Loading ...Well, it’s not the first time and certainly won’t be the last; ITV HD are once again suffering from shocking sound drops during the Coventry City v Chelsea football match. The sound drop’s appear to be happening every 5-10 seconds making it almost impossible to enjoy, although the picture quality is good.
We can only hope that by continually highlighting these issues, ITV will take notice and stop making such fundamental errors. Once or twice can be excused, but this is almost every match now…let’s hope it’s resolved in time for the next match on ITV HD, which is Fulham v Manchester United at 4.45pm this afternoon.
Suffer from the same fault, let us know your opinion?
ITV can be emailed at viewerservices@itv.com
Update (20:22) – ITV decided to broadcast the Fulham v Manchester United game in SD only due to this sound issue which wouldn’t have been resolved in time. The red button option was still available but was only providing an upscaled standard-definition picture which was clearly obvious, but at least the sound was ok. Hopefully ITV will release a statement, we most certainly deserve one.
March 7th, 2009 at 1:15 pm
I have had enough now ..
Just sent email to itv complaining about it , suggesting they come and look at this site and see how happy people are with there HD Freesat service..
maybe if more people send smiler complaints they may take notice ??
DeanoQuote
March 7th, 2009 at 1:18 pm
Ditto, the sound keeps dropping, definitely making it impossible to watch in HD. I switched to SD. Defeats the point of buying the HDR box! I will email itv. The more people email, the more likely they are to listen!(?)
Dougy GiroQuote
March 7th, 2009 at 1:28 pm
I’ve emailed them as well, You’re right, the more people who complain, the better the chance of some improvements…..if ITV can afford to do anything!
Roger DawsonQuote
March 7th, 2009 at 1:32 pm
Have just given up watching the Chelsea game and going out for a walk. Fed up with the sound drop outs. Do the advertisers realise people are giving up watching?
Perhaps they should put pressure on ITV to sort this problem.
DaveQuote
March 7th, 2009 at 1:33 pm
Ditto again, I bought Freesat yesterday and love the quality of the picture but the sound is just doing my head in. With all the problems at ITV, I wonder if they will survive the credit crunch. ANY WHY DO I HAVE TO PRESS THE RED BUTTON. Why can’t ITV have a HD channel like the BBC?
I have emailed ITV and expressed my opinion. But there are problems all over the country looking at all the different websites and seeing all the complaints from all areas of GB.
LindaQuote
March 7th, 2009 at 1:40 pm
So poor from itv this is why i wish ch4 hd would hurry up beats itvs hd hands down.
garryQuote
March 7th, 2009 at 1:46 pm
I agree just E mailed ITV. The FA should take this up. The sound makes it unwatchable.
Rog in sussexQuote
March 7th, 2009 at 1:54 pm
Same problem with my Humax box using Freesat.
Very annoying.
Have switched to SD.
Have emailed ITV as this is not the first time this has happened.
(Based in West Lancashire – 100% Quality signal)
EdwardQuote
March 7th, 2009 at 1:54 pm
Same problem cant stand watching the football with the break of sound every 10/11 seconds for about 1 second. Sound is fine on BBC HD.
Brian SmithQuote
March 7th, 2009 at 2:14 pm
Yes, same problem… audio drop out every 10 secs. Shame because the picture quality is A1. I’ve just turned the sound down because it was distracting. Hope things are improved for the later game. ITV need to sort this out.
Paul CQuote
March 7th, 2009 at 2:25 pm
Methinks if we were paying an itv licence fee it would be sorted in no time !
NickQuote
March 7th, 2009 at 2:32 pm
Just called itv to complain -Guess what-Lines only open on weekdays!!
NickQuote
March 7th, 2009 at 2:39 pm
ITV have just email someone on digital spy saying that THE FAULT WILL NOT BE FIXED TODAY!!!!
Absolutely unbelievable.
Paul DQuote
March 7th, 2009 at 2:46 pm
I though it was just me… been looking through trouble shooting stuff for the FreeSat box & TV.
Our sound stops every 11 secs for about a quarter of a second.
