Apsattv
09-05-2008, 11:57 PM
From http://www.tv3.co.nz/News/NationalNe...4/Default.aspx
Posted 03-04-2008 12:40 AM
Freeview starts its digital terrestrial television service tomorrow - and yes the jargon takes some time to decipher.
Digital television is the new world. In the past New Zealanders have watched telly on analogue and many still do, but the Government is phasing out the analogue service to free up space on the broadcasting spectrum.
It will announce a switch-off date in 2012 or when 75 percent of homes have digital TV. Currently about 47 percent have it.
Digital signals use less bandwidth so more channels and better quality pictures and sound are provided.
Freeview, a consortium of broadcasters Television New Zealand, TVWorks, owner of TV3, Maori Television and Radio New Zealand, offers both free-to-air satellite and terrestrial services. It has run satellite since it started up last May. That offers programmes with standard definition pictures via a satellite dish.
Terrestrial can offer them in high definition (HD). Freeview says that means "crystal clear" DVD-quality widescreen pictures and sound. Its signal is received via a UHF signal.
But HD will be beyond the reach of many. Like other things in life that are free, there is a catch.
For a start you will need a Freeview-approved digital terrestrial receiver (also known as a set-top box), currently retailing between $400 and $500. You might already have the necessary UHF aerial - or you might need to buy one. And an HDCF-compliant input and HDMI cable.
Then there is the small matter of having a HD-capable TV. LCD and plasma do the trick, but they can cost from upwards of $2000.
That doesn't faze Steve Browning, Freeview's chief executive.
"About 300,000 homes already have an HD-ready TV; 110,000 were sold in the last six months of last year and that is a purchase of $2000 plus," he told NZPA. "That has not stopped people going out and doing it. A $400 receiver for a number of people who really want the best, it's not a lot of money.
"The satellite receiver started off at $300 and the take-up was double what we predicted. For the early adopters, price is not as big a barrier as it is for people who will adopt later. And prices will come down and hardware choice will go up."
If you have a standard television set, a Freeview HD receiver will allow you to plug in its analogue outputs to get standard definition digital pictures.
"For most people, 90 percent of people will agree that standard definition is better than analogue," said Browning.
For those who are concerned about a proliferation of digital receiver weapons in their living rooms, there is the option of waiting for HD-integrated TVs, which are expected to come on the market in a few months time.
After that outlay, Freeview is free. There are no subscriptions.
But there's another catch. While Freeview's satellite service is available nationwide, if you live in Invercargill, Greymouth, Kaitaia or New Plymouth and a host of rural areas, you have to wait.
It will be available initially in Auckland, Hamilton, Tauranga, Palmerston North, Napier, Hastings, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin, covering 75 percent of the population.
Browning said spectrum was allocated to 87 percent of population coverage, but said it would take a number of years to reach that figure.
"It's a matter of financing the transmitters to roll it out."
The nature of the New Zealand countryside means coverage to the remaining 13 percent is unlikely.
The Freeview consortium wants to tackle Sky's dominance in the digital world. Sky beams to more than 700,000 subscribers in New Zealand, while after 11 months Freeview says it is approaching 100,000 or 6 percent of New Zealand homes and hopes to have an extra 50,000 HD customers by June next year.
Freeview has 13 TV channels, including three announced this week - TVNZ7, tvCentral in Waikato and Bay of Plenty, and Maori language service Te Reo.
The other channels are TV One, TV2, TVNZ Sport Extra, TVNZ6 (arts and entertainment), TV3, C4, Maori TV, Parliament TV, Cue and Stratos. Radio New Zealand's National and Concert programmes are also available.
TV One, TV2 and TV3 are converted to an HD format at the studio and broadcast on that, but all the other channels on the service are in standard definition, said Browning.
"We are giving people the best of both worlds. They will see some new channels only on digital that they don't get on analogue and TV1, 2 and 3 on HD."
There is room on the system for other HD channels.
While the Freeview-approved digital terrestrial receivers can be bought from appliance retailers from tomorrow, TV3 has got off to an early start, showing Boston Legal on Freeview HD tonight.
