Forums › One New Zealand (including Vodafone, WxC, Farmside) › [TelstraClear] TelstraClear's attitude to widescreen TV

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#74499 13-Jun-2007 11:21

I am puzzled, is the decoder smart enough to know the incoming 16:9 signal on the feed? IF so, and if the decoder has set to WS, then the decoder (if smart enough) should only accept all 16:9 first, then 4:3 later. This may be entire spin of drug.. and I don't know if it is technologically easy to broadcast both 16:9 and 4:3 down the tube, and have decoder to pick the format it is set to, and if the channels do not include both 16:9 and 4:3 signals, then it will display whatever is available for that channel, and if a channel broadcasts on both signals, the decoder should use the preferred option first.

Example:

if there's 16:9 and 4:3 for Channel 123, and the decoder is set to WS, it will pick 16:9 signal of the same channel. If there's only 16:9 for Channel 137, and decoder is set to 4:3, then the display will be letter-box. If there's only 4:3 for channel 149, and decoder set to WS, then it will be letter-box.

Or is was I said just doesn't exist?

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#74502 13-Jun-2007 12:01

I do not think it is smart enough but someone else may be able to confirm.

However the problem is that there are some people (quite a few I suspect) that threw their toys because suddenly they were seeing 4:3 material as 4:3 on their wide screen TV's. They were outraged that they could not make the picture fill the whole screen even though that meant stretching it to kingdom come.
That is what I touched on with my last post. There are a lot of people out there that have such a screwed up idea of what widescreen is that they would prefer to just get a 4:3 image to their wide screen TV and stretch it to fill the screen rather then have to see black bar's down the sides of 4:3 material. Of course that means that material that IS 16:9 will loose the sides and be stretched but that is just how screwed up things are at the moment.

And quite frankly TC seem to be pandering to that.

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#74505 13-Jun-2007 12:51

The box does know that its a 16:9 image, this is flaged to it by the encoder. In the TV settings of the STB you can tell the box what to do with 16:9 programs, ie 4:3 P&S them, 4:3LB, or leave as 16:9. Infact if my memory is correct you can even tell the TCL digital boxs to 14:9 it. So the answer is simple, education.

For folk who dont like the 16:9 image and who have 4:3 TV's then select 4:3P&S (often call centrecut), for 4:3 owners set it to 4:3LB and experience the wider more natural image with the odd 4:3postage stamp image thrown in for good measure.

[update] just read netys last post again, so you are saying the problem is with 16:9 TV owners not likeing the fact that they cannot stretch the 4:3 material to fill there whole screen, rather than 4:3 TV owners worried about postage stamps. Well if thats the case tough. I dont see Art gallery vendors stretching out copies of the mona Lisa to fill the wall they set aside for it, everone would be outraged at the wider miss lisa

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#74555 13-Jun-2007 20:38

cyril, what chiefie was talking about was one step further where if the STB was set to 16:9 it would feed one channel (16:9) and if it was set to 4:3 it would send a entirely different channel (4:3). Both the same channel, in this case TV3 but the 16:9 or 4:3 feed of TV3 depending on what was set on the STB. Very cool idea but I think beyond what the STB's can do.

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#74566 13-Jun-2007 21:26

This is exactlyl what the STB can do, if you set it to 16:9 it will display the full 16:9 image, if you set it to 4:3P&S the STB will output the pretty much the same image the current analog TV3 service gets,................ no brainer.

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#76190 28-Jun-2007 15:02

Two weeks is up... has anything happened? Currently not in the country so not sure although think I would fall over is something has happened.

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#76191 28-Jun-2007 15:18

Nety: Two weeks is up... has anything happened? Currently not in the country so not sure although think I would fall over is something has happened.

Not to worry - you can remain upright.

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#76321 29-Jun-2007 17:00

Widescreen changes and the issues it creates

The issues with the presentation of widescreen pictures on the wide range of TV’s in New Zealand is not new. As contributors to this forum have already stated, there are many different options and preference for viewing 16:9 and 4:3 pictures.