Impossible to whatch…
S. A.Quote
March 7th, 2009 at 2:49 pm
I got an answer from ITV below. Who know when the problem will be solved. I have also written to ofcom and will write to the FA also.
From ITV
Thank you for your email
The fault has been registered and is currently being investigated. We are sorry for the inconvenience.
Your complaint has been logged and will be viewed by all management for their consideration
Regards
Viewer Services
a.f
ITV Viewer Services | ITV plc
Tel: 0844 88 14150 | viewerservices@itv.com
Hours of Opening: 08.00 – 19.00 Mon-Fri, 10.00 – 19.00 Sat. Closed on Sundays and Bank Holidays.
LindaQuote
March 7th, 2009 at 2:49 pm
Just recieved from itv:
Thank you for your email.
Please accept our apologies for the audio problems you’ve witnessed during our recent HD football coverage.
Our engineers are working hard to ensure that the issue is addressed and the fault cleared as soon as possible.
Your comments have been logged and will be seen by senior managers throughout ITV.
Once again, thank you for taking the trouble to contact us.
Regards,
ITV Viewer Services-kb
NickQuote
March 7th, 2009 at 2:51 pm
If as many kick up as possible something might get done today !
NickQuote
March 7th, 2009 at 3:06 pm
I am also fed up to the teeth with this Sound “Drop Out”. The avertisements at half time were ok. I got so fed up that I switched my Freesat HD receiver off and returned to Sky SD to watch it.I have only kept the Humax Freesat HD receiver to watch HD on ITV.Its becoming a lost cause. I am almost at the stage of the Humax going on Ebay.”SHAKE A LEG” ITV you are miles adrift!!.
AlanQuote
March 7th, 2009 at 3:14 pm
I have also sent an email, suggesting that ITV either sort out their problems once and for all or get out of HD until they can at least match other providers.
AlanQuote
March 7th, 2009 at 3:16 pm
Glad I logged on to this site and saw the information about the drop out of sound, I was beginning to wonder if it was my Humax box or sat dish at fault. Needless to say I have also emailed ITV complaining about the service. It might have been nice if they had apologised and made a statement that HD viewers are experiencing sound problems.
JohnQuote
March 7th, 2009 at 3:25 pm
Just emailed them and made a fuss…
S. A.Quote
March 7th, 2009 at 3:45 pm
well this is very bad news for freesat!! I think most people will be looking for REFUNDS on their boxes! so much for ITV loosing money..They will be loosing a lot more if they don’t sort out these very simple issues!
Come on we are already lagging a long way back in the HD channels these sort of issues are just unacceptable.
This will be hitting the national news i do think!
JQuote
March 7th, 2009 at 3:50 pm
Drove me potty. Switched to SD. This certainly isn’t the first time that this has happened. Come on ITV – get a grip.
Brian PQuote
March 7th, 2009 at 3:54 pm
Just emailed to complain. Lets hope that this gets fixed quickly and permanently.
DougQuote
March 7th, 2009 at 4:35 pm
i simply turned off. was looking forward to an afternoon of HD football but not putting up with that.
euan melvilleQuote
March 7th, 2009 at 4:38 pm
If you’re only watching football. why not turn the sound off? I thought the idea of HD was to count the blades of grass – surely an inane commentary just spoils your concentration.
HD ScepticQuote
March 7th, 2009 at 5:32 pm
Great HD picture, I just muted the sound.
Guess what ? Its much better without the drivel commentary !
I wont be so relaxed about it if the sound plays up next time I watch a drama or a film on itv hd. For goodness sake get it sorted.
Steve BQuote
March 7th, 2009 at 5:41 pm
Looks like their solution is to show the Fulham v ManU game in upscaled SD rather than HD.
Steve GrayQuote
March 7th, 2009 at 6:33 pm
I don’t know about upscaled, I tried watching the Chelsea game and gave up because of the sound issues, put it back on for the Man U game and it says ‘no Signal’ when I press the red button, I just get a blank screeen! I tried reinstalling from fresh, unplugged everything, you name it i’ve tried it!
