DTT EPG and Mheg 5 query

Zaphod

In relation to the current crop of combo DVB-S/S2 and DVB-T receivers like the Technomate TM6900 and Mvision HD200 Combo which don't support Mheg 5, does it matter for EPG purposes?

AFAICS the EPG data is sent as DVB-T SI while only interactive material and teletext is/will be Mheg 5?

watty

You may only get now/next and not full EPG. Not sure. In theory you can get one week of EPG via standard DVB. It may depend on the broadcaster.

Or it may depend on the receiver.

Real teletext is digital and always was even on analogue. On DVB it uses a separate data stream, not part of MHEG5. MHEG5 "replacement text" of course needs MHEG5 support.

The text pages implemented by OpenTV on Sky, MHP or MHEG5 are not related at all to teletext.

There are teletext standards dating to mid 1970s for embedded photos in the page and also 80 coloumn rather than 40 column text and even fonts. But as no broadcaster used except as a test and no TV set implemented them, they never took off. It also would have meant either slower page carousel or less pages. Teletext was actually very very slow to get traction as for over 15 years only a minority of new TVs implemented it.

It's ironic as Broadcasters are turning it off on DVB to save tiny space, that many set-boxes implement it and cache all the pages while not providing the software for replacement. Orginal Teletext required expensive hardware. Current replacement text systems are only software options. MPEG5 licence is very very cheap. MHP and OpenTV more expensive licences per box.

Zaphod

Yeah, now and next was the answer I gave in this thread too. But afterwards I was thinking that I was wrong. When I first had a look at the DTT trial with ProgDVB and TSReader, both displayed multi-day EPGs - neither of these programs support Mheg 5 AFAIK.

I think also that the Humax trial box did not support Mheg 5 yet obviously did show EPG data?

watty

It depend what the broadcasters choose to do. Sky or BBC Could transmit full 1 week EPG, like Germans do. But they don't. BBC now has two EPG systems for the same channels an neither are DVB extended EPG

They could decide to limit it to MHEG5 or do both. The trial was not a real trial or test. Nothing to do with Boxer or RTE.

Zaphod

watty wrote: »

They could decide to limit it to MHEG5 or do both.

Is the EPG on UK Freeview transmitted via DVB-T SI or Mheg 5?

STB

Zaphod wrote: »

In relation to the current crop of combo DVB-S/S2 and DVB-T receivers like the Technomate TM6900 and Mvision HD200 Combo which don't support Mheg 5, does it matter for EPG purposes?

AFAICS the EPG data is sent as DVB-T SI while only interactive material and teletext is/will be Mheg 5?

Yes thats exactly what MHEG5 will be supporting.

The technonmate, mvision, and clarke dont support MHEG5 so if you can live without the interactive element.

No the Humax did not have MHEG5 either. There are a few stb's out there that do support MHEG5 but they are not combo's.

watty

Zaphod wrote: »

Is the EPG on UK Freeview transmitted via DVB-T SI or Mheg 5?

That I don't remember.

I did have Freeview on a Reelbox Lite. It doesn't do MHEG5. I don't recall seeing more than now & next on Sky FTA or Freeview on it, though I have seen more on the german channels on it.

But it might have had EPG on freeview, and I have forgotten.

It depends on the head end gear, it can be easier not to use the DVB info method. If you have a server for interactive it's no extra HW to add in XML based program schedule. AFAIK you need extra stuff to stick it in as a stream in the MPEG2-TS. I can't on my QAM/DVB-t/DVB-c transmitter/multiplexer. I can do EPG via the Interactive server though (It's not MHEG5 however).

Zaphod

There is a review of the MVision combo box in the current issue of what satellite. The screengrab shows a multiday-epg, so it confirms that Freeview uses DVB-T SI and that the MVision supports extended EPGs.