HD digital TV

[ToxicBunny]

The most that we have in this country is assembly of parts, such as Sinotec and such.

But the duties on a TV are stupid.... makes things LOTS more expensive.

 

[PeterCH]

The duties are a luxury tax. SA government relies on those.

 

[UnoPanelvan]

The duties are a luxury tax. SA government relies on those.

Mmm, and is that to assist and develop the poor and disadvantaged? or just to fill the back pockets a bit more. I saw on the news that a new Medical tax in on the cards soon. Another citizen rippoff.

 

[arf9999]

The duties are a luxury tax. SA government relies on those.

That argument doesn't hold water - television is not a luxury. The gvt will be the first to admit that. The high duties are purely a protective tariff to protect jobs in the manufacturing industry. The huge source of revenue is just a by-product.

BTW at last estimate there were fewer than 2000 people employed in the TV manufacturing industry in SA.

 

[Rouxenator]

Thanks arf9999..

Rouxenator : Please, if you are going to attack a technology being used, learn the basics of the technology you are attacking. 720p as used by Multichoice is 1280x720... and they use standard PAL resolutions on SD broadcasts, therefore different aspect ratios etc etc.

All valid - but it is still not good enough - remember - I have eye sight far more superior that most humans

 

[brixton tower]

The one thing I hate about living here is that we pay double for any electronics.. Was in America recently saw a 42" Aquios Full HD tv for $389.99,
It's depressing when you have to pay about R10 000 to get a full HD screen here

Huh? I've searched all over and could only get this offer on amazon which is the median price of a top class LCD.

 

[sybawoods]

@sybawoods, to be fair that's not entirely true. 1080i is inferior for fast moving objects. Thus 720p is better for sports, and due to the limited bandwidth available is the first choice of most broadcasters. However, 1080i is great for movies and general interest content. If your screen is big enough, 1080i looks better than 720p for most content, and only fails with fast moving content where it tends to break up on details.


@feo SkyHD in the UK (unusually) picked 1080i as their choice, so it is a real option for SA as well. The Pace box is capable of handling a 1080i signal. Ideally Multichoice should alter the encoding based on the content... 720p for sports, and 1080i for movies... but i don't think that that'll happen.

edit: Just to confirm what sybawoods said: 1080i doesn't use much more bandwidth than 720p. (720p = 921,600 pixels per 50th of a second; 1080i = 1,036,800 pixels per 50th of a second... but since most content is, in fact, 1440 x 1080 and not 1920 x 1080.. it works out at only 777,600 pixels per 50th of a second)

(my emphasis)

Digging up this thread because I was pleasantly surprised to find an interview in the Sunday Times this week-end with Multichoice's Chief Technology Officer, where he confirmed that Multichoice will in fact switch betwen 1080i and 720p, based on content. That's actually quite a unique approach - most broadcasters use one or the other, and this is quite a good move on Multichoice's part.

Full article here

“For all screens below 50 inches, 720p is sufficient. For example, sport is better suited to 720p and best practice overseas with specialist sport broadcasters such as ESPN is to use 720p,” said Van Eeden.

He said that slower-moving programming such as a family drama or studio programming work equally well in 1080i or 720p.

However, MultiChoice has the flexibility to switch between the two at will and it will use whichever is best to broadcast the particular type of content.