Digital Television: MPEG-1, MPEG-2 and Principles of the DVB System

Written as an authoritative introduction, this text describes the technology of digital television broadcasting. It gives a thorough technical description of the underlying principles of the DVB standard following the logical progression of signal processing steps, as well as COFDM modulation, source and channel coding, MPEG compression and multiplexing methods, conditional access and set-top box technology. If you are looking for a concise technical `briefing' that will quickly get you up to speed with the subject without getting lost in the detail - this is the book you need.

After an overview of analogue TV systems and video digitization formats, the author then examines the various steps of signal processing - taken in order from transmission to reception - to facilitate an understanding of the architecture and function of the main blocks of the Integrated Receiver/Decoder (IRD) or "set-top" box. Herve Benoit focuses attention on the very complex problems that need to be solved in order to define reliable standards for broadcasting digital pictures to the consumer and gives solutions chosen for the current DVB system.

Field Application Group Manager, Philips Semiconductors, France