All posts by MikeB
Below are all of MikeB's postings, with the most recent are at the bottom of the page.
Michael Walker: I agree with your point about rural broadband. Actually, I agree with Ian's view of BT's rollout of broadband! The idea of 20mb as standard universally any time in the next decade is somewhat optimistic, looking at the current state of the market.
And none of these reports make you any more optimistic:
Government failed to promote competition over rural broadband programme - News from Parliament - UK Parliament
Committee publishes report on the Rural Broadband programme - News from Parliament - UK Parliament
BBC News - Rural broadband: BT attacked on broadband costs
And broadband is the chokepoint. If you got rid of Freeview. etc, you'd have to replace it with a fast, high capacity and universal broadband network. It would have to be relatively low cost, and there should be availablity of all services, which is interesting looking at Net Neutrality issues being discussed in the States right now.
I'm actually not sure that Freeview or Sat. system will disappear in the next decade. Now I certainly agree with solid state PVR's and HD/4K becoming standard. HD is the default standard - try buying a TV in the last 7 years that is not HD Ready. T2 tuners are increasingly standard as well. As for 4K, I've been very surprised at the amount of interest in the technology, although since the cost of a decent 55in 4K (such as the Sony x8 series) is about the same as a high level HD screen, and that pattern is going to continue. If Sky introduce 4K this year (and they are well placed to do so), then thats going to grow even more.
So your going to want, as a household, to watch a 4K screen (15mb or more), plus perhaps an HD programme (5mb?), online gaming, checking emails, YouTube, Skype, surfing the net, and of course your smart kit, such as the fridge, and perhaps your smart meter. Thats a lot of bandwidth.
On the other hand, Freeview is 'free'. You can still use the TV you bought 30 years ago, with the aerial you put up in 1974 in the loft (my dad did, and its still works fine). Yes, you need a digibox, but thats a relatively cheap addon. Or use the PVR, solid state or whatever. Despite the new technologies avaible over the past 40 years, we still watch most TV live, and in our living rooms.
Yes, we have internet access, Ipads, mobile, etc, but yet we mostly sit in the same room that our parents did, and record using a PVR, rather than a VCR. And although we tend to update our TV's around every 5-7 years (looking at my customers), many last much longer than that (35 years between replacement TV's was one customer). And even the replaced TV seldom goes to the dump - instead it ends up in the bedroom, with the kids in their new home, or perhaps to their parents. So a TV system is going to be around for a good decade or more. And if you can go from SD to HD by just adding a box, then thats what you'll do.
TV's are not an everyday purchase - you replace when the one you've got looks small, bulky, rubbish, stops working or when you move and its no longer fits. However, there is a limit to the size of the TV in any particular room, and once you've got the 'right' size, your less likely to change it unless it goes wrong. Even if you have the net, you have to get out of the habit of doing what your were before, and that can take a long time. We dont really like change much, and I cannot see Freeview going gently into that good night - they are going to fight.
And the same goes for Sky. Its essentially a distributor, and one that is built largely on content you cant get elsewhere. If large media companies like Viacom have their own critcal mass of content, why not cut out the middle man, and stream directly to the customer? Sky might have some content, including Fox's film library, but its business model is one of multiple platforms, not just one where its advantages are almost nil.
So ten years time? We will watch on multiple platforms (mobile, tablet, etc), but with the large screen still being the main focus. They will be somewhat larger, possibly OLED (in many cases), smart and connected to other devices, such as games machines. HD will be standard, and 4K will be everyday. There will be solid state recording/streaming devices, and much of our content will be on the cloud, streamed, etc. But, many of us will still use Freeview, etc, since it requires no broadband, and record what we like for later. For many older people, this will be the default, although the number of channels may reduce. Discs will become less popular, but there are a great many machines and content still out there - and we like to physically own things.
Broadband will be much faster for many, but with worries over neutrality, especially if we are still reliant on BT for the backbone of the network (BT Sport streams faster than Sky!). And network reach and speed will still be patchy and not universal, although 5G might fill the gap. 1000 Mbps - not cheap, and not universal.
Ironically, the BBC might not be the worse off in this scenario - they have a huge amount of content, and were early into ondemand. They have a strong brand, and are able to offer specialist programming which is not available elsewhere (CBBC, etc). They, like the other PSB's, might be saddled with the costs of Freeview, but they might do better than the rest. They can even have that nifty solid state PVR rebranded as a Beebox!
