16.03.06 | Consumers can enjoy the high-resolution television standard HDTV (High Definition Television) on the Internet. At the CeBIT computer fair in Hanover (until March 15), Siemens is presenting a solution for Internet service providers that will make this possible. Thanks to a special data-compression technology, a DSL connection is all that’s needed to enjoy the new picture quality.

Since DSL became the broadband Internet standard, many network operators are offering television via the World Wide Web. In Germany alone there are about 200 channels available online. Digital TV requires up to four megabits per second (MBit/s). The HDTV television standard requires a data transfer rate of 20 MBit/s, however, which has made use of HDTV via the Internet impossible. The advantages of HDTV are its sharp images, rich colors and large depth of field, which gives the TV picture an almost three-dimensional quality.

Siemens Communications has further developed the MPEG-4 compression technology. With this improvement, the data transfer rate is reduced to six MBit/s, making it again suitable for DSL. Surpass Home Entertainment, the complete solution from Siemens, allows network operators to serve more customers without the need to change their infrastructures. The Surpass solution also offers video on demand, online gaming and a feature for replaying past broadcasts. Siemens has developed karaoke on demand for an Internet service provider in Thailand, for example.

To enjoy Internet television in high-resolution quality, the user needs a DSL connection, an HDTV-ready television and an HDTV-compatible set-top box, which Siemens already offers. A PC isn’t needed as an interface between the Internet and the television, since dial-up access to the Internet happens automatically via the set-top box. These devices from the Siemens Gigaset family also can receive the standard format and feature, depending on the individual model, a 250-gigabyte hard drive, a smartcard reader and two DVB tuners that can receive television broadcasts via cable, satellite or DVB-T signals. (IN 2006.03.5)