Freeview? - Think twice before you buy a new tv/set top box

trickys77

Hi All,

As of the end of this year ofcom are planning to start sending HD tv through freeview. Unfortunately however because there isn't enough bandwidth they are having to compress the data and are currently defining the specification.

The main thing to be aware of is that you will need to buy a new set top box to watch freeview in HD. Even if your HD ready TV has an integrated freeview tuner you will still need a set top box to watch HD.

For anyone looking to buy a tv or set top box in the next year, I would seriously recommend waiting for the HD freeview specification to be finished. As soon as this happens the old set top boxes/tvs will leave the shelves and be replaced by the new tuners capable of freeview HD.

For those interested in freeview HD this means you can save having to buy and plug in yet another box. For those not interested in freeview HD you can probably grab a bargain from the standard freeview tv's/boxes!

Hope this helps anyway,



BBC news article about this can be found here:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7328029.stm

gooseye

I wish they'd hurry up & get the DVB-T2 boxes out onto the market. A lot of people are going to be vexed that the Digital Changeover ads are pushing us to buy technology which will be seen as outdated within months!

Nilrem

I suspect the switch from current digital STB's/TV's to the ones capable of HD reception will probably take a while (HD STB's are likely to cost a premiium at first, like the digiboxes did), also it'll take a while for the manufacturers to move over (they've got to design, and integrate the new receivers into their TV's).

At the moment I wouldn't worry overly much about it if you need a new TV, or your area is facing the digital switch over and you need a digital box, at it'll take the broadcasters a long time to get round to HDTV via terrestrial even after OFCOM settle on the spec.


I've also got vague memories of a company a couple of years ago that was working on using the CAM slot on HD TV's (IIRC all HD TV's have to have one due to an EU directive*), to allow for HDTV decoding on sets that only had a normal receiver but HD displays, so it's even possible that that will come to something (even if it's just a receiver that slots into the CAM slot then connects to the TV's HDMI input for a "tidy" STB option).
Unfortunately, and infuriatingly I can't find the article now, which is often the case.


*I think because a number of countries in the UE make heavy use of them for subscription services (over here only Setanta seem to use it on terrestrial now), apparently the CAM interface is a lot more versatile than is really needed in terms of just being something to plug a smartcard reader into.

gooseye

A CI module which transcodes h.264 to mpeg2 won't help cos the front end (demodulator etc) is different for DVB-T2. See http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2008/09_september/01/hd.shtml

Idiophreak

You can get a set top box for 15squid these days - the new boxes won't be around for a year or so, they'll cost a bunch when they come out and a lot of people won't have HD TVs or just won't care, so it's not going to be the be all and end all. Conclusion: If you want a STB now, I'd buy one...

trickys77

Just to clarify:

If you have a regular TV and want freeview then set top boxes are cheap so no need to wait. However if you are looking to spend a few hundered pounds or more on a new HD tv with intergrated freeview, then you might want to consider buying a tv with freeview HD intergrated. I personally hate all the wires cables and plugs so having to plug another box into a LCD or plasma TV to watch HD is a real pain.

...Just worth considering if you are looking to buy a new TV. I personally will be waiting until next year (2010) before considering a new one for this reason.

trickys77

Updated details on freeview HD can be found here:

http://www.freeview.co.uk/freeview/Services/Freeview-HD