The dangerous place to be is a 'channel' or provider with no original content (does the originator of the content need you?), no realor strong brand, and reliant on one form of delivery, and with a business model where you cannot monertize your content. Thats not just Dave, thats ITV.
May we live in interesting times...
| link to this comment |
Neal : Not Freewviw, but Freesat would be fine. Look at the pages about Freesat. A single box starts from around £50 (although that will have ondemand as well), and a Humax PVR (like Sky HD) is about 170 notes. But its a one off payment.
As long as you've got a spare LNB, you can put a box on it.
| link to this comment |
Annette Andrews : Check in the back - many LG's these days have a gerneric sat tuner (F fitting) - if it has, then plug it in and go.
| link to this comment |
Jennifer Milborrow: sorry to say, the problem is with you, if the transmitter is fine. Your aerial system is just hanging on for BBC1, but its probably hanging by a thread. Could be a dodgy aerial lead, but it sounds like a near break somewhere in the system.
| link to this comment |
Mike Savison: If you dont like the birate via Freeview (which most people dont bother using for radio anyway), then use the web. Frankly, considering Classic FM's limited and uninspiring playlist, a search around the web for classical streaming stations (of which there are possibly hundreds) would be a great choice.
| link to this comment |
Peter Johnson: What is your actual signal level? Your just 4 miles away, with a good line of sight, so you really should have a problem.
However, two things point to your signal being too high, not too low (I know thats its my favourite explaination, but in this case...). Firstly, you say you have an amplifier. Why? Your just 4 miles from the transmitter! It might only be a 15w transmitter, but your still very close.
Secondly, BBC tend to have the strongest signals, so you'd expect to see them even if ITV was a bit dodgy. On the other hand, if you have too strong a signal, those BBC channels would break up first, and 'no signal' can mean too high a signal, not just too low. Search for 'too much of a good thing' on this site.
Check signal level on BBC1, and then try without the booster. You might be fine.
| link to this comment |
Stephen Alden: The Muslim population in the UK is about 4.8%, many of which still have English as a second language. The Uk Jewish population is about 2%, and dont. Its nice that there are some local community radio, but good luck getting investors for a national station.
| link to this comment |
Ian: For myself, when my DAB set died, I dug out an old FM radio from the loft, and then realised how much I missed DAB. No Radio4 Extra, no 6, no World Service, etc. And the quality was pretty ropey - the signal fluctuated constantly, and I'm not convinced the sound was any better, even though the FM radio had two decent speakers on it. I tried streaming it via the cassette player from my Ipod, but its was a bit rubbish all round.
As soon as I could justify it, I went out and bought a Pure One (about to be deleted) from Sainsburys for £40. Money well spent
If you dont like DAB, go internet. I really dont care how someone listens. However, the reality is that more people are listening on digital platforms than analogue, and that is going to continue. There seems to be an irrational hatred of digital amoungst many, and of DAB in particular. However, analogue does not win when DAB appears to lose, because people listening via the web are even less likely to listen via analogue. The trend is clear, no matter what people say.
| link to this comment |
jb38: I'm not surprised at Alan having pixallation - I've got a Sony PVR and they have very good tuners. Yes, they are far more robust than perhaps Panasonic or Humax, but they do pull in a signal! I live in North Cambridgeshire, but my RDX-895 gets Waltham, Belmont, Talcneston (just enough to annoy) and Sandy Heath (ditto). I've killed
Alan - your going to need some attentuators!
| link to this comment |
Friday 6 February 2015 7:39PM
Peter Mitchell - The Ledbury/Ridge Hill transmitter was down for about 5 min yesterday. If you put your postcode into the site, it will tell you bearing, strength, etc..
Since we havn't seen any other complaints, its likely its your system. Firstly - what is your signal strength? Pixellation can be cause by too high a signal, as well as too low. A postcode would be a big help. And what transmitter are you actually tuned into?
Next, check your equipment. If C4/5 are fine watching, but not good in recording, that might point to a wiring problem, so are you looping through the signal to the TV, or does it have a different path? And although you say your aerial is fine, what about the rest? I know the engineer has been out 3 times, but....
Why did you buy a new TV and recorder? If your having problems with the signal, then the bit at the end of the line will generally react in the same way, although a decent brand will have more sensitive tuners. But of course, that can also be a problem.