Is It Illogical To Buy Saorview In the Border Regions?

JonathonS wrote: »

Sony have been advertising the HX803 models, which are Saorview approved and have T2 tuner and Digital tick. As are the EX553, EX653, HX753 and HX923 ranges, and the EX723 models as you point out, although the latter are not listed on the Sony Irl site.

EX524 and NX723 models are no longer listed on Sony UK or Sony Ireland sites.

The HX803 range are not Saorview certified. My list a few pages back is only those that have both Saorview and Freeview HD certification.

By the way the list for Sony's Saorview certification for their 2011 and 2012 models is here

JonathonS wrote: »

All TV models on the Sony Ireland site have a T2 tuner.

You cannot assume that because they have a t2 tuner module that the software has been configured and indeed certified for both Saorview and Freeview HD. Only those that pass Teracom and DTG's individual bench tests get certified and approved to use the respective logos.

Andy454 wrote: »

omg this is brilliant!!! RTE really have gone betamax now, I thought there signals were supposed to be the most modern form of transmission! DVB-T instead of DVB-T2! excellant stuff - well done montrose, soon it will only be their own clique watching their own rubbish...

If you knew what the diffrence was you wouldnt be throwing the word betmax around. Both DVB-T and DVB-T2 support HD. The reason the UK use it is that they can squeeze more into a mux as DVB-T2 is more efficient as a platform for the multitude of stations they broadcast. In Ireland we do not have the luxury of having lots of stations so its not an issue.

When the initial Saorview specification laid down mandating the use of MPEG-4 AVC video of SD & HD over DVB-T in 2008 and with the roll out of the network commencing, DVB-T2 was still at the draft stage. The final standard to be adopted was only settled on in September 2009. By the time there was a "soft launch" of Saorview in October 2010 only the UK and Italy had any public DVB-T2 transmissions, with Sweden and Finland about to launch one, with the SADC declaring it as its preferred option later in the year. It is only within the last 12 months that the ball for international adoption of DVB-T2 has visibly started rolling. It also needs to be remembered that even the DVB organisation initially discouraged countries to adopted DVB-T2 straight from analogue broadcasts instead of DVB-T for whatever reason.

The initial decision for the adoption of DVB-T/MPEG-4 for SD & HD in Ireland was the correct decision then and it still is in hindsight - only if the roll out of the Saorview transmission network was beginning in the summer of 2010 rather than the summer of 2008 would any sense to adopt DVB-T2 be feasible. MPEG-2 was a non-runner in 2008 and it still is; most countries that were launching DVB-T networks around that time were using MPEG-4. Using MPEG4 on a multiplex for both SD and HD services eliminates the need for SD simulcast and the corresponding waste of multiplex space that comes with it, and problem that the UK is currently having to handle.

Many countries to this day including France, Spain, Italy, Norway and New Zealand are using MPEG-4 over DVB-T for HD broadcasts. Ireland is most certainly not alone in the basic points of its DTT standards.

It is not the fault of RTÉ that unscrupulous retailers - particularly those based in the UK - were offloading televisions in the Irish market that couldn't decode MPEG-4 video. There was no need for RTÉ to have its technical hands tied behind its back - the UK D-Book specifications on its own, which continues today with Freeview HD receivers, acts strangely for non-UK originated transmissions. If RTÉNL were to have broadcast with DVB-T MPEG2 there would have been plenty of questions as to why channels could only be accessed from 800 onwards and the time being one hour behind in the summer! The Saorview NorDig specification OTOH is more sympathetic to receiving UK originated transmissions. It's also worth remembering that only a minority of people in the RoI will be able to receive a reliable Freeview signal from N. Ireland or Wales.

The decision for Saorview to adopt an updated set of technical standards from the start of 2013 which includes mandatory DVB-T2 is a can't-lose one for RTÉ's detractors - if it was left until later to add it to a future specification update people would be howling about Ireland failing to catch up and leaving even more receivers 'potentially' redundant. The problem is that what is a minimum specification set for reception can have a lower specification set for transmission.

There is no urgency for the RoI to adopt DVB-T2 at least for Free-To-Air broadcasts as it isn't pressed for spectrum space any more that what it has already chosen. RRC-06 seen plenty of allocations go to Ireland, some have been lost with the decision to clear E61-68 for mobile telephone use but an additional two-three multiplexes could be launched without any problem from most current transmitter sites. Compare this to the UK who are now strapped for spectrum space in the UHF band - they've been able to get away with their DSO into fitting the content of six pre-DSO DVB-T multiplexes into five by having the the 16QAM multiplexes turned into 64QAM with higher transmission powers and gaining one spare multiplex in the process to broadcast using DVB-T2 for HD services. They couldn't have launched HD without T2 on Freeview otherwise. But they have future problems stored up - while in Northern Ireland it's in many people's interests to have Freeview HD equipment to view either cross-border broadcasts or the planned NIMM, the only incentive in most of Britain is to view four HD channels - three of whom are simulcast with existing SD channels and another which part-simulcasts with no exclusive content of its own. The planned launch of 'local TV' multiplexes hasn't technical parameters set in stone, but Ofcom are recommending DVB-T with MPEG2 video and QPSK modulation. Freeview HD has been slow to take off there. The majority of televisions sold in Britain, especially smaller screen (less than 32 inch) ones are still Freeview only, incapable of either DVB-T2 reception or decoding MPEG4 video. It's a price of the UK being an early adopter and there is no way even the commercial multiplex operators can consider converting to DVB-T2 MPEG4 for SD or HD channels for several years yet, especially with limited spectrum now available since they still have no bloody clue about how to allocate channels E31-38 yet! (Why the UK government thought that would be useful for mobile comms in a non-international standard band is puzzling, then again they reallocated the VHF Bands I & III away from broadcasting into trunk radio until DAB came to town - no lessons learned.) At least Saorview doesn't have to worry about the above. Maybe DVB-T2 will be used when 4K or 8K video is being tested, though by that stage terrestrial TV broadcasting could be threatened with redundancy.

There are some elements within RTÉ that have valid criticism to be attached to them - the insistence on continuing with DAB in particular - but the technical standard of Saorview is most certainly not one of them.