The BBC HD signal and picture is superb. Anyone else in the West Country not getting the HD signal for ITV?
I’ve got the Bush Freesat receiver that works fine on every other channel.
mitresQuote
March 7th, 2009 at 7:05 pm
I agree – sound OK on Man U game but picture quality not so good
DaveQuote
March 7th, 2009 at 8:01 pm
Agree too-thought it was just me but picture definitely not true HD
NickQuote
March 7th, 2009 at 8:20 pm
Also have to agree, sound now ok though I thought picture was not true HD..
Glad it wasn’t just me…
S. A.Quote
March 7th, 2009 at 8:44 pm
mitres – I had the same scenario as you, Chelsea match OK (apart from ITV’s sound) and Man U match no signal/very weak signal breaking up – and I live near Glasgow!
I found that the signal strength dropped a bit and that the signal quality tumbled to <30%. The match started OK, but at a certain point before the second goal the picture broke up terribly before switching to “no signal” and then dropping back to ITV 1 London. I kept trying to go back to it, but it was usually a mess or dropped out straightaway.
I’ve had the installation for 2 months and never had a signal problem with ITV HD before. (Panasonic FreeSat telly setup).
jmkQuote
March 7th, 2009 at 9:25 pm
I know ITV are short of money but they really need to get HD off the red button system and onto a dedicated channel.
The red button system is nothing short of a disaster with EPG mistakes, black screens, split recordings, sound issues and a whole host of problems. A dedicated channel with a limited service would be far better than a red button service that constantly has problems.
I neither attempt to record ITV HD or anymore or even bother watching it. Its simply not worth the hassle and dissapointment.
I also hope CH 4 HD and FIVE HD are taking note:
DO NOT USE THE RED BUTTON WHEN YOU JOIN. GIVE US A DEDICATED CHANNEL.
Personally, I totally ignore ITV1 now and watch 3 or 4 for films instead. ITV 1 simply isn’t worth the hassle of even watching.
Al (Original)Quote
March 7th, 2009 at 9:44 pm
Mitres
The same thing happened to me, when I pressed the red button; all I got was a black Screen. Turning the box off then on did not resolve the problem, but resetting the box back to factory settings did rectify the problem.
OyodiQuote
March 7th, 2009 at 10:42 pm
The sound drops have been a problem for so long that it is almost impossible to believe that their engineers did not already know about it.
Presumably none of their engineers who are off duty sit at home and watch the football in HD???
Wake up ITV……..
DerekQuote
March 8th, 2009 at 7:31 am
Hi Mitres,
I’m from the West Country too and I had trouble when I first installed FREESAT I couldn’t get ITV HD. I read on a website that if you put a different postcode in when you retune it helps. This I did and put a London postcode in. ITV HD then worked. I then did the same thing again putting my own postcode in and then that worked ok. It seems like it needs rebooting a couple of times to get it right. Mind you I will try ITV HD today and see if it still works. I do have the Humax Foxsat HDR. By the way I have had problems with the signal through the aerial too. Some times it is ok and other times the picture completely break up. Roll on Digital changeover in May.
LindaQuote
March 8th, 2009 at 7:33 am
I did watch but had to turn the sound down in the end.
For me the most annoying thing was that there was not an on screen message to say there was a technical problem. When you watch something like this in isolation you wonder if the problem is with your equipment.
Surely it is not asking for much to put a message up on screen. Honestly we can broadcast in HD via a satalite and yet cannot put a few words on screen!!!
DenisQuote
March 8th, 2009 at 8:01 am
I think pressure should be put on the F.A. to look into it. They gave the contract to ITV to show the matches. If ITV can’t cope with HD then give the matches to the BBC. To contact the FA go to the website:
http://www.thefa.com/TheFA/ContactUs/Postings/2005/03/Contact_Us.htm
Go to the bottom of the page where it says customer relations team.
