DTMB

DTMB, or Digital Terrestrial Multimedia Broadcasting, is a standard for digital terrestrial television broadcasting developed in China to deliver television, data, and multimedia services to stationary and mobile receivers. It was designed to unify terrestrial broadcasting with mobile reception and datacasting under a single framework, supporting nationwide television services during the transition from analog transmission.

DTMB was developed by a consortium of Chinese research institutions, universities, and industry participants under government guidance. In the mid-2000s, it was selected as China’s national standard for digital terrestrial television and subsequently deployed across mainland China. The standard has also been promoted for use in other regions through cooperation agreements.

Technically, DTMB uses a transmission system based on orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) with multiple mode options to accommodate both fixed and mobile receivers and varying channel conditions. It supports scalable service bitrates and robust reception in urban and rural environments, enabling the delivery of standard-definition and high-definition video, audio, and data services. Video and audio encoding are flexible, commonly employing MPEG-2 or MPEG-4 AVC, with profiles that can extend to newer codecs.

DTMB is designed to support datacasting and emergency information dissemination alongside traditional broadcast channels. It sits alongside other global digital terrestrial standards—such as DVB-T/T2, ISDB-T, and ATSC—yet is tailored to China’s spectrum, regulatory framework, and needs for mobile reception and integrated multimedia services.