2006-01-16, 07:57 AM
This was an article recently published in a prominent professional electronics magazine regarding the future of digital broadcasting encoding. It makes disturbing reading to all those who have invested in digiboxes , Tvâs with inbuilt freeview boxes and PVRs as advised ( constant adverts on TV with their advice ) by the present UK Government.
â The move from MPEG2 to MPEG4 digital broadcasting encoding standard could create a need to turn off the MPEG2 digital TV signal making the current Freeview digital terrestrial TV ( DTT ) receivers obsolete. We are just at the cusp now of changing digital broadcasting encoding standards said Roger Lynch , chairman of service provider Video Networks, at a Government Select Committee hearing. The problem is that every single Freeview box out there in the field cannot do MPEG4 , so what that means is :- how do ever get to the latest technology on DTT where you migrate to MPEG4, free up the spectrum and enable things like high-definition?
MPEG4 uses spectrum more efficiently, using half of the bandwidth of MPEG2, meaning twice as many channels or the ability to offer high definition broadcasting with far less bandwidth.
Lynch agreed with the committee that this change meant there may come appoint where there is a â second switch-offâ of TV signals in order to transfer from MPEG2 to MPEG4. There will be a transition where, in an aggregate and an economic sense , it will make sense to use the most advanced encoding technology said Lynch.
Lynch said he was concerned about the current focus ( Government advertising on TV ) on Freeview as the primary provider of digital TV because it uses MPEG2. By placing so much emphasis on, and so much investment in, that, you end up perpetuating what I call the â lowest common denominatorâ, because it is based on legacy technology.â
My personal response to the above news was to write to the author of the article pointing out :-- Although I welcome continuous technology improvements ( I work in the field of Radar ) I think that the UK Government should seriously consider their stance on the future of digital broadcasting. They are constantly pushing set top boxes as a cost effective route to the digital future. Now with the possibility of embracing MPEG4 , these set top boxes would be obsolete ( its highly unlikely that the conversion to MPEG4 could be done in software as an over-the-air upgrade ). Consumers who have invested in set top boxes will be understandably angry as in many instances they have invested in PVRs, Digital reception ready TVs and digiboxes.
If this situation were to actually occur then I and many others would hold the UK Government responsible for reimbursing the losses involved. In my case with two PVRs and two set top digiboxes this would account for £500 and I am sure that there are many people in similar or worse positions. In fact many TVs are now supplied with the necessary circuitry to receive digital broadcasting , but only at the MPEG2 level.
The authorâs reply was an indication of how this Governments attitude about so many important subjects is, ie totally out of touch with the public opinion.
Reply:- Iâm afraid that having attended another Select Committee hearing on the analogue switch-off yesterday ,the government stance regarding MPEG2/MPEG4 will not make you happy either. James Purnell MP basically dismissed the issue , saying that the cost of an MPEG4 box will be significantly outweighed by the purchase price of an HD TV which would be required to watch HD programs. ( Has Purnell completely missed the point?)
Sorry that this article is a bit long but it has to convey the aspects of the potential problem. Look at your individual circumstances regarding costs to receive Digital Broadcasting and I then think we should all make it very clear to the UK government that they should take a long hard look at what they intend doing in the future. Perhaps Purnell would be a good person to point out the cost implications to.
Data of original article was from electronicsweekly.com
:mad: :mad: :mad:
â The move from MPEG2 to MPEG4 digital broadcasting encoding standard could create a need to turn off the MPEG2 digital TV signal making the current Freeview digital terrestrial TV ( DTT ) receivers obsolete. We are just at the cusp now of changing digital broadcasting encoding standards said Roger Lynch , chairman of service provider Video Networks, at a Government Select Committee hearing. The problem is that every single Freeview box out there in the field cannot do MPEG4 , so what that means is :- how do ever get to the latest technology on DTT where you migrate to MPEG4, free up the spectrum and enable things like high-definition?
MPEG4 uses spectrum more efficiently, using half of the bandwidth of MPEG2, meaning twice as many channels or the ability to offer high definition broadcasting with far less bandwidth.
Lynch agreed with the committee that this change meant there may come appoint where there is a â second switch-offâ of TV signals in order to transfer from MPEG2 to MPEG4. There will be a transition where, in an aggregate and an economic sense , it will make sense to use the most advanced encoding technology said Lynch.
Lynch said he was concerned about the current focus ( Government advertising on TV ) on Freeview as the primary provider of digital TV because it uses MPEG2. By placing so much emphasis on, and so much investment in, that, you end up perpetuating what I call the â lowest common denominatorâ, because it is based on legacy technology.â
My personal response to the above news was to write to the author of the article pointing out :-- Although I welcome continuous technology improvements ( I work in the field of Radar ) I think that the UK Government should seriously consider their stance on the future of digital broadcasting. They are constantly pushing set top boxes as a cost effective route to the digital future. Now with the possibility of embracing MPEG4 , these set top boxes would be obsolete ( its highly unlikely that the conversion to MPEG4 could be done in software as an over-the-air upgrade ). Consumers who have invested in set top boxes will be understandably angry as in many instances they have invested in PVRs, Digital reception ready TVs and digiboxes.
If this situation were to actually occur then I and many others would hold the UK Government responsible for reimbursing the losses involved. In my case with two PVRs and two set top digiboxes this would account for £500 and I am sure that there are many people in similar or worse positions. In fact many TVs are now supplied with the necessary circuitry to receive digital broadcasting , but only at the MPEG2 level.
The authorâs reply was an indication of how this Governments attitude about so many important subjects is, ie totally out of touch with the public opinion.
Reply:- Iâm afraid that having attended another Select Committee hearing on the analogue switch-off yesterday ,the government stance regarding MPEG2/MPEG4 will not make you happy either. James Purnell MP basically dismissed the issue , saying that the cost of an MPEG4 box will be significantly outweighed by the purchase price of an HD TV which would be required to watch HD programs. ( Has Purnell completely missed the point?)
Sorry that this article is a bit long but it has to convey the aspects of the potential problem. Look at your individual circumstances regarding costs to receive Digital Broadcasting and I then think we should all make it very clear to the UK government that they should take a long hard look at what they intend doing in the future. Perhaps Purnell would be a good person to point out the cost implications to.
Data of original article was from electronicsweekly.com
:mad: :mad: :mad: