Irish DVB-T rollout plan

rlogue

It looks increasingly likely that the RTE mux will be transmitted from the main transmitter sites this year. Where does that leave the transposer sites? My interest is that on the Inishowen peninsula we still don't get TV3 TEN YEARS after it was launched.

Will the RTE DVB-T mux include TV3 and will this mux be rolled out to the transposer sites at some point?

If TV3 aren't serious about national rollout of their channel then shouldn't they hand back their licence to someone who might be?

watty

There are technical difficulties with Transposers (repeaters). RTE needs to bite bullet and get satellite distribution. They insist on Terrestrial fibre and some digital Microwave. Very few transposer then, only ones upgraded to low power direct TX like Woodcock Hill. Or Spur Hill (not been a repeater/transposer for a long while).

TV3 at this stage are not going to roll out more analogue. The existing licences are only Analogue. DTT licencing works differently. The Mux operator gets BCI approval to carry a channel. Anyone could be a channel, in a sense as there will be no station/channel licences in current sense.

So for same reason TV3 arn't going to have to hand back licence either. In a few years they won't have/won't need one. Only mux operators will have licences.

Satellite & cable now more important. Expect cable to have nearly saturated just approx 1/3rd (less when MMDS closes) and Satellite (not just Sky) to rise to over 50% to 70% (after analog close). Sky may saturate about 40%.

lucernarian

I think Dungarvan can be included in that "former transposer, now directly-fed transmitter" category. AFAIK there's no TV3 from Dungarvan though...

I'd expect the higher powered sites like Castlebar, Fanad, maybe Monaghan and the likes will be upgraded this year. Moville has the rather awkward problem of being near Holywell Hill, Derry and Limavady with its Freeview so spectrum is scarce.

Though seeing as most relays (like Moville) have an unused TV3 frequency, maybe it will be relatively easy to roll out the RTÉ mux.

TheDriver

I presume we will have plenty of masts fitted and operational by end of this year but official rollout won't be for a good while due to people stating that they wouldn't be able to get it etc?

Antenna

To_be_confirmed wrote: »

Though seeing as most relays (like Moville) have an unused TV3 frequency, maybe it will be relatively easy to roll out the RTÉ mux.

An advantage of doing that (using the unused TV3 frequency at nearly all relays for the RTE DTT MUX) would be to allow reception of the RTE MUX using existing aerials. (Many DTT allocations would require a new aerial)

watty

Except there is no feasible way to use the relay sites unless they are satellite fed. Which RTE is opposed to.

bk

watty wrote: »

Except there is no feasible way to use the relay sites unless they are satellite fed. Which RTE is opposed to.

Why can't RTE just use it's Sky encrypted channels to distribute it to the transponders?

More Music

I think it's beacuse they don't want lose control of the distribution. They don't really have any control over the Sky platform. If they use their own links they have full control of maintenance and probably security is another issue.

AFAIK, they use Sky as third in line backup for TV distribution at some main sites.

watty

The Sky signals may not be suitable. RTE distributes at a higher bit rate.
C5 and BBC use a different Satellite to Sky. France TV uses 5W instead of French PayTV on Astra/Hotbird (forget which). Italian TV also use different Satellite feeds. C6 was using a different satellite (than Sky) to feed UPC head ends.

Reasons:
Security: may use different encryption (PowerVu ( C5) or none (French TV) )
Cost: Pay TV operator will charge lots. (even though the signal is there. They have to get a special viewing card and Tanberg receiver for Sky)
You may want MPEG4: Conversion is about 150,000 for 16 channels. You have ONE set of MPEG4 converters at HQ and distribute from them
Multiplexing: Expensive gear. Typically Sat feeds have the desired mulitplexing and each DTT Multiplex modulator is fed by digital coax (ASI) from one Digital out Satellite Receiver. No re-multiplexing needed.

RTE's main reason is allegedly regional studios and Outside Broadcasts. They have fitted two way digital fibre/Microwave to each site, to able to feed back to Donnybrook.

They have a huge bunch of satellite transponders for OB feeds too though.

radiospan

More Music wrote: »

AFAIK, they use Sky as third in line backup for TV distribution at some main sites.

