MHEG-5 Extensions

The ISO/IEC 13522 specification and the UK Profile define only a basic feature set that most MHEG-5 profiles are derived from.

On this page, you will find a list of known extensions to this baseline profile. The Status is explained here.

HDGraphicsPlaneExtension

This extension should be supported by all devices supporting an OSD plane with a resolution higher than 720x576.

Defined in: UK D-Book
Used by: UK Freeview, UK Freesat, CI+ 1.3, South Africa
Support status: Implemented & Tested

HDVideoExtension

This extension should be supported by all devices capable of decoding high definition video.

Defined in: UK D-Book
Used by: UK Freeview, UK Freesat, CI+ 1.3, South Africa
Support status: Implemented & Tested

InteractionChannelExtension

This extension allows MHEG-5 applications to access additional application or data files over a Network connection.

Defined in: UK D-Book
Used by: UK Freeview, UK Freesat
Support status: Implemented & Tested

ICStreamingExtension

This extension allows MHEG-5 applications to play video streams over a HTTP Network connection.
Receivers implementing this extension typically also implement the InteractionChannelExtension.

Defined in: UK D-Book
Used by: UK Freeview, UK Freesat
Support status: Implemented & Tested

ICEncryptedStreamExtension

This extension adds some security to the video playback feature defined by the ICStreamingExtension.
Streams are encrypted using AES128-CBC, with key information being transmitted to entitled receivers over a HTTP TLS Link.

Defined in: UK D-Book
Used by: UK Freeview, UK Freesat
Support status: Implemented & Tested

LifecycleExtension

This extension allows applications to survive tune operations. Without this extension, every tune operation kills the currently running MHEG-5 application.

Defined in: UK D-Book
Used by: UK Freeview, UK Freesat, South Africa
Support status: Implemented & Tested

NativeApplicationExtension

This extension only consists of the SBI Resident program. It allows MHEG-5 applications to select if a receiver should en- or disable broadcaster interruptions.

Defined in: UK D-Book
Used by: UK Freeview, UK Freesat
Support status: Implemented & Tested

DowloadableFontExtension

Without this extension, MHEG-5 only supports the Tiresias Screenfont. Receivers supporting this extension allow the dynamic download and usage of additional typefaces in OpenType format.

Defined in: UK D-Book
Used by: UK Freeview, UK Freesat, CI+ 1.3
Support status: Implemented & Tested

SI Extension

This extension defines a couple of resident programs that allow MHEG-5 applications to access DVB SI information.

Defined in: ETSI ES 202 184
Used by: South Africa
Support status: Implemented

PVR Extension

This extension allows an MHEG-5 application to manage the booking of events on PVRs.

Defined in: ETSI ES 202 184
Used by: South Africa, Australia (variant), New Zealand
Support status: Implemented

File System Acceleration Extension

This extension allows receivers to cache DSM-CC contents with MHEG-5 data across tunes and power cycles.

Defined in: ETSI ES 202 184
Used by: South Africa, Australia
Support status: Not Implemented (Explanation)

Language Extension

This extension allows MHEG-5 applications to read user language preferences.

Defined in: ETSI ES 202 184
Used by: South Africa
Support status: Implemented

Maori character Extension

This extension adds support for Maori characters.

Defined in: Freeview Australia MHEG-5 Profile
Used by: Australia, New Zealand
Support status: Not Implemented

Application Launch Extension

This extension allows MHEG-5 applications to be-launched-by to launch other applications.

Defined in: ETSI ES 202 184
Used by:
Support status: Implemented