All ITV systems have these 3 main components, each having an impact on the other. The diagram below represents a simplified view of the many sub-components that make up each of the 3 areas. While the logical flow begins with the Acquisition, through Transmission to Presentation, it is important to focus our attention on the critical components of the system. The most critical component is the Presentation component. All other components in the system are driven by the Presentation component.
The Presentation layer is the most important, as it is what the end user interacts with. All other components in the system are invisible to the end user as they only see the actual delivery. The first and most significant impression will be left by the display device or television. The television parameters (whether the television is High Definition capable, widescreen, and size) all impact your end user’s impression. The second part of the Presentation layer is the control device or the set top box (STB). The STB will generally be paired with your display type. Fundamentally the 2 different types of architecture that come from the Presentation component are a thin client architecture or a thick client architecture. Thin client architecture is generally defined as a solid state box that controls the display and communicates back to the head end. This is a relatively low cost device ideally suited for lower resolution displays. Thick client architecture extends much of the smarts of the head end to the STB associated to each display. These boxes can be capable of providing much greater functionality, including High Definition, and PVR functionality, but they also come with a much greater cost.
While the Presentation component is the component that drives the rest of the system, it also drives a major portion of the cost. While the other components may change slightly in their make up and cost, the Presentation end can range from less than $300 to well over $3,000. With the potential for a 10 times cost swing, the Presentation component is the one that needs to be closely analyzed. Once the Presentation strategy is identified, the Transmission and Acquisition components are designed.
The Transmission component is defined by the Presentation strategy and the type of environment. Allin’s participation in the design phase creates significant opportunities for overall Transmission infrastructure savings. For example, when Transmission is considered in the design phase, dollars can be saved by avoiding duplication of cabling. Choosing to use one type of cable, such as Cat5/6, and eliminating the need for Coaxial and potentially Cat3 cable runs can significantly reduce the overall cost of the design and build. Existing architectures are generally limited by the cabling they have in place due to the high cost of recabling. Fortunately, advances in the different transmission methods, such as GigE, DSL, VDSL, DOCSIS, and others provide a wide range of options no matter the make up of the Transmission component.
The Acquisition component is driven almost completely by the other two components. Once the decisions have been made on those components, the requirements of the Acquisition component become fairly clear. Additional functionality can be added through various choices. A well founded design allows for future upgrades without significant cost.
For more in depth information about each of these three components and the architecture of ITV systems, we invite you to read our white paper on Digital Innovation which gives an excellent background on ITV architecture and the changes in the near future that will greatly impact ITV capabilities and deployments.
