Tuner Will Be Required For Freeview HD

blackfive

Here's a bit of advice for anyone contemplating buying a new TV in the next few months. Basically if your old one one is working and you'd like to use the Freeview HD broadcasts planned to start in December (shall we take bets on this date slipping?!), then don't buy one yet. This also applies to DVD/HDD recorders as well.

The reason is that to pick up the Freeview HD channels you'll need a new tuner as none of the existing tuners, whether stand alone or built in, will work with HD. It will need to be a DVT-2 compatible one and, to my knowledge, these aren't yet on the market.

You could of course opt for a stand alone tuner when these come out but ensure that you'll have enough HDMI connections on the TV for this and the rest of your equipment (DVD, recorder, home theatre, etc.).

Also take into consideration that although you'll see some improvement in quality on all TV's with a HD broadcast, the most significant is with TV's with a screen size of above 32".

scotsbob

So if you have an expensive Sony Bravia with built in tuner, it won't get HD and you will need to buy a new box. Is that correct?

blackfive

Unfortunately the answer to that, as I understand it, is yes.

Not good in my opinion but that's apparently why the logo said "HD Ready" as the TV is capable of displaying HD but the tuner isn't capable of decoding it.

Oh and worse, if you also have a DVD/HDD recorder you'll also have to buy a seperate one for that as well otherwise, as with the current stand alone tuner boxes you won't be able to watch and record a different channel at the same time.

scotsbob

What is worse, is that the BBC want to compress the service information (SI) data as a way of limiting reception to only Freeview approved HD receivers.

This is the route that the BBC went down with Freesat. Where consumers are limited to half a dozen approved receivers (and in the case of a HD digital recorder there is no choice because only one is approved.)

Nilrem

The HD tuner bit is because until very recently there wasn't a spec agreed for a UK/EU HD terrestrial tuner.
IIRC there was a spec last year which could have been used, but would still have required a new tuner when the second spec was agreed (they could have gone with the DVBT +h264, but they knew the DVBT2 spec was going to be .

So the tuner thing has been known for years, the HD ready just means the set can display HD when connected to the right tuner/Device (be it games console, blu-ray player, computer, Sky receiver, V+ box etc).

Re the SI data, IIRC that's not really the BBC's fault, it's the lowest level of "DRM" they beleive will be acceptable to the rights holders who provide the content.
If you're able to get a good quality HD copy over the air and burn it to disk for example, the rights holders are worried about the affect it will have on value of the content when it comes to reselling it (either to other broadcasters or as home video).
Compare that approach to Sky and VM with their hardware, which uses strong encryption all the way through and I beleive won't let you make a HD copy at all, except on their hard drive of their device which is linked to your Sub, and you can only use the approved/supplied hardware from VM/Sky to receive/record.
So it's either a case of the BBC (and I strongly suspect ITV/C4/C5) using this SI data compression to appease the rights holders, or them having a lot of additional problems getting the rights to broadcast the content in the first place (paying more for the rights, or the rights holders simply refusing to let them use the content).

Esqui

scotsbob wrote: »

So if you have an expensive Sony Bravia with built in tuner, it won't get HD and you will need to buy a new box. Is that correct?

Funny you should use that analogy...the only TVs currently available with a DVT-2 tuner are the Sony Bravia V4500!
http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/05/07/sony_v4500_launched/

scotsbob

Esqui wrote: »

Funny you should use that analogy...the only TVs currently available with a DVT-2 tuner are the Sony Bravia V4500!
http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/05/07/sony_v4500_launched/

Don't rub it in. I bought a V4000 only last November. Now I realise why it was reduced in price!

almillar

This is what HD Ready means. It can display HD when a suitable source is connected. The only HD (as opposed to HD Ready) TVs in the UK (and the UK bit is important) are the LGs and Panasonics which have FreesatHD built in. As in, displaying HD without an external box.

[Deleted User]

the freeview hd boxes should appear jan 2010

and i doubt that tv is up to spec as it was finalised only a few weeks ago, and the actual chip is still being worked on

NeverInDebt

I think they use of the bog standard chips many of which are already in decoders

Deleted_User wrote: »

the freeview hd boxes should appear jan 2010

and i doubt that tv is up to spec as it was finalised only a few weeks ago, and the actual chip is still being worked on

Inactive

Esqui wrote: »

Funny you should use that analogy...the only TVs currently available with a DVT-2 tuner are the Sony Bravia V4500!
http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/05/07/sony_v4500_launched/

No doubt Sony will be using tuners from an outsourced company that will no longer work in the future because the " out sourced " company is no longer in business.:rolleyes:

That is what has happened to many of their IDTV's since the recent retune.