All posts by KEVIN GARDINER
Below are all of KEVIN GARDINER's postings, with the most recent are at the bottom of the page.
K
Sutton Coldfield (Birmingham, England) Full Freeview transmitteWednesday 18 December 2013 12:29PM
Stourbridge
Brian, from what I've read, it doesn't seem that such a service on HD will be in operation any time soon due to bandwidth considerations, but I'm sure that when standard freeview is switched off and the new HD standard is fully launched 1n 2018, I'm sure they will bring a red button service online then.
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Sutton Coldfield (Birmingham, England) Full Freeview transmitteFriday 20 December 2013 4:31PM
Stourbridge
At the present time, the take up of freeview HD equipment, integrated TV's etc, stands at just 15%, even though the transmission coverage of HD in the uk is at 50%.The powers that be need to get a good advertising campaign going demonstrating the advantages of the HD format, thus encouraging the take up of HD equipment. IF the take up stays at it is in the forthcoming years, then the 2018 switch over date will have to be re-drawn, as I believe take up of HD equipment has to reach 90% of households before a full switchover to the new HD standard can go ahead. Thus in the meantime, we have to have multiplexes of standard and HD channels running along side each other.
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Sutton Coldfield (Birmingham, England) Full Freeview transmitteFriday 20 December 2013 10:34PM
Stourbridge
I understand what you are saying with regards to HD coverage in the uk. However, I've been checking the very latest viewing figures for both standard Freeview and HD versions of a particular programme being broadcast, and the viewing figures tell a different story. The latest viewing figures available are for the week ending December 8th. And the most viewed programme on ITV1 that week was " I'm a celebrity, get me out of here " Sunday show. It has a total viewing audience of 11,922,000. of this total, 1,731,000 watched it in HD. My argument is this, if HD coverage is 98.5 % of the Uk and equipment take up is above 50%, then why are viewers watching the tv in standard Freeview when they have the ability to watch the programme in HD? Either take up of Hd equipment is low, or the Uk public can't be bothered to watch it in Hd even if they have a HD compatible tv. Hence my opinion that the BBC etc need to get an advertising campaign going demonstrating the benefits of HD.
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Sutton Coldfield (Birmingham, England) Full Freeview transmitteSaturday 21 December 2013 4:08PM
Stourbridge
Dave Lindsey, could you read my two posts about my HD reception from Sutton Coldfield on page 103. I would be most grateful for your advice as to what may be going on, and if possible, how to cure it.
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Sutton Coldfield (Birmingham, England) Full Freeview transmitteSaturday 21 December 2013 10:11PM
Stourbridge
yes i agree with you Mike P about the viewing figures. However, they do show one thing clearly, in that the case for switching to HD has not yet been won. It's ok for the BBC etc and Ofcom wanting to push the HD format, but do the British public actually want it? Like you point out, most seem to quite happy watching standard Freeview as long as they get a interference free picture and sound on their tv. And most folk want quality television programmes over a quantity of channels that most don't want to watch .The of the main reasons for the push towards HD is to be ahead of the competition in the field of digital technology. However, the HD format won't be the U.K. standard till 2018, yet in the meamtime, the BBC are, and have been busy trying out test field recordings of a newer even more superior format called 4K. That's 8 mega pixel resolution.The BBC have already commented on the format and have said although it's a great format to record in, it would be far too expensive to convert for transmission. if this is the case, why are they bothering with it? perhaps, one day they will create a codec suitable to compress the data stream enough to transmit it, or if not, convert it down enough to carry the stream via cable when the guaranteed data stream via cable is 100mb or more nationwide in around 2030 or before. I think by 2030 terrestrial television will discontinue and we will all receiver our tv programmes via cable or satellite.
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Sutton Coldfield (Birmingham, England) Full Freeview transmitteFriday 3 January 2014 1:25PM
Stourbridge
I have a Samsung 32 inch freeview hd smart tv. And recently, I started to check the tv's self diagnosis in the support section. The readings I get are, signal strength for sd freeview 100% on all multiplexes and no bit rate era.However, when I checked the hd multiplex, I get a signal strength of 94%, and a bit rate variable era of between 660 and 800 bits. The signal strength remains unchanged at 94% regardless of whether the bit rate era fluctuates up or down. If I had an obstacle such as hill or building blocking the signals between my house and Sutton Coldfield, the freeview standard version channels would get bit rate era and a lower signal strength, but they are all received here perfectly. It seems to me ,that it could be the parameters by which the hd mux is using which is causing the bit rate era. To try and resolve the issue, I bought a attenuator and connected it in sequence to my tv and although it helped lower the bit rate slightly, it did not eliminate it altogether.
