TV3, i2CAT and Cellnex present the conclusions of the TV-Ring project on connected television

The TV-Ring project has developed three connected television pilots in different countries of the European Union. The Catalan pilot has served to confirm that the broadcast of certain content in multi-camera format has a clear interest among users.

The European TV-Ring project, in which Televisió de Catalunya (TV3) has participated, Cellnex Telecom and the i2CAT Foundation, comes to an end. On May 19, the final review of the Tv-Ring research project, co-financed by the European Union, took place in Leuven (Belgium). The purpose of this event was to present the results obtained in the project to the representatives of the European Commission. It has only been a few days since the result of this evaluation was known, which has been largely positive.

The TV-Ring project has developed three connected television pilots in different countries of the Union. Apart from the Catalan pilot in which TV3, Cellnex and i2CAT have participated, other partners have carried out pilot tests in the Berlin-Brandenburg area (Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg) and in Holland (Stichting Nederlandse Publieke Omroep).

The main objective of the project has been to create and demonstrate advanced connected television scenarios based on the HbbTV standard and high-capacity connection infrastructures as support. Within the Catalan pilot of the project, a set of live and delayed tests have been completed, initially focused on the municipality of Gurb, in the Osona region, but finally open to the HbbTV audience in general. These tests have offered multi-camera services on very diverse content: music programs, football matches, debates and informative specials.

The Catalan pilot of the TV-Ring project has served to confirm that the broadcast of certain content in multi-camera format has a clear interest among users. For example, the fact that during the free-to-air tests of the pilot in the broadcast of Champions League matches, the number of accesses to the HbbTV service of the Corporació Catalana de Mitjans Audiovisuals (CCMA) tripled compared to the daily average.

The use of the second screen in the project has also demonstrated its great usefulness and acceptance, not only from the point of view of additional or complementary consumption on this device, but also as a remote control of the content that you want to see on the television screen. This concept opens up a range of possibilities in controlling HbbTV applications on the television, using the touch screen of the tablet or mobile phone and with flexible applications that far exceed the limitations of the traditional remote control.

On the other hand, the Catalan TV-Ring pilot has also highlighted the lack of maturity of the HbbTV environment, both in reference to the broadcast of multi-camera content and in the synchronization between devices. This fact is due to the low market implementation of the latest versions of the standard. In this sense, the CCMA, as a member of the HbbTV association, is taking the results of the TV-Ring pilot to the HbbTV “Improving Interoperability Task Force Group”, to collaborate in improving compatibility with HbbTV receivers.

The TV-Ring project lasted 30 months: it began in September 2013 and concluded in February 2016. It has been co-financed by the European Union, through the CIP ICT PSP program, and led by the i2CAT Foundation, Internet Technology Research Center of Catalonia.