Digital TV here in April 2010

Pilgrim said:
Looks like they are shooting for a April 1 release... :D

If I recall correctly, the set top box is so expensive because they added interactive junk to it.
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Poison Ivy called it "cream on the top". Basically the decoder will be able to carry governmental information [propaganda]. Without it, the decoder would have cost R350-R400.
 
At least once the analog signal stops I wont have to pay a TV licence anymore as my TV wont be able to get a signal. I only use my TV as a PC screen.
 
Poor households are set to receive a 70% subsidy from the government on this cost, although they will have to prove that family members own a TV Licence

Question:If they are "poor households" how do they afford a TV or TV licence???? Amazes me the 'poor' can afford a TV, TV licence,top box and cell phone etc but have no food on the table....Duh! I can't afford a TV licence because I'd rather feed my family...but there's no way in hell the government will give me a 70% subsidy anyway:confused:
 
Hi All. New to this forum. Thought I'd shed some light on some of the questions and comments above.

Yes R700 does seem a bit much, especially when STB's are cheaper in other countries. The USA completed migration on 12 June. They were all entitled to 2 $40 discount vouchers per household to subsidise the switchover, but 99% of countries are not offering any subsidy at all, not even to the poor. In Europe the average price of a STB is around 50 euro, which is almost the same as what we are paying.

Our boxes are being manufactured locally, but not for the sake of job creation because the manufacturers are all established companies already. For them its just another work order.

Also, South Africa is using MPEG4 encoding and not MPEG2 like the rest of the world. We will be one of the first to use MPEG4 exclusively. Other countries will have to switch to MPEG4 for at a later stage, resulting in further costs to the viewer. So the MPEG4 STB is much newer than what is available overseas (in most countries) so will cost a bit more.

The boxes are not for sale yet because they have not started mass production due to the fact that the SABS has only recently approved the specifications. Dual illumination has not began officially. But there are test streams running in Joburg and Pretoria I think. Nothing in Cape Town yet.

The fact that the decoder will be able to "carry government information" has no bearing on the cost. Digital broadcasting, by definition, allows the reception of additional data services. So you could effectively use it as an internet connection with an external return path via telephone line or something. Removing this feature wont affect the price.

And no, you cannot use a STB from any other country. The USA for example uses the ATSC standard while most of the world use DVB-T like we do. And even those countries who use DVB-T will most likely be using MPEG2 not MPEG4. And finally, encryption (if used) would be a problem.

Hope that clears up some of the questions. :o
 
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DVB

ice blue is spot on,

Encryption is the main thing, I didn't know about the whole MPEG4 I guess this will make it easier for them to switch to HD later, here's hoping :-)

Currently the SABC digital signal (test) is not encrypted and thus any DVB STB or USB tuner can pick up the signal, the Multichoice signal is however encrypted and one needs a Set top box with a smart card to decrypt and view very much like a normal sat decoder, I hope SABC don't go the encryption route it will just make getting the signal on our laptop and eventully our phones much easier, once DVB-T chipsets gets integrated into more devices.
 
jamezjunk said:
Is anyone aware of any digital signals currently working in cape Town? I have a digital USB tuner for my computer and have tried to see if I can pick anything up without any luck.
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Have tried as well i pick up the channels and the epg but no broadcast
 
hrm.. i was expecting more space than for just 16 channels.. or is that the initial licences sold?
 
although they will have to prove that family members own a TV Licence and receive either a government grant or a pension
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How many of these are there, truly?
 
krycor said:
hrm.. i was expecting more space than for just 16 channels.. or is that the initial licences sold?
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There is space for plenty more channels than 16. The SABC will have something like 8 channels, and etv will be allowed 8 channels as well. (or something to that effect). But there is plenty of space for more channels in future.
 
R700 for a freaking dvb-settop? Really now? Is the shows on da dvb going be that good ,is this sabc we talking about? Coz who da heck is pay for mnet on dvb when dstv makes more sence.

This is pure madness! Rather watch sabc and etv from my dish.
 
SaiyanZ said:
At least once the analog signal stops I wont have to pay a TV licence anymore as my TV wont be able to get a signal. I only use my TV as a PC screen.
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nope you will still have to pay your license cause you own a device.... mmm i see where this is going. if the analogue is switched off and you do not own a digital box, what then? anyone take a guess? how is the law going to change, most likely not
 
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Are you supposed to pay a license fee even for USB tv tuners? I bought mine in germany.
 
Do we need a set top box per TV? We have 2 TV's at home & many other people will have more than that. It will become quite expensive to convert. :(
 
jamezjunk said:
Are you supposed to pay a license fee even for USB tv tuners? I bought mine in germany.
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Yep - it doesnt matter where it came from.

rph72 said:
Do we need a set top box per TV? We have 2 TV's at home & many other people will have more than that. It will become quite expensive to convert. :(
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I think so.
 
AmonRe said:
Have tried as well i pick up the channels and the epg but no broadcast
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I only pick up Mnet on 586 (dvb-h) and 706 (dvb-t), both seems to be encrypted. 706MHz carries ca descriptor of 608 = irdeto :(

Nothing on SABC/Etv yet.
 
bwana said:
I think so.
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Looking at http://www.godigitalsa.co.za/godigitalsa/faq#IYHFTV it seems that later models would be able to handle multiple TV sets.

iceblue said:
Also, South Africa is using MPEG4 encoding and not MPEG2 like the rest of the world. We will be one of the first to use MPEG4 exclusively. Other countries will have to switch to MPEG4 for at a later stage, resulting in further costs to the viewer. So the MPEG4 STB is much newer than what is available overseas (in most countries) so will cost a bit more.

...

And no, you cannot use a STB from any other country. The USA for example uses the ATSC standard while most of the world use DVB-T like we do. And even those countries who use DVB-T will most likely be using MPEG2 not MPEG4. And finally, encryption (if used) would be a problem.

Hope that clears up some of the questions. :o
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The above link talks about Free-to-air channels of the SABC and eTV - so no encryption. Meaning any freeview decoder will work just fine as long as it has a MPEG4 decoding chip on there.

Looking at the PC route, it clears things up quite a bit. Any old DVB-T tuner in a PC would be able to receive this signal. You just need to get the right codecs. :D
 
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