Pilot operation for digital terrestrial television and interactive MHP applacations
The MHP standard as Europe‘s key to interactive television

Using the test multiplexer in Graz (MUX, p. 70) three full linear television channels – ORF 1, ORF 2 Steiermark and ATVplus – were broadcast in digital quality. !TV4GRAZ, the station developed specifically for the requirements of the pilot test, essentially consisted of classic television content. However, this terrestrial digital television content only provided the basis for the actual core of the project: The development and testing of interactive TV products – in short, ITV for Graz.

A new generation of media products

The main objective was to develop and test new digital TV-based media products and broadcast them to the test households via the multiplexer in Graz. Experts refer to this as ITV, the internationally established abbreviation for interactive television. In essence, ITV involves multimedia portals which could be described as a combination of classic teletext and web sites but which still constitute a separate new generation of media products. The data services, portals and applications which can be broadcast due to the digitization of television transmission channels will enrich television with numerous innovative functions worldwide in the coming years.