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OFCOM statement on switchover.
Ofcom publishes statement on Digital Terrestrial Television coverage plans for switchover.
http://www.ofcom.org.uk/consult/condocs/pods/statement/
http://www.ofcom.org.uk/consult/condocs/pods/statement/
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Can anyone explain what difference that will make?
Good news, I think...
Not really if the BBC still have two multiplexes, all they'll do is waste it.
I've said it for aaaaaages now, to use 8k and have a SFN with a one, or maybe two, 2k muxes for local programming/regional versions of BBC/ITV.
Therefore I assume ITV, BBC and Channel 4 won't be on this MUX as they wouldn't be able to be regional...?
I agree that the 701/2 streams are not the best use of bandwidth at the moment.
Nevertheless, given the premise that we're stuck with them, an increase to 64QAM will allow the BBC Radio services and Five (and S4C in Wales) to relocate from Mux A, and BBC Parliament to go full-screen.
Yep, 'fraid so.
With 8k SFNs mobile car reception begins to become more of a realistic possibility too.
It'll be a shame to lose channels on old onDigital boxes but to be honest at the price of new receivers and the unresponsiveness of the old boxes everyone should upgrade anyway... I did last week and wish I'd done it a long time ago.
You'll have had maybe 8 years life out of an old On Digital box, and will have to splash out maybe £30 to replace it - I don't think you're being very hard done by really.
The entire multiplex would be 8k instead of 2k, so it would affect everything on that multiplex, including audio and interactive streams.
It means that multiplex operators can broadcast a multiplex on several transmitters at the same frequency in a region - this is known as a Single Frequency Network (SFN).
The advantage is that it means that each multiplex takes up less bandwidth over the whole of a given region.
Take Bristol for example. Some people are served by Mendip, others by Ilchester Crescent and still others by King's Weston Hill.
Currently, Mux 1 takes up a different frequency on each of these transmitters (UHF channels 59, 49 and 22). With 8k COFDM, it would be possible for Mux 1 to broadcast on the same frequency (UHF channel 59, say) throughout the local region. (It's not quite as simple as that, as many people have narrowband aerials that wouldn't be able to pick up channel 59, but you get the idea.) This frees up channels 22 and 49 for other uses, thus increasing the overall capacity of the platform. This paves the way for additional services in the longer term.
The more immediate benefit of SFNs is in places like the South East, where the UHF band is subject to interference from Continental transmissions. Obviously, the less bandwidth we're using, the easier it is to co-ordinate frequency allocations with - for instance - France and the Netherlands.
This is all as I understand it - I'm sure someone will correct me if I've misunderstood.
It announced its consultation some time late last year, I think. I'm fairly sure there was even a thread about it on DS, though I might be mistaken.
That's the price you pay for "early adoption", alas. At least they won't cost much to replace nowadays.
I am guessing that my old ITV Digital Nokia and Pioneer boxes will be redundant. Are the Pace DTVA and the new TUTV Thomson DT2300 compliant or not?