Why Digital?

Why We Switch to DTV?

An important benefit of the switch to all-digital broadcasting is that it freed up parts of the valuable broadcast spectrum for public safety communications (such as police, fire departments, and rescue squads). Also, some of the spectrum can now be auctioned to companies that will be able to provide consumers with more advanced wireless services (such as wireless broadband).

Consumers also benefited because digital broadcasting allows stations to offer improved picture and sound quality, and digital is much more efficient than analog. For example, rather than being limited to providing one analog program, a broadcaster is able to offer a super sharp High Definition (HD) digital program or multiple Standard Definition (SD) digital programs simultaneously through a process called “multicasting.”

Multicasting allows broadcast stations to offer several channels of digital programming at the same time, using the same amount of spectrum required for one analog program. So, for example, while a station broadcasting in analog on channel 7 is only able to offer viewers one program, a station broadcasting in digital on channel 7 can offer viewers one digital program on channel 7-1, a second digital program on channel 7-2, a third digital program on channel 7-3, and so on. This means more programming choices for viewers. Further, DTV provides interactive video and data services that were not possible with analog technology.

Analog Radio Channels Operate in Sri Lanka

City FM	92.2MHz	Sinhala	Active
CRI SRI LANKA	102.0MHz	Sinhala, Tamil, English and Chinese	Active
FM Derana	92.4MHz, 94.5MHz, 95.8MHz, 99.2MHz, 102.3 MHz	Sinhala	Active
E FM	100.4MHz, 93.2MHz, 95.8MHz, 99.2MHz, 102.3 MHz	English	Active
Gold FM	99.9MHz, 94.7MHz, 102.7MHz, 104.2MHz	English	Active
Hiru FM	94.7MHz, 95.3MHz, 96.7MHz, 107.0MHz	Sinhala	Active
HITZ FM	97 MHz	English	Active
Isira FM	88.0MHz, 89.0Mhz, 93.7MHz, 93.9MHz, 97.2MHz	Sinhala	Active
Isura FM	93.6 MHz	Sinhala	Active
Kiss FM	89.8 MHz	English	Active
Lak FM	92.0 MHz,93.3 MHz, 100.1 MHz, 100.2 MHz	Sinhala	Active
Lakhanda	97.6MHz, 87.9MHz, 88.5MHz	Sinhala	Active
Lakviru FM	91.6 MHz	Sinhala
Lite	89.2MHz, 98.2MHz, 92.5 MHz, 90 MHz	English	Active
Max Radio	90.6MHz	Sinhala	Active
Neth FM	93.9 MHz, 95.0 MHz, 100.4 MHz, 105.4 MHz, 105.9 MHz	Sinhala	Active
Prime Radio (Previously Radio 1)	95.5 MHz, 99.9 MHz, 104.5 MHz	English	Active
Ran FM	91.5 MHz, 95.0 MHz, 101.3 MHz, 102.2 MHz	Sinhala	Active
Rangiri	91.7 MHz, 96.7 MHz, 98.1 MHz, 107.2 MHz	Sinhala	Active
Real Radio	87.8 MHz, 93.9 MHz, 106.7 MHz	English	Active
Rhythm FM (formerly Asura FM)	87.6 MHz, 95.6 MHz, 100.7 MHz	Sinhala	Active
* Test ( formely Sath FM )	103.6 MHz, 103.0 MHz, 103.6 MHz	Sinhala	Active
Seth FM	101.5 MHz	Sinhala	Active
Shakthi FM	103.8MHz, 105.1MHz, 91.2MHz, 91.5MHz	Tamil	Active
Shree FM	99MHz, 99.3MHz, 93.2MHz, 98.8MHz, 95.8MHz	Sinhala	Active
SLBC - English National Service	90.9 MHz, 95.6 MHz, 96.4 MHz, 96.4 MHz, 98.4 MHz, 99.6 MHz, 100.2 MHz	English	Active
SLBC - Sinhala National Service (Swadeshiya Sevaya)	90.3 MHz, 90.3 MHz, 97.0 MHz, 98.3 MHz, 99.6 MHz, 102.0 MHz, 107.6 MHz	Sinhala	Active
SLBC - Sinhala Commercial Service (Velanda Sevaya)	93.3FM, 106.9FM, 92.7FM	Sinhala	Active
SLBC - Tamil National Service	94.2 MHz, 98.8 MHz, 101.3 MHz, 102.0 MHz, 102.4 MHz, 103.5 MHz, 104.8 MHz	Tamil	Active
SLBC - Tamil Commercial Service (Thendral)	92.2 MHz, 92.8 MHz, 94.2 MHz, 104.5 MHz, 104.8 MHz, 105.6 MHz, 105.6 MHz, 107.9 MHz	Tamil	Active
SLBC - Vidula Children's Service	102.6 MHz	Sinhala, Tamil and English	Active
Sirasa FM	106.6MHz, 88.8MHz, 106.5MHz, 106.2MHz, 101.7MHz	Sinhala	Active
Siyatha FM	90.9MHz, 107.6MHz, 98.6MHz	Sinhala	Active
Sooriyan FM	90.9MHz, 107.6MHz, 98.6MHz	Tamil	Active
Sun Fm	98.8MHz	English	Active
TNL Radio	101.7 MHz, 87.9 MHz	English	Active
V FM	100.4 MHz, 104.0 MHz, 107.6 MHz	Sinhala	Active
Vasantham FM (previously Radio 2 on this frequency)	97.6 MHz	Tamil	Active
Vettri FM	99.6 MHz, 101.5 MHz, 106.1 MHz	Tamil	Active
Y FM	92.6 MHz, 101.3MHz, 91.2MHz, 99.1MHZ	Sinhala	Active
Yes FM	88.2 MHz, 88.2 MHz, 89.5 MHz, 101.0 MHz	English	Active
Youth Radio	107.9 MHz, 100.7 MHz, 104.4 MHz, 104.8 MHz	Sinhala	Active
Your Radio	88.3 MHz	English	Active
The Budhhist	104.5 MHz	Sinhala,English	Active

