openmedia
04-12-2007, 04:46 PM
There has been quite a bit of discussion on here as well as other forums about AU DTT services and why we aren't adopting the same standards. I've just been over in Brisbane and made some captures of their services. I also had the chance to watch both HD and SD services on a brand new quality 42" Panasonic Plasma with built in HD tuner.
First up general viewing. By and large it was good. HD quality was reasonably good, but there were still too many unacceptable MPEG artifacts. Some of this might have been down to bitrate, other issues might be the source material.
Reception was generally good, but there was occasional picture break up. Like here in NZ there was quite a bit of pillar-boxed 4:3 material, and some of the even worse old 4:3 widescreen material pillar-boxed to produce a tiny picture.
The SD material was largely dreadful. Far worse than here in NZ. I did wonder if it simply looked bad compared with the HD signal.
Anyway the details of the sample streams
7 HD - 1080i MPEG2 10.7 Mbps (av), AC3 Stereo 384 kpbs
ABC HD - 720p MPEG2 9.6 Mbps (av), AC3 audio
ABC2 - 576i 16:9 MPEG2 4.4 Mbps, MP2 Stereo 256 kbps 32000Hz
10 HD - 1080i MPEG2 12.6 Mbps (av), AC3 Stereo 448 kbps
Sadly for some reason I couldn't get 9 and SBS on my Hauppauge HVR-900 USB tuner so reception might have been a bit marginal.
It was also interesting to see the 1080i streams as 1920x1088 rather than 1044x1088 flagged as 16:9 anamorphic as some channels in Europe tend to do.
The step up from the SD to HD signals is quite noticeable and well worth it if you have a TV with a built in tuner. One thing to watch out for in OZ is the pricing of STBs. You can get SD only units under AU$100, but HD units are generally AU$250-350. Also a lot of the HD PVR units only have SD tuners. Nearly all LCD and Plasma units over about AU$1200 have HD capable tuners.
The lack of a good EPG is a real pain. Most channels still only offer now/next information, but this is due to change over the next few months.
Speaking to friends and relatives over there about digital most are only starting to consider it because of the increased promotion. What has been holding them back is the near total lack of new services. They'd rather go for foxtel or austar and have the extra channels.
Some even have HD tuners in their new TVs but haven't bothered plugging in an aerial as they old analogue reception was so poor. A quick check with my tuner showed they actually had a good enough digital signal.
Hope this is some useful food for thought. Personally I'm looking forward to getting 3rd generation H264 based DTT in NZ.
Steve
First up general viewing. By and large it was good. HD quality was reasonably good, but there were still too many unacceptable MPEG artifacts. Some of this might have been down to bitrate, other issues might be the source material.
Reception was generally good, but there was occasional picture break up. Like here in NZ there was quite a bit of pillar-boxed 4:3 material, and some of the even worse old 4:3 widescreen material pillar-boxed to produce a tiny picture.
The SD material was largely dreadful. Far worse than here in NZ. I did wonder if it simply looked bad compared with the HD signal.
Anyway the details of the sample streams
7 HD - 1080i MPEG2 10.7 Mbps (av), AC3 Stereo 384 kpbs
ABC HD - 720p MPEG2 9.6 Mbps (av), AC3 audio
ABC2 - 576i 16:9 MPEG2 4.4 Mbps, MP2 Stereo 256 kbps 32000Hz
10 HD - 1080i MPEG2 12.6 Mbps (av), AC3 Stereo 448 kbps
Sadly for some reason I couldn't get 9 and SBS on my Hauppauge HVR-900 USB tuner so reception might have been a bit marginal.
It was also interesting to see the 1080i streams as 1920x1088 rather than 1044x1088 flagged as 16:9 anamorphic as some channels in Europe tend to do.
The step up from the SD to HD signals is quite noticeable and well worth it if you have a TV with a built in tuner. One thing to watch out for in OZ is the pricing of STBs. You can get SD only units under AU$100, but HD units are generally AU$250-350. Also a lot of the HD PVR units only have SD tuners. Nearly all LCD and Plasma units over about AU$1200 have HD capable tuners.
The lack of a good EPG is a real pain. Most channels still only offer now/next information, but this is due to change over the next few months.
Speaking to friends and relatives over there about digital most are only starting to consider it because of the increased promotion. What has been holding them back is the near total lack of new services. They'd rather go for foxtel or austar and have the extra channels.
Some even have HD tuners in their new TVs but haven't bothered plugging in an aerial as they old analogue reception was so poor. A quick check with my tuner showed they actually had a good enough digital signal.
Hope this is some useful food for thought. Personally I'm looking forward to getting 3rd generation H264 based DTT in NZ.
Steve