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

A breakthrough in television!

Anga Cable Show in Cologne, Germany - the "Europe's leading Trade Fair for Cable, Broadband and Satellite" - attracts exhibitors from the telecommunications and media industry. The industry is among the fastest growing branches of modern technology. However, this year's offer was a big surprise for analysts of the market.

The real winner of this year's Anga Cable has been Hybrid TV. The other two places on the podium were taken by IPTV and Next Generation Network (NGN).

The distribution of TV content in IP networks has become a reality, the Continental HbbTV and British YouView are commercial projects based on this technology.
Hybrid TV is an interactive platform combining digital television and the Internet, enabling the reception of satellite, terrestrial and cable TV channels, as well as access to new services such as video on demand (VoD), interactive games, electronic newspapers, YouTube videos, photo albums. The service gives the users an additional flexibility - access to all the programs from the latest week. The television programs and new services will be selected via thematic portals (as the websites on the Internet today), offering much greater choice than the current programming of TV channels. Hybrid TV changes the traditional, passive model of providing content to an active model, where the viewers decide what they want to watch and when.
There were many exhibitors promoting hybrid TV solutions, which take the TV market by storm. The discussions at the stands and the talks and lectures given by professionals lead us to a conclusion that the traditional television broadcasting combined with Internet technology in the way developed by the broadcasters will shape the future of television.

Welcome to a video review of Anga Cable 2011

IPTV is blooming. The conversion of digital TV broadcasting standards (DVB-S/S2, DVB-C/C2, DVB-T/T2) to IP protocol allows the operators to add a number of interactive services.
IPTV services enter hospitals, hotels and other institutions and businesses, offering a variety of content and additional functions. However, the further development of these services requires a wider access to broadband networks in the "last mile". The exhibitors presented solutions to this problem, which was also the subject of the ANGA Cable Congress. There is general agreement that the future belongs to fiber optic access networks, however a serious competitor will remain DOCSIS (Data Over Cable Service Interface Specification) cable networks. Mobile TV will exploit the potential of LTE (Long Term Evolution).

Interestingly, the third dimension of television - 3D HDTV - was only a minor subject.

More in the "ANGA Cable Show 2011 - Cologne, May 3-5 " photo essay.

Antennas in the smallest state in the world.

The radio transmitting antenna in the picture below is located in a central part of this mini-state. Where is it? - the answer at the end of this issue.

No more problems with programs on adjacent or the same RF channels.

Residents of border regions often would like to use the opportunity of receiving additional channels from the neighboring country (or countries). Unfortunately, the additional antennas directed towards the transmitters in other country/countries sometimes receive signals at adjacent or even the same VHF/UHF channels as the domestic "main" ones.
A similar situation is in the case when someone wants to receive both cable TV and terrestrial channels.

There is no chance to combine such signals in typical, passive combiners. The result would be a strong interference blocking reception of the channels. It is necessary to use an RF switch with high isolation between inputs. On the market there are several manual solutions - the switching between antennas is done by pressing the appropriate button. It is not comfortable to operate.

MST-01 E2024 is an easy to control RF switch. Thanks to high isolation between inputs, the sources can contain signals distributed on adjacent or even on the same channels (in the case of digital TV). MST-01 is controlled by any infrared remote control (TV, DVD, SAT, etc.). The alternate input selection is performed when the user holds down any key on the remote for 3 seconds. For this purpose, we recommended to use a key that do not change the settings of the original device.

In the diagrams above there are shown the two typical situations in which we should use the MST-01 E2024 switch. In the first case, the signal sources are two terrestrial TV antennas receiving multiplexes from different transmitters (and directions) at adjacent channels. In the second, one of the cable TV channels overlaps with the terrestrial TV channel.

KWeye - images from DVRs on mobile phones.

ATU and Trend DVRs use the same standard for providing video streams to mobile devices (cellular phones, PDAs etc.). The streams can be decoded by KWeye application (designed for Android operating systems). This unusual solution allows for any configuration of the surveillance network, its integration and remote access from anywhere in the world. KWeye can be downloaded from Android Market.

KWeye - images from ATU and TREND DVRs on mobile phones

ATU DVRs ( M71000) offer recording of four 4CIF (704 x 576) channels at 12 fps or four 2CIF (704 x 288) channels at 25 fps. They are recommended for video surveillance systems requiring high resolution recordings, real-time monitoring and high level of video compression. H.264 compression and support for hard drive up to 2TB allow for storing large amounts of surveillance data. Another advantage is the possibility of viewing images from multiple DVRs on a single website.

