Infocasting
Infocasting, also known as Datacasting, is a free-to-air broadcast service which provides information based television services to the public. A trial of infocasting is, available to viewers in the Sydney metropolitan area to those with a digital television or Set Top Box (STB). Working with trial partners, Broadcast Australia has developed a datacasting service providing new and innovative streams of digital content not seen on standard free-to-air channels.
Infocasting provides broadcasters with a cost effective method for distributing information in an easily accessible format that is receivable through the household digital television. Broadcasting provides a ‘one-to-many’ service without the bandwidth constraints of internet delivered or cellular based services. Infocasting provides an ideal platform to distribute information which can be updated ”in real time”.. The current trial provides viewers with the latest sport, weather, health and traffic reports, news, job searches, emergency services information, home shopping and live parliamentary debates.
Depending on the information to be communicated, infocasting services can comprise text, images, video or a combination of all of these.
Interactivity
Infocasting (and digital television) can also provide viewers with the opportunity to choose what additional information they want to access on a specific channel. This information is 'piggy-backed' on the digital signal alongside the video service. Utilising digital TV receivers equipped with an interactive DVB-MHP capability, viewers can receive interactive data streams which are decoded and stored in the receiver memory. Viewers are presented with menu selections that allow them to “interact” with the STB or Digital Television and access the specific information which is of immediate interest to them. Essentially viewers can "navigate" within a regularly refreshed set of content stored in the digital receiver or STB. Interactive infocasting is a very efficient means of providing large volumes of information to the viewer. Text and still image information can be carried in a far more efficient manner by this means, permitting fast access to many hundreds of times the information than would be available if the same information was delivered as a conventional video stream.
For more information on Infocasting and the Trials being conducted by Broadcast Australia, please read Infocasting - A Technology Profile or contact:
Martin Farrimond
General Manager – New Platforms
Tel: +61 2 8113 4629
Email: martin.farrimond@broadcastaustralia.com.au