DIPOL Weekly Review - TV and SAT TV, CCTV, WLAN

Google issues a challenge - goes open-source.

A short message posted on January 11 at Google's Chrome development team blog came as quite a shock to the multimedia market. According to the information the future versions of Google Chrome will not have a built-in H.264 video decoder.
With this decision, Google has crossed the Rubicon - has decided to strongly support a new standard on the Internet. The company wants to back open formats (Open Source), in particular WebM.

WebM has already been used in the leading project of the company - Global Internet Television and on YouTube. The openness of WebM means that it can be used for free by producers and consumers. Among organizations supporting the new format there are: Adobe, Android, Skype, AMD, nVidia, Logitech, Texas Instruments, Freescale Semiconductor, Broadcom.

Currently, 60-70% of the video streaming on the Internet is carried out with the patented H.264 video encoding, so this decision means that Google seems to push this popular standard into the background. This action will surely meet with strong resistance from Apple and Microsoft, the corporations that are not interested in strengthening the position of Google.

The popularity of video formats on the Internet in the last year
(Source: www.encoding.com)

For centuries countries fought for territories or natural resources, at the expense of human lives and huge expenditures on armaments. Today, similar expenditures are made by governments and companies to develop and spread technologies that can become international standards. Development of technology which becomes a global standard, can produce huge profits associated with patent fees. Even in the case of an open standard, the control over it may be very profitable due to easier deployment of new services and products, like in the case of Android system, controlled by Google.
China has noticed these facts and adopted a program to develop its own standards, being equivalents of the global ones. So Blu-ray has Chinese equivalent China Blue High-Definition (CBHD), the Chinese DMB-T/H (Digital Multimedia Broadcast-Terrestrial/Handheld) is in fact more technologically advanced that the European DVB-T, (Digital Multimedia Broadcast-Terrestrial/Handheld), the mentioned above H.264 has the AVS counterpart.

The comparison of VP8 and H.264 frames
(Source: www.streamingmedia.com)

Audio/video format is the way to transmit multimedia files (it ensures audio/video data compression, content storage, synchronization of audio and video). One may call it a "car carrying multimedia on the highway of the Internet".

WebM - the new video format is based on:

Matroska Multimedia Container - in the assumption of developers it should create a modern, platform-independent audio/video format - as an alternative to existing licensed containers, such as AVI, ASF, MOV, RM, MP4, MPG.
Video codec - currently the most popular and effective (the ratio of the image quality to file size) is H.264. The WebM format utilizes the VP8 codec acquired by Google in February 2010 by buying from On2 Technologies. Popularization of the new codec can bring about major changes in all areas of TV technology, including CCTV.
Audio codec - in the leading position is MP3, but WebM uses Vorbis.

The resignation from H.264 apparently proves success of the WebM tests on YouTube, which have already been conducted for a long time. The outcome can be assessed by watching movies compressed with WebM codec at this website.

"Engagingly about Antennas" - 10th DIPOL's photo contest.

The entries to this year's competition can be submitted from June 1, but it is worth to look for interesting themes even now. Who will be the winner of the jubilee edition of the competition?
The subject of the photo contest is a challenge that, at first, seems to be difficult to be up to. What can be interesting in antennas? But we hope the competitors will take up the task that, apart from having esthetic qualities, requires dash of imagination, grain of wit, and sometimes a certain measure of risk. We hope that the subject will encourage the competitors to use their hidden reserves of untapped talents. Below several pictures from the latest edition.

Rules of participation

How to find the DVB transmitter in Europe and properly align the antenna?

The European service dvbtmap.eu allows users to locate DVB-T transmitters, together with their contents (multiplexes), and suggests how to precisely align their antennas by setting the azimuth and displaying the profile of the terrain towards the transmitters.

The homepage of the dvbtmap.eu service.
The user can search transmitters, view coverage maps and terrain profiles.

The database of the service contains nearly 1500 transmitters across Europe. The portal is available in several languages: Croatian, Czech, English, German, Hungarian and Polish.

The necessary information can be obtained by performing a few steps:

1. Map of the nearest transmitters located not farther than, say 80 km away from the place of reception, and the coverage map of the selected transmitter and channel in order to assess the possibility of receiving the signal:

2. Finding the distance and azimuth to the chosen transmitter, which allows the user to precisely align the antenna:

3. Terrain profile map shows possible obstacles:

Armed with the detailed information, the user can begin to align the antenna.
However, professional installers should rather use field equipment that measures the real signals, e.g. high quality DVB-T signal meter Digiair PRO R10510 from Emitor, capable of measuring digital and analog TV signals. In addition to precise alignment of antennas, it will help to solve any problems that may occur in antenna installations.

How to set up RF modulator TERRA MT47 R871747?

Instructional video showing how to set the parameters of the modulator TERRA MT47

Flexible AverMedia DVRs with RTSP protocol.

The basic problem of IP CCTV installers is to choose compatible hardware. Lack of standards means that they have to study the lists of cameras that are compatible both with DVRs and management software. The situation has also an impact on the prices of the equipment because it limits competition. The problem will be completely solved after the introduction of ONVIF standard, but these obstacles can be overcome even now by using devices compatible with RTSP protocol.
All devices which support this protocol can work together. But the list of recording equipment with RTSP protocol is relatively short. In January, the list was supplemented with hybrid AverMedia DVRs.