Shows such as CSI, Prison Break, Rove and Home And Away will follow suit in the coming weeks, says TV3's director of technology, John Allen.
Posted 03-04-2008 12:40 AM
Freeview starts its digital terrestrial television service tomorrow - and yes the jargon takes some time to decipher.
Digital television is the new world. In the past New Zealanders have watched telly on analogue and many still do, but the Government is phasing out the analogue service to free up space on the broadcasting spectrum.
It will announce a switch-off date in 2012 or when 75 percent of homes have digital TV. Currently about 47 percent have it.
Digital signals use less bandwidth so more channels and better quality pictures and sound are provided.
Freeview, a consortium of broadcasters Television New Zealand, TVWorks, owner of TV3, Maori Television and Radio New Zealand, offers both free-to-air satellite and terrestrial services. It has run satellite since it started up last May. That offers programmes with standard definition pictures via a satellite dish.
Terrestrial can offer them in high definition (HD). Freeview says that means "crystal clear" DVD-quality widescreen pictures and sound. Its signal is received via a UHF signal.
But HD will be beyond the reach of many. Like other things in life that are free, there is a catch.
For a start you will need a Freeview-approved digital terrestrial receiver (also known as a set-top box), currently retailing between $400 and $500. You might already have the necessary UHF aerial - or you might need to buy one. And an HDCF-compliant input and HDMI cable.
Then there is the small matter of having a HD-capable TV. LCD and plasma do the trick, but they can cost from upwards of $2000.
That doesn't faze Steve Browning, Freeview's chief executive.
"About 300,000 homes already have an HD-ready TV; 110,000 were sold in the last six months of last year and that is a purchase of $2000 plus," he told NZPA. "That has not stopped people going out and doing it. A $400 receiver for a number of people who really want the best, it's not a lot of money.
"The satellite receiver started off at $300 and the take-up was double what we predicted. For the early adopters, price is not as big a barrier as it is for people who will adopt later. And prices will come down and hardware choice will go up."
If you have a standard television set, a Freeview HD receiver will allow you to plug in its analogue outputs to get standard definition digital pictures.
"For most people, 90 percent of people will agree that standard definition is better than analogue," said Browning.
For those who are concerned about a proliferation of digital receiver weapons in their living rooms, there is the option of waiting for HD-integrated TVs, which are expected to come on the market in a few months time.
After that outlay, Freeview is free. There are no subscriptions.
But there's another catch. While Freeview's satellite service is available nationwide, if you live in Invercargill, Greymouth, Kaitaia or New Plymouth and a host of rural areas, you have to wait.
It will be available initially in Auckland, Hamilton, Tauranga, Palmerston North, Napier, Hastings, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin, covering 75 percent of the population.
Browning said spectrum was allocated to 87 percent of population coverage, but said it would take a number of years to reach that figure.
"It's a matter of financing the transmitters to roll it out."
The nature of the New Zealand countryside means coverage to the remaining 13 percent is unlikely.
The Freeview consortium wants to tackle Sky's dominance in the digital world. Sky beams to more than 700,000 subscribers in New Zealand, while after 11 months Freeview says it is approaching 100,000 or 6 percent of New Zealand homes and hopes to have an extra 50,000 HD customers by June next year.
Freeview has 13 TV channels, including three announced this week - TVNZ7, tvCentral in Waikato and Bay of Plenty, and Maori language service Te Reo.
The other channels are TV One, TV2, TVNZ Sport Extra, TVNZ6 (arts and entertainment), TV3, C4, Maori TV, Parliament TV, Cue and Stratos. Radio New Zealand's National and Concert programmes are also available.
TV One, TV2 and TV3 are converted to an HD format at the studio and broadcast on that, but all the other channels on the service are in standard definition, said Browning.
"We are giving people the best of both worlds. They will see some new channels only on digital that they don't get on analogue and TV1, 2 and 3 on HD."
There is room on the system for other HD channels.
While the Freeview-approved digital terrestrial receivers can be bought from appliance retailers from tomorrow, TV3 has got off to an early start, showing Boston Legal on Freeview HD tonight.
Shows such as CSI, Prison Break, Rove and Home And Away will follow suit in the coming weeks, says TV3's director of technology, John Allen.