Mobile DVB-T on the Buses of Taiwan

January 19th saw the launch of a digital television service on the public transport system in Kaohsiung City, Taiwan. DIMO TV, standing for “Digital Mobile Television”, uses DVB-T to broadcast to 165 buses and 6 harbour ferries. This service follows the success of similar services in Singapore (TVMobile) and Shanghai (Oriental Pearl Mobile TV).

DIMO TV is unusual in that it has been set up on a non-commercial, public service broadcast basis – the programming is free of advertising. Content consists of news and weather, traffic news, documentaries, language lessons, entertainment news and so on. To keep discomfort for passengers to a minimum, sound levels are low and all programmes are subtitled.

Covering the whole metropolitan area of  Kaohsiung  is a main transmitter of 5kw with one filler site on the 85th floor of the Grand Formosa. Each bus is equipped with a DVB-T receiver and a 19″ LCD screen. The project was initiated by the Taiwan Public Television Service.