The introduction of RTSP protocol in these DVRs means that they can work with all cameras supporting this protocol, regardless of manufacturer.

The introduction of RTSP protocol in EH5108H+ M75108 and EH5216H+ M75216 DVRs means that they can work with all cameras supporting this protocol, regardless of manufacturer

In addition to compatibility with the RTSP protocol, these hybrid digital video recorders provide greater flexibility in shaping the video surveillance network using any proportion of IP and analog cameras.
An illustration of such CCTV system is shown in the figure above. The hybrid AverMedia EH5216H+ M75216 can handle up to 16 IP or analog cameras, in any proportion. The maximum recording resolution is so high as 5 megapixel (for one IP camera). In the case of a larger number of IP cameras it is limited to 2.1 Mpx, and to 1.3 Mpx for IP cameras using RTSP stream. Analog channels support the highest resolution, D1. The user has a great freedom in the choice of the equipment, not being forced to use relatively expensive megapixel cameras in places where traditional analog cameras are fully satisfactory. On the other hand, the DVR allows to make use of the most advanced megapixel cameras deployed in places where they are indispensable.

Supported IP cameras - update file v1.0.0.94 and .

Proper selection of the camera and IR illuminator set.

Visible light is the part of the electromagnetic spectrum contained in the wavelength range of 380-780 nm. IR illuminators emit radiation with wavelengths from the range of 730-950 nm. The most common IR illuminators operate at 730 nm, 840 nm, and 950 nm.
Why some of the illuminators are using wavelength which is visible to the human eye?

The answer is provided by the graph presenting the dependence of image sensor sensitivity on the wavelength.
It shows that the typical sensors feature poor sensitivity in the wavelength range above 700 nm, and in the case of wavelengths exceeding 900 nm, the sensitivity is inadequate.
Modern sensors overcome this problem. For example, the increased sensitivity of ExView sensors in IR range - over two times higher than that of of typical sensors - makes them very efficient in applications involving IR lighting.

Graph showing the dependence of sensitivity from the wavelength for ExView and a typical image sensor

DIPOL offers the following cameras with ExView sensors:

A new generation of IR illuminators - the Redbeam series - emit 850 nm wavelength:

Online view of the Main Market Square in Krakow.

It is online video from the camera installed on the facade of a house at the corner of Bracka street and Main Market Square in Krakow. The image of the largest market square in Europe, dating back to the thirteenth century, is transmitted at this site
Number of visitors to the website with the image from the camera amounts to several thousand per day, reflecting the great interest in this online transmission.

Online view of the Main Market Square in Krakow captured by ACTi TCM-5611 K1060 camera

The IP camera ACTi TCM-5611 K1060 with UltiEye 3-8mm IR M2263 lens is connected to the network via MikroTik N24750 router, which allows remote control of the transmission parameters of the video stream. The camera is remotely powered from PoE power supply M1890. In the event of a system crash or errors in data transmission, the restart can be performed by watchdog Aviosys 9258HP N3410.

Thanks to H.264 compression, the data stream from the camera is only about 1 Mbps. The streaming server using stream-now software can serve up to 100 users simultaneously.

The Internet from any power outlet.

The powerline Ethernet adapter TP-LINK TL-PA201 N3355 allows transmit Ethernet signal over existing power line.

Thanks to Plug and Play convenience, the user can easily spread the Internet signal through the building's electrical wiring. It is enough to connect one adapter to a router (with the included RJ-45 patch cable) and put it into an electrical outlet. The second and every next adapter is put into other power outlet(s) in the same or other room(s) and connects with a computer. The maximum path that the signal can travel over electrical wires is 200 m. The necessary condition is that the outlets have to be on the same phase.
An additional advantage of the equipment is the ability to create several separate networks that are protected by AES encryption.

An example of computer network using the TP-LINK powerline adapters

We have written about:

GSM repeaters - use certified (and legal) equipment covering the whole band. Most GSM repeaters available on the market do not operate in full GSM band. The additional EGSM band (Extended GSM) covers the frequency ranges of 880-890 MHz and 925-935 MHz (the "standard" GSM900 uses 890-915 MHz and 935-960 MHz ranges)...

DVB-T and analog TV meter Digiair PRO.. Digiair PRO R10510 has been designed and manufactured by Emitor company in Sweden. The main purpose of the meter is to assist installers in adjusting TV antennas. The device measures parameters of analog TV and digital DVB-T - COFDM signals...

DVB-T - the cheapest upgrade of a hotel TV system.
Hi, I'm looking for advice. I heard about the upcoming digital TV era. I have a hotel with rooms equipped with CRT TVs. Will they be usable? If so, what should I buy to adapt the old televisions to receive digital TV channels?
Hotel owners whose TV installations include distribution of terrestrial signals are facing the problem of adapting them to the requirements of digital television. Generally, the problem does not apply to antennas, cables and amplifiers, because they usually will function properly with digital signals...

DVB-T receiver (MPEG-2/4, PVR Ready)
Signal HD-507 A99250

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