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There is speculation mounting today that ITV’s new HD (high definition) channel will be exclusive to the Freesat platform.
Test transmissions for ITV HD are now being broadcast on Eurobird 1 (11.428 GHz – H – 27/5) and service ID 10510. However, the stream is not viewable on Sky Digiboxes, nor generic FTA receivers, as the video stream is being broadcast as H.222 data rather than using the H.264/MPEG-4 AVC codec commonly supported by such receivers and used by existing high definition channels such as BBC HD.
As it stands, indications show on the Freesat receiver that the ITV HD channel will be accessed through the Interactive service from the SD ITV channel. This would certainly help confirm the above, but as a date for launch of the ITV HD channel has not been announced, anything could change.
The question stands, would ITV really consider restricting access from all Sky and generic receivers to make this a Freesat exclusive? Sky currently have 500,000 HD subscribers, with many more expected in the future with reductions in prices expected in June. There is also an estimated similar figure of non-subscription HD viewers, accessing via various receivers all available free HD channels.
Could we see BBC HD going the same way? It has been suggested in the past.
May 2nd, 2008 at 1:00 pm
Great news if true – another HD channel.
We just need Freesat to transmit all the channels in HD now. It amkes far mroe sense to transmit everything in HD and downscale than make 2 seperate transmissions.
HD is the future amd the present. If only 10% of the population either own a HD ready set or have access to viewing one through friends, pubs, clubs, etc for events such as football matches then thats a potential audience of 6 million people.
The industry needs to kick start the HD revolution. The people I know with SD tv’s say they haven’t changed because they’re waiting for more programming. So if the industries waiting for more customers, everyone’s waiting for everyone else! The industry need to take the lead and Freesat as a new service is in the perfect position to do this.
AlQuote
May 2nd, 2008 at 1:41 pm
I think that BBC HD and ITV HD should be kept off Sky’s HD selection – they have currently got 11 channels, without BBCHD would people really go for it … Sky Sports HD and Sky One HD would then be the only good channel that they have..
RayQuote
May 2nd, 2008 at 3:01 pm
Actually Sky have got 18 HD channels with others in the pipeline. The BBC HD channel is still a preview channel with very little original programming. ITV is in financial trouble and need all the viewers they can get. Not being on Sky will lock them out of 465000 HD subscribers and a fair number viewers with non freeview FTA boxes. ITV antagonised alot of viewers when the refused to show the world cup on satallite. ITV almost destroyed terrestrial digital television with Digital ITV and then refused to go on the Sky EPG for 2 years. ITV also transmit very poor quality pictures on satallite because of the low resolution and low bit rates. It appears that ITV is about to repeat this with HD by transmitting at 11 megabits per second which is pretty poor.
TrevorQuote
May 2nd, 2008 at 6:03 pm
“Sky currently have 500,000 HD subscribers, with many more expected in the future with reductions in prices expected in June.”
If FreeSat let Sky get more of a lead then they’ve only got themselves to blame with a lack of advertising.
FreeSat should be being heavily advertised on every channel and its advantages over Freeview / Sky explained, instead we seem to have utter silence with even some people who are going to be selling it not knowing what it is.
Hardly any excuse for this especially as the channels it could be advertised on ie BBC and ITV belong to the very people who supposedly own the company!!
AlQuote
May 2nd, 2008 at 7:18 pm
Quote:
Sky currently have 500,000 HD subscribers
500,000 people at £10 a month for 12 months
So Sky earn
Wait for it
£60’000’000 a year for something Freesat are givving you for free.
Is this (after tax) pure proffit for sky?
As I am shure the technolagy for HD has been around for some time now.
Pete in WeymouthQuote
May 3rd, 2008 at 12:19 am
Sky gives you 18 HD channels. Freesat will give you 1 or 2 channels. The BBC HD channel is still a preview channel consisting mainly of repeats. Sky transmits nearly all of its football in HD with surround sound. The BBC transmits the odd game with stereo sound.
