DVB

DVB stands for Digital Video Broadcasting, a suite of open standards for the transmission of digital television and data. The standards are developed by the DVB Project, a consortium of broadcasters, equipment manufacturers, and research institutions, and published under ETSI norms. DVB standards cover digital services delivered over terrestrial, satellite, and cable networks, and they have extended to mobile and hybrid networks in some forms.

The DVB Project began in the early 1990s to create interoperable digital broadcasting standards. Since its formation in 1993, DVB standards have been adopted worldwide, particularly in Europe and parts of Asia and Africa. The DVB Project coordinates development, while ETSI publishes the standards as European Norms.

Key standards include DVB-T for digital terrestrial television and its more efficient successor DVB-T2; DVB-S and DVB-S2 for satellite; and DVB-C and DVB-C2 for cable distribution. Optional and evolving specifications cover interactive services (such as the Multimedia Home Platform, MHP) and data broadcasting. For mobile reception there were DVB-H, though it has largely been superseded by other delivery methods. High-efficiency variants like DVB-S2X and DVB-C2 improve spectral efficiency.

Technically, DVB systems generally use MPEG-2 or MPEG-4/HEVC video, audio codecs such as AAC or AC-3, and MPEG-2 Transport Streams with PSI/SI tables for program information. Terrestrial DVB uses OFDM modulation (DVB-T/DVB-T2), while satellite uses QPSK/8PSK, and cable uses QAM.

DVB standards form a global backbone for digital TV and data services and continue to evolve with initiatives like DVB-I and next-generation broadcast technologies.