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 University of Washington engineers in collaboration with the ResearchChannel consortium, 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.

Optiportal Integration
ResearchChannel developers at the University of Washington have integrated iHDTV as a SAGE application for the Optiportal. The combination of low-latency high-definition conferencing with Optioportal visualization and rendering technologies represents the ultimate collaborative environment to explore science, research and the arts with real-time communication abilities.

iHDTV Development Timeline

• November 2008
  Interoperability with NTT Labs’ XG-2
  
  NTT Labs of Japan demonstrated their new uncompressed high-definition television over the Internet product, XG-2, at SC08, including a demonstration of interoperability with the iHDTV™ platform. Using iHDTV technology, University of Washington engineers broadcast a live, high-definition feed from a video camera atop UW’s Kane Hall to the conference in Austin, Texas.
  
  
• November 2007
  Multipoint HD Videocoference Integration with 16megapixal Optiportal Video Wall
  
  At SC07, ResearchChannel and partners demonstrated iHDTV video conferencing within a 16 megapixel, 8 screen LCD Optiportal. The demonstration highlighted music performances from KEXP in Seattle, from Sydney, Australia and from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. 
  
  
• November 2005
  Global Collaborative HD Video-Editing Session Demonstration
  
  At SC05, ResearchChannel and partners demonstrated a live, interactive video-editing session produced in real time using uncompressed HD. This demonstration incorporated the DigitalWell™ asset management system, which had recently added the Storage Resource Broker.
  
  
• September 2005
  First-Ever Live HD Images from Seafloor to Land Available as IP-Based Feed
  
  For the first time, live high-definition images of active thermal vents on the ocean floor were made available as an IP-based feed. This was a major step forward in defining the future of collaborative science, research and learning. Global iHDTV uncompressed N-way interactive conferencing at iGrid ’05 in San Diego involved participants from the University of Washington, WIDE Tokyo, University of Wisconsin-Madison, University of Michigan, SURFNet Amsterdam and AARNet Goldcoast.
  
• November 2004
  First HD Videoconference Across IP Networks
  
  At SC04, attendees interacted with colleagues in Seattle and Canberra, Australia, in the first ever high-definition videoconference across IP networks.
  
  
• 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.
  
  
• July 2004
  First Transmission of Full Bandwidth HD Video Between Computers
  
  ResearchChannel demonstrated the first successful transmission of full bandwidth high-definition 1080i video between two desktop computers using high-speed networking technology at the Asia Pacific Advanced Network conference. Three HD video clips were streamed at a sustained data rate of 1.5 Gbps.
  
  
• August 2000
  NAB2000
  
  Five streams from KING5 Television in Seattle were streamed across an 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.
  
  
• November 1999
  Supercomputing ’99 Conference
  
  ResearchChannel sent five concurrent 200+Mbps high-definition video streams from the University of Washington in Seattle, Wash. to the Oregon Convention Center in Portland, Ore.
  
  
• Fall 1999
  Internet2 Members’ Meeting
  
  The August demonstration was repeated during the Internet2 Fall Member Meeting (held at the University of Washington in Seattle, Wash.). Two HDTV streams were sent simultaneously, this time from Stanford University to the University of Washington over the same high-capacity Internet2 Abilene network.
   
• August 1999
  First ever HD transmission over IP networks
  
  In advance of the Fall Internet2 meeting, two compressed high-definition streams were sent from the University of Washington to Stanford University using the iHDTV software.  One stream at 40 Mbps (MPEG2 MP@HL), the other at 270 Mbps (Sony HDCAM format).  iHD270 and iHDmpeg software modules were used.