I think I remember someone here a few years ago saying they saw a Sky Digital "No Signal" blue screen error message on one of the RTE analogue terrestrial broadcasts for a short while.

bk

watty wrote: »

Cost: Pay TV operator will charge lots. (even though the signal is there. They have to get a special viewing card and Tanberg receiver for Sky)

I assume at the next contract negotiation round, RTE would be in an excellent position to negotiate the cost down to free or little cost?

With DTT coming and BBC Freesat, Sky need RTE more then RTE needs Sky.

I'm not saying that RTE should replace all their fibre and microwave links, just use Sat to feed the isolated transponders that won't get DTT if they don't use Sat anyway.

watty

They can't use Sky, if they are using MPEG4.

L1011

watty wrote: »

They can't use Sky, if they are using MPEG4.

This is Ireland. They can, and probably will

"Ah sure, re-encoding won't lose much quality now John Joe will it..."

Denethor

plazzTT wrote: »

I think I remember someone here a few years ago saying they saw a Sky Digital "No Signal" blue screen error message on one of the RTE analogue terrestrial broadcasts for a short while.

That's true, saw it myself, it happened here in North Kerry a few months ago. RTE1 had the Sky digital blue screen with the no signal message

Sponge Bob

rlogue wrote: »

It looks increasingly likely that the RTE mux will be transmitted from the main transmitter sites this year. Where does that leave the transposer sites? My interest is that on the Inishowen peninsula we still don't get TV3 TEN YEARS after it was launched.

Is Holywell Hill ( up on the Inishowen) not promoted to a main transmitter for the DTT Rollout , IIRC there are 13 "Main" Transmitters for the UHF DTT Rollout unlike the 7 main tranmitters in the 1960s and 8 or 9 main transmitters in the 1970s after Cairn Hill and Three Rock were built for the RTE2 rollout .

The most recent list was 10 Main Transmitters ( the corkradio list which is invaluable ) ....to which again somewhere in Tipp is to be added .

There is some DTT band plan lying around somwhere from the first licencing attempt in 1999-2001, cannot find it .

e17

watty wrote: »

Except there is no feasible way to use the relay sites unless they are satellite fed. Which RTE is opposed to.

I think the relays will not be ready to rebroadcast DTT for a while yet . Have a look at RTENL website it talks of 180 sites for the Public Servic Mux

Pat Gleeson

Denethor wrote: »

That's true, saw it myself, it happened here in North Kerry a few months ago. RTE1 had the Sky digital blue screen with the no signal message

See here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YK2m0GgrODM

byte

Sponge Bob wrote: »

There is some DTT band plan lying around somwhere from the first licencing attempt in 1999-2001, cannot find it .

This is what you're looking for I think (scroll down a bit)
http://www.irish-tv.com/digital.asp

Sponge Bob

Thanks Byte, 13 Main Transmitters it was intended to be , 2 in N Donegal alone .

Transmitter
1Kippure
2Mount Leinster
3Mullaghanish
4Spur Hill
5Maghera
6Woodcock Hill
7Truskmore
8Holywell Hill
9Moville
10Cairn Hill
11Three Rock
12Clermont Carn
13Kilduff

Kilduff being the TIPP one I mentioned

The wiki article here

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RT%C3%89_Network_Limited

show more "relays" than the official RTE list which is below , maybe a few "self helps" crept into the wiki ? :cool: ??

http://www.rtenl.ie/downloads/television-frequencies.pdf

GerardKeating

Sponge Bob wrote: »

Thanks Byte, 13 Main Transmitters it was intended to be , 2 in N Donegal alone .

Transmitter
1Kippure
2Mount Leinster
3Mullaghanish
4Spur Hill
5Maghera
6Woodcock Hill
7Truskmore
8Holywell Hill
9Moville
10Cairn Hill
11Three Rock
12Clermont Carn
13Kilduff

Which one covers Galway ???

TheDriver

I thought unlike Analogue where you need very very good reception, with dtt you need goodish reception as the digital signal is either on or off hence need for relays unnecessary or am I wrong?

Sponge Bob

GerardKeating wrote: »

Which one covers Galway ???

Maghera. If you have good TV3 and TG4 in Galway you are receiving Maghera and should be fine.

