"Geoffrey S. Mendelson" wrote in message
...
Arfa Daily wrote:

The digital terrestrial TV being provided here in the UK now, currently
carries no HD content, despite ongoing promises. This is due to some
extent
on the government reneging on a promise to make more of the UHF band
available to the broadcasters. Having now told them that they can't have
any
more, and the broadcasters having already filled up what they have got
available with multiplexes carrying 'proper' channels and crap channels
in a
ratio of about 1 to 5, the only option that they are now left with is to
use
another different and non standard variant of mpeg 4 compression.

It's not nonstandard. MPEG4 is one of those "evolving standards", so that
they can sell you a decoder box or TV that supports the current variants
and next week turn around and sell you a new one.

Or if you have a computer, provide a firmware update.

It gets rid of the problem that CRT TVs had, they did not change fast
enough
to get people buying new ones in a fast enough cycle to keep the companies
in business.

I have a spare TV that I bought in 1986 and AFAIK, it still works. We have
not yet switched to digital over the air here (Israel).

Speaking of MPEG4, Israel chose H.264 with AAC audio, a combination no one
had ever used before. The idea was to squeeze as many regular (520p 4:3)
channels in one 8mHz DVD-T channel.


The situation via direct broadcast satellite is much clearer. Here, they
have so much bandwidth available that they are able to carry many HD
channels, so this is where people here get their HD content from.
Unfortunately, the satellite operator charges us another tenner ($15) a
month for the privilege of receiving these transmissions ... :-(

Same here, but it's 40 NIS ($25).

BTW, where do those HDTV BBC programs come from? They are not over the
air?

Geoff.
--


BBC HD is currently available by direct broadcast satellite, and from the
Virgin cable service. I receive it via the former. It would seem that in a
few areas, it is now available via the FreeView DTTV service which is
replacing our current analogue service over the next couple of years.
However, although I receive FreeView from one of the 'main' national
transmitter sites, the FreeView HD service will not be available to me for
some long time yet, according to

http://www.radioandtelly.co.uk/freeviewhd.html

A different DTTV receiver is required, and it looks as though the only one
currently available is 180 quid ($270 ish). I can't see many people wanting
to hang yet another receiver on the end of their 'HD Ready' TV sets, for
that sort of money, and to receive just a few HD services. There is never
going to be the bandwidth available to put more on there, alongside the
other services.

I'm not sure what exactly you mean by "an evolving standard". That seems an
oxymoron if ever I heard one. Either it's a standard, or it's an evolving
system. It can't be both. The sat broadcasters have been using the same
transmission standards for years, and don't seem to suffer problems with
compatibility of receiving equipment. The DTTV service, OTOH, seems to be a
mish-mash compromise system, which has changed 'standards' and names several
times, in an effort to make it do what was, in truth, never going to be
practically possible ...

Arfa