Freesat is not free it is paid by licence payers and consumers of the advertised goods.
TrevorQuote
May 3rd, 2008 at 1:42 am
Yes but it’s not £10 a month on top of what you pay.
Sky show lots of adverts in its’ programs on top of your monthly subsctiption. (Sky 1, Sky 2 etc.)
You have to pay to sky to watch the footie as it is not showen on any of thair free chanles.
Freesat will give you 1 or 2 channels in HD to start with, more to folow.
Pete in WeymouthQuote
May 3rd, 2008 at 9:08 am
Actually Trevor you’re wrong freesat uses Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound not stereo.
As Pete says, the number of HD channels should grow with the service and as for the BBC HD service consisting mainly of repeats, you’re right when you said that its a preview channel. Its still an “experiment” and Freesat isn’t even launched yet.
Expect HD content from the BBC to change post launch – their own website promises:
“Whether you’re into music, movies, travel, sport or natural history, you’ll see the difference with HD TV. Watch the BBC’s Planet Earth in HD TV and you’ll feel like you can nuzzle up to a polar bear. Watch the Euro 2008 matches and the Beijing Olympics, and you’ll see every rippling muscle as the teams battle it out. ITV1 is also launching its HD broadcasts in the Spring, so there’ll be even more to choose from by the time freesat launches.
But it’s not just the picture quality that’s incredible with HD TV. Many programmes will be broadcast with Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound – so it’ll not only feel like you’re in the jungle, at Glastonbury, or on the pitch, it’ll sound like you are too.”
So thats Planet Earth, Euro 2008, the Olympics, Glastonbury and confirmed 5.1 Dolby Digital.
AlQuote
May 3rd, 2008 at 9:16 am
I can’t see the idea of accessing the ITV1 HD stream via the SD channel’s interactive features can stay. Surely this would mean, on a PVR, the HD channel would not appear in the EPG, and so could not be selected to record?
Roy W.Quote
May 3rd, 2008 at 10:51 am
Planet Earth was in 5.1 dolby but many BBC HD programs are in Dolby 2.0 in particular all thier current football. They sometimes transmit Dolby 5.1 with stereo sound.
At present ITV HD is transmitting its tests at 11megabits/sec. If ITV continue with this bit rate their HD quality is not going to be very good. BBC uses atleast 16 megabits per sec. Sky uses up to 20 magabits per second. Also at present ITV HD is using H.262 encoding which is inferior to H.264 used by other HD broadcasters. I don’t want to prejudge ITV as we will not know what thier quality is till they go live.
On the Sky box it is possible to record an interactive channel. I see no reason why the Freesat box won’t be able to do this.
TrevorQuote
May 3rd, 2008 at 7:19 pm
According to ITVs own HD information it WILL be exclusively on freesat.
http://www.itv.com/Help/ITVHDQuestions/default.html
Al CatrazQuote
May 4th, 2008 at 8:10 am
May 6th, 2008 at 9:04 am
May 13th, 2008 at 7:26 pm
I have a hunch that the first ITV HD broadcast will be the Champions league final.
As the matches are already shown in HD on Premiere TV (HD) via 19.2 east and when the BBC launched their first official HD prfogramme in June 2006 this was the opening game in the 2006 World Cup.
just a thought.
ZoeQuote
May 13th, 2008 at 9:31 pm
Not another box!!!!
Having already got virgin media, to limit it to “another” supplier is a pure rip-off
Who want’s yet another box to watch the basic programmes
I now it’s a matter of choice, but this is another backward step, the looser is the viewer.
Remember BSB????
richardQuote
May 20th, 2008 at 8:37 pm
So, is ITV HD going to be a separate service to the ITV1 service as I’m already watching ITV1 on HD (same as ITV1) on . .
Astra 2D 28.2 E 11428H 27500 V-Pid(3401) A-Pid(3402) P-Pid(3401)
and it’s FTA.