SLRC On Digital

The network broadcasts services,Rupavahini, Nethra TV (which broadcasts in Tamil), Channel Eye and NTV (which broadcast in English). Since 1st January 2008 Nethra TV and Channel Eye share the same broadcast frequency. The shared channel is known as Nethra Eye. Currently, all of the network's services are only available by analog transmission. But there are plans to upgrade to digital broadcasting. From 2011 Kokawil Transmitting starts DVB-T2 for North area in Sri Lanka. There were plans to Transmit the DVB-T2 Digital Transmission all over the country in 2015. The excisting Analogous Transmission will completely cut off.

From Wikipedia

DRM News

News

An update on ITU activity

11-May-11

At the last meeting there was good support for adoption from many countries (administrations), but also a call for more test results. Over the last 6 months, DRM Consortium members and others have been working hard on setting up new trial sites, conducting measurements and producing reports of these trials. For the WP6A meeting starting this week in Geneva, DRM has submitted four reports: the band II trials in Sri Lanka and the UK, the band I trial in Italy and the SFN trial in Germany.

All these inputs can be viewed on the drm website. DRM will again be present at the meeting.

Report from Lindsay Cornell, DRM Technical Committee Chairman

Pay Television Networks in Sri Lanka

1 PEO TV (SLT Visioncom)                                   IPTV (ADSL and WiMAX)- September 2008
2 Lanka Broadband Networks (LBN)                    Analog/Digital Cable -2000
3 Dialog TV                                                              Digital Satellite- 2005
4 Comet Cable(Not functioning since 2009)        Analog Microwave- 1999
5 New service                                                          Digital MMDS - Testing                                                    

Analog Terrestrial Networks in Sri Lanka

1 Independent Television Network (ITN)       State-owned Sinhala     April 13, 1979
2 Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation            State-owned Sinhala       February 15, 1982
3 Channel One MTV                                   Private English               December 14,1992
4 TNL                                                       Private Sinhala / English    June 21,1993
5 ETV                                                     Private English                  1995
6 Swarnavahini                                         Private Sinhala             March 16,1997
7 Sirasa TV                                              Private Sinhala          June 10,1998
8 Shakthi TV                                             Private Tamil            October 20, 1998
9 Channel Eye                                       State-owned English     August 20, 2000
10 TV Lanka                                          Private Sinhala              December 05,2001
11 ART Television                                  Private English            July 21,2003
12 Derana TV                                       Private Sinhala              October 11, 2005
13 Max TV                                        Private Sinhala / English /Tamil   January 17, 2007
14 Nethra TV                                    State-owned Tamil         January 01, 2008
15 Vasantham TV                           State-owned Tamil       June 25, 2009
16 Siyatha TV                                    Private Sinhala           September 17, 2009
17 Vettri TV                                          Private Tamil           September 17, 2009
18 Prime TV                                         State-owned English     November 12, 2009
19 NTV                                                State-owned English      November 18, 2009
20 DAN Tamiloli                                   Private Tamil               2009
21 VIS3 - CCTV News                         Private English               May 07, 2010
22 Carlton Sports Network - CSN        Private Sinhala / English        March 07, 2011
23 The Buddhist TV                            Private Sinhala           April 08, 2011

Public Benefit of the DTV Transition

Digital TV has provided a host of important public benefits:

It has freed up parts of the broadcast spectrum for public safety communications (police/fire/rescue).
It has allowed some of the spectrum to be auctioned to companies that will be able to provide
consumers with more advanced wireless services (such as wireless broadband).
It has allowed stations to offer improved picture and surround sound (enhanced audio).
It has expanded programming choices for viewers. For example, a broadcaster can now offer multiple digital programs simultaneously (multicasting).
It has provided interactive video and data services that were not possible with analog technology


Difference Between Analog and DTV Broadcasting:

DTV is an advanced broadcasting technology that replaces analog over-the-air broadcasting. Digital broadcasting allows stations to offer improved picture and sound quality along with a host of other advantages over analog broadcasting.
For example, rather than being limited to providing one analog program, a broadcaster is able to offer a super sharp High Definition (HD) digital program or multiple Standard Definition (SD) digital programs simultaneously. Digital television offers many advantages over analog television for viewing broadcast TV


Need for DTV Picture Reception Over-The-Air:

 need one of the following:

• A TV set with a digital tuner.
• OR
• An analog TV set connected to a digital-to-analog converter box(STB).

