old3eyes: It woulds hardly be a FTA over the air channel then would it and you would still have to use a Sky STB not your TV tuner..

What is the difference between buying a Sky compatable box compared with buying a freeview box; but being supplied with a card that unlocks the FTA channels only? Effectively you still have to purchase the receiving equipment in both cases and get FTA viewing from them. As I previously mentioned though; Sky has the ability to add on lots of pay per view services as well.

benneg:

old3eyes: It woulds hardly be a FTA over the air channel then would it and you would still have to use a Sky STB not your TV tuner..

What is the difference between buying a Sky compatable box compared with buying a freeview box; but being supplied with a card that unlocks the FTA channels only? Effectively you still have to purchase the receiving equipment in both cases and get FTA viewing from them. As I previously mentioned though; Sky has the ability to add on lots of pay per view services as well.

old3eyes:

benneg:

old3eyes: It woulds hardly be a FTA over the air channel then would it and you would still have to use a Sky STB not your TV tuner..

What is the difference between buying a Sky compatable box compared with buying a freeview box; but being supplied with a card that unlocks the FTA channels only? Effectively you still have to purchase the receiving equipment in both cases and get FTA viewing from them. As I previously mentioned though; Sky has the ability to add on lots of pay per view services as well.

The difference is that by the time analog is turned off all TVs will have digital tuners as most new ones do these days.  So no STB of any flavor

Biggles69:

old3eyes:

benneg:

old3eyes: It woulds hardly be a FTA over the air channel then would it and you would still have to use a Sky STB not your TV tuner..

What is the difference between buying a Sky compatable box compared with buying a freeview box; but being supplied with a card that unlocks the FTA channels only? Effectively you still have to purchase the receiving equipment in both cases and get FTA viewing from them. As I previously mentioned though; Sky has the ability to add on lots of pay per view services as well.

The difference is that by the time analog is turned off all TVs will have digital tuners as most new ones do these days.  So no STB of any flavor

TV's with Digital TV Tuners cost about $500 more than standard TVs, so who knows how much that will change maybe the price will drop & it will be the norm we'll have to wait and see.
Sky aren't going to move away from STB's they need to be able to control the content restrictions & its another revenue gathering device for them (ie MySky)
Also Freeview will not cover the whole country with Terrestial digital (not unless the Govt fronts the money for the transmission network) they will say that everone can receive the satellite & the main centers are already covered by DVB-T so their job is done, & so far I don't think TV's in NZ have built in satellite receivers.

So I think STB's are here to stay.

I agree with you, I also think the main form of DTV receiver will come in the form of the PVR which includes the tuner within that box. As previously mentioned on this thread there is a lack of this product within the freeview market. Does freeview think this will be addressed with the introduction of TIVO? Will it be available for both DVB-T and DVB-S so everyone will be able to use them?

Biggles69: TIVO don't do satellite directly as far as i can see (cant find anything on the net)



And Freeview already have the same coverage area as analog with the satellite service (only with a crappy low bitrate signal)

Looks like the Gov is not interested in getting involved in that as well.

http://www.dtvforum.co.nz/forum/showthread.php?t=1284

freitasm: Just an update... I have now received the answers to the questions sent a few weeks ago and will be posting them later when back home.

Here is the answers... Once again thanks to you guys for asking, and Freeview for providing these answers:


1. Are Freeview comfortable with what TVNZ are currently doing on the platform with DVB-S and their regional feeds?

I believe that TVNZ if left to do what they are doing are already and will continue to seriously hurt the success of Freeview. Does Freeview have any ability to step in and set standards for the quality of the feeds that TVNZ supply?

TVNZ have recently made some major changes to their broadcast including adding regional versions of TV1. This has caused some picture quality issues but they are working to address these. As of Saturday 13 June they completed an upgrade which has substantially improved the picture quality and another change on Sunday 21st has further improved it.

2. Were Freeview ever offered the opportunity to be part of the TiVo distribution? If not did TVNZ and/or Hybrid ever talk about Freeview certification for the TiVo?

Freeview is not a hardware supplier or manufacturer. Freeview develops specifications approves products that meet that specification and markets and manages the Freeview platforms. TiVo is another hardware device that is compatible with the Freeview platform and we are in discussions with TiVo, as well as other compatible hardware devices to ensure that end viewer receives the best possible FTA digital Television and radio service.

3. RadioWorks currently transmit encrypted feeds of their radio stations on 12456H. It would be great if these were made available as part of Freeview.

At some stage RadioWorks may provide some or all of their RadioWorks stations on the Freeview platform; however that is a question that only RadioWorks can answer.

4. We're half way through 2009 and there's still only 1 approved PVR on the market. When will we see some other options and what brands are they?

