News
Canvas – your questions answered
This site launched back in early December 2009, with the intention to provide somewhere the partners could publish news and information about the canvas proposals for journalists, the public sector, the media industry and anyone simply interested in the project.
Through the site – and our twitter feed @canvasinfo - we’ve received a lot of requests for further information about specific aspects of the work currently being carried out by the partners. Since the majority were focussed on a small number of common themes, we’ve put together the Q&A below which addresses the main areas of interest. We hope you find it useful.
In what ways can Canvas be called an open platform?
Creating an open platform & a set of common standards is integral to Project Canvas.
Following in-depth work carried out with the DTG to contribute to D Book 7 (the DTG’s published standard for Connected TV), the partners will be publishing the technical specification for manufacturers in due course.
The openness comes from the fact that there will be no direct commercial relationship between the joint venture or any of the content providers who choose make content available on the platform. This ensures a level playing field for the market. Nor will the joint venture act as a gatekeeper to the content that sits upon the platform.
Canvas will create a genuinely open platform for content providers who would have previously not been able to gain access to the TV screen. If approved by the BBC Trust, the joint venture will be run with a clear focus on openness & accountability.
What kind of opportunities does Canvas present for the Open Source Community?
We are extremely keen to encourage members of the Open Source Community to build apps for the platform: Canvas is designed to break down traditional barriers to getting content into the living room via the TV screen & provide creative opportunities that might otherwise not exist.
It is yet to be decided whether the partners will be using open source software in creating the technical specification, though we are looking into all possibilities
How will the EPG work, and will users have any degree of control over the format of it?
It is too early to say how the EPG will be organised on Canvas, and the partners will publish a clear policy on this when the time comes.
The joint venture will put a clear set of rules upon which access to the platform is conditional - along the lines of taste & decency, legally-abiding content and so on. It will follow the linear EPG of Freeview/ Freesat for broadcast channels to provide a consistent user experience that is familiar to users.
It is likely that there will be gaps in the EPG – providing room to add in additional content – and customisation may also feature, allowing users to select their favourites, re-order the EPG and delete content they are less keen on.
Overall, there is no desire on the part of the partners to mandate how users use Canvas – this is about providing the most interactive, immersive & useful experience possible.
Do the partners have any concerns around costs of delivery & whether the ISPs involved may act as gatekeepers?
It is inevitable that as the web becomes more & more significant as a means of delivery, the costs of delivery will gain greater significance.
However, if you work to the mandate in the Digital Britain report that there should be a minimum broadband speed nationally of 2meg by 2012, figures submitted to the BBC Trust indicate that this will be enough to deliver Canvas services “over the top”.
The original proposal also contains a minimum quality threshold for Canvas so that consumers will be guaranteed a high quality Canvas experience in terms of playback and picture quality. This assurance for consumers will apply to all content providers that sit on the platform.
Furthermore, there will be no commercial relationship between the Canvas joint venture & whichever ISP delivers Canvas content, so they will not act as a ‘gatekeeper’ to content.
Will the Canvas interface also be available via the PC?
As convergence gathers pace, the differences between the capabilities and usage patterns of PCs & TVs breaks down. Theoretically, any device could carry the Canvas brand and UX if its meet the technical specification.
However, while the vast majority of the applications & services that we expect to be part of Canvas will be available via the PC, this project is primarily concerned with bringing those services to the TV set.
What kind of relationship there has been with other EU media initiatives to try to ensure that Canvas is not a UK-only standard?
Canvas is not about creating a standard – it’s about creating an open platform built on common standards, in collaboration with the DTG.
In many respects, HbbTV parallels the goals of Canvas. However there are some important differences: the HbbTV consortium has developed standards for the STB whereas the Canvas proposition is much broader in scope, covering the whole system (EPG, meta data, collation of usage data) and offering audiences a rich consumer experience. Thus Canvas is more than just a brand for an internet-connected DTT platform.
The aim with Canvas is not to create a global standard, but to create a UK platform which is scalable globally. In pursuit of this, we are actively engaged with global partners, and while we recognise the differences between the various standards, we are working to ensure alignment wherever possible.
