ETSI Publishes New GEM & MHP Standards

DVB is pleased to announce that the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) has formally adopted as standards the new release versions of the MHP 1.2.2 (Multimedia Home Platform) and GEM 1.2.2 (Globally Executable MHP) specifications. This marks the culmination of the refactoring work that makes GEM a self-contained specification. GEM now takes over the role of DVB’s primary middleware specification, and MHP becomes a derived specification based on GEM.

The acknowledged importance of GEM due to its adoption in Blu-Ray, tru2way and other Java based TV standards lead to DVB’s decision to make GEM the primary middleware specification.   GEM enables the creation of interoperable TV applications, which can run on various digital TV devices like terrestrial, satellite and cable set-top boxes, IPTV terminals and gateways, and Blu-Ray players. The fact that GEM is essentially network independent makes it particularly useful in IPTV and hybrid broadcast/broadband environments.   The original GEM specification was initially derived from the MHP specification and thus contained references, selections, clarifications and bug fixes to MHP. The refactoring of GEM to make it the primary middleware specification simplified the formerly complex specification structure.   The MHP 1.2.2 (TS 102 727 v.1.1.1) and GEM 1.2.2 (TS 102 728 v.1.1.1) standards can be downloaded from ETSI or via DVB’s MHP website, www.mhp.org.