TREND M72504, M72508, M72516 are DVRs that provide recording capabilities of 4CIF (704 x 576) images at 6 frames per second or 2CIF (704 x 288) images at 12 fps (in each channel). They can be used in any monitoring systems that require high-resolution recordings, preview in real time and efficient compression standard, but do not operate in very dynamic environments. Similarly to ATU DVRs, H.264 compression and compatibility with hard drives of capacity up to 2TB enable recording of very large amounts of video data. The recorded images and live video can be accessed via Internet Explorer or CMS app.

Sunell IP CCD camera compatible with ONVIF standard.

ONVIF (Open Network Video Interface Forum) is an open industry forum aimed at coordinating efforts to set common, global standard for recording and transmitting video in IP CCTV systems. ONVIF-compliant devices ensure flexibility in building video surveillance systems due to interoperability of equipment from various manufacturers. By standardizing the digital interfaces of the IP CCTV equipment and unifying compression and transmission of video streams, device configuration and control procedures, event handling etc., the user is given an easy to manage and uniform platform.

A video clip from the Sunell K1620 camera

Sunell SN-IPC54/50DN K1620 camera is fully compatible with ONVIF standard, so it can cooperate with any device compliant to this standard.
The free NVR software supplied with the camera - NVMS - enables the user to manage up to 16 Sunell IP cameras. IP CCTV systems composed of the Sunell cameras can also be managed by commercial NUUO software: K3104, K3108, K3116, K3132, K3164. The software is compliant with ONVIF, too.

Wider coverage of wireless network.

It happens that in a large apartment or house the residents cannot use their WiFi network in some rooms due to high attenuation of the signal through walls and ceilings. The solution to this problem is to install an additional device in the midway point between the main access point and the area without adequate wireless coverage. The installed device should operate in repeater mode.

Diagram of a wireless network with a repeater

The devices used:

What to do when a television has only one HDMI input?

The solution is an HDMI switcher that allows the user to connect multiple high-definition devices to a TV equipped with insufficient number of HDMI inputs. There are no problems with simultaneous connection of a satellite receiver, DVD player, PC or a game console. Even when the TV has sufficient number of HDMI inputs, it may be more elegant to connect only one HDMI cable for easy installation on a wall with the use of LCD/plasma mount. It really improves the appearance of the TV suspended on the wall. There are two high-quality HDMI switchers, H3121 with two inputs, and H3131 with three inputs. The choice of the source is made with the use of the included remote control or manually.

Application diagram

Signal-HD HDMI Switcher 2x1
H3121

State of the Vatican City.

The root of the word Vatican is derived from the Latin "vates", meaning "seer, soothsayer". The Vatican Hill is not one of the famous seven hills of Rome, although it was included within the city limits of Rome during the reign of Pope Leo IV, who, between 848 and 852, expanded the city walls to protect St. Peter's Basilica and the Vatican. Thus, Vatican Hill has been within the walls and city limits of Rome (until the Lateran Treaties in 1929 it was part the Rione of Borgo) for over 1100 years.

Worth reading:

MIG-29 - 3.5" service LCD monitor - a useful device for CCTV installer. Service monitor MIG-29 M3104 is a very handy device for anyone installing and configuring CCTV systems. Thanks to small dimensions and mobility it can be easily and quickly connected to a CCTV camera or DVR, and used for configuring operational parameters.
MIG-29 M3104 service monitor is especially useful in the case of cameras with OSD menu...

Service monitor M3104 - an indispensable device for setting up OSD cameras
- the menu can be directly displayed on the screen

SMATV system for multi-family building, with 60-1000 outlets. The system provides each outlet with all available terrestrial broadcasts and satellite programs from two satellites (e.g. Astra 19.2E and HotBird 13E).
The antennas (including high-gain UHF antenna A2670) and triplexer are mounted on the roof. The set of Alcad channel amplifiers and rest of the equipment are placed inside the building. The amplifiers allow to equalize the input levels of the terrestrial signals, which is very important in the case so large distribution networks...

Wireless home IP CCTV monitoring with TP-Link TL-SC3130G camera. The wireless IP camera TP-Link TL-SC3130G K1150 is ideal solution for improving security in an apartment.
54 Mbps transmission speed ensures smooth video streaming from places without wired networks, on the condition that walls and/or ceilings do not block the wireless signal...

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