The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications' Committee for White Space Promotion presented models of special white space areas including TBS Television's limited-area 3D broadcasting.

At the Inter BEE 2010 exhibition that began on 17th November, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications' Committee for White Space Promotion presented models of special white space areas that provided actual verification of this technology. The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications has set its sights on deploying special white space areas nationally in Japan by 2015.


■ TBS Television demonstrated 12-seg full high vision 3D broadcasts

At the same booth, TBS brought in 12-seg full high vision 3D equipment to actually verify white space broadcasting at Akasaka Sacas on the 5th of August and demonstrated the technology. Shuji Inaba of TBS's Technology and Broadcasting Systems Center explained that the 3D broadcast experiment performed on the 5th of August at Akasaka Sacas used two Totsusangyo Corporation "Gemelos 3D" full high vision 3D cameras as well as a regular full HD camera, with the video feed from the regular full HD camera converted to 3D via a JVC IF-2D3D1 professional image processor. This made it possible to realize a 12seg 3D full high vision limited-area broadcast, as well as a limited-area 1seg broadcast for right-eye images for 3D. The booth demonstration also featured a setup similar to the Asakusa Sacas experiment, using the Gemelos 3D cameras for 12-seg limited-area full high vision 3D broadcasting and 3D right eye image limited-area 1seg broadcasting. Mr. Inaba further explained that 12-seg 3D broadcasting was carried out over a narrow bandwidth to deal with the reduction in data broadcast bandwidths. Specifications for methods to effectively use bandwidth in the future are currently being considered as new broadcasting methods for 2D and diverging left/right eye signals for 3D will be required.


■ Area 1seg transmission experiment using Abit's wireless IP

The booth also showcased Abit's area 1seg transmission experiment performed at Kasaoka, Okayama Prefecture. Using the company's ACS-RT4000 distribution server set up on Honjima Island, the experiment featured area 1seg transmission on the same channel using a wireless LAN in the 5.4 GHz band to send IP to two ACS-4000 IP-SNF compatible OFDM transmission devices positioned at the north and south of the island. These IP-SNF compatible OFDM transmission devices have been jointly developed with NHK ITEC, and feature a distribution system and GPS functions built-in to form a SFN (Single Frequency Network) synchronized by GPS. Abit's Product Planning manager, Mr. Hirai stated that, "We were able to verify that a wide area broadcast service is possible using only a single frequency, which means more effective use of frequencies." This system is also expected to be employed by cable TV operators.

(captions)
1 The scene at the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications' Committee for White Space Promotion booth.

2 Demonstration of TBS Television's 3D full high vision limited-area broadcasting.

3 Gemelos 3D: A full high vision 3D camera used for verification of white space technology.

4 Area 1seg IP-SNF capable OFDM transmission equipment.