Digital Video Broadcasting or DVB is the protocol that is set in place to define how digital broadcasting will take place making use of various types of audio and video communication networks. As such, DVB has to do with the way that broadcasting takes place using a mixture of cable, satellite, and terrestrial network infrastructures. Digital Video Broadcasting is utilized in many parts of the world, with Australia, many parts of Europe and Asia, and countries located on the African continent all employing DVB as the broadcasting standard. The European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) endorses the use of DVB technology.

The origins of DVB can be traced back to the early years of the 1990’s. During this period, a number of European entities involved with general television broadcasting formed an organization known as the European Launching Group. The membership included a wide range of equipment manufacturers, broadcasting entities, and various government bodies charged with regulating television transmissions throughout countries within Europe. Over time, this group expanded to include other locations as well and renamed itself the DVB Project. At present, this group represents in excess of two hundred different organizations that are located in just under thirty nations around the world.

One of the main purposes for DVB is to set the standards for uniform signal transmissions that will be secure. In establishing these standards, the protocols help to prevent the occurrence of transmission piracy. That is, in order to carry or receive the signals, the equipment must be manufactured within the standards associated with DVB, and be configured to specified frequencies. In order to carry the transmission, the standards also involve the use of carefully configured compression processes that allow the signal to be carried from a point of origin to a point of termination easily. At the receiving end, the equipment decompresses the received data and allows the broadcast to complete.

One advantage of utilizing DVB as the protocol of choice in digital media broadcasting is the fact that it represents an open broadcasting system as opposed to a closed system. A closed system is usually content provider specific, can only be utilized with television broadcasts, and is usually fixed rather than expandable. DVB can provide all the functionality of a closed system, and allows the end user to make use of different content providers. DVB will also make it possible for personal computers and televisions to interact as a cohesive unit.