There should be no change to the UHF aerial unless you mysteriously have a group d only aerial , most are group c/d combined aerials and DTT will be in group c . I never saw a group d aerial , only c/d combined. TV3 and TG4 analogue are about group d today.

As is proposed to add muxes 5 and 6 after switchoff and that they would be Band B, this means you will likely need a new aerial after 2015 or whenever they manage switchoff if the final 2 muxes go live .

Corkradio explains the 'groups' very well

http://www.geocities.com/corkradio/tvch.html

watty

TheDriver wrote: »

I thought unlike Analogue where you need very very good reception, with dtt you need goodish reception as the digital signal is either on or off hence need for relays unnecessary or am I wrong?

You need more "relays"*. Even now there are areas that need Analogue repeaters/transposers/relays that havn't got one.

At a level where analogue signal is noisy and has interference Digital is perfect. At a "fringe reception" level where Analogue is worse but still watchable you get nothing on Digital.


*All DTT sites need directly fed. "Relays" by re-broadcast are still an experimental technology and especially problematic if you have a SFN after analogue switch off so as to have more Multiplexes.

TheDriver

so anyone actually know when the digital tuner in my lcd will start noticing something beaming in? Seems terribly cloak and dagger altogether!

watty

By the Autumn, depending on your location.
But it may not decode it.

TheDriver

Ah, I forgot about all the different decoding! Presuming all the major mast sites will be active.

GerardKeating

Sponge Bob wrote: »

Maghera. If you have good TV3 and TG4 in Galway you are receiving Maghera and should be fine.

Dont have anything yet, amd planning to move to Carraroe and get FreeSat and an Aerial for RTE/TV3

From the list on RTENL, there is a relay about 3 miles away in Casla which have RTE1/RTE2/TG4 on "UHF B"

I think i have a good view towards Clare, but i gather RTÉ ONE and RTÉ TWO transmissions from Maghera will remain on VHF Band III, so i assume this means two aerials.

Sponge Bob

GerardKeating wrote: »

Dont have anything yet, amd planning to move to Carraroe and get FreeSat and an Aerial for RTE/TV3

You can see Clare from that area but not Maghera I don't think , there is no TV3 out there Gerard unless you have some mondo cable stayed aerial with amplification too I would think.

The Casla relay was built in the mid 1990s to deal with grave limitations on the Maghera UHF signal in South Connemara , TG4 was imminent you see .

Casla was one of the last relay RTE ever built in fact

GerardKeating

Sponge Bob wrote: »

You can see Clare from that area but not Maghera I don't think .......Casla was one of the last relay RTE ever built in fact

Ah well, i wanted to get an Aerial to Maghera since i assume it would go DTT a long time before Casla..

Most of the TV3 output i can get elsewhere, only origional programme i ever wanted on TV3 was the radio nova documentary and I missed that.

So if i really want TV3, either SKY or NTL MMDS...

scath

In addition to the executive summaries for all 3 bids, each of the bid applicants full applicant data has been published in last day or today. Worth a read. About 20 docs total so lots to read ;-D No doubt we'll all have opinions about in due course :-D

http://www.bci.ie/DTT/licensing.html

Zaphod

Easy TV (RTÉ/UPC)

“Soft Pay” Pack:
This pack addresses the needs of those consumers that currently receive UK analogue
terrestrial TV that will be without service post UK ASO.
On an indicative basis we would offer 9 Channels including the key UK content of BBC One,
BBC Two and Channel 4 priced at €49 for 6 months, as follows:
• BBC One
• BBC Two
• BBC Three
• BBC Four
• Channel 4
• TV3 ABC1 (This is the working title for a new channel from TV3, which will deliver a
compelling Irish and international schedule of bespoke news and current affairs, as
well as drama, comedy and documentaries).
• Channel 6
• City Channel (Time Share “TS”)
• Extreme Sports (TS)

“Mid Pay” Pack:
BCI DTT Multiplex Contracts EasyTV Bid Submission
EasyTV’s standard tier of channels will follow a “Best of the Rest” approach providing a
value for money selection from the most popular mainstream channels in a variety of genres
that are viewed today in Ireland.
On an indicative basis we would offer 22 Channels with a broad range of the most popular
TV channels priced at €99 for 6 months(also includes above Soft Pay Entry Pack channels) ,
as follows:
• CBBC (TS)
• Cbeebies (TS)
• E4
• MTV
• Living TV
• Film4
• Discovery
• More4
• UK TV History
• Paramount Comedy
• General Entertainment Genre1 (e.g. UKTV / Virgin1 / Sky One or equivalent)
• News Genre1 (e.g. BBC News24, CNN, Sky News or equivalent)
• Sports News1 Genre (e.g. Setanta Sports News / Sky Sports News or equivalent)
Note1 Discussion is still on-going as to actual channels to be included in these genres.

