Loading ...Freesat has been declared the winner of the DTG/Pace Best Contribution to Digital TV in the UK award after a close fought race.
The Award, created by the Digital TV Group and Pace Plc was presented at the IBC show in Amsterdam last night (Friday 12th September).
It recognises the project, product or service that has made, or has the potential to make, the biggest contribution to the development of digital TV in the UK.
The Freesat service won the award as it has “potential to provide high-definition to millions of viewers at an economical cost”, it is “pushing the boundaries of the specification to improve the viewer experience” and it “should form a vital element of helping to ensure the UK goes through a successful digital switch over process”, according to quotes from the voting members of the DTG Council.
Special commendations go to the BBC iPlayer launch on Virgin Media which was the close runner up for the Award. The voting panel commented that the BBC iPlayer service on the Virgin Media platform “has ignited the UK VOD market”, “is the first successful mainstream example of VOD to TV and as such leads the way to the future” and is “a service that consumers clearly want to use”.
Freesat MD, Emma Scott, said,
Freesat is delighted to accept this award amidst some strong competition. It’s great recognition of the expertise and commitment that’s gone into launching and developing such a great service.
With the support of our shareholders BBC and ITV, as well as our channel, manufacturers and retail partners, we have delivered upon our promise of brilliant free digital TV for everyone and provided an excellent value option for those who want high-definition TV without subscription. We are very much a vital piece in the future development of UK television.
Neil Gaydon, Chief Executive Office at Pace Plc, commented:
Technology innovation has been central to Pace’s success throughout our history and our reason for creating this Award. The Freesat service is an excellent example of how this industry is constantly evolving and how consumers are benefiting from new services to access digital TV services.
Simon Gauntlett, Director of Technology at the Digital TV Group added:
The UK is one of the leading digital TV markets in Europe. We are leading the way in new technologies and penetration of services. The Freesat service is a leading example of how the UK has achieved this position, and why we remain at the forefront of the marketplace.
Sky’s HD service took the honors last year.
Not looking too much into it, but wouldn’t it be nice if a Pace/Freesat agreement was just around the corner. Pace multi-room distribution server anyone?
September 13th, 2008 at 11:38 am
Content still hsa a long way to go, but award still well deserved simply for the concpet of bringing free HD tv to the masses.
Hopefully this might act as a lever to pursuade the trust of the need to fund Freesat more fully so as to allow more HD and to perhaps allow the Purchase of some premium content to be aired for free.
Congratulations, Freesat.
AlQuote
September 13th, 2008 at 12:38 pm
Excellent, well done Freesat. Still a way to go but great news.
StevenQuote
September 13th, 2008 at 4:47 pm
This award is a bit of a farse. Freesat is nothing more than a epg stream which conforms to certain open standards.There is nothing inovative in it at all. In reality the award should go to the BBC research department who put this software together in a very short space of time. Infact the BBC research department should get the award for two other developments which I think will have far greater impact. The first is a mimo system for terestrial tv transmissions which would double the capacity of terestrial tv. The second is the building of the first DVB-T2 encoder and decoder which could increase capacity of terestrial tv by up to 49%. Combine these and the capacity is trippled. You could also add in H264 encoding which I think should be used to increase the picture quality rather than the number of channels.
Trevor HarrisQuote
September 14th, 2008 at 1:24 pm
Good points Trevor . . Is MIMO the 2 antenna system? I imagine DVB-T2 is an offshoot of DVB-S2 and quite likely similar?
There are some interesting OfCom articles referring to the ‘new technology’.
I believe a DVB-T2 and MPEG4/H264 will be used for a new mux for Freeview.
I suppose, eventually, DVB-S2/T2 and MPEG4 will become standard eventually. I can’t imagine Sky replacing (free of charge) all their SD receivers anytime soon though. Plus all Freeview receivers would need to be changed also. It’ll be some years yet. Only then should there be enough capacity for a full HD compliment.
StevenQuote
September 14th, 2008 at 5:52 pm
I’ve a horible feling that Steven may be disappointed in hoping foe a full HD compliment. My understanding is that Ofcom will be selling off a large chunk of the existing fequency blocks (they are just waiting for analogue switch off to release a ggodly poriton of space) so expect there to be very little space left for expansion of HD transmissions. Government greed rules again.
peterhbQuote
September 14th, 2008 at 8:29 pm
Hi PeterHB . . I’m well aware that OfCom are flogging off about 180Mhz worth of band 4/5.. I was really referring to satellite TV not terrestrial, sorry if that was unclear. I suppose the most we can hope for on the terrestrial front is three or perhaps 4 channels? But again, with DVB-T2 and MPEG4, eventually, capacity could be nearly doubled and filled with ‘junk TV’ . . .
StevenQuote
September 15th, 2008 at 1:29 pm
I think the problem with terrestrial Steve is always going to be quality now the government is making the sell off. They currently reckon on 4 HD channels but thats at reduced quality I think. They’re reducing SD by 33% according to previous rumours on the net to enable this so assuming that figure is accurate, I’d expect HD to be low bit rate if things are that tight. Further codec improvements may improve space but using these for more channels instead of bit rate is going to do nothing for picture quality in my opinion.
Further, this is short sighted because HD is only the tip of the ice berg with Super HD on the horizon already and some formats larger still, there’s simply no where to go with terrestrial – I believe the largest format after Super HD is currently 16 times the size of full HD!!!!! Try fitting that on a limited bandwidth Freeview transmission. In my opinion, Terrestrial FTA has a bleak future unless the government starts thinking less about making money through sell offs and more about making even more bandwidth available by clearing space specifically for not only HD freeview but also for future formats as well. However, I doubt this will happen and this is where Freesat can fit the gap.
