Digital and HD Free to Air TV and HD TVs

[Ian Robinson]

Bit the bullet and bought Teac HD/Digital Set Top Box ($120 at Harvey Norman).

After fiddleling about with the cables to make sure I can still connect my antenna -- > (via the set top box) to my DVD/VCR combo --> the HiFi and old 68cm analog TV which is also connected to a second older 8 head HiFi VCR , the only benefits I noted once I auto tuned in all the available analog + digital and HD digital FTA stations available here in Gateshead were :
- less ghosting on ABC(1) and SBS(1)
- better reception on all the older analog stations NBN, Seven and Ten
- and only 3 new channels (really ABC(2) and the HD copy , SBS(2) and the HD copy and a gaggle of digital and HD copies of the analog stations from Nine, Seven and Ten , plus something new called GO! (which is crap).

Personally, while I like the better reception , and there may from time to be programs on ABC2 or ABC3 and SBS2 or SBS3 that I'd like to see, I don't see any good reason to spend $2000 - $3000 on a new HD1080 digital TV to only get in reality 3 new stations (contentwize).
My old analog TV and analog VCR DVD HiFi Combo has plenty of life in them yet and I wont be retiring them any time in the foreseeable future.

[Hagar]

I have just upgraded to a 50" True HD Plasma. The main reason was to fix a somewhat dodgy picture tube and to have a much bigger screen in a big lounge room. (76cm wide screen to a 50" widescreen in a lounge room 9M X 8M) Wonderful upgrade well worth the $2K I paid)

[barx1963]

We bought a 32" Full HD LCD set earlier this year and I thinks it is brilliant, HD channels look great. Our PVR is only SD and there is a huge difference between the pic on the SD channel and the HD Channels. If you are connecting a HD box to an analogue set, it really won't make that much diff, wait until you get a full HD set to see the much better picture!

[Tandum]

I got the end of line 52" samsung series 5 for $1800 before series 6 came out at $2600.

I have a pc acting as a media center. It has a dual tuner HD card, Blue Ray player, and 2 teta bytes of disk space which is 50% full of music, movies and tv shows.

Just did a retune tonight to pick up go TV :)

[TrevorW]

Again a case of tech companies lobbying Govt saying you need this and that for this and that and you should legislate to ensure you have this and that even though the population doesn't really need and has done without it quite well for 30 years but if they have this and that we make more profit recoup millions spent on R&D an can fund you for your next election.

[Satchmo]

Its not about a few extra stations its about the extra picture quality . If you are perfectly happy with your old analog TV screen ( effectively 280 lines vertical resolution ) then you are probably not in the market for an HD picture anyway.

If you go to somewhere like JB HIFI you can pick 40" FULL HD LCD TV's for $1200 with built in HD tuner and the picture looks great : you don;t have to spend $3000.

[iceman]

I just got a Panasonic Viera 42" Plasma Full HD, and love it. The picture quality is amazing.

Yeh the extra channels are nothing to write home about yet, but it will get better.

Oh and the free Wii arrived yesterday! :jump:

[CoombellKid]

Love my 42" HD Plasma :thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup: fine detail is all there ;). Even the
standard digital looks better than old our other TV set, which now
resides in my sons bedroom along with that dang PS2 of his.

Cheers,CS

[jjjnettie]

I don't know about that Mike.
"GO" started the other night and they had back to back to back to back episodes of "Big Bang Theory".
I was in heaven!!!:D
Geez it was funny watching my other half cringe and winge.

Have fun with the Wii.:P

[mswhin63]

Have 40" Bravia LCD, 3 STB's 2 of them have twin tuners and all of them have PVR. Can copy up to 5 programs in one time.

The latest STB I like the best because it can copy onto an external USB hard drive. Allows me to copy some program on like Astronomy or science programs on one hard drive and slot in another one for other programs.

Neat idea the PVR's usb stick ones are better.

[tornado33]

We were never going to upgrade from our trusty 25 year old Sanyo telly, but Mum, for the $2 cost of a raffle ticket won an AWA 103 cm, 720i Plasma. Watching NRL and cricket is excellent, as both are broadcast in HD. One can almost see the individual blades of grass on the field.

By default most new TVs seem to have the brightness wound up far too high by default. Our plasma was using around 300 watts, but I noticed consumption drop in darker scenes, so I turned down the brightness to a still acceptable level, actually closer to our old TV, and now usage is down to 150 watts plus it runs a lot cooler. It will surely extend the life of the set.

