DVB-PCF – cross-platform authoring for iTV
One of the less well-known DVB specifications in the area of interactive TV is DVB-PCF, or Portable Content Format. It was published by ETSI in September 2006 but has not yet, to the best of our knowledge, been used in any production system. The BBC TV Platforms group has developed a DVB-PCF Transcoder which it’s using to gather feedback on the standard.
The PCF is a standard means to describe an interactive digital television service. It provides the industry with a platform-independent format for the business-to-business interchange of interactive content, and consequently a means to increase the interoperability of authoring tools, head-end systems and broadcast networks.
The PCF allows an interactive application to be authored independently of specific target platforms (MHP, MHEG, proprietary systems…). This is achieved by capturing the intended viewer experience rather than how it shall be implemented, allowing the greatest possible portability.
If you’d like to know more about DVB-PCF you’ll find a Fact Sheet here:
