[mythtvnz] TVNZ announces High Definition plans

[Steven Ellis]

On Tue, October 2, 2007 5:32 pm, Daniel McKenzie wrote:
> Got a response today from Freeview saying they updated their FAQ. So it's
> the official word now:
> http://freeviewnz.tv/index.php?section_id=8
> --
> How will the Schedule data be broadcast on Freeview Aerial
> (DTT)?<http://freeviewnz.tv/index.php?section_id=8#> The
> Freeview EPG is populated by a MHEG-5 data stream for both satellite and
> aerial. However, the Freeview Satellite service had an existing base of
> free-to-air satellite set-top boxes and PVRs which work off an EIT
> schedule.
> We will continue to broadcast this data format for the Freeview satellite
> service. For the Freeview Aerial (DTT) service, planned for launch next
> April, there will be no existing base of Aerial(DTT) set top boxes so
> Freeview has chosen to broadcast the schedule using MHEG-5 only, as it is
> a
> more bandwidth efficient and presentation friendly standard.
> --
> Isn't there already an existing base of DTT STB's?

Well I'm pleased the official announcement is now out about this.

Any existing DTT STBs will be MPEG2 and won't work with the freeview
service anyway, so it means they can start with a clean slate.

Based on the DTH slots the existing EIT data uses around 192K on each
transponder, which is enought for a radio station or other audio service.
Hence it makes sense for them to drop it if not required.

We can already parse the MHEG-5 data in MythTV and via RedButton. I'm
quite sure we will have numerous scripts that can turn MHEG-5 to XMLTV
well in advance of the launch.

One worry is the launch is now stated as April rather than March.

Steve
--------------------------------------------
Steven Ellis - Technical Director
OpenMedia Limited - The Home of myPVR
email   - steven at openmedia.co.nz
sales   - sales at openmedia.co.nz
support - support at openmedia.co.nz
website - http://www.openmedia.co.nz