[Ian Robinson]

Being in a basin surrounded by big hills , with no direct line of sight to any transmitter towers (can't see Sugar Loaf) ,can't see Kotara either , we've always had bad reception even with a booster and superdooper high gain antennas , and horrible ghosting on ABC and SBS , or just snowy vision (Ten).

The set top box has cleaned all that up and it cost me bugger all , I was quoted about $400 to sort the picture quality out by an antenna guy last year and never asked him to come back (I'd rather keep the $400).

You're right , I'm NOT the least bit interested in a big LCD or Plasma or in ultra fine digital detail in the stuff I see on the screen, I'd rather keep the money I'd have to spend to get that in my building society. Anyway , the prices of HD Plasma and HD LCDs will fall heaps over the next few years and they'll get less power hungry and more reliable too. SO I'M IN NO RUSH and am not interested in wasteful unnecessary consumption and consumerism when my old TV (with the addition of the HD / DIigital TEAC set top box is more than adequate for my requirements , nor am interested in keeping up with the Jones or buying into fads.

I've better things to spend that kind of money on , like say building my ROR observatory for instance or maybe gong towards a boat or a 4x4 campertrailor.

[PCH]

Hmmm..

respect your wishes Ian, but I don't think digital TV is going to be a fad ;)

[stephenb]

If you are paying $2000 - $3000 on a new HD1080 TV just to get 3 new stations, you're spending way too much money and for the wrong reasons.

We have a Panasonic LCD Full HD and Panasonic twin HD DVD recorder. It's great for recording, editing and burning all my Time Team episodes, Catalyst specials and a variety of other doco's.

I'm sad to see the old technology slowly disappear because I spent a good part of my working life repairing the "old technology". I have even repaired my fair share of valve TV's!

I recall a conversation with my boss back in 1986 quite vividly. We were in the TV workshop wondering if one day we would see televisions that "hung on you loungeroom wall like picture frames". How technology has advanced.

[GeoffW1]

Hi,

I far as I can tell we can say this with confidence, but not much else!!

DTV is better, both the signal and the sets.

I have still got the old analogue TV and a SD PVR (a Topfield) and I would not watch anything now off the analogue signal. The letterbox format of the old 4:3 TV is also a dreadful pain, but as yet I am too cheap to buy a proper DTV. We do have the good digital aerial setup with the good coax cable however.

My son has a HD TV upstairs which I can use for comparison if I puff up and down the stairs quickly enough not to forget what the picture looked like. There is not a lot of difference in the SD pictures between the 2 screens, apart from the 16:9 format. The picture is noticably better on this HDTV on some HD channels but not others, and I wondered why not all of them.

It seems not all the free-to-air channels broadcast the best possible HD signals. Aha. Some broadcast 1080i (interlaced) signals but others only 720p (progressive). There are no 1080p signals, yet. However, plasma and LCD screens are not by nature interlaced and must fiddle the 1080i signals to be progressive. Trouble is some of them process it to 720p (which is still called HD, just not bees-knees HD). So you lose something some of the time.

An old analogue CRT screen however is by nature progressive, and some of them, like mine, do quite well indeed on a diet of digital signal converted by a STB to 576p. So there does not seem much point to getting a HD STB (spend the money on a 16:9 HDTV).

I'm not sure what the point of all this rambling is, but one forum poster even says "In the coming months there will no longer be any full HD on FTA TV" because they won't have the necessary bandwidth. Going backwards.

http://whirlpool.net.au/wiki/?tag=htf_dtv_hdsd

http://www.dtvforum.info/index.php?showtopic=80289

http://www.smh.com.au/digital-life/hometech/great-expectations-for-highdefinition-20090714-dk3r.html

http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum-replies-archive.cfm/1174159.html

http://www.cnet.com.au/digital-tv-in-australia-240000380.htm

It is enough to make you turn off the TV and go outside and take up astronomy.

Cheers

[Starkler]

You can extend the life of analogue tvs with a digital set top box for less than $100. Benefits include freedom from picture ghosting and impulse interference.

[snowyskiesau]

Just a note if you are considering an STB.
Don't be fooled by the Freeview logo, this is just a marketing ploy (http://digihub.smh.com.au/node/275) by the commercial broadcasters and doesn't indicate any special capabilities in the STB.
This is expecially important if you're considering a DVR as the Freeview 'compliant' ones may not have the same abilities for fast forwarding, i.e. skipping ads.