My set up at home is a group e rooftop antenna pointed 46 degree to Sutton Coldfield, connected straight to my television, no splitters, amps etc attached.
On conclusion, I can only think that the parameters for hd need adjusting slightly to correct the bit rate era, or by turning the transmission power up slightly , or a mixture of both. Does anyone else get perfect freeview sd reception with no bit rate era, but has bit rate era with hd ?
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Sutton Coldfield (Birmingham, England) Full Freeview transmitteFriday 3 January 2014 1:26PM
Stourbridge
I have done a re-tune and I'm receiving the new HD multiplex on frequency channel 33. The signal strength is 62%, and even though the multiplex transmission power is 6,400 watts, I'm still getting bit rate era. The bit rate era is A variable ONE 260 to 380 bits.Therefore, it must be the result of the parameters being used for hd that is the problem. I'M thinking of contacting BBC engineering to see if they can resolve my issue, and whether they have any intensions of altering the parameters for the HD multiplexes in the near future, or at a later date when the spectrum is cleared of standard Freeview and reverts completely over to the new broadcast standard.
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Sutton Coldfield (Birmingham, England) Full Freeview transmitteFriday 3 January 2014 1:31PM
Stourbridge
I decided to test out the HD mux signal from Brierley Hill., which is a mile or so north of where I live. All multiplexes are Erp 2kw. And again, like Sutton Coldfield, I get perfect reception of all standard Freeview muxes with no bit rate eras, but when it came to the HD I received a variable bit rate era of between 160 - 320.
Something doesn't quite add up here. If you can receive perfect reception with no bit rate eras on standard Freeview multiplexes from both transmitters regardless of output power and distance from each transmitter, then surely that indicates that I have clear line of sight too both transmitters? And if that is the case, then I can only conclude that the parameters currently being used to transmit the HD multiplexes needs altering to correct the data loss at reception, Either by increasing transmission Erp or parameters, or a mixture of both.
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Sutton Coldfield (Birmingham, England) Full Freeview transmitteSunday 5 January 2014 4:06PM
Stourbridge
JB38,I have read what you outline regards to my Freeview HD reception problem. And taking everything into account, and taking note of the readings I get both from Brierley Hill and Sutton Coldfield, this is what I got. Set top antenna on top of wardrobe in front bedroom facing BH, signal strength 62% and data loss variable 120 - 220 bits. When I manually tune in BH using the roof top antenna pointed at SC, I get a side signal strength of 82% and the data loss 120 - 220 the same as indoor set top antenna . .Even though the roof antenna is 12 feet higher , the data loss readings are the same, so I can only conclude that the signal is being reflected or partially blocked by the roofs of the houses opposite to my house.
However, the signal/ data results are somewhat revealing from SC. The readings that I get are signal strength of 95% and data loss of 640 - 880 bits for the psbc3 multiplex, and for the new com8 multiplex ,I get 62% signal strength and data loss of 240 - 400. From this data we can conclude that you may be right in your theory that the HD tuner in my Samsung tv is being overloaded, hence it's inability to then process all the data properly, resulting in a high data loss level.
With regards to my location, I do seem to have roof tops effecting my HD reception from BH, and a slight likelihood of reception problems of HD due to a row of garden trees some 200 yards away in line with SC on conclusion, i'm thinking of trying to resolve my reception problem by replacing my group E antenna with a LOG PERIODIC (as it has no gain) thus reducing any antenna gain that I have from the group E , then place the log periodic on a 12 foot pole strapped to the chimney, making it 40 foot above ground level, to try and gain extra height to avoid the trees.Hopefully, with an antenna change and placing it an extra 12 higher than my present set-up, I;m sure it will greatly decrease my data loss problem. I live in hope.
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Sunday 15 December 2013 2:04PM
Stourbridge
This morning, the two channels 791 and 792 that are broadcasting carriers for the new local tv service in the Birmingham and black country region , have started to show a test card for the first time. Does anyone have any idea when it is likely to start broadcasting?