Digital switchover in 2013

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#380991 17-Sep-2010 05:07

JonC: Earlier than expected - maybe the revenue from spectrum auctions beckoned.

I wonder if they'll be handing out vouchers for STBs like the US.

DVB-T STBs in NZ are far more expensive than equivalent units being sold elsewhere. Blame the combination of the small market, MHEG-5 and Freeview certification. The price point they're at now is too high to encourage people to buy them for their CRTs and the "Freeview|HD" brand makes people think non HD televisions can't be paired with a Freeview|HD STB. Alot of CRTs are going to be sent to the landfill for no good reason. Hopefully the price of a Freeview STB will be below $100 by 2012 but I don't think it's likely.

sbiddle

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#380994 17-Sep-2010 06:16

xarqi:
sbiddle:
xarqi: I'm very sceptical about the "Freeview HD for everyone" claim. Very.

Who claimed this? Freeview have certainly never claimed that everybody will get Freeview|HD.

ScreenScribe, in the article cited.

Well, technically what they wrote was "Free HDTV Everywhere by 2013?"

Ahh.. But while the headline said that they did then go on to explain the 87% rollout of Freeview|HD.

Definately a poor choice of headline.

sbiddle

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#380995 17-Sep-2010 06:17

bfginger:
JonC: Earlier than expected - maybe the revenue from spectrum auctions beckoned.

I wonder if they'll be handing out vouchers for STBs like the US.

DVB-T STBs in NZ are far more expensive than equivalent units being sold elsewhere. Blame the combination of the small market, MHEG-5 and Freeview certification.

I disagree. I believe the pricing is still mainly because of the H.264 issue. The reality is STB's are not as cheap to make as MPEG2 based ones and we're still seeing a premium price for them.

scuwp

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#381006 17-Sep-2010 07:47

I read in the Herald this morning that already digital TV uptake is at 70%. Anyone here actually know how they arrive at that figure or even measure it. Or is it just a S.W.A.G (scientific wild-ass guess) as I suspect?

Lazy is such an ugly word, I prefer to call it selective participation

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#381008 17-Sep-2010 07:52

I read in the Herald this morning that already digital TV uptake is at 70%. Anyone here actually know how they arrive at that figure or even measure it. Or is it just a S.W.A.G (scientific wild-ass guess) as I suspect?

They do phone surveys (I know of several folk rung) and use the sales figures on certified boxs but not uncertified satellite boxs. Its not that hard when you realise that roughly 50% of that figure comes from a well known figure of Sky subs.

Cyril

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#381394 17-Sep-2010 18:54

I disagree. I believe the pricing is still mainly because of the H.264 issue. The reality is STB's are not as cheap to make as MPEG2 based ones and we're still seeing a premium price for them.

A Freeview certified H.264 MPEG-4 HD STB in Australia costs just AU$69. The same unit was AU$99 20 months ago.

old3eyes

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#381407 17-Sep-2010 19:36

bfginger:

I disagree. I believe the pricing is still mainly because of the H.264 issue. The reality is STB's are not as cheap to make as MPEG2 based ones and we're still seeing a premium price for them.

A Freeview certified H.264 MPEG-4 HD STB in Australia costs just AU$69. The same unit was AU$99 20 months ago.

Wonder how these differer from the NZ version.

Regards,

Old3eyes

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sbiddle

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#381427 17-Sep-2010 20:15

bfginger:

I disagree. I believe the pricing is still mainly because of the H.264 issue. The reality is STB's are not as cheap to make as MPEG2 based ones and we're still seeing a premium price for them.

A Freeview certified H.264 MPEG-4 HD STB in Australia costs just AU$69. The same unit was AU$99 20 months ago.

Mind providing a link to that? There were certainly no H.264 STB's in Aussie 20 months ago and the $69 pricepoint for a H.264 one now is certainly not something I've seen. MPEG2 - yes, but certainly not H.264.

mm1352000

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#381472 17-Sep-2010 22:52

Yeah, I think that might have been 1080i HD, but MPEG 2 not h.264...

bfginger

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#381474 17-Sep-2010 23:13

www.kogan.com.au/shop/freeview-hd-digital-set-top-box/

That's about NZ$90.

ObidiahSlope

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#381487 18-Sep-2010 00:02

Stop thia hating on Freeview DVB satellite.

I indtalled a Freeview satellite dish at my parents place in a small South Island village with 200 inhabitants. The dish is so much better than what they had before, a community owned translator on the ridge behind the village offering Tv One TV2 and TV3 if atmospheric conditions were favourable.

The focus for the dish was just to the right of a very high peak. I hope the mountain never moves or the recption will be lousy.

Mum enjoys watching question time on the Parliamentary chanel and Dad enjoys the 8:00PM news without commercials on chanel 7

Obsequious hypocrite

xarqi

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#381491 18-Sep-2010 00:09

ObidiahSlope: Stop thia hating on Freeview DVB sattelite.

I don't think anyone is saying that Freeview SD via satellite is not a great deal better than VHF, or analogue UHF.
What I personally bemoan is that the only HD satellite FTA transmission available in NZ for the foreseeable future is the SBS signal we are able to pick up.

Paradoxically, it is the very congestion that prevents Freeview HD via satellite that gives us this opportunity.

richms

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#381492 18-Sep-2010 00:14

xarqi:
ObidiahSlope: Stop thia hating on Freeview DVB sattelite.

I don't think anyone is saying that Freeview SD via satellite is not a great deal better than VHF, or analogue UHF.
What I personally bemoan is that the only HD satellite FTA transmission available in NZ for the foreseeable future is the SBS signal we are able to pick up.

Paradoxically, it is the very congestion that prevents Freeview HD via satellite that gives us this opportunity.

I have said many times that it is inferior to analog VHF, other than aspect ratio being better on dvb-s, the analog image is better in that it has no blocking etc on movement or just because a static scene has been onscreen for a length of time.

Richard rich.ms

xarqi

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#381495 18-Sep-2010 00:18

richms:
xarqi:
ObidiahSlope: Stop thia hating on Freeview DVB sattelite.

I don't think anyone is saying that Freeview SD via satellite is not a great deal better than VHF, or analogue UHF.
What I personally bemoan is that the only HD satellite FTA transmission available in NZ for the foreseeable future is the SBS signal we are able to pick up.

Paradoxically, it is the very congestion that prevents Freeview HD via satellite that gives us this opportunity.

I have said many times that it is inferior to analog VHF, other than aspect ratio being better on dvb-s, the analog image is better in that it has no blocking etc on movement or just because a static scene has been onscreen for a length of time.

My apologies.
Such subtleties are lost on me, swamped as they are by ghosting from multiple reflections from hills and buildings, passing aircraft, general noise, and no UHF signal at all.

mm1352000

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#381501 18-Sep-2010 00:47

bfginger: www.kogan.com.au/shop/freeview-hd-digital-set-top-box/

That's about NZ$90.

I guess I was wrong - that's not a bad deal really...

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