The International Telecommunication Union, which is currently hosting WRC-19 in Sharm El-Sheikh, will highlight its work on the global standards of TV which the union set for an enhanced television viewing experience.
ITU will mark the occasion of World Television Day (November 21) by celebrating about some of its own achievements over the last many years.
The ITU World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC-19), being held in Sharm El-Sheikh from October 28 until November 22, is addressing requirements for some of the leading technological innovations including identifying International Mobile Telecommunications (IMT), further enabling the rollout of IMT-2020 networks, as well as for High-Altitude Platform Stations (HAPS) – aircraft positioned in the stratosphere for very-long-duration flights used for telecommunications, new non-geostationary satellite systems composed of multiple, multi-satellite constellations, and earth stations in motion (ESIM) communicating from aircraft, maritime vessels and land vehicles with satellites in the geostationary orbit (GSO) using Ka bands.
ITU, since it first released technical standards for television 70 years ago in 1949, has developed the globally harmonised standards that have progressively enhanced television viewing experience in terms of both visual and audio quality. From early standards for colour TV to developing parameters for 4:3 and widescreen 16:9 aspect ratio television, ITU has championed the switch to digital TV broadcasting and High Definition Television (HDTV). Building further on the superior colour fidelity of ITU’s Ultra-High Definition Television (UHDTV), ITU introduced High Dynamic Range Television (HDR-TV) bringing increased realism to images.
As 5G services complying with ITU’s International Mobile Telecommunications (IMT)-2020 spectrum allocations and standards are progressively rolled out over the coming years, the convergence of traditional broadcasting and Internet services could lead to the further merging of media content, data, and applications using broadband networks delivered over a combination of terrestrial, satellite and Internet platforms.
These “Global Platforms” may one day facilitate the delivery of content to end-users on a wide range of devices and receiving platforms, using both broadcasting and non-broadcasting technologies.
Commenting on the Union’s work ahead of World Television Day, ITU Secretary-General Houlin Zhao said: “Television plays a crucial role in connecting the world to information and knowledge while providing an unsurpassed channel for mass entertainment. World TV Day brings attention to ITU’s exemplary work in producing the standards that are driving future trends in broadcasting and Internet services that will bring an increasingly immersive experience to viewers around the world.”
Mario Maniewicz, Director of the ITU Radiocommunication Bureau, added: “More than ever, television today provides information, news and entertainment to people wherever they may be. World TV Day focuses on the work of ITU over the last 70 years in developing new standards and systems for broadcasting, bringing them in line with the latest cutting edge technologies designed to make high quality television coverage available in affordable ways to people in the remotest areas of the world.”
In 2012, ITU received the Emmy Award from the US National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences for the “Standardisation of Loudness Metering for Use in Broadcast Audio” to balance the loudness within and between broadcast programmes.
The recently concluded ITU World Radiocommunication Assembly (22-25 October 2019) called for a roadmap on broadcasting concerning audio visual quality assessment and accessibility, audio and video coding, integrated broadcast-broadband, multimedia, and other emerging technologies and applications.