Or perhaps my receiver just supports it? (Not using a Freesat of Sky receiver.)
Is using standard DVB-S and I assume MPEG-4.
So that ‘might’ be three HD channels? Or am I confused?
Picture quality not as crisp as the BBC HD offering and I suspect not all contect is actually true HD, just upscaled.
Lucky me . . Anyone else watching ITV HD?
StevenQuote
May 20th, 2008 at 8:41 pm
To follow . .
Only one audio stream, Dolby Digital. No idea what version and I suspect a lot of content will be in stereo even though sent via Dolby Digital encoding.
StevenQuote
May 23rd, 2008 at 8:26 pm
Surely restricting ITV HD to Freesat purchasers is in breach of ITV’s public service broadcasting obligation? It should be free to all generic HD receivers. I am pleased to read that BBC HD will remain truly free-to-air. What about C4 and Five when their HD services eventually appear?
Ron KnightQuote
May 25th, 2008 at 10:41 am
We have FreeSat and the BBC programming is getting better in terms of HD original programming Chelsea flower show was great, wildlife programs are brilliant and I’m looking forward to Wimbledon and the Olympics. ITV however is a disapointment why can they not put F1 on Freesat in HD as they proudly boast in the advertising for the sport. The quality of the Dolby 5.1 is very good almost as good as BluRay but the number of programs featuring this is very poor. My fear is that this will not be picked up by enough people buying the box and the whole thing will die. to support this fear when I bought the box from JLP the sales person said these are selling like hot cakes what is all the fuss about mine was one of only 20 in stock. Dixons whole stock had to be returned because the boxes were all faulty. Mine is the Humax FoxSat and it is brilliant.
GerryQuote
June 4th, 2008 at 7:53 pm
Freesat is c***, and will die before it ever gets going.
DarkoQuote
June 9th, 2008 at 11:01 pm
I am using a Fortec Star set top box from Maplin, which picks up BBC HD great, not to mention all the other channels. BBC HD is however the only HD signal it is currently getting using ASTRA 2.
ITV HD is not available (no red button to press on the screen) and the FreeSat people said that ITV HD was incompatible with this set top box. They said I need to buy an HD Box wiuth “Freesat” written on it ?? Not the Fortec Star.
The chap in Maplin said Fortec was “OK for FreeSat”. What is the truth???
spenceteamQuote
June 11th, 2008 at 6:49 pm
Is history repeating its self yet again? Two systems fighting for the market. I know who my money is going on. There will be only one winner and it will not be us. Whats wrong with one standard for all, or is that far too easy. They call it progress. Well I am very happy with my sky HD and will not be getting another dish and box just yet. No more room on tv stand. What with the video, sky hd, dvd player, where would it go, and what about all the remotes. Hope the industry reads this, come on boys get your act together and sort it out. This will save you all tons of money too….
Mr SaverQuote
June 12th, 2008 at 9:08 am
How can a public broadcaster restrict viewing on all platforms
,also advertisers pay huge fees to have their products displayed.confusion to the public continues which box to purchase.as a buisness we will not support freesat in present format,
geraldQuote
June 15th, 2008 at 3:23 pm
I’m with Mr Saver. It is wholly inpractical to have any more hardware be it Sattalite dishes or set top boxes. Many of the first HD TV’s only have 1 HDMI input which means your have to have a HDMI switching unit – more hardware and yet another remote! I can only see lack of sales leading to a rethink of how to transmit these channels
PhilipbiffoQuote
June 22nd, 2008 at 8:53 pm
if you got free sat and scan all channels instead of just freesat there are a couple of extra hd channels ones french and other german. they too are just repeats but look good if you want to show off your telly.does any one know if you can use the usb port for anything else other than firmware upgrade on the humax reciever? andy
andyQuote
July 7th, 2008 at 4:07 pm
I fail to see why I should continue to put money in Sky’s pocket, paying to watch adverts. Anything that puts their nose out of joint is OK by me. Its true that the Freesat HD content is minimal at present, but its a start, and as I already pay for a TV licence, I applaud the BBC for giving me the option to watch all their output without the Murdoch empire seeing a penny.
