The general downturn has hit the consumer electronics market hard. Equipment makers and content providers are therefore being driven to explore different business models and distribution channels even while technical capabilities and consumer aspirations are changing.

To meet their changing requirements they have to establish standards for multimedia data transmission via internet as well as additional and more powerful home networking technologies.

The TV technology landscape is currently characterized by the promise of high-definition (HD) video. HD-enabled screens and HD program material are becoming available. Broadband connections, required to transmit large amounts of data for HD TV, are also available, at least in urban environments. Users increasingly have the option to access TV content via the internet.

Usability models for internet protocol TV (IPTV) have been developed and are widely available. Storage capacity for video content, associated with time-shift usage models, has become lower cost and no longer creates a barrier for the acceptance of such usage models.

The Internet as an additional channel is joining the existing fray of cable, satellite and terrestrial broadcasting, according to a study from German technology analysis and consulting company Mediarise GmbH. While the study focuses on the German market and German user behavior, the findings can be transferred to the European landscape with only minor deviations.

In a TV business landscape characterized by a rising number of content providers, but stagnating overall usage per capita, new technologies are needed to give TV acceptance a boost, the study says. The authors of the study have in mind something that could be disruptive, such as MP3 data compression, which changed music storage, distribution and play back when it was introduced.

Currently, providers of IPTV are competing with traditional content vendors for viewers sat in front of the same terminal device: the TV set in the living room. And Internet TV has barely made it off the starting blocks. The study sees a conflict between the traditional lean-back TV viewer's attitude and the more active attitude associated with more interactive, typically internet-based forms of TV reception, ranging from video-on-demand to chatting, messaging or selection of the camera perspective by the consumer.

And since the requirements from both worlds are quite different, a TV receiver fit to cover both worlds will have to offer a feature set that deviates from a traditional TV set. The result would be a hybrid device, containing elements of conventional TV receivers as well as from the more computer-oriented internet world such as a keyboard, modems, codecs, and high-performance processing.

Hybrid TV receivers consolidate properties and features of conventional TV receivers as well as of internet terminals (PCs).

In order to funnel these diverging content worlds onto one device architecture, the Hybrid Broadcast Broadband TV Initiative, a group of German and French content providers, satellite operators, software vendors and CE devices manufacturers have devised a draft specification for internet-enabled TV receivers. Currently available in version 0.8, the HbbTV proposal will be submitted to the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) in September.

The specification is intended to serve hardware designers and software developers as a blueprint for future TV set designs, said Klaus Merkel from the Institut fŸr Rundfunktechnik (IRT), a research institute that is aligned with the interests of German broadcasters.

"In internet TV, there is a huge problem," said Merkel. "Available applications are based on a broad variety of different hardware and software components, plug-ins, browser profiles and file formats. It is possible to handle such a complexity on a PC, but not on a TV set. The reason is that TV viewers have a different attitude * and STB [set-top box] platforms typically offer less processing power and storage capacity."

The HbbTV proposal describes TVs able to access and display internet-based content, including text and low resolution videos such as Youtube. Text, in this context, is not a trivial offering since PC users typically are sitting close to the PC screen while TV viewers are further away. In addition, the standard describes a simplified user interface.

"Our goal is to enable the devices to use the internet as a transport medium. We are not aiming at representing the internet with all of its complex usage models and schemes," said Merkel.

The proposal is based on existing standard and approaches such as the DVB standards and the W3C standards. Since it resembles the Canvas initiative in the U.K., some observers have already described it as the "Canvas killer." However, Merkel denied any such intent. "We are talking with BBC", he said.

International TV set vendors are backing the HbbTV proposal, in line with French, Austrian and Swiss broadcasters.

Increasingly audio content, the old-fashioned radio or wireless programming, is also being distributed over the internet as well as in digital format over the radio waves. Again while the technology exists to distribute radio programs a number of ways, the market is disrupted by the fast pace of developments and add-ons and a lack of stable business model.

"We are facing twelve different file formats and many compatibility issues," complained Mark Hopgood, member of the Internet Media Device Alliance (IMDA) steering board and director of marketing for IMDA founding member Frontier Silicon.

In the IMDA, broadcasters, content providers, receiver manufacturers and silicon vendors have joined to provide guidelines enabling hardware engineers and software developers to simplify receiver development by means of open, interoperable standards. The group has been launched at the Consumer Electronics Show 2009 in Las Vegas; at the IFA 2009 it presents the first of several planned profiles related the reception of internet multimedia content. The group plans to establish a certification program for devices meeting their specifications.

IMDA Profile 1 provides a set of minimum requirements to be met by internet audio receivers such as codecs, compression rate, file format and user interfaces. IMDA profile 1-compliant also need to be able to browse a list of internet radio stations. The requirements include support for a number of widespread data files such as MP3 and WMA on the audio layer as well as ASX and M3U/pls for playlists. In addition, it needs to be able to handle HTTP 301 and 302 redirections.

Profile 2, the next foray for the group, is currently under discussion and probably will cover video, Hopgood said. The IMDA plans to certify vendors and products and certified products will have the right to carry a logo. At IFA, a number of chip vendors and device manufacturers were slated to announce the first products.