Our very first Freeview box (Daewoo) did exactly that - up and down for the channels, left and right for the regions. This is where not having one standardised EPG becomes a problem - even if Freeview decide to implement such features, there is no guarantee manufacturers will do so - and virtually no hope of over the air upgrades taking them into account.
That sounds very sensible. It would be great if there was a standard EPG layout. My box doesn't even store duplicates, so I only get North West, even though I can get some Welsh reception on analogue.
Another anoying thing is EPGs that don't tell you the region. So, it's just 'BBC One', not 'BBC One North West'. If there are programme variations, the EPG should tell you which region you're getting.
Maybe a callsign system could be useful here, for example...
WH - Winter Hill
WH1 - BBC One North West
WH2 - BBC Two
WH3 - ITV 1 Granada
WH4 - Channel 4
WH5 - Five
WH-A - Storeton
WH1A - BBC One North West
WH2A - BBC Two
WH3A - ITV 1 Granada
WH4A - Channel 4
WH5A - Five
MP - Moel-y-parc
MP1 - BBC One Wales
MP2 - BBC 2W
MP3 - ITV1 Wales
MP4 - S4C
MP5 - Five
TW - The Wrekin
TW1 - BBC One Midlands
TW2 - BBC Two
TW3 - ITV1 Central
TW4 - Channel 4
TW5 - Five
...and so on...
Last edited by Mr Kite on 6 November 2009 12:26am - 5 times in total
Now picking up the Welsh channels here via Winter Hill, but with the North West channels taking priority. Perfect picture too - but if it's anything like when I first got digital (and the Welsh channels via the Moel y Parc transmitter) I always got better reception on those whenever it rained!
I have found myself having to retune my TV and PVR a few times since Wednesday though, partly due to the odd bug but I think mainly due to the weather.
At the moment in overlap areas, a viewer may get a far better picture on one region than another even if both are tolerable. Obviously with digital the picture will either be perfect or unwatchable.
Not necessarily. I think the big problem, as more regions go through DSO, will be that many boxes, when scanning, assign the first multiplexes they receive to the beginning of the EPG. In many cases, this could be a weaker signal from the wrong region which could be subject to frequent or occasional picture break up.
I guess the likes of us on here would know how to prevent this by manual-tuning, or removing the aerial lead for part of the scan, but I would have thought most members of the public wouldn't.
BT is looking at DTT to distribute content acquired from Sky via Ofcom's Proposed Wholesale Distribution system in 18 months time. This could mean that they either
a) would be acquiring capacity from Arqiva as and when slots become available.
b) looking to acquire Top Up or
c) Bidding for capacity freed up and establishing a new National Multiplex to carry this material.
The company also confirmed its continuing involvement in Canvas and that the BT Vision DTT OTA HD box would be released next year.
So Moel y Parc has now gone digital, although having retuned tonight I've lost the extra Mux C we gained at the first stage. In the past I blamed the weather, but I was hoping DSO would means signals weren't as likely to drop out with a bit of rain!
So Moel y Parc has now gone digital, although having retuned tonight I've lost the extra Mux C we gained at the first stage. In the past I blamed the weather, but I was hoping DSO would means signals weren't as likely to drop out with a bit of rain!
Muxes COM 1 and 2 (A and C) will remain at low power at MYP until 2011. Although they are (as from last night) running at 2.5kW rather than 1kW prior to DSO. The PSB muxes are now running at 20kW, COM 3 (Mux D is at 10kW)
Well at the moment we're without what was Mux C & D, which was the case pre-DSO but when the BBC channels moved it could pick up Mux C I think.
I'm sure it's down to the weather and will rescan again over the weekend - but if that is the case even though they are muxes we couldn't receive beforehand, it's pretty bad really that channels can be lost completely due to a bit of rain - and those sort of problems should have been addressed before any thought of introducing HD channels.
The issue with Freeview is that it is effectively two platforms now - and the split isn't HD vs SD, it is Public Service (PSB) vs Commercial (COM).
The PSB mux operators (BBC PSB1/Mux1 and Digital 3/4 PSB2/Mux2 - not sure who operates Freeview HD on PSB3/MuxB) have agreed to duplicate, where possible, their analogue levels of coverage, upgrading relays and fill-ins for digital broadcast of PSB1-3. This is why the PSB frequencies are usually closer to the former analogue groups (so that existing grouped analogue areas do better with them than the COM channels that could be 'out of group') and why PSB muxes are often able to broadcast at higher powers than the COM channels.
The COM mux operators (ITV, formerly SDN, for COM1/MuxA and Arqiva for COM2&3/MuxC&D) have decided not to pursue this and have decided to stick with their current transmitter line-up. This is because they are a commercial operation, and the commercial benefits of this investment are deemed not to be financially worthwhile for the platform operators.
This results in the digital simulcasts of the analogue BBC One, BBC Two, ITV1 and C4/S4C services continuing after digital switch over and matching (or close to) analogue levels of coverage (with some caveats) In addition other BBC PSB services (BBC Three, BBC Four, BBC News, BBC Parliament etc.) are also provided with the analogue levels of coverage.
A decision has been taken - which I can understand in the long-term - that the HD Freeview broadcasts that the PSB BBC (and as result ITV and C4 and poss Five) make should match the coverage of the PSB SD content - so if you can receive BBC SD content you can also receive BBC HD content (universal licence fee provision etc.).
However the non-PSB services - E4/More4, ITV2-4, Fiver/Five US etc. and the commercial muxes don't have such a requirement - and the costs required to replicate analogue coverage for the three commercial muxes don't currently make financial sense - so the commercial operators are sticking with their current more basic approach.
This is why Five has moved from Mux A to PSB 2 in DSO areas - as it is a PSB terrestrial it is granted space on a PSB mux.
Freeview has been appalling managed really - I don't think many viewers now consider "PSB" to be restricted to the traditional 5 channels - I certainly think the spin-off of those channels should get the same coverage as their parent child too (and where appropriate PSB responsibilities can be spread across the family of channels to a certain extent). The way it's been done has created a two-tier service - something Freeview was really intended to avoid, and the BBC losing an interactive stream hasn't helped at all. It's only been a month but so far I've found myself missing out on something each weekend due to it not being on Freeview.
And probably of no interest to anyone but myself, but with better weather today I rescanned our Welsh Freeview box again and still we're only getting the three (well, two now!) PSB muxes and the mux formerly known as Mux A. Quite odd really considering Mux C was picked up at the first stage of DSO.
Personally in areas where Freeview has been available I see no reason why all muxes can't be picked up, with the three PSB muxes using the signals from the former analogue channels, and then the three COM muxes using the signals from the former PSB muxes.
