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Plans to clear up the UK’s airwaves once again to allow future 5G services are already underway, with Ofcom and the broadcasters hoping to tempt us to upgrade our kit well in advance by offering a range of new HD channels.
The future retune of the terrestrial system will see it moved away from the 700MHz band it currently uses, so that range can be divvied up and sold off to form the UK’s future 5G mobile network in 2018. This means yet another series of upgrades and retunes are on the way for the poor UK telly watcher.
The BBC, Channel 4 and communications infrastructure company Arqiva are therefore hoping to to use the 600MHz spectrum to offer an interim digital TV network using the DVB-T2 encoding format, tempting users to switch by offering up to 10 additional HD channels, ensuring that quite a chunk of the population would already have the relevant new hardware come the next mass national retune. [Ofcom via Cnet]
Your Freeview Might Get Nuked By 4G
Mobile Networks Work to Plug Freeview Interference Hole Before Full 4G Launch
More HD Channels on Virgin Media
QVH HD FTW!!
Or maybe even QVC HF FFS!!
QVC HD??
Too many acronyms!
So to clarify, the current SD freeview channels use the DVB-T system and are on the 700MHz frequency, which will be replaced in 2018, but the HD freeview channels use DVB-T2 at 600MHz and will continue beyond 2018?
Also when would this interim service potentially start…I didn’t see that in the Ofcom release?
Well, colour me confused!
If this information were to be relayed in English does it mean I will soon be picking up more Freeview HD channels on my Freeview+ HD device?
I think that’s the gist of it.
“This means yet another series of upgrades and retunes are on the way for the poor UK telly watcher.”
Apparently, they will be no yet another series of upgrades for the poor UK telly watcher, just retunes: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-20356760
It’s better just be retunes because if it requires purchase of new kit it’ll be cancell TV licence and watch online time.
I don’t know why I’m paying TV license in the first place; at home I only switch on the TV once a fortnight to watch a movie, and even that’s on Netflix.
You should probably just stop paying it in that case
“This will not be a new digital switch over; all it will need is a simple retune,” said Ed Richards, Ofcom chief executive
I doubt we’ll see any new HD channels for a while.
There is already space for a fifth HD channel on the existing HD mux but no one wants to pay for it – ostensibly it’s for C5HD but channel 5 can’t afford it. Then there is the issue of Sky buying exclusive rights to the other PSB HD channels such as film4HD, E4HD etc.
QVC HD here we come…
Maybe it should be a channel for advertising HD stuff?
After all the current system of trying to advertise HD stuff on SD tv’s has a little bit of a flaw in it.
much the same flaw that advertising blu rays on DVDs does and before that DVDs on VCRs – I want to know who thought this was a good idea?
But it’s always funny when they try, they always use really vivid colours to denote HD, like normally your TV is only in black and white.
3D is even better, they do that god awful “effect” of the tv rotating and the image holo-projecting out of the TV while little Timmy looks on amazed. Every time I see it I keep hoping that the bengal tiger sticking out of the panel is going to have a swipe and take of Timmy’s left cheek.
You’ve just made me think how amazing it would be if they’d only just invented colour TV and were trying to advertise it on black and white sets! I’d just love to see them try that.
“For those of you watching the snooker in black & white, the pink ball is just behind the green one”
“Right, these LED TVs are lasting YEARS! No-ones buying new! How can we get those suckers these supped up flashy 3D pivot interwebsystem? ‘K guys, come on THINK!!!”
“Free HDMI cables?”
“No, Charles! More out of the box! I’m thinking using words like ‘mhz’ and ‘DVB’ to baffle them into buying crap they don’t need or want, savvy?”
“Yah!!! I’m onboard! Let me ring a bud at Ofcon! He’s owes me a fav!”
BEEP-BOOP-BEEEEEEEE
“Hi! Quentin!!! Yah, still on for Trud’s org next month? Super! Anyways, need a fav! We’ve got a load of stuff need to shift, so, ahhhhhh! You’re interflexing my cables on this!!! I know… But next month dude!!! Sure, super!!! Cheque’ll be in the post bud!”
“Sorted!”
At least, in my world I imagine it to be this way…