In either case, you will need an appropriate antenna connected to the TV set or the converter box; either an outdoor rooftop antenna or an indoor antenna.
If you have a digital TV set, you will not need any additional equipment (with the exception of an antenna) to receive over-the-air digital broadcast programming. However if you have an analog TV set, a digital converter box must be connected between the antenna and the analog TV to receive and display over-the-air digital programming

SLBC backs digital radio forum in Colombo

Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation (SLBC) is supporting pioneering efforts to introduce cutting edge technology that would take radio broadcasting in Asia to the digital era.

The Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM) Consortium has announced a DRM+ trial and workshop in Colombo to boost these initiatives. The consortium is joining forces with the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka (TRC), SLBC and Germany’s international broadcaster Deutsche Welle and the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU) to run a trial of DRM+ and showcase its benefits.

The SLBC has offered the DRM its full support and the use of one of its low power stations in Colombo for the duraion of the trial.

SLRC going to digital....

Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation (SLRC), is the national television network of Sri Lanka. Gifted by the people of Japan to the people of Sri Lanka, mainly for the provision of education and useful information.
The network broadcasts services,'Rupavahini, Nethra TV (which broadcasts in Tamil) , and Channel Eye (which broadcasts in English). Since 1 January 2008 Nethra TV and Channel Eye share the same broadcast frequency. The shared channel is known as Nethra Eye. Currently, all of the network's services are only available by analog transmission. But there are plans to upgrade to digital broadcasting

1st Sports Channel Launched In Sri Lanka

CSN (Carlton Sports Network) has replaced Prime TV over FTA & on all pay television networks that Prime TV was available on. CSN becomes the first locally operated sports channel in the country & it is still expected to retain some of the Prime TV programming giving it a more of a sports & lifestyle channel genre.

This channel is expected to broadcast many of the local big matches as well as school sports events in the near future.

Website : Carlton Sports Network - http://www.csn.lk/

DVB-T pilot launched

Sri Lanka’s Dialog Television began a pilot DVB-T launch on the 23rd January 2008 in the city of Colombo. The pilot broadcasts will initially be tested by a selected group of representative viewers across the broadcast coverage area.
Nine channels will be available on a single UHF channel. The programme mix consists of state channels, Rupavahini Eye, Nethra and ITN as well as the private channels, Derana, Swarnavahini and The Buddhist. Three foreign channels will also be made available to complete the line-up.
Source: Daily News.lk

DVB-T2 to be introduced in Sri Lanka

The Digital Video Broadcasting’s DVB-T2 digital terrestrial broadcasting standard will be introduced to all television channels in Sri Lanka by the year 2015 said Secretary to the Ministry Mass Media W B Ganegala.
Speaking to Lankapuvath, the Secretary said that the DVB-T2 system is already used in Europe while the Committee appointed to look into the eligibility of its use in Sri Lanka has confirmed that it could be used for local TV channels.
The Committee is to get the permission of the Sri Lankan Government to the report on implementing the system in the country he said. It would take at least 5 years to introduce the DVB-T2 technology to Sri Lanka while the Ministry aims at implementing it in several phases and under the first phase the system will be introduced to the Western Province mentioned the Secretary.
Further he said that by the year 2015 all TV stations in the island will function with the DVB-T2 system.
At present channels in Sri Lanka are broadcasted using the analogue system and with the DVB-T2 system broadcasting would be made more productive and efficient stated Secretary Ganegala. The system will also reduce the cost on TV stations he added.
Sri Lanka began pilot trials using DVB-T in 2008 and adopted the system in August 2009.
However following the development of the DVB-T2 system, which has 50% more capacity using the same channel bandwidth, it now intends to switch to DVB-T2.
The trend towards DVB-T2 is increasing especially in countries where Digital TV is still to be introduced. This is because the additional capacity DVB-T2 provides is much greater than with any other current DTT system and it can be implemented at much the same cost as for DVB-T.
Main source: Lankapuvath National News Agency of Sri Lanka

Digital Terrestrial Television

DVB-T is an abbreviation for Digital Video Broadcasting — Terrestrial; it is the DVB European-based consortium standard for the broadcast transmission of digital terrestrial television that was first published in 1997[1] and first broadcast in the UK in 1998.[2] This system transmits compressed digital audio, video and other data in an MPEG transport stream, using coded orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (COFDM or OFDM) modulation.