Freeview launch date?

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KellyP

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#11505 27-Jan-2007 10:29

does anyone know when the Freeview broadcasting will begin? or is it already began in "BETA" mode?

miss_louie

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#59030 27-Jan-2007 18:47

What is Freeview?

tonyhughes

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#59031 27-Jan-2007 19:32

Google is your friend

cyril7

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#59033 27-Jan-2007 19:52

Lattest news indicates end of April, however I guess we can expect to see earlier testing.

And for those currently receiving TVNZ signals off B1 using a FTA DVB-S (satellite) reciever, be aware that in the early hours of Feb the 1st the 12,483GHz transponder will be off air and is not expected back until sometime on the 3rd of Feburary. This downtime is to allow the uplink at Avalon to be changed to Horizontal Polarisation, a change brought about due to a mis understanding between Optus (D1's owner) and Obital Sciences (D1's builder), not a fault of TVNZ. Once the transmission is brought back on line you will need to adjust your STB to find the 12,483GHz transponder on Hpol rather than the current Vertical Pol.

If you are fully dependant on FTA Tv1/2 off B1 then during this 3-4day outage it is recommended that you scan Skys transonder 12671GHz, Vpol 22500ksym/sec, 3/4FEC, in that mux you will find Tv1/2 FTA (unencrypted) to cover you for those few days that the TVNZ mux is down.

Cyril

sbiddle

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#59055 28-Jan-2007 09:50

Have you heard any updates on DVB-T rollout dates? I heard last year that DVB-T was supposed to be available for testing from Kaukau (Wgtn) by early on in the year.

There also hasn't been much said about the STB's that will be available but (unconfirmed) I was told that there are also delays with these as Freeview apparently want some or all of the boxes to have HDMI output so they are futureproofed.

cyril7

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#59056 28-Jan-2007 11:18

No, have not heard any release dates for DVB-T. Unless they are going to do HD whats the use of HDMI with 576i, in its current implementation HDMI at 576i dons'nt work properly on most dispalys anyway.

Cyril

RobDickinson

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#59387 31-Jan-2007 15:53

Hi, I'm very intrested in this & have a few questions..

1st - I have a satelite dish on my house (Christchurch), there when I moved in (last year). Its not in an awfully accessable position.

Any way for me to tell if its the 'right sort' for DVB-S stuff (no idea if its analog or digital, coax has screw end is all I can say), & if its likely to be pointed in the right direction?

2nd - STB - After one with the best pic quality(or so), more intrested in decent connection to TV(not composite), HDMI possibly or component, failing that RGB/S-Video...

3rd I know the service is not launched yet but is TV3 and prime likely to be included?

cyril7

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#59410 31-Jan-2007 19:31

Assuming the dish on your house was used for Sky then it is fine, assuming the LNB (part on the end of the arm that the coax cable connects to) is still in good working order, which it should be.

As for suitable boxs, currently there are only ones on the market that are not "FreeView" approved, however in reality this means not a lot. Approved ones, once available will be dearer than basic (read fully configurable) FTA ones. There is a selection of 3 or 4 boxs currently on the market (non FreeView approved) that support RGB and Component video, these retail for around $220-$290, ones that only support composite can be found for around $140.

The difference between Freeview approved ones and basic FTA ones is not alot, approved ones will support all the interactive and extensive EPG features that Freeview will use via mheg5, basic FTA boxs will require that you tunein all the channels yourself, and EPG complexity will be limited to now and then and whatever features the STB supports. Basic FTA boxs will not support interactive features whatever that may intail.

TV3 will be on the FreeView system, at this point Prime will not due to its Sky ownership, but hey early days, who knows.

Cyril

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DS9

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#59417 31-Jan-2007 20:23

Hi,

About Prime, it will be on the DVB-T service but not the DVB-S, due to the fact that prime does not own the rights to broadcast Sports via FTA Satellite. Though when they renew contracts they will be able to include broacasting rights through FreeView.

I aim to misbehave.

lchiu7

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#59419 31-Jan-2007 21:05

I wonder then how many of the Freeview channels TCL would retransmit down their cable? Since they have retransmission rights for most of Sky's programming as well as all the FTA channels, that would certainly (hopefully) improve the picture quality of their content, especially TV3

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sbiddle

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#59420 31-Jan-2007 21:10

lchiu7: I wonder then how many of the Freeview channels TCL would retransmit down their cable? Since they have retransmission rights for most of Sky's programming as well as all the FTA channels, that would certainly (hopefully) improve the picture quality of their content, especially TV3

My understanding was they will start transmitting TV3 and C4 from sat once they are available on D1. They have no other way of getting a feed at present other than terrestrial.

andyninefingers

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#59551 1-Feb-2007 22:05

Just got the test channels back on Optus d1 now called freeview signal strength is very variable but has been watchable for a while. seems like there are two reserved channels so far!!!

andyninefingers

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#59552 1-Feb-2007 22:09

Gone Again
so a full two hours of freeview on 1st feb maybe thats all till 3rd of feb

cyril7

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#59591 2-Feb-2007 13:01

Both the 12,483MHz and 12,456MHz muxs are back up and running. The regional TV1/2 have been removed, ie only one TV1 and TV2 stream on 12483, EPG data is there. The 12,456 mux has TV3 and C4 listed, however only colour bars. According to TVNZ's previous post the 12,456MHz mux will be turned off after a short test period, so I guess this is the one that TV3/4 will use once they are up and running.

Cyril