LindaQuote
March 8th, 2009 at 9:09 am
Just emailed them…more emails the better
MJVQuote
March 8th, 2009 at 9:57 am
@ Linda, digital change over will have no effect on Freesat whatsoever. I’m not sure if you’re implying in your post that sometimes the Freesat signal has problems too, but if it does then your dish is improperly aligned. I live in the North of England (the signals strongest over the South) and I have 100% quality. I do have a bigger dish than normal but even with a standard Sky dish you should be able to get 90% quality which will in turn hold up the signal perfectly except ont eh very rarest of occassions. Even through all the snow, I never had any signal problems whatsoever. In fact in the 6 months I’ve had it I’ve only ever had 2 problems – 2 momentary clicks most likely caused by static.
Al (Original)Quote
March 8th, 2009 at 10:11 am
Hi Al,
Sorry I didn’t make myself clear. I meant I have had problems with Freeview through my aerial, but my FREESAT is just grand through my dish, except when ITV shows HD, but that is down to them.
Cheers
LindaQuote
March 8th, 2009 at 10:28 am
Just been speaking to an ITV contact, they are not technical so wouldn’t discuss the particular issue but did say that they have had a few thousand email complaints. Let’s hope they take notice.
adminQuote
March 8th, 2009 at 10:46 am
Hi,
The sound problem was very bad: it’s a pity to see ITV have so many problems (re: other issues) they (were) always so good.
Joseph O’BrienQuote
March 8th, 2009 at 6:11 pm
Thank goodness it’s not just me! Have emailed saying I know they have hundreds of complaint and what are they doing about it?
Stan EbdonQuote
March 9th, 2009 at 9:46 am
Perhaps you should freeze the “What do you think of ITV HD” pole and start another one with the same title to see what people think now! I certainly would change my vote
Al CatrazQuote
March 9th, 2009 at 9:48 am
…ok, so it’s a poll, not a pole!
Al CatrazQuote
March 9th, 2009 at 10:25 am
Well I watched the Man U game and didn’t even notice it was upscaled rather than full HD!
Methinks this HD malarky is overrated – a decent SD signal is good enough
MarkQuote
March 9th, 2009 at 3:04 pm
I agree Mark. Unfortunately HD is here to stay now. It’s a shame all freeview & freesat channels could not be broadcast with the same bitrate quality we saw during the Planet Earth series. I feel we have missed a great opportunity to bring some stability to the market. All this new tech is great but at what cost to the the environment and our wallets? Said my bit now…
RodQuote
March 9th, 2009 at 5:04 pm
I watched the Chealsea match and have no complaints. Why? If i watcg Soccer on ITV (SD OR HD) I always listen to BBC commentary with ITV sound switched off so I was not aware of these Sound Problems, but I now know why the ‘HD’ pictures from Fulham were so poor.
JohnQuote
March 9th, 2009 at 5:04 pm
As well as the breaking up sound, I thought that HD output would be in Dolby Digital 5.1 sound? Certainly for up-to-date programs (like live football). Both the Champions Leagure the other week, and the footie on Chelsea/ManU games on Saturday were just stereo on my set up (Panasonic TV with freesat). Some BBC1 HD programs are 5.1, so Hurrah! to Auntie Beeb, and Booooo! to ITV.
Sound advice?Quote
March 9th, 2009 at 6:48 pm
@ Mark, on a good HD signal you can tell the difference but equally a good upscale can be good also. That said upscaling is no substitute for good HD because when both are good, there’s still a difference in favour of HD. Problem is ITV’s HD doesn’t exactly ooze quality much of the time in my opinion.
Again get sick of saying it but Luxe TV, Luxe TV, Luxe TV, Luxe TV……
Al (Original)Quote
March 9th, 2009 at 8:07 pm
Well ive binned sky last week & was going to get a foxsat pvr but i think ill hold onto my £300 because it seems like its a bit of a joke at the moment, & sky must be the only ones laughing.
chrisQuote
March 9th, 2009 at 9:02 pm
I dont consider it to be a joke Chris! getting shut of sky last December was one of the best decisions ive made in a while. I’m happy to be saving 35 quid a month from not being ripped off…..what is a bit of a joke though is some of the posts on this thread, mainly from folk who are being impatient and haven’t got a clue what they are doing ! I laugh out loud at some of these petty complaints about the hand control being too sensitive and directional. Ive never had any problem with mine…..then perhaps I could be a bit odd ? I choose to sit in front of my telly while i’m watching it…..plus I remembered to take both layers of clear film off the front of my box !!
