BBC4 HD et al due in time for Christmas

[teamsaint]

You always make yourself crystal clear without the need for technical jiggerypokery, my dear ts

you are very kind Mr Mod, but my opinions are in old fashioned grey/black , not in technicolour blue like you and FHD.
Mind you, I wouldn't post in that colour if it was the last colour left......somebody should invent red and white ink !!

[teamsaint]

So where is that, pray!

close down 7.30, to be replaced by the test card.

[Nick Armstrong]

So where is that, pray!

Above... 'Tis all one now

[teamsaint]

Gordon's post is fascinating, and obviously very insightful.
It would be very interesting to know where the technical strategists at the BBC are heading.

[Nick Armstrong]

Excellent news for those who have been waiting for the BBC to launch their new HD Channels:-

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-25298109

Let's hope there's some good music and arts programming to watch in lovely HD!!

(And perhaps they could repeat Borgen 3 in HD as well..)

The card on my Ch. 107 says BBCNewsHD will be launching at 8.30am tomorrow; other press reports say 10 December for the other channels too. Odd that the BBC itself doesn't commit to that date in the report to which you link...

Still at least the last 2 episodes of Borgen 3 this coming weekend should be in HD

[Mr Pee]

The card on my Ch. 107 says BBCNewsHD will be launching at 8.30am tomorrow; other press reports say 10 December for the other channels too. Odd that the BBC itself doesn't commit to that date in the report to which you link...

Still at least the last 2 episodes of Borgen 3 this coming weekend should be in HD

On my Sky+ Box TV planner, the new HD Channels are all listed from tomorrow.

[mangerton]

On my Sky+ Box TV planner, the new HD Channels are all listed from tomorrow.

As they are on my Virgin cable box.

[Nick Armstrong]

Ah quite right, so they are too on the Freeview programme guide for tomorrow onwards.

Having flicked through the BBC4 schedules in the Radio Times issues that cover the period up until 4 January, it's a pity that after Borgen finishes on Saturday, there's practically nothing new that catches the eye, and no classical music at all to speak of

EDIT - correction, there's an hour's tribute to Sir John Tavener on New Year's Eve presented by Tom 'Gabbler' Service...

And I'll be glad to see the repeats of the 'Low Countries High Art' programmes which I missed first time round.

[gurnemanz]

there's practically nothing new that catches the eye, and no classical music at all to speak of

Glad to have BBC4 in HD but we don't seem to get a lot of classical stuff which goes out free to air in Germany. I've just bought a new HD box (150 quid) for my Astra dish and can now get the the German arts channels Arte and 3Sat in superb HD. The first night of the new and controversial Scala Traviata went out on Saturday - Diana Damrau excellent for me. Polish tenor got booed

[teamsaint]

Glad to have BBC4 in HD but we don't seem to get a lot of classical stuff which goes out free to air in Germany. I've just bought a new HD box (150 quid) for my Astra dish and can now get the the German arts channels Arte and 3Sat in superb HD. The first night of the new and controversial Scala Traviata went out on Saturday - Diana Damrau excellent for me. Polish tenor got booed

Sounds like a good set up Gurney.

If only the blokes who go round pubs selling Al Jazeera set ups for sport would get their teeth into the arts sector...

Lots of Bowie to enjoy in HD on Friday night .
Well, if you have an HD telly, that is.

[Gordon]

Gordon's post is fascinating, and obviously very insightful.
It would be very interesting to know where the technical strategists at the BBC are heading.

In some ways they have no choice, being in thrall to OfCom's spectrum management decisons and pressure from the mobiles who think they can make lots more money from spectrum that DTT does [like none except licence fees for BBC and some taxes on ITV]. Less spectrum and same services means a pinch and a search for some new technology - and not just DTT.

BBC boffins already see these trends and have begun to consider for how long DTT will be their majpr outlet, especially when there is a new Charter due in 3 years. People have argued before in these threads that DTT is dead and that 4G etc is the way to go. Maybe, but not just yet possible for another 15-20 years. Don't confuse what mobiles call "multicast" with broadcast, they are not the same thing.

If all that stuff I wrote before isn't enough OfCom have another consultation about to close this Friday that proposes to allow shared access to UHF/DTT spectrum that is unused. Because of the way DTT spectrum is planned each major transmitter group is allocated 6 frequencies to carry 6 multiplexes but that means, for example, these 6 could be down the bottom of the band in London meaning the top end isn't used there. So in London that top end can be given to other users - it isn't at present. Similar process elsewhere in the UHF. So far so good; the scheme is called White Space. It is possible for this to work in principle but the devil is in the detail.

All TVs sold have to work anywhere so they would respond to those empty channels at the top end if there was a transmission present but there is nothing there - YET. If these White Space Devices [WSD] - their function and purpose can be anything at all including WiFi extensions etc - are introduced they will add interference to DTT, not directly by occupying DTT frequences but by loading the receivers with additional signals that could be large. These WSDs will not be licensed and will carry no spectrum charges at all and OfCom have no plans to budget for policing. They will almost certainly come into the country in loaded containers from who knows where and be sold everywhere; they will have minimal conformance tests to a specification that is new and untried.

And for you practsing musicians doing gigs in halls etc this also applies to your PMSE licence rights because WSDs will interfere with PMSE frequencies used by radio mics as well.

Interested? Look here:

http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/consultations/white-space-coexistence/

Yet another consultation due to close soon [18th December] proposes to re-introduce spectrum charges for DTT. In the analogue era before DSO each analogue channel was charged at about £1m per annum. They were suspended when Freeview was launched back in 2002. Now OfCom want to change that and make BBC pay for spectrum, starting next year, thus adding to their costs and hence the licence fee. Ultimately they want the full market price for it. That consultation is here:

http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/consultations/cbfframework/

[teamsaint]

yes, that is pretty much what I thought.



Many thanks for your detailed reply, Gordon, the conclusion from which I draw is that the government can in fact sell the very air that we breath.

Follow the money.......

[Gordon]

....the conclusion from which I draw is that the government can in fact sell the very air that we breath.

Follow the money.......

Shh!! They might hear you! That's 60M people each breathing about, what shall we say, 1 litre a second, at a modest 1p a litre that's....Ooh, goodbye national debt!! And then there is of course the carbon footprint of all that CO2 they breathe out......60m people at 1 litre a second... Double Your Money. I've just thought of a very cheap breath meter that can be used to Breathe As You Go so that atheletes pay more and people who lie around all day listening to CDs pay less.

[Bryn]

I updated my Freeview channels last night. BBCs 3/CBBC and News 24 has got their additional HD channels, but no sign of BBC FOUR/CBeebies HD at that stage. I will have another go tonight.

[Mr Pee]

I updated my Freeview channels last night. BBCs 3/CBBC and News 24 has got their additional HD channels, but no sign of BBC FOUR/CBeebies HD at that stage. I will have another go tonight.

I was watching BBC4 HD last night, via my Sky+ Box, so it's definitely there!