EasyTV’s retail prices for upfront purchase of access devices are targeted to be not more
than as follows:
• Set-top Box (STB) - €149
• Digital Video Recorder (DVR):
• Standard DVR Price - €249
• Discounted DVR Price when purchased with “Mid Pay” Programming Pack - €149
• Conditional Access Module (CAM) - €49

Multi-Room Viewing
Consumers interested in watching digital TV on two or more TVs in the home at the same
time will need to purchase additional access device(s). If the consumer also wishes to view
pay TV programming simultaneously on multiple TVs then they will need to purchase
additional Programming Packs, to be priced as follows
• “Soft Pay” customers will buy the additional pack for €49 per six months.
• “Mid Pay” customers will also buy the additional pack for €49 per six months (this is a
discounted rate at 50% of primary “Mid Pay” service price)

MUX 1 provides the Irish FTA and other PSB channels and given participation of RTÉ within
EasyTV this offering will be tightly integrated with that FTA service.
The suggested 24 hour channel streams are set out below:
• RTÉ One
• RTÉ Two
• RTÉ Three Compendium: Repeats / Extra (Mon – Fri) & Sport (Sat & Sun) (time share)
• Oireachtas (time share)
• TG4
• TV3
• RTÉ One Deferred (time-shift)

On the understanding that CI+ enable receivers will be available in 2009, EasyTV propose
that the Nagravision CA system deployed will only be available on CI+ enabled CAMs. Thus
only receivers equipped with CI+ slots or embedded CA will be able to receive EasyTV
services. This measure is intended to make the DTT platform in Ireland is as secure as
possible, and to future-proof the receiver products deployed in the market.

Zaphod

Onevision (TV3/Eircom/Setanta)

A dig at UPC

UPC and Sky are the main providers of these services, accounting for the vast majority of these households, 51%
and 49% market share, respectively23.
• UPC became the dominant cable and MMDS provider in Ireland since Liberty Global’s acquisition of the
country’s two largest cable operators, NTL Ireland and Chorus, in 2006
• Satellite broadcasting in Ireland is provided solely by Sky
[...]
The market is and has been dominated by two players (UPC and Sky). For many people there exists only one
choice of PayTV depending on their geographic location (outside cable areas) or their housing situation (unable to
put up a satellite dish). The two operators offer equivalent services at equivalent prices.

We propose to offer our customers a mixture of free-to-air and pay channels. In addition to the four (or more) free
channels on the PSB multiplex, our customers will be able to access six more for a free suite of at least ten
channels. Beyond this, we propose to offer a basic pay package of 29 channels for a monthly fee of €9.9963. This
package covers 85% of all viewing, for 50% of the price: “more for less”. The price of the service of €9.99 will be
significantly lower than the existing PayTV cable and satellite offers.

The logo on the bottom right is for Gems TV (shopping channel) - surely to Christ they can find something better to waste bandwidth on?

In addition to paying subscription fees every month, the consumer will have to buy a compatible STB or have an
iDTV with an in-built MPEG4 receiver. We expect our STB to retail at €77 in year one, with sharp reductions over
time. We plan to provide a rental option to our customers on STBs.

Non Controllable Risks
These are risks over which we have very little control and yet which could have a significant impact on the
Business Plan. The key risks identified under this category are as follows;
(i) Significant Delay in Analogue Switch Off (ASO) date beyond 2012
(ii) Slow rollout and availability of DTT Transmission Network
(iii) The launch of Freesat in the UK
OneVision intends to engage with the relevant parties (e.g. DCMNR, RTÉ, etc.) to discuss the best approach to
mitigating these risks.