We are currently working with 3 other MyFreeview|HD DTR manufactures. They are all looking to have approved MyFreeview|HD DTR’s in the market soon. We have also developed and distributed a MyFreeview satellite specification to the market and initial feedback would suggest that 1 or 2 of these devices will  be in the market later this year.

5. To the CEO: was it hard to walk away from Wipeout Australia to take up the job at Freeview?

Yes I'm joking, but there is an uncanny resemblance to one of the smart aleck presenters...   
The GM at Freeview is probably better suited as a contestant in Wipeout and has also been told that he has a great face for Radio.

6. This may have already been asked in the past, has the Government provided any hint at least about funding the Phase 2 rollout of Freeview|HD? Else would Freeview consider applying for extra space on Optus D1 (or even D3) to provide HD to all of NZ? Rather than having to pay Sky to get it.

At this stage Freeview is not aware of any immediate plans to extend the Freeview|HD network. This may change as New Zealand moves towards digital switch over sometime in the next 5-7 years.

7. The registration fees for a Freeview channel seem high.  What does that give you other than being issued a channel number and allowed to put your data into the EPG?  The web site indicates that the fees don't include transmission costs, which must be negotiated separately with Kordia.

The channel fees for Freeview are not that high when you consider that Freeview has to launch and continue to promote the Freeview branded services, work with manufacturers to develop and test to specifications, manage the EPG and develop new services on the platform.

8. Do you believe it's better for TVNZ and simpler for consumers if TiVo is the only Freeview HD DTR on the market?

Consumers want a choice of devices that they can watch free digital TV with. Consumer choice is one of the great benefits of the Freeview service. So TiVo will offer a different proposition to other manufacturers and it is upto the individual consumer to make a purchase decision based on which product best meets their own needs.

9. An article I read recently suggested Telecom and Vodafone are keen to make use of the UHF band as soon as possible. Do you think we might see UHF TV broadcasting "turned off" sooner rather than later? This might help solve the no Prime on Freeview issue.

The government decide when they will have digital Switch over. Freeview has been set up to help New Zealanders’ transition form Free analogue TV to Free digital TV and we look forward to a timely DSO.

10. The amount of duplicate broadcasts of TVNZ and Mediaworks channels on Optus D1 (Sky and Freeview) seems like a huge waste of bandwidth. Would Freeview consider possibly negotiating with broadcasters to allow access to unencrypted SD and HD transmissions of TVNZ and Mediaworks channels? Even if that meant allowing Sky to tune their receivers into the FV transponder and/or vice versa?

Freeview is an open access platform. Sky already tunes into the Free to air broadcasts of some Freeview channels for its pay customers. It’s up to individual broadcasters to negotiate this with Sky.

11. Sort of a mixed Freeview/TVNZ question here: when are TVNZ going to broadcast a Dolby Digital audio stream? I can't stand the absolutely shoddy AAC audio quality. It sounds like the audio has been recorded using one of those IC note-taker things. Horrible, absolutely horrible sound quality. Picture quality is very good, but how can that AAC sound be called HD? The Dolby Digital stream on TV3 on the other hand is very nice indeed.

TVNZ have not yet indicated when they will move to Dolby digital , however we understand they are planning to make this stage sometime in the future.

12. When does Freeview plan on including EIT data in your HD broadcast?

The Freeview broadcasters decided to broadcast the EPG data only within the MHEG data stream and not use EITsch data because this uses about one tenth of the bandwidth. If the EITsch data was broadcast separately not only would the cost be substantially more for the bandwidth but the same amount of channels and services could not be provided using the current frequencies.

12. Will MHEG5 be loosened up so that non-Freeview approved STBs can make use of a full 8-day EPG. This includes the Play TV add-on for the PS3.

Mheg-5 is open standard and all the major TV manufacturers and stand alone receiver manufacturers as well as a number of products in development use this standard to populate the 8 day EPG and provide services like MyFreeview.

13. It might be a good idea for Freeview to collaborate with Microsoft and provide Microsoft some downloadable TV listings content for Media Center. This obviously would not be necessary if we had access to a full un-locked 8-day EPG via DTT.

The broadcasters own the copyright for the listings data so it’s their decision to provide listings data outside of the current transmission via their broadcasts. We are working with a number of manufacturers including Microsoft and Sony to help find solutions for all viewers, manufacturers and the content owners.

14. Why is there not any info on the official Freeview website to explain the macroblocking, pixelation etc caused by lowering the bitrate , not even in the FAQ which list common problems! I did notice that on the website it now describes Digital Vs Analog as 'near DVD quality', i'm pretty sure it didn't used to say 'near', I guess they are covering their a$$ so they don't breach any false advertising claims. There is a news item about the regionalisation of TV ONE but nothing about the 2 months of testing & the on going picture quality problems. What are Freeview trying to hide?

See answer for 1 above.

15. Any plans for DVB-S2 (perhaps with backwards compatibility)?

Not at this stage.