed. The signal is then distributed to node and hub level. If there is no content insertion at this level then it would be called a hub
• SD PVR - Defined as a class of STB capable of decoding an SD signal and including a PVR. Usually multi-tuner SoC models
• SD standard - Defined as a class of STB capable of decoding an SD signal and without a PVR. Usually single tuner models
• Set-top box (STB) - Any device used to decode and display TV content delivered by broadcast, multicast or unicast. This includes linear TV and VoD. The set-top box focus of TV Technology is in digital (vs. analogue) devices deployed for broadcast and telco IPTV, including pay and free-to-air platforms
• Standard definition (SD) - SD is a loose term to define a basket of lower than high definition (HD) resolution TV standards. This is broadly in line with legacy analogue transmission resolution of PAL (incl. SECAM) and NTSC. Signal resolution of both is fixed vertically with 576 and 480 lines (pixels) respectively, and total resolution dependant on aspect ratio horizontally. Broadly speaking, SD signals will have no more than 720x576 pixels of resolution and active broadcasts will be in PAL or NTSC standards
• Super headend - Wired platform infrastructure collecting broadcast signals from a variety of sources (eg. Contribution satellite networks, direct playout) and distributing to a closed infrastructure of regional headends over fibre or fibre-copper/coax networks. Screen Digest definition of super headend excludes headends that do not feed to a network of regional headends
• System-on-Chip (SoC) - A chipset that has multiple functions and generally all functions required to take a modulated signal and output a signal to the TV. Including tuner, decoder, decompression, operations and integrating to middleware and conditional access
• Tuner (chipset) - Chipset component that allows the selection of a particular modulated signal (channel) from a range received by the STB. One tuner is required constantly to allow a particular channel to be accessed, therefore to simultaneously watch and record different channels, at least two tuners would need to be active
• Video-on-demand (VoD) – True VoD - Any TV content that is delivered via at the request of the consumer over a multicast or unicast network off a server. True VoD is distinct from near-VoD which is the delivery of a separate broadcast signal that can be tuned into on a pay-per-view basis and usually associated with satellite operators