Mobile TV wars : DMB vs DVB-H

Some people say they would never watch TV on a mobile phone, but when you look at some of these new smart phones that are on the way... you know you would. The problem is there are still these two competing Mobile TV standards, or maybe that's a good thing?

Mobile TV services powered by DVB-H technology are being tested in Spain, Germany, the UK, the Netherlands, France, Switzerland, Malaysia, Singapore, Australia, South Africa and the US. Digital video broadcasting for handheld (DVB-H) technology is developed and promoted by Nokia, and is considered the favourite to become the most common worldwide standard for mobile phone TV.

Going up against DVB-H is the competing Digital Multimedia Broadcasting (DMB) standard which was developed in Korea, and is based on the digital audio broadcasting (DAB) standard. The real test will be in broadcasting the 2006 Football World Cup where these two Mobile TV DMB phone and DVB-H phone technologies will also compete for the number one spot.

"There is a very strong battle between Korea and Europe ," said Jorma Laiho, Director for Technology at Finnish broadcaster YLE.

BBC News puts it all in perspective | read