Steve BQuote
March 9th, 2009 at 9:35 pm
I got rid of sky at the start of january and the money we are saving.
It used to £53 a month for the sky+, and we didn’t even have the HD channels
So happy with our foxsat HDR. and when the bbc iplayer and ch4 HD is on freesat, Sky will be fighting for there customers.
You can still watch episodes of 24 online, and some places even let you watch it in 720p HD. So look who is laughing now sky.
People are getting your premier shows on the internet for free, they are getting BBC HD for free, and they are getting ITV HD which you don’t even get.
alexQuote
March 9th, 2009 at 9:47 pm
Surely all HD in the UK is in an exprimental/development phase at the moment. The early adopters are helping with that development. Whilst satellite is the best vehicle to deliver the bandwidth needed for HD. Freesat still have issues with access control to copyright material. It will be interesting to see how they deal with that. The whole $ky service is built around access control, so they are better placed to offer a comprehesive HD service.
And who said HD should be free? Someone’s got to pay for it, so why not the people who want to watch it? It sounds as though Freeview are still on course to launch up to 4 (free?) HD channels before the end of the year.
TonyQuote
March 10th, 2009 at 10:42 am
In reply to Tony HD is not really experimental. Skys’ service was started in May 2006 and HD 3D colour tv was first demonstrated in the 1940′s!!!. The major technical problem seems to be with transmitting 5.1 sound over satellite. As far as I understand it satellite circuits were designed for 4 channel audio and the broadcasters use Dobly E to transmit over these circuits. Unfortunatly the error correction does not work correctly in this mode and so we get sound drop outs. I have not noticed any drop outs on Sky recently so I think they have found a fix. The other problem is lip sync. The BBC has a dedicated an engineer to going through all thier transmision system to identify and delays and to put in place procedures to fix them. This is not an easy task.
We don’t know the cause of ITV’s sound problems. I don’t have freesat so I don’t even know if they were using 5.1. During the Olympics the BBC use to switch to stereo when they had sound problems. It seens very odd that ITV could not keep the HD picture but it may have something to do with not having a sound feed that was in sync.
I do get a bit annoyed with people banging on about FREE television. I have just renewed my TV licence and it cost £139.50. TV in the UK is not free.
Trevor HarrisQuote
March 10th, 2009 at 1:03 pm
Its a fair point that you make steve.I dont want to bash freesat i want it to see it grow from strengh to strength, but after reading all the other posts i would have been a little upset if id tuned into the football only for one to have sound problems & the other not to be in HD.Anyway i suppose you have to look at the bigger picture, & hope that ITV will sort these problems out. So im off to buy my humax…if i can find any in stock.
chrisQuote
March 10th, 2009 at 1:09 pm
I got fed up with the sound drop-outs so hit the blue button. No sound problems on SD but the picture was atrocious. More like ITV4.
KevinQuote
March 10th, 2009 at 2:35 pm
Trevor Harris – yours is the 57th post in a column about ITV sound problems. Most of the other complaints which I’ve read concern the lack of a Channel 4 HD service. Neither service would be covered by your TV licence fee; the punters are looking to have them added at no extra cost. What is your definition of “free”?
TonyQuote
March 10th, 2009 at 4:35 pm
Chris #58 – Humax Direct have stock at £292.64
TonyQuote
March 10th, 2009 at 7:28 pm
@Tony – If Freeview get 4HD channels by the end of the year they will have leapfrogged Freesat,which only has one, BBCHD – I don’t count ITV – it’s not a proper channel – very few programmes in HD and all that silly red button nonsense.
Come on Freesat, let’s have some more decent HD content – and soon.
peterhbQuote
March 10th, 2009 at 8:33 pm
Someone with the new SKY HD EPG can now access ITV HD.