The ratio of indigenous to non-indigenous PayTV content is 5:3079, or one-sixth. Channels considered indigenous
are:
• The two new TV3 channels, 3TODAY and 3XPOSÉ
• Setanta Ireland and Setanta Sports 1 (which are broadcast from Dublin)
• Channel 6
While the FTA multiplex will carry the core Irish channels (RTE1, RTE2, TV3, TG4) and possibly Oireachtas TV and
Irish Film, OneVision will bring a new selection of Irish channels. More sports coverage, extended independent
news, and daily entertainment reports will feature from towns across Ireland. When compared to the Satellite and
Digital cable / MMDS equivalents

Many Irish consumers will be familiar with the Digital UK and Freeview symbols that appear on the
television sets they presently purchase. These sets are sold as ‘Digital ready’, but due to the fact that the encoders
in the TV sets are MPEG2 complaint and the Irish standard will be MPEG4, they will NOT be capable of receiving
the DTT service in Ireland. There is an important education piece around DTT equipment to ensure consumers are
informed about the TV sets / digital equipment they are purchasing.

And the prize for the greatest number of spelling mistakes in a single paragraph goes to ...

Conditional Access:
Setanta has extensive experience in the selection and evaluation of possible conditional access (CA) providers
and has chosen to work with Nagravision in the UK to encrypt their Sports channel, to meet premium content
rights holders’ stringent requirements. The consortium is delighted to be bringing this experience on CA to the
table giving the content owners assurance that only those that should be receiving the services are receiving
them and guaranteeing the customers a stable and safe platform.
OneVision has also been talks with Irdeto, Latens and Viaccess to evaluate alternative CA solutions to best fit the
consortium.

TheDriver

Can we interpret that one vision would offer free channels along with the obligatory channels without paying a thing, interesting wording! Who would go paying for a handful of UK PSB channels when the whole range are availavle free on Sat already, gas.

Zaphod

Boxer (Boxer/Communicorp)

In the period up to launch, Boxer will introduce systems that will, for example, give consumers who
invest in an MPEG4 box their money back when Boxer goes on air and the consumers activate
a basic subscription on their boxes. This can be done in many ways, with coupons, by signing a
customer agreement at the time of purchase, etc. The retailer will earn his commission when the
customer activates his Boxer subscription.
Some will have bought an MPEG2 box, believing that they are thus “futureproof”. They will find
that there will be a wide range of TV channels they cannot see. Boxer can therefore, in this period,
offer buyers of MPEG2 boxes an “amnesty”. In plain English, Boxer can take a used MPEG2 box in
exchange for a new Boxer MPEG4 box if a basic subscription is bought at the same time. In this way,
the DTT early adopter segment will also be an active customer segment for Boxer.

Boxer plans to deploy the Viaccess CA system to enable pay-TV services.

byte

Thanks for the package summaries, Zaphod. Good work

Curiously, the TV3 consortium include UTV in their lineup, but Easy TV do not. I'd have expected it to be vice versa, what with TV3 not wanting UTV carried on Irish Sky EPG (I'd expect DTT version to have certain programming blanked).

Boxer's tiers seem expensive.

For me, I think the basic pack offered by OneVision seems the best, offering Dave, UK Gold, Discovery etc, for 10eur. However it does seem odd to carry both BBC News and BBC World. Personally, I'd prefer the latter on its own with Sky News to replace BBC News (unless Sky News will be one of their FTA channels).

byte

Also, OneVision plan to deploy Nagravision (I expect it to be v3) CA system.

Zaphod

OneVision easily have the best offering, with the other two trailing far behind.

Nice to see BBC World included. BBC News/Sky News have way too much of a UK focus to be included imho - I'd prefer to see any of Euronews/CNN/Al Jazeera instead.

