"There is real rocket science going on" in this area, MacAvock said Friday (Sept. 7) at International Broadcast Conference. The new standard "will be a groundbreaking system" rather than "tweaking a few buttons" on the current DVB-T standard, he added.

MacAvock declined to reveal building blocks for the emerging DVB-T2 spec since discussions are still in progress. But he noted, "We've re-opened Pandora's box. We're examining everything from spread spectrum, single carrier systems to more advanced orthogonal frequency division multiplex for single and multiplexed channels, and even China's DMB-TH" as possible candidates for DVB-T2.

Driving the DVB Group to develop DVB-T2 is the opportunity for broadcasters to claim new spectrum expected to be freed up after analog TV broadcasta are switched off to make way for digital TV.

The DVB Group wants to give broadcasters "the very best technology that can exploit a newly freed-up spectrum," MacAvock explained.

DVB-T2 will be designed to co-exist with the current terrestrial DTV standard, DVB-T. The new standard will enable broadcasters to offer a variety of new services including "ultra-mobile TV, multimedia channels and HDTV," said MacAvock.

By building in enough smarts and advanced technologies into the spec, the DVB Group hopes that DVB-T2 can be pitched to regulators as the best use of the new spectrum.

The DVB Group will complete the first draft of the DVB-T2 spec in the first quarter of 2008. Development of consumer products based on the new standard will start in late 2009 to early 2010, MacAvock predicted.