HD Distribution in the Digital Headend

Nov 13, 2002

Marek SkupienScientific-AtlantaSr. Market Manager, Headend Systemsmarek.skupien@sciatl.com770-236-6493

HD what’s taking so long?

Consumers hesitant to buy HD sets due to:• High equipment cost• Lack of programming

Few programs available due to :• small consumer base with HDTV sets

…the market has been waiting to reach critical mass

Has the time arrived for HD?

• Over 2M house holds in US have an HD ready TV set

• Prices for HD sets are coming down, 2M more sets are expected to be sold this year

• “USA’s 10 biggest operators - including AT&T Broadband, AOL Time Warner, Comcast, Charter and Cox – said that by 2003 they will provide a package of high-definition television” USA Today, May 2, 2002

• Numerous Headends are in process of creating “room” in their plants for HD programs

• S-A has shipped over 100,000 HD set top boxes!!!

…yes the time is now, get ready!

DTV adoption by consumers

Digital TV Units Shipped to Dealers

0

2000

4000

6000

8000

10000

12000

14000

16000

Calendar Year

Un

it S

hip

me

nts

(0

00)

Unit Shipments (000) 14 121 648 1425 2250 4000 5000

Cumm Units (000) 14 135 783 2208 4458 8458 13458

1998 1999 2000 2001e 2002p 2003p 2004p

Once the price point falls below $1,000 per unit (est. Christmas ’02 or early ‘03), a strong shift towards HDTV units is expected.

Once the price point falls below $1,000 per unit (est. Christmas ’02 or early ‘03), a strong shift towards HDTV units is expected.

Source: DTV Guide, Jan. 02 and CEA Market Analysis, Jan. 02

Average Price Based on DTV Sales through October 2001

Years on MarketDTV Color TV

No

rma

lize

d P

rice

s in

D

olla

rs

Why bother with HDTV?

•Regulation•Broadcasters need to fully convert to DTV by 2006

•Competition•DBS is offering HD programming now•HBO HD, Showtime HD, HD Net (NHL, Major League Baseball, etc)

•Fight for premium customer•Cable can offer a better premium package (HD, VOD, Cable Modem…)

•Consumers are starting to create demand•Vendors are responding (DTV ready sets, more programming, HD equipment)

DNCS

HeadendHeadend PlantPlant HomeHomeExplorer® 3100HD

HDTV Set

HDTV in the Headend

LOCAL CONTENT

PICTOR HD RTE

BITMIZERMULTIPLEXER

OR: MQAM

UP TO 5 CA-QAM

DTVBROADCAST

ATSC Demodulator

IRT-2000

HBO, etc

PBS

PowerVu IRD C100

Continuum Encoder

LOCAL SDCONTENT

Reception Management SubscriberTransmission

DVT Program Reception

Digital Terrestrial Broadcast is not just HD

•May be SD or HD transmission•May alternate between SD and HD based on time or program event•Requires an ATSC demodulator with ASI output

HD reception is not just via terrestrial digital broadcast

•Content may be locally encoded•Content may be delivered via Satellite•Requires a satellite decoder with ASI output

DTV Program Reception……Alternating HD and SD transmission

•Some programs alternate between one HD and several SD services

Allocate HD and SD programs at

all time

How to handle the switch at the HE?

Adjust program lineup based on time schedule

Let system auto switch based on

incoming bit-rates

Black screen when program not there,

may waste b/w

Some program are event based and time of switch can not be

predetermined

Appears to be the best solution, but

harder to implement

HD

SD1 SD2 SD3 SD4

Program Management……Multiplexing of HD programs

HD typically uses 13 to 19.4 Mbps vs 3 to 5 Mbps for SD programs(HD transmission in VBR may go as high as 20 or 21Mbps for short periods of time)

For Efficient use of cable plant b/w• Multiplex 2 HD programs into 256 QAM

or

• Top of an HD program with some SD programs

256 QAM = 38.8Mb/s

HD

Multiple SD or one HD

19.4

Overhead

19.4

Program Management……Transrating of HD

• transcoding, transrating, rate reducing, rate shaping• All refer to bit rate reduction of the program

• May allow 3 or even 4 HD programs to fit through a 256QAM

• But, lower bit rate = lower quality• Program providers generally do not want HD programs

further rate reduced at the Headend• Need to consider subscriber reaction to lower video quality

Program Management……PSIP information

What is PSIP?• Program System Information Protocol (ATSC defined)• PSIP contains the program information

(ex. Program Name, Number, EPG, etc.)

PSIP Management:• 3rd party PSIP management systems are available• PSIP Management System coordinates and

consolidates PSIP information from different program streams

Transmission ……Bandwidth Management

• HD takes a lot of bandwidth (equivalent to 3 - 5 typical SD programs)

• Many HE plants are bandwidth restrained

Solutions1. Is there spare capacity…Optimize first!!!2. Is it possible to move from 64 to 256 QAMs3. Move Analog Programs to Digital

or4. Upgrade Plant

Bandwidth Management……Creating Room for HD or VOD Programs

Some Cable Plants have b/w available to add HD or VOD – Some need to make room!!!

Analog Digital

550 750

Upgrade plant to higher b/w - expensive ($15 to $20 K per mile)

Aggressively convert more programfrom analog to digital tier– may need to subsidize the set top boxes

Option 1

Option 2

The option that is more cost effective is a function of plant size, and number of subscribers

Ie. Subscriber Density

10

10

40

25 13

20

22

5

5

5

3

3

10 36 3 21 3

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80

Today

Powel l 's Deal

HDTV prol i feration

Conceptual models evolution of 550MHz HFC systems to HDTV carriage

Analog “Must Carry” Extended Analog

Number of 6 MHz channels per Node (or Optical Rx)

Digital Tier VOD HSD

Analog “Must Carry” Extended Analog Digital Tier VOD HSDHDTV

Analog “Must Carry” Extended Analog Digital Tier VOD HSDHDTV

50 ch 200 ch

46 ch 216 ch

35 ch 246 ch

250 channels

262 channels

281 channels

50 VOD streams500 VOD users (10:1)

27 Mbps (1.5 b/Hz)675 data users (25:1)

Nodes can be fragmented if more

needed

6 Ch.

26 Ch.

HDTV doesn’t necessarily mean an upgrade to 750MHz

An orderly analog to digital transition will enable the bandwidth at the same time that increases digital penetration: the digital tier will become the new extended basic tier (or likely will be segmented)

PPV = 15% of basic subs – replace with VOD

Premium = 30%-40% penetration (almost perfect overlap with digital footprint)

Bandwidth Management……Moving more programs to Digital Tier

Headend• Encode additional programs for Digital Tier• Need:

• Broadcast picture quality at low bit rates• Cost effective encoders

Subscriber Implications• With movement of more channels to digital tier, may

need to subsidize set-top boxes to provide churn of analog subscribers

In Conclusion…

•HD is finally here due to regulation, but consumers are latching on and it’s becoming market driven

•HD ready solutions are available

•Plant upgrades are not always necessary to add additional content