L1011

BBC Ireland and ITV Ireland in Boxer's plans are intriguing, if of little interest to anyone who knows how to use a satellite box...

byte

EasyTV make a mention of UTV, or lack of:

The EasyTV proposal for programme services as part of this bid already includes a
commitment to carry all the TV services currently available in Northern Ireland (i.e. BBC1,
BBC2, BBC3, BBC4, Channel 4) except UTV. Our understanding is that there are specific
rights issues with regards to UTV broadcasting on the DTT platform which would need to be
resolved before the channel could be cleared for carriage on the platform.
BCI DTT Multiplex Contracts EasyTV Bid Submission
Copyright © EasyTV 2008 Page 114 of 129
There is currently sufficient capacity on the FTA multiplex to accommodate UTV subject to
normal commercial terms being agreed. However if UTV was to be carried on one of
multiplexes awarded to EasyTV then it would be necessary for an existing pay channel to be
substituted to make way for UTV.
The UTV channel would be sourced via the same route that is already in place for the
existing UK terrestrial channels and EasyTV foresee no issues in terms of the SI, EPG or
other signaling.

PDF link

TheDriver

I'd presume most people will just get the PSB free channels boxes only, even to combine with a cancelled sky sub? Thanks for the info, its great to see some packages coming online. Sooner than we think??

DMC

Nice work Zaph!

Don't forget that the UTV/TV3 rights problem was an issue for CanWest, the former owners of TV3 under the leadership of Rick Hetherington. I've got the feeling that things have mellowed since Doughty Hansen took over.

As for Boxer's "ITV Ireland" proposal, they may be onto something... between ITV2, 3 and 4, there is the making of ONE half decent channel But not with the "BBC Ireland" proposal... a compendium of BBC 3, 4 and the kids stations? Come on!:eek::pac:

bk

OneVision's package looks the best for the consumer, and the most likely to be successful, it has by far the greatest price differentiation between Sky and UPC (€10 versus €28 - 32), while still having a good range of channels.

With this package I could see some people with UPC actually downgrade to save money and people with no multichannel actually find it worth it.

Of course OneVision wisely identifies BBC FreeSat as a major risk. If they can keep C6, the new TV3 channels and Setanta Ireland off FreeSat and on their pay tier, then along with Discovery, LivingTV, Sky One and Paramount Comedy, they might stand a chance (if their boxes are cheap and easy to setup), the rest of the channels are or probably will be on FreeSat.

I'm surprised that OneVision are only going to use about 2Mb/s MPEG4, even Smarts new SmartVision IPTV service supposedly uses 3 to 4 Mb/s MPEG4 for SD.

RTE's "Soft Play" package looks rubbish, Extreme Sports and City Channel, please, even Boxer looks better. But otherwise, I don't think Boxer are even a competitor, too expensive.

I'm surprised no mention of HD, Sky and UPC will almost definitely be selling HD big time by 2009 and I'm also surprised Eircom has no mention of running additional channels to the OneVision box via IPTV and VoD services, which I'm fully certain that Eircom are planning to do. It is the only reason their involved and I've heard rumours that they are already testing IPTV over DSL.

Glad to see RTE3, not so happy seeing a RTE1+, I'd prefer to see a RTE news service, I think there is a real demand in the market for it.

zilog_jones

bk wrote: »

I'm surprised that OneVision are only going to use about 2Mb/s MPEG4, even Smarts new SmartVision IPTV service supposedly uses 3 to 4 Mb/s MPEG4 for SD.

It should still be acceptable for SD though. Sure what are UPC currently using for MPEG2 on cable? 4Mb/s max? At least AAC 5.1 audio will definately be an upgrade from stereo NICAM or MP2.

RTE's "Soft Play" package looks rubbish, Extreme Sports and City Channel, please...

I didn't know City Channel still even existed - we stopped getting it in Limerick pretty soon after the launch. And is Extreme Sports the cheapest channel around or what? It seems to always be on those half-assed distrobution systems in apartments. Not something the majority of the country would want to pay for - if someone really wants it it's FTA on satellite.

I'm surprised no mention of HD, Sky and UPC will almost definitely be selling HD big time by 2009

Yeah I'm surprised too, but would Channel 4 or BBC allow their trial channels on such a system?

I agree with OneVision looking like the best deal, however I'd like to see less TV3, not more! :mad: I'm on UPC's basic package and don't even get UKTV Gold or Dave, then again do I really need even more BBC repeats? No mention of a DVR from them either - I guess UPC already have experience with them and STB vendors in general.

bk

zilog_jones wrote: »

It should still be acceptable for SD though. Sure what are UPC currently using for MPEG2 on cable? 4Mb/s max? At least AAC 5.1 audio will definately be an upgrade from stereo NICAM or MP2.