PeterQuote
July 27th, 2008 at 3:26 pm
Is it normal to not be able to access ITV interactive or even text on freesat?
I realise tht the BBC does not have interactive on freesat. I must say that is rather dissapointing as you are not told this when purchasing the box and it is something that people should know especially as I have a sky box and have just cancelled it thinking why bother, I have freesat!
Please can someone clarify as I thought my new box was defective!!!!
EuanQuote
July 29th, 2008 at 8:53 pm
Ive just bought a HD box for the BBC /ITV freesat service, thank goodness there is now an alternative to Sky, yes there are probably 18 HD channels on Sky but most of them you have to subscribe to be it sports or movies and as for the documentary channels , there are only so many times you can watch the repeats. The picture quality from the BBC /ITV service is so much better, even the standard definition programmes are sharper.
rangieQuote
August 16th, 2008 at 2:42 pm
I am a sky+Hd customer and i pay my TV Licence as well so i ma very disppointed that Hd is only avalible on freesat if we got a ready HDtv and Hd Box and not be albe to receive this transmision. what are u going to do about whwn the switch of in 2009.
Paul SmithQuote
August 23rd, 2008 at 5:47 pm
Appreciate some advice:
Got a freesat Humax Foxsat-HD box in past fortnight.
Foxsat has downloaded 112 channels, & shows BBC HD as only HD channel available at present.
I was told ITV has also started some HD broadcasts too, & I’d currently have to press red button when display prompted, as no dedicated channel yet; but I haven’t yet noticed any prompt that an ITV program is available in HD via red button? Is it just a case of very few ITV programs are HD at present, & I probably wasn’t watching program at time, or something else?
Many thanks.
WillQuote
August 23rd, 2008 at 6:24 pm
Of any interest? Found trawling on official BBC website.
BBC begins DVB-T2 test transmissions in preparation for HD on Freeview!
The BBC has begun DVB-T2 test transmissions from the Guildford transmitter southwest of London, in preparation for HD on Freeview. DVB-T2 is the next generation digital terrestrial transmission standard for new HDTV services on Freeview.
DVB-T2 can provide significantly more capacity and this will be essential for HDTV services to be launched on Freeview, currently planned for the end of 2009.
WillQuote
August 27th, 2008 at 8:39 pm
Just got sky hd and was told 7 more hd channels very soon, plus more in the near future
ChrisQuote
November 5th, 2008 at 2:19 pm
April 6th, 2009 at 9:40 pm
Come on Sky, HD is good but how about suppling ITV HD.
Its costing £9.75p per month.
Its rather mean not to include ITV HD.
People pay and therefore expect a first class service of HD programmes.
More likely to lose customers rather than gain them if the full range is not supplied.
People can still have Freesat with limited HD transmissions.
However, paying customers must have a top class choice, at the moment this is not the case.
Is there a way in the Settings function to excess ITV HD ?
Thanks
Jonathan LathamQuote
July 31st, 2009 at 1:56 pm
October 24th, 2009 at 6:16 pm
Just read through the page. There are typing errors, wrong spellings and inclusion of ‘alot’ which is not an English word. Not impressive.
Mike NegusQuote
October 24th, 2009 at 10:43 pm
Fair enough, see ya!
adminQuote
October 30th, 2009 at 11:24 pm
Just bought a LG 42LF7700 today with built in freesat, i only have one freesat channel is that correct, or should there be more?
AnokeyQuote
January 24th, 2010 at 3:21 pm
I am using a Humax FOXSAT-HDR freesat recorder
When ITV1 prompt to press red button to watch HD …. just a black screen + a prompt to press blue button to return to SD TV.
Any ideas what is wrong
Chris WhittersQuote