Is it true that DVB-H services will suffer from unacceptably long channel change times?
Channel change time is a function of many different elements – one is certainly how the time slicing is implemented in the DVB-H IPDC stream, i.e. how long does the receiver have to wait before receiving the first burst of the new service you wish to switch to. However, that is not all: some early implementations require the receiver to reload the DVB-H stack and the media player each time a channel is changed – and this naturally affects channel change time. The minimum time between bursts is limited by the required power saving in the receiver front-end. It can be shown that the present technology will allow burst intervals between 2-4 seconds leading to average channel switching times of 1-2 seconds whilst retaining the power-saving benefits of DVB-H. Channel change time will certainly improve as chip design improves and importantly, the DVB-H set of standards allows full flexibility in this area. For any handheld system, channel change time must be acceptable to the user, e.g. 0-2s