That said, we do have some further issues created by TV3 and C4 moving without notice to widescreen. Sky TV has also experienced similar issues.

The decision by TelstraClear to move back to 4:3 transmissions was based on several considerations including the number of customers affected who called us and the lack of “Set up” options available to owners of older TV’s. We have reviewed this decision after further discussion with providers and engineering and will begin transmitting TV3 and UKTV on the dates below.

Explanations to customers with a myriad of technical set ups and personal preferences are very difficult, however we have now placed information on our website below to assist customers get the most from their TV.

www.telstraclear.co.nz/residential/inhome/television/digital-tv/whats_new_widescreen.cfm

The additional page below also clarifies the Movie channel changes and widescreen channels and dates.

www.telstraclear.co.nz/residential/inhome/television/digital-tv/whats_new.cfm

To summarise some of the changes and plans:

We will begin transmitting widescreen for TV3 on 9^th July between 10.30 and 11.30am. Teletext will not be available for the time being until we agree on the ideal technical “carriage” option with the provider.
UKTV will also begin transmission in widescreen for Digital customer from 10^th July between 10am and 11.30am.
C4 will not be available in widescreen until the Head End upgrade below is completed, due to lack of the correct equipment to support the providers feed.

We are currently working closely with Sky TV and TVNZ to agree on a possible interim technical solution to the quality of the feeds and also allow for the TVNZ widescreen launch, which is now delayed to approximately 22 September.

Our Head End and Architecture teams are planning one of the largest Head end upgrades in the last 10 years to expand our channel capacity and improve our technical capabilities in many areas including support for MPEG transmission. Picture quality improvements will also be part of this work. This is planned for phased introduction from late September 2007 to late October 2007. TVNZ widescreen carriage on InHome TV will not be possible until approximately mid October.

This work is all part of a longer term plan to ensure TelstraClear stays at the forefront of the Next Generation video and audio delivery.

Regards

Jeff Doyle
Market Manager Consumer On-net

JonC

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#76331 29-Jun-2007 18:53

Sounds excellent - I especially like planned improvements in picture quality. Thanks for keeping us up to date Jeff.

Does the head-end upgrade planned for Sep/Oct include the broadband speed upgrades (to 25Mbps) mentioned before?

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#76332 29-Jun-2007 18:58

Thanks for letting us know Jeff.

I also want to know if the increase in head end will mean the increase in channels provided by TCL, and the possibility on HD content?

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#76337 29-Jun-2007 19:28

Great work keeping us up to date Jeff.

rscole86:

I also want to know if the increase in head end will mean the increase in channels provided by TCL, and the possibility on HD content?

MPEG transmission would open the door for HDTV and the likes. Feeding the transport stream to the STB's etc.

Sound like a big job, good luck and I look forward to the higher quality picture. I sometimes find myself heading to my mates place for the Rugby, the difference is very noticeable, I've also been considering dropping Sports and Movies because of this.

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#76355 30-Jun-2007 08:17

This is good news. Is a shame that you will not be releasing the wide screen versions of 1 and 2 at launch but at least you have come out with a time that you will release it and have a good reason as to why.

I notice that you say that you have released guidelines on your web site. Are there any plans to send out anything with the next bill or similar? I would have thought that would be worthwhile. There is still a lot of mis-understanding out there.

Very good to hear that you are moving forward and in the right direction!

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#76560 2-Jul-2007 10:58

Will this planned upgrade allow customers to use the EPG without crashing their STB?

Nety

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#76730 3-Jul-2007 15:12

Jeff, a question regarding your post. What is the head end? I work in IT and to me that means the interface with the person using the PC. So is this then the STB software or something else?

Thanks

somewhat

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#76734 3-Jul-2007 15:35

This explains it a bit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DOCSIS- even mentions TCL's system, or http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hybrid_Fibre_Coaxial

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