The HTPC with Sky, TVNZ's new low cost pay TV

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blur

384 posts

Ultimate Geek

#93713 28-Nov-2011 08:32

Morning fellow Geekzoner's

I'm pretty excited to read that Sky and TVNZ are partnering up to offer a low-cost alternative to Sky TV's basic package.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10768519

They suggest that it will be broadcast using digital terrestrial frequencies already owned by Sky and will require a STB, presumably with some sort of encryption.

Does anybody have any inside info on what the technical details of this will be? I'm curious to explore what will be required to get this up and running smoothly on my HTPC.

My HTPC - Case Antec Fusion Remote, MOBO Intel DH67BLB3, CPU Intel Core i5-2400S 2.5 GHz, RAM 8GB DDR3 1333, HDD 120Gig Corsair Force Series 3 SSD system | WD Caviar Black 2TB data, Tuners Black Gold BGT3595 dual DVB-S/S2, dual DVB-T, Video nVIDIA GeForce GT 520, 1024MB, Sound Intel® High Definition Audio (onboard), OS Windows 7 x64

codyc1515

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#550788 28-Nov-2011 09:25

As the article mentions, surely this is anti-competitive. Also, somebody else posted on here about this not long back.

blur

384 posts

Ultimate Geek

#550789 28-Nov-2011 09:27

Do you mean by making it less attractive for a competitor to enter the market?

codyc1515

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#550791 28-Nov-2011 09:29

Basically there are two (or three) main TV operators in New Zealand. You have TVNZ (or Freeview) and you have Sky (or Igloo). Basically by partnering TVNZ and Sky there is no-one else out there, effectively stifling competition because there is no-one else in the market.

freitasm

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#550799 28-Nov-2011 09:44

Discussion about the new service is in our Sky forum, please continue there.

As for the HTPC configuration itself, please continue hee.

davidcole

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#550801 28-Nov-2011 09:50

I'd hope that like CableCard there's some allowed way of decoding sky via an HTPC for this new service. I'd be all over that quite happily.

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huckster

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#554976 7-Dec-2011 13:27

http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/6098329/Igloo-pay-TV-details-released

nickb800

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#554979 7-Dec-2011 13:31

I dont know, but would guess that it would be difficult for a htpc solution as there wouldnt be many terrestrial encrypted MPEG4 networks around the world, so not a huge market for equipment or developers. Plus with the internet interface they could possibly get away with not using a card system at all

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blur

384 posts

Ultimate Geek

#554986 7-Dec-2011 13:38

nickb800: I dont know, but would guess that it would be difficult for a htpc solution as there wouldnt be many terrestrial encrypted MPEG4 networks around the world, so not a huge market for equipment or developers. Plus with the internet interface they could possibly get away with not using a card system at all

I'm not sure about that, but you could be right. So what you are saying is that an Internet connection (suggested to be Telecom) would be a requirement of this service?

I Can't see that this would be the case, but as I said, I could be wrong.

I'm assuming that there are such things as DVB-T Set-top-boxes with a card system? I've tried googling this sort of equipment but you are right, there is not a lot out there.

A clue might be that they say you can "rent" the equipment from them.

Basically if I'm unable to use this with my HTPC then this is a non-starter for me.

blur

384 posts

Ultimate Geek

#554991 7-Dec-2011 13:44

A PCIe card like this might be required:

http://www.netup.tv/en-EN/dual_dvb-t-c-ci_card.php

davidcole

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#554994 7-Dec-2011 13:47

blur: A PCIe card like this might be required:

http://www.netup.tv/en-EN/dual_dvb-t-c-ci_card.php

Exactly, there are hundreds of cards with CAM modules that take subscription cards. It can't be all that hard.

codyc1515

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#554996 7-Dec-2011 13:51

Don't think this has been posted here just yet but Igloos' 11 pay-TV channels are BBC News, BBC Knowledge, UKTV, National Geographic, Animal Planet, Heartland, Vibe, Food Television, Kidzone24, MTV Hits and Comedy Central.

SJB

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#555771 9-Dec-2011 08:54

This service is circling the plug hole from day one.

And it's only terrestrial which rules out something like 10-15% of the country.

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