iHDTV™ is a software suite consisting of software modules that work with commercially available components to capture, packetize and transport high-definition video in various formats over Internet Protocol networks, spanning the range of HDTV quality levels, with the goal of providing wider access to high-definition content. Developed by ResearchChannel along with the University of Washington, iHDTV™ was first demonstrated in 1999.

Since that time, the software suite been expanded to enable and expedite efficient streaming with data at rates of up to 1.5 Gbps, which is sufficient to transfer uncompressed 1080i high-definition video. The iHDTV™ code is designed to require minimum overhead to achieve low latency. Its modular design can easily support new devices and flexible modes of operation, and the code is highly configurable.

ResearchChannel’s iHDTV™ project is designed to explore how research and academic endeavors — and the world in general — would change if studio-quality HD video could be sent over a general-purpose Internet. More fundamentally, the project explores the intersection of network, video and server technologies where near real-time distribution of extremely high-quality images is required.

ResearchChannel has been experimenting with ways to develop and integrate technology and techniques for the distribution of high-quality video over the Internet. And over time, the definition of high-quality, and the corresponding requirements for network capacity, have dramatically increased.

UW's Internet HDTV project is pushing the envelope on several fronts. Multiple system integration challenges have been encountered, from PC performance problems to Gigabit Ethernet incompatibilities. As the project continues, ResearchChannel hopes to gain insights that will help guide current network quality-of-service debates, questions of the relationship between quality and latency and limitations of current PC architectures. ResearchChannel is also exploring applications besides HD television (such as collaboration, telemedicine and interactive visualization) which would benefit from iHDTV™ technology.

The most recent development in iHDTV™ is an open source collaboration with several ResearchChannel participant and industry partners to further develop the capability and scope of the iHDTV™ software tool set.

Linear/on Demand
ResearchChannel servers using iHDTV™ software support ongoing demonstrations of compressed high-definition video streaming at bandwidths ranging from 20 Mbps to 1.5 Gbps. Programs have included live video of black smoker ecosystems 2,500 meters below the surface of the Pacific Ocean to on-demand playback of recorded video of surgery on human brains

Conferencing
ResearchChannel’s work in the last few years on uncompressed, multipoint high-definition videoconferencing has helped raise the bar in videoconferencing, enabling interactive, high-quality global collaborations and communications.

Open Source Initiative
ResearchChannel has made iHDTV™ software available through SourceForge.net. We’re inviting participation from around the world for continued enhancement and development of the software. For more information see the wiki or visit the iHDTV™ SourceForge site.

iHDTV™ Development Timeline

• August 1999                 First ever HD transmission over IP networks
  In advance of the Fall Internet2 meeting, two compressed HD streams were sent from the University of Washington to Stanford University using the iHDTV™ software.  One stream at 40Mbps (MPEG2 MP@HL), the other at 270Mbps (Sony HDCAM format).  iHD270 and iHDmpeg software modules were used.
• Fall 1999                      Internet2 Members’ Meeting
  The August demonstration was repeated during the Internet2 Fall Member Meeting (held at the University of Washington in Seattle). Two HDTV streams were sent simultaneously, this time from Stanford to the University of Washington over the same high-capacity Internet2 Abilene network. During the meeting, the first entire HD television show, “The Secret Adventures of Jules Verne,” was sent over the iHD270 system and shown before a large audience in Meany Theater on the University of Washington campus.
• November 1999           Supercomputing ’99 Conference
  ResearchChannel sent five concurrent 200+Mbps HD video streams from the University of Washington to the Oregon Convention Center in Portland, Oregon.
• August 2000                 NAB2000
  Five streams from KING5 Television in Seattle were streamed across a OC-48 network connection from Seattle to Las Vegas. This network was donated in part by Enron. The local loop in Las Vegas was funded by SONY Corporation. The newscast was switched live in the Sony Booth on the show floor, and streamed back to Seattle to be broadcast on KING5 directly off the Internet.
• October 2004             iGrid05
  First public demonstration of iHDTV™ global N-way multipoint low-latency conferencing system involving endpoints in Madison, Wisc., Ann Arbor, Mich., Seattle, Wash., Tokyo, Japan and Amsterdam, the Netherlands.