AlQuote
September 15th, 2008 at 2:26 pm
I agree with you Al. Ofcom is doing to terestrial television what they have already done to radio. The DAB radio service is now the worst quality radio service in the world. Terestrial television is going the same way. They have also done damage to satellite by alowing low bit rates and low resolution.
Trevor HarrisQuote
September 15th, 2008 at 3:00 pm
Yes, I wish Ofcom would set a minimum resolution and bit rate for British TV, The BBC picture is excellent, but ITV is a disaster on my LCD TV. And with Ofcom going to reduce bandwidth of existing TV to get enough space for the 4 HD channels our TV picture is just going to get worse!, when it should be getting much better.
Lee BQuote
September 15th, 2008 at 4:12 pm
Should have gone plasma
MattQuote
September 15th, 2008 at 4:26 pm
There will in fact only be 3 HD channels on multiplex B:
http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/digitaltv/a122759/itv-c4-submit-freeview-hd-plans.html
BBC HD is guaranteed a slot, and the other PSB’s have to submit their plans (ITV and Channel 4 have done so as the article says, not sure what’s happening with Five).
AndrewMQuote
September 15th, 2008 at 4:31 pm
Don’t go there………………………….!
Plasma vs Lcd!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Mat WQuote
September 15th, 2008 at 10:12 pm
Thanks for the comments everyone . . It is a worry . . New technology, worse picture quality than in 1995 (maybe)? It’s all about the quantity and money, not quality (of transmission), when it boils down to it. Remember the quality of those bootleged VHS movies where you would see people standing at the end of the film? Perhaps all SD transmissions will all look like that in 2015? Some channels already do
.
After that, anything looks HD . .
StevenQuote
September 15th, 2008 at 10:13 pm
And just for good measure Mat W . . I think the lates generation LCD’s knock the pants off any Plasma . .
StevenQuote
September 16th, 2008 at 6:24 am
Agreed!!
Mat WQuote
September 16th, 2008 at 8:02 am
What looks good in the shop isn’t the same as what looks good when properly calibrated at home as the experts at What HiFi Sound and Vision will tell you. Most LCD’s in a shop environment run ridiculously high amounts of brightness and contrast so as to make plasmas look dull by comparison. However, get them home out of such a bright shop environment and into the home where such ridiculous levels of brightness are uncomfortable to watch, and the stories a different one once the LCD’s been adjusted to watcheable levels (although some LCD’s are good now).
The LCD still hasn’t been invented that betters the Pioneer 428 / 528 XD Kuro . Put on a good disc like House of Flying Daggers and not only is the picture amazingly punchy whilst still retaining natural skin tones and perfect blacks, but it also positively becomes 3D – you can literally see the depth in the forest. With many films its the experience thats the closest to actually being there. I’ve yet to see an LCD that can do that or match the Kuro’s blacks, and I’ve seen a lot of the top tv’s trust me!
AlQuote
September 16th, 2008 at 1:04 pm
Stick with LCD.
Contrary to popular belief, screen burn can still be a problem with Plasma.
DenisQuote
September 16th, 2008 at 2:11 pm
For what it’s worth, I tend to agree with Denis – Stick with LCD.
Having said that, the development of flat panel displays (whether LCD, Plasma, or ‘other’) still has a long way to go. Even today, LCD images often still suffer from poor black level, while Plasma often appears ‘coarse’ – and many TVs of both types can suffer unpleasant motion artefacts. Meanwhile, CRT doesn’t suffer from any of these problems, but its prone to geometric distortion (and finding an HD CRT is almost as hard as finding the Holy Grail).
Anyway, having balanced the options (again), I’m now on my second LCD set while I continue to await the necessary improvements.
DaveiQuote
September 16th, 2008 at 3:10 pm
Denis most recent top brand plasmas ie Pioneer and Panasonic don’t suffer screen burn. I have a Pioneer 428XD Kuro myself and I’ve never even seen screen retention never mind burn despite onscreen logos from tv and from my DVD player – I once forgot and left my Denon 1904 DVD players spash screen on screen for an entire night having stopped a DVD and then forgotten I’d left anything switched on after leaving the room (although auto off did intervene). No image retention temporary or otherwise, whatsoever.
Makers such as Pioneer and Panasonic fit their screens with pixels shift and also auto off if an image is detected static for too long with no movement. The only way I could possibly foresee any kind of burn would be if a screen was used for video gaming for extended periods with a static menu bar and here I would concede that I wouldn’t want to use a plasma for video gaming although some do. However, for anything else, LCD still can’t match the Pioneer plasmas by a long way, and struggles to match the Panasonics although they are getting quite close to the Panasonic range in my opinion.
AlQuote
September 16th, 2008 at 5:24 pm
The Kuro is a great tv though
give it another 12 months and you will have to spend another 5 grand on a 1400p ultra high def tv!
thats technology for you
Mat WQuote
September 16th, 2008 at 6:56 pm
The Pioneer 428XD is about £1,500 . . It ought to be good for that price . . See what you’ve started Mat W . .
I tend not to watch TV in total darkness so the ‘perfect blacks’ on a plasma would be wasted on me . .
StevenQuote
September 17th, 2008 at 5:01 pm
I recently attended one of the freesat National Training Roadshows for independant stockists and installers. The freesat team do recognise that HD content is a real issue for consumers and are striving to improve it but but at the end of the day it is down to the broadcasters to improve the amount of HD programmes available not freesat. The freesat platform has the capability to cope with alot more HD content!
Stephen RobertsQuote