[acropolite]

Sit down and watch a couple of programs on a 42 or 50 inch Plasma, you may just change your mind. If you're a sports fan then its a no brainer.

IMO there is little difference in picture quality from the HD plasmas to full HD. My 50 inch HD Panasonic has a res of 1368x768 (the 42HD is 1024x768), compared side by side with the full HD model it has a brighter picture, more contrast and from normal viewing distances is better to watch. We bought a 42 inch HD panasonic on sale for around $1300

[mswhin63]

So called freeview has been available ever since STB inception. Although it relies heavily on the TV stations setting program infomration correctly. So far they have been atrocious. As i was wriing this i flicked on the Guide on mine and ABC and SBS have nothing set. It also relaies on the program starting and finsihing on time which is usually off.

[snowyskiesau]

I agree, the station provided EPGs are terrible, ABC and SBS possible exceptions.
The most they provide is what's currently showing and what's on next.

I subscribe to IceTV (http://www.icetv.com.au) to get my program guide which is much better and good for 7 days. There are still gaps though as ultimately the IceTV guide relies on data provided by the various stations. Channel 9 are particularly bad in this respect e.g. tonghts 7:30 slot is shown as TBA.

[stephenb]

I couldn't disagree more. Our Free-to-Air TV guide is excellent for all free-to-air channels. I can see the program guide for every channel, up to 5-odd days in advance. I can set timer recordings and they work everytime (adding 5 minutes on either side to compensate for time-shift). Sometimes there are minimal gaps, but it never affects my programming.

I love the advance free-to-air guides.

[JethroB76]

I have a 42" HD Panasonic and love it, but I'm glad someone mentioned this, alot of our HD braodcasts aren't overly HD. The introduction of digital tv hasnt been handled well in Australia it seems, perhaps mirroring our efforts with broadband internet

[snowyskiesau]

I stand corrected. It's been a while since I used the station provided EPG.

I have the EPG downloaded to a webserver where there is software that searches for shows I like and automatically records them. It's not perfect yet but it's a lot cheaper than TiVo.

[toetoe]

We have a 50" LG Plasma, it wont get me a coffee but it does everything else. The only regret we have is we wish we got the 60".

[acropolite]

I've noticed that, when the EPG is not there often a few minutes later it will apear. Makes sense when you think that the EPG has to download from the incoming video stream and obviously would not be a high priority compared with the video and audio streams.


Patience Grasshopper....

[MrB]

Yes have noticed the same EPG problem with STB's(set top boxes).
Also have noticed that if I change channel, the EPG has to be downloaded again.
I recently helped my mum pick out a decent HDTV, decided on a Panasonic Viera. Never had a problem with the EPG on it.
I'm guessing it has decent EPG memory and often refreshes the EPG in the background so it all just pops up instantly when you want it.
Which is common sense really from a design standpoint.

[gman]

I purchased a Samsung 1080i HD W/Screen Television about 8 odd years ago.
It is a fantastic TV but it weighs about 90kgs and is quite deep - I had to cut out the back of the TV unit to let it fit in.
Being the person I am I won't upgrade it to a plasma/LCD just for the sake of keeping up with the Jones's.

No matter how much I stare at it, it still keeps going.

The plasma/LCD is still on hold

I cant wait to upgrade so I can utilise HDMI inputs and upscaling etc of DVD's and the likes.

Some one know how to sabotage a TV without it being too obvious?:whistle:

[snowyskiesau]

If you're happy with your TV, why change?
My TV is about 5 years and is a 76cm CRT (Palsonic).

The picture is terrific and I can;t see any reason to upgrade. I'd rather spend the money on upgrading my DVR.

Only downside of a CRT is that it is too heavy for one person to move. It was unpacked into a corner 5 years ago and hasn't moved since. Hate to think what the carpet under it looks like :lol:

[mithrandir]

Recently we've had multiple consecutive days of 9 Sydney not providing any EPG data at all. It gets quite confusing when the PVR is full of programs all called "No Title".

When 9 do, any resemblence between the EPG and what actually shows up is pure coincidence. The same holds true for their new "Go!" service.

Ten seem to have started listing the "real" start time for some shows, down to the minute.

Once upon a time the SMH TV Guide was all you needed for the whole week. These days the stations supply them what could easily be described as a work of fiction.

[MrB]

Ch9 is no different here.
Very helpfull when their EPG tells you that there's a movie on, but provides no title or description!