Mobile TV - update

I’ve just read an article in Broadcast Engineering (July 08) title “Get mobile”. The article, better written than my meanderings, is not out of tilt with what I said in an earlier blog. However, one thing it highlights is simultaneously broadcasting on DVB-H (the mobile standard) as DVB-T (the television standard). This seems a waste of radio frequency spectrum.
If you can buy a simple USB dongle to put digital television on your PC why not use the same technology to put it on your mobile.
The article also highlights the different screen formats on different mobile devices that each would need their own format. Although ignored in the article the implication is that there would potentially be multiple DVB-H versions to cover each format. Again, a waste of valuable spectrum.
Why not use DVB-T on mobile devices and make the device reformat for the screen it has. This would be an efficient use of the spectrum – will make obsolete the older mobile devices, so playing to the mobile phone manufacturers’ obsolescence strategy.
Some may say that this loses the opportunity to personalise the content and adverts. However, there is no reason why interactivity and personalised ads and content could not be delivered via cellular network. This network could down load the ad of content to the mobile device and insert it into the broadcast ad break at the appropriate time.
DVB-T is being deployed across Europe and will probably have a better coverage than any DVB-H network will for some time.
The only problem is if you are on a train (for example) and watching a programme and moved out of one transmitter area into another how would you maintain the TV experience during the transmission. Cellular network already does this if you are on a call. A simple reference table that said you are in this cell’s coverage and the best DVB-T signal is “A transmitter” as you moved into the next cell site this could trigger the DVB-T tuner to move to the “B transmitter” if that gave a better signal.