So much for the freesat only RED button channel!
http://img136.imageshack.us/img136/2222/dsc6699.jpg
RonnieQuote
March 10th, 2009 at 11:16 pm
Well it would seem that, at least for tonights game, ITV sorted out the sound issue. No breakup of sound and the picture was great.
So credit where credit is due, well done ITV.
IrishMJQuote
March 11th, 2009 at 9:41 am
@ Tony, in case you haven’t noticed the general tone of this thread, most people are on Freesat because they are UNWILLING to pay extra for tv.
Thus suggesting people should pay for 4 HD etc isn’t going to win you any friends nor is it going to happen.
I would sell my box and leave Freesat before I’d pay for my tv service through anything other than the licence fee. Many tens of thousands of others who have also adopted Freesat would would do the same thus leaving the service crippled as advertisers pulled out due to falling audience figures.
The clue is in the name “Free” “Sat”.
Freesat was set up as an alternative to Freeview for those who couldn’t receive Freeview after digital switchover which is a suprisingly large number of people as the digital terrestrial signal isn’t as robust as 1st thought. Where is that going to leave those people who can’t get Freeview if Freesat became subscription?
Al (Original)Quote
March 11th, 2009 at 12:36 pm
Al (Original) et al – The Freeview signal has been riding piggy-back on the analogue signal during the run-up to switch over. As such, it has been at very low power so as not to interfere with analogue. This has given both broadcasters and viewers alike a chance to evaluate the service, which has proved surprisingly robust under the circumstances. After switchover, the relay transmitters will carry Freeview and they, together with the main transmitters, will pump out digital signals at full power. This should hammer Freeview into areas not covered during the overlap period. Anyone out there experienced switchover yet?
I did get the clue from “Free” “Sat”. It is similar to “Free” “View”, which also provides pay services like TopUp TV, Setanta, porn channels, etc, for those who want a bit more than can be provided for free. ITV and Channel 4 are struggling financially; have you considered that they might not be able to afford to develop credible HD services without financial assistance (preferably from those who want the service). BBC HD is covered by the licence fee and you get it for free.
I thought most people were on Freesat because they couldn’t get a reliable Freeview signal, but wanted part of the digital action. And how do you come to speak for many tens of thousands of others? I thought this was a forum where we expressed our own views and swapped facts. If I wanted to win friends I would go to Facebook.
TonyQuote
March 11th, 2009 at 2:48 pm
I am having trouble with no picture or sound,I press red and it goes to the hd channel but there is just the hd logo on screen,no picture no sound,any pointers to where I am going wrong would be appreciated,many thanks.
wackQuote
March 11th, 2009 at 8:57 pm
@Tony
Freeview does not offer any pay services at all. None, nada, zilch. The pay tv options you talk about there happen to be available on DTT and some boxes have the necessary cam / card slots to enable the pay services.
mj
IrishMJQuote
March 11th, 2009 at 10:34 pm
It’s precisely these types of problems which has put me off going out and buying a Freesat receiver. Once a reliable service and there is worthwhile HD content then I’ll spend some money. I would be willing to spend a small amount of money (no more than £5-8 per month) to receive a couple of quality HD channels other than the freebies which we should have. QUALITY being the operative word, this does not mean shopping, or gambling but one channel with movies, maybe HD repeat shows but also new content, maybe a little HD music.
Rich
RichardQuote
March 12th, 2009 at 12:31 am
@ Tony you should look at the official BBC Trust report re the Freeview signal.
Quote:
“Of the 7 million homes yet to move from analogue to digital reception, almost half fall outside the area where Freeview coverage is available”
In a country of approx 20 million households, thats almost 20%.
True that at the moment digital is on 1/4 power but even after switchover, significant proportions of the country will never receive a satisfactory signal as reported above. One of the discoveries they made through the current Freeview service is that Digital Terrestrial suffers a lot more intereference problems than they 1st thought – most specifically with trees and lack of line of sight, something they thought digital was immune from. So unlike digital satelite that has proven itself very robust, digital terrestrial has the same problems in weak areas as analogue has now. The only difference is that ghosting is replaced with signal breakup or pixellation.
