SWITCHED-ON
Listed under: Comments
Published: Monday, July 21, 2008
Ofcom’s recent announcement giving the green light to upgrade one of the six Freeview multiplexes to the new DVB-T2 standard was met with a mixed reception.
Despite the move paving the way for free HD content on the Freeview service, much of the UK media accused the industry of changing standards and making existing Freeview equipment obsolete even before we have managed to complete digital switchover.
There are 16-million Freeview enabled households in the UK today and there will be closer to 25-million by full switchover. Every digital set-top-box, IDTV and portable Freeview TV will be able to receive the core content of the Freeview service now and long into the future. DVB-T2 and Freeview HD is the next step in DVB evolution, but it will be positioned and marketed as an added-value service, not a replacement. Today’s Freeview TVs and set-top-boxes will certainly not become obsolete overnight as some pundits suggested, and in fact their signal reception will improve in time as analogue signals are discontinued.
What Freeview HD brings to the market will be an entirely optional higher-quality free digital TV service, available by investing in newer, premium technology. Freeview HD boxes will be better specified, offer MPEG-4 decoding, DVB-T2 compatibility and all the benefits of HDMI connectivity for HD-ready TVs. Existing Freeview users can simply buy an HD Freeview box, relegating their existing box to a second room or adding the new hardware to their integrated Freeview TV.
But as an industry we need to continue to up-sell the benefits of Freeview TVs and Freeview equipment today. We must ensure customers are aware that digital switchover is just around the corner, standard Freeview offers a great service and Freeview HD is not a replacement but an ‘add-on’ proposition that they can buy into next year - without making their current equipment obsolete. For the season ahead we must not lose focus on core Freeview TV business.
For further information contact: +44 (0)870 850 3525 http://www.augustint.com
There are 16-million Freeview enabled households in the UK today and there will be closer to 25-million by full switchover. Every digital set-top-box, IDTV and portable Freeview TV will be able to receive the core content of the Freeview service now and long into the future. DVB-T2 and Freeview HD is the next step in DVB evolution, but it will be positioned and marketed as an added-value service, not a replacement. Today’s Freeview TVs and set-top-boxes will certainly not become obsolete overnight as some pundits suggested, and in fact their signal reception will improve in time as analogue signals are discontinued.
What Freeview HD brings to the market will be an entirely optional higher-quality free digital TV service, available by investing in newer, premium technology. Freeview HD boxes will be better specified, offer MPEG-4 decoding, DVB-T2 compatibility and all the benefits of HDMI connectivity for HD-ready TVs. Existing Freeview users can simply buy an HD Freeview box, relegating their existing box to a second room or adding the new hardware to their integrated Freeview TV.
But as an industry we need to continue to up-sell the benefits of Freeview TVs and Freeview equipment today. We must ensure customers are aware that digital switchover is just around the corner, standard Freeview offers a great service and Freeview HD is not a replacement but an ‘add-on’ proposition that they can buy into next year - without making their current equipment obsolete. For the season ahead we must not lose focus on core Freeview TV business.
For further information contact: +44 (0)870 850 3525 http://www.augustint.com
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