No, it might average around 4mb/s, but it can burst up to 8mb/s.

zilog_jones wrote: »

I agree with OneVision looking like the best deal, however I'd like to see less TV3, not more! :mad: I'm on UPC's basic package and don't even get UKTV Gold or Dave, then again do I really need even more BBC repeats? No mention of a DVR from them either - I guess UPC already have experience with them and STB vendors in general.

Dave and UKTV Gold are really good channels, lots of quality BBC content, Top Gear, QI, Red Dwarf, etc.

TheDriver

we must remember most people could get these in apartments with a standard aerial behind the tv and hence solve the issue of dishes and aerials and having to get tv viz expensive providers, thats a big market.

zilog_jones

bk wrote: »

No, it might average around 4mb/s, but it can burst up to 8mb/s.

How much more efficient is MPEG-4 AVC compared to MPEG2? I always assumed somewhere around 2:1 but never really had anything to back that up...

Dave and UKTV Gold are really good channels, lots of quality BBC content, Top Gear, QI, Red Dwarf, etc.

But as I said they're all repeats, and not exactly unavailable elsewhere. Top Gear is repeated on BBC2, BBC3 and more recently RTÉ Two. Now if one of them repeated the original series - then I'd be interested! I think QI is repeated on BBC2 or somewhere else (I've seen repeats... somewhere). I've watched Red Dwarf to death as a kid, literally - the old VCR decided to eat the tapes :pac: It's also been repeated recently enough on BBC2 and also on RTE Two a few years back. They seem like pretty redundant channels, but then again that's nothing new these days!

bk

zilog_jones wrote: »

How much more efficient is MPEG-4 AVC compared to MPEG2? I always assumed somewhere around 2:1 but never really had anything to back that up...

2:1 is a good rule of thumb, but not always accurate, sometimes it isn't even that good.

That is why I'm saying OneVisions proposal of averaging 1.6mb/s and bursting to max 2mb/s, which is actually more like 4:1 compared to UPC/Sky looks very mean, I wonder how it will look on peoples 50" Plasmas.

zilog_jones wrote: »

But as I said they're all repeats, and not exactly unavailable elsewhere. Top Gear is repeated on BBC2, BBC3 and more recently RTÉ Two. Now if one of them repeated the original series - then I'd be interested! I think QI is repeated on BBC2 or somewhere else (I've seen repeats... somewhere). I've watched Red Dwarf to death as a kid, literally - the old VCR decided to eat the tapes :pac: It's also been repeated recently enough on BBC2 and also on RTE Two a few years back. They seem like pretty redundant channels, but then again that's nothing new these days!

Oh, your right, but I find the repeats on other channels always seem to be on at really awkward times, late at night, early morning, etc. Dave, etc. just seem to have really repeats of really good shows timed at really convenient times, you know just when you come in from work or just in from the pub, they always seem to have something that is entertaining and easy to watch on and I find myself often turning it on.

Hero Of College

What devices are needed to watch the new irish digital format on a regular CRT Television? Thanks.

barnicles

Any body know when dtt is coming to Mullighanish.

Also is Oireachtas TV on DTT

Sponge Bob

Hero Of College wrote: »

What devices are needed to watch the new irish digital format on a regular CRT Television? Thanks.

Generally speaking if you have Tg4 you have a UHF aerial and will not need to change it , some will need to change their aerials even if they have TG4 but only if the 'band' changes as it may . UHF is sub divided into bands a b c and d and a band d aerial may be crap at band a , etc etc.

If you do not have tg4 but do have rte1 and rte2 you probably only have a vhf aerial (a letter H shaped aerial ) so you need a uhf aerial too . In order to ensure that there are no 'band 'issues you should get a wideband uhf aerial like this

http://www.cdstv.co.uk/shop_details.asp?productID=60

it may help with weak tg4 reception too.

If you do have good tg4 you will simply need a box ( a receiver) costing under €100 by next year and simply plug the aerial into it , scan for channels and connect to tv with scart .

watty

People with new shiny LCDs and Plasmas or projectors or old CRTS can use same set box. Mostly everyone needs one.