If you look at the trust documments then you’ll find lack of Freeview coverage was the sole reason for initiating the Freesat service. The fact that in the long term terrestrial digital is going to have bandwidth problems that satelite won’t have (once the footprint issues and transponder / sat allocations are sorted out) is something that has developed since the onset of the Freesat project that has projected Freesat to the fore as probably the future of UK tv in the long term. It was never foreseen at the outset as HD was not foreseen as a broadcast medium.
Unlike Freeview, Freesat isn’t geared up for Top Up tv. The boxes don’t have card slots so encrypted services aren’t possible. Again, many see this as the thin edge of the wedge and are against this (see my comments in the next para).
I’m not trying to be combative with you Tony only to express a counter point of view. I cannot directly speak for anyone other than myself more than you can do likewise. However, I have been around these forums since before Freesat was even launched as well as several other prominant pre-launch specialist Freesat forums and I do know from the many thousands of posts that have discussed this before, that the vast majority of posters on here and other forums are against pay services on Freesat.
Al (Original)Quote
March 12th, 2009 at 2:16 pm
Go ahead Al (Original) i’m more than happy for you to speak for me! What you say is accurate and logical.
Steve BQuote
March 12th, 2009 at 4:39 pm
Hi Al( Original). The Freeview website today says “… and Freeview will be available to 98.5% of the UK population.” They are currently working to offer 4 HD channels by the end of the year. Freesat is great – I now use it for most of my TV viewing, reverting to Freeview when I want to use PVR features.
You are quite right in saying that Freesat boxes do not currently offer CI slots. That, of course, was what happened with Freeview when it started, but it was realised that viewers could have more choice if CAM modules could be accommodated. They take away nothing from the bouquet of free channels, but they mean that those who want to can buy extras. Accordingly, some manufacturers included CI slots on some of their STBs. Freesat makers could do the same.
Trevor Harris (#57) says that Freesat broadcasters are trying to offer higher quality sound than the satellite audio circuits were designed to handle. If so, I for one would like to see the problem solved before HD channels proliferate. And if the likes of ITV and Channel 4 cannot afford to get too deeply into HD without a bit of financial support, who better to give it to them than the tens of thousands of viewers clamouring for HD?
I am against pay services if they get in the way of what ought to be free, but if they simply use bandwidth which would otherwise not be used, then what the hell?
TonyQuote
March 12th, 2009 at 5:04 pm
@ Tony. I can’t comment on what the marketing guys at Freeview are saying.
All I can say is that the BBC Trust investigated the matter thoroughly as they were required to by law (it is public money (license payers money that was spent in the setting up of Freesat) ) and this therefore had to be justified not only to the Trust members but also to Parliament and the Governement in order for Freesat to go ahead. Therefore when it comes down to which set of figures to trust on coverage, personally I’d rather go with the BBC Trusts figures as they were legally bound to report accurate figures to Parliament and would face fraud charges and potentially imprisonment if they were deliberately inaccurate.
Re the bandwidth Tony. There is “no bandwidth that would otherwise not be used on Freesat”.
Freesat is currently struggling for bandwidth and is full with channels queueing to join. The problem is not the overall satelite bandwidth which as plenty of space but the fact that the licensing restrictions of many channels means they cannot be broadcast outside of the UK. In order to achieve this, they have to be transmitted on transponders which have a footprint tightly focused on the UK and Ireland only and space on these restricted transponders is currently in short supply with both Sky and Freesat fighting for space. Astra are moving several satelites around at the moment and have plans to launch more over the next few years, so some of these movements / replacements may be designed to alleviate the problems by providing extra space for UK only transmissions on 28.2E but for now there is no space going otherwise unused.
Al (Original)Quote
March 12th, 2009 at 5:36 pm
Tony The Humax HDR Freesat+ PVR already has a CI-Module.
