DTG unveils next-generation Freeview features

The UK’s Digital Television Group (DTG) has unveiled next-generation features for the Freeview digital-terrestrial platform. The features will be set out in detail in the updated ‘D-Book’, which will be published at the end of March.

New features will include an enhanced EPG with the ability to go both backwards and forwards, remote booking allowing viewers to book recordings or set reminders remotely and a clear reference to MHEG-standardised interactivity.

The DTG also said it would begin work on new features to enable second-screen and home networking applications in the spring.

The latest enhancements build on the current edition of the D-Book, D-Book 7, published in 2011. The second version of the ETSI MHEG standard, published in 2011, brought it in line with D-Book 6.2 and introduced a number of technical solutions from other platforms that have adopted MHEG. The new version of the D-Book, references ETSI directly and contains only clarifications and profiles that are specific to the UK’s requirements.

The DTG’s director-general, Richard Lindsay-Davies said: “The Digital TV Group has balanced UK business requirements and high consumer expectations with the increasing demands of globalisation and business complexity to deliver another world leading digital television standard for Freeview.”

The DTG has also set up a new accessibility group to build on existing ‘U-book’ specifications to drive enhancements to subtitles, audio description and text-to-speech for connected devices.

The DTG’s technology director and editor of the D-Book, Simon Gauntlett, will discuss the enhancements in detail, as well as the D-Book’s adoption of international standards, at the DTG Summit on Friday.