This extract from the ATVEF standard describes in outline the aims and scope of this web and TV convergence project. You should consult the specification for a complete description of how this is to be accomplished. There are several manufacturers already building and deploying these systems on a variety of broadcast mediums.

The Advanced Television Enhancement Forum (ATVEF) is a group of people from the broadcast TV and Internet industries who are working to specify a single public standard for delivering interactive television experiences. The intention is that these should be authored once using a variety of tools and deployed to a range of television, set-top, and PC-based receivers.

The Enhanced Content Specification defines the fundamental requirements that are necessary to enable creation of HTML-enhanced television content. This goes beyond normal Internet based delivery to describe how it can be reliably broadcast across any network to any compliant receiver. Because the broadcast requires that there is no bidirectional link, some changes to the delivery protocols are outlined.

The ATVEF specification for enhanced television programming uses existing Internet technologies. It describes how to deliver enhanced TV programming over both analog and digital video systems using terrestrial, cable, satellite and Internet networks. The specification can be used in both one-way broadcast and two way video systems, and is designed to be compatible with all international standards for both analog and digital video systems.

Web-references:

http://atvef.com/library/spec1_1a.html