Digital Television is a very different communication platform than conventional, analog TV. In addition to providing an improvement in image quality, digital TV is characterized by optimizing the use of the spectrum, compressing the transmission in a way that greatly increases the number of available channels. In addition, it becomes possible to multiprogramming, that is, to transmit in the same channel several schedules. Another important feature is the provision of new services, especially through Interactivity, which makes this medium predominantly unidirectional in a bidirectional communication platform, which can be used as a return channel to interact with programming, with other users, and even to access the Internet.
Research on the Brazilian Digital TV System represents a milestone in the development of national science and technology. Since the Genoma project the Brazilian academy was not mobilized with such success aiming to present technological solutions of interest to the country.
The first tests of Digital Television in Brazil date from the years of 1990, when some Brazilian institutions began to evaluate the television transmission systems of television signals in operation in the world, with the objective of defining which of them could be the basis for a national system. It was even possible to consider the integral development of what would be a "Brazilian standard", but the context of the globalization of economies, with the intensification of technological exchanges, led to consider which of the existing systems would be more appropriate to the Brazilian reality. In 1999, a technical cooperation agreement was signed with CPqD (www.cpqd.com.br), which officialized the beginning of research on the digital transmission standard to be adopted in Brazil. In 2003, a committee formed by Anatel and CPqD was given the task of choosing and developing the system in which Digital TV broadcasts would be based, being responsible for the management of the large consortium of Research Institutions, which would receive the contribution of more than 60 million to consolidate the choice and initiate the implementation of SBTVD in the country.
In 2006, with the publication of Decree 5.820, dated June 29, it was established that the Brazilian Digital Television System would be based on the Japanese standard known as ISDB-T, an abbreviation for Digital Terrestrial Integrated Services Transmission. Unlike the ATSC standards used in North America, which mainly emphasized high definition, without allowing mobile reception, and DVB-T, used in Europe, operating in the 8MHz range, the Japanese ISDB-T standard was chosen as the Brazilian Digital TV format by offering features such as signal stability for mobile devices and detaining superior reception at the reception within buildings. As a counterpart to facilitate adoption, the Japanese government exempted the Brazilian from paying royalties for the use of the chosen technology.