Matt GQuote
March 12th, 2009 at 8:22 pm
Al (Original) I agree with most of what you say. I feel we’re unlikely to resolve our differences, so why don’t we shake hands, shut up and hand the forum back to the rest of the guys?
TonyQuote
March 13th, 2009 at 12:25 am
@Tony, no problem there. So far as I’m concerned discussion is good and there’s nothing wrong with having different view points. Equally if I’m wrong on any facts and anyone else wants to chip in, I’m quite happy for that to happen. I don’t claim to be always right and I’m quite happy to be corrected.
I assure you we are friends so far as I’m concerned.
@ Trevor Harris, back on the original subject of sound problems, I wonder why they aren’t using Dolby Pro Logic whilst they sort out the problem with 5.1? You seem to know a bit about sound transmission so can perhaps answer this.
I understand that Pro Logic, although technically a 5 channel system, can be transmitted as Dolby Stereo (something done for years on analogue). I’d be very suprised if Dolby Stereo didn’t fit in properly with the existing transmission methods as stereo seems to be non problematic with Freesat.
This would at least give surround whilst the 5.1 issue was solved.
Al (Original)Quote
March 13th, 2009 at 9:28 am
Al (O) If you have a surround sound system with the Dolby Pro Logic (I/II) Logo, it is able to convert a Stereo signal in to Fake 5.1 .
But you will get the same sound out of the rear speakers as you would from the front on the same side, but at a lower volume and muffled to imitate 5.1 . The best thing is that the voice range of frequency is sent to the front speaker making it easier to hear and again imitating 5.1 .
Matt GQuote
March 13th, 2009 at 11:00 am
Sorry should of said Voice from front centre speaker.
Anyway the point is any Stereo signal can be converted to Dolby.Pro.Logic. with the same equipment that decodes DD5.1 so no need/point in transmitting it.
Matt GQuote
March 13th, 2009 at 9:25 pm
It’s interesting to note ‘Al Original’ that even though Astra 2D has the narrow footprint for UK only that there are FOUR encrypted transponders and a total of 42 encrypted channels on there.
So if this space is so precious why are encrypted channels on Astra 2D?
It makes you wonder if these can be shifted elsewhere to make space for UK only FTA channels . . Don’t suppose $ky are in any hurry to have a shift around . . We need MPEG4/DVB-S2 but again, $ky aren’t gonna change all there old boxes anytime in the next 5 years at least . .
StevenQuote
March 14th, 2009 at 12:03 pm
@ Steven – post 79. why are encrypted channels on Astra 2D?
Theres nowhere else to put the encrypted 2D transponders – the only other location would have been Astra 2C but thats being moved away from 28E to 31E in a couple of weeks!
RossQuote
March 14th, 2009 at 3:44 pm
How much clout do $ky carry over which transponders carry their channels? The satellites are run by SES Astra who, presumably, try to balance the needs of all of their cutomers. If $ky were to get shirty with SES, there is nowherre else to take their business.
TonyQuote
March 14th, 2009 at 9:50 pm
That’s interesting Ross . . So 2D is moving to 31E.. Mind you there’s little on there.. 8 encrypted $ky channels and RTL . . I always assumed it was near the end of its life as it was so empty . .
StevenQuote
March 15th, 2009 at 10:10 am
Steven, 2C is moving, not 2D.
adminQuote
March 15th, 2009 at 12:37 pm
31E is only borrowing 2C for up to a year. The boss of SES Astra is quoted as saying “…our fleet flexibility allows us to redeploy ASTRA 2C at 28.2 degrees East after the launch of Astra 3B in order to serve the growth in the UK market, particularly coming from High Definition (HD) broadcast services.”.
So there you are guys – the race is on. Who will offer the best free HD service – Freeview or Astra?
TonyQuote
March 15th, 2009 at 1:31 pm
Sorry.. Meant 2C not 2D.. Too many beers?
StevenQuote
March 15th, 2009 at 1:40 pm
Interesting.. Is this implying that 3B will be at 28.2/5E? I though Astra 3B was destined for 23.5E . . Anyway, I’m probably confused again ..
..
StevenQuote