High-definition perils

PAL formatted images are composed of 525 horizontal lines while the video format in the United States - called NTSC - is made up of 480 horizontal lines
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The bold font should be: 576 horizontal lines

Funny enough Vivid/Sentech's output format is in 704x576i (interlaced) PAL @50Hz resolution, while Multichoice's channels run at 720x576 PAL @50Hz. (Since my decoder broke, I didn't bother to check anymore and canceled my multichoice subscription in wait for alternative providers.)

There is also a HDTest2 channel, that displays a rerun of the Rugby world cup between South Africa and England in a format of 720x576p but with a display ratio of 16:9, I guess it will look good on a wide screen TV (not-HD). As the channel name suggests, it is probably just a testing channel. The Bitrate suggests progressive scan of 576, currently the channel reports 4Mbps, where as the usual incoming bitrate from Sentech's Vivid bouquet is 2 ~ 2.5 Mbps. This is all FTA (Free-to-Air) and will probably not last.

I find it that taking half the money of Premium DSTv bouquet, I can watch more movies that I like at my local Rental Video chain stores. And E-Tv is good enough for news and some odd ball movies. Since the money spent on DSTv's Premium bouquet is not worth it, and we all know that the "lower packges" on DStv is only to get you hooked to buy the Premium package after 3 months. Since the lower packages on DSTv is use/worthless. If DSTv offered selected channels for me, I would perhaps reconsider being a client.
 
Well my lg is on the list (the first one they mention), what irks me royally, is forking out cash again for a new decoder, and only got a pvr in april!!
 
It's designed to make sure that people can't copy the high quality content off their personal video recorders on to their computers and from there on to the various networks that circulate pirated content worldwide.
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Good luck with that. Maybe they should start with something easier, like counting the grains of sand on a beach by hand.
 
It's designed to make sure that people can't copy the high quality content off their personal video recorders on to their computers and from there on to the various networks that circulate pirated content worldwide.
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Yeah - there must be a massive international demand for bootleg Egoli and Binnelanders(sp) :rolleyes:

Hours after a show airs in the states it is available online so who the heck wants to distribute Mnets 6-months-behind-the-rest-of-the-world crud?
 
yup: by the time mnet/dstv airs the stuff they are spending so much effort on trying to protect it's old news on pretty much any pirate network anyway.

haha at the 180 day site scene only in the RSA..
 
I have a technical comment: If you LCD / PDP is not HDCP compliant you should still be able to still use the DVI / HDMI input. The quality will be down graded to DVD quality, this is inline with the standard for HDCP.
 
Great, just what we all needed - watching singlechoice's re-runs at 720 - not even 1080, buying a new decoder and probably paying a premium for that...!:sick:.!..(and still without a Sci-fi channel..):mad:

Everyone is talking about how crappy Telkom is but Singlechoice is ripping South African's even more...!

O well, time to cancel that DSTV subscription and order 3 or 4 1080 HD movies online for the standard DSTV subscription rates..., O wait, I'm already doing that...!....

Screw you Singlechoice - Unlike what you promise your "customers", we do have choice...
 
What is the point of HDTV broadcasts from DSTV when it's raining and the picture quality starts to stutter or disappears completely?
 
sends a message asking the device on the other end to identify itself. The TV then sends back a message telling the decoder that it's in fact a TV and not, for example, a computer.
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There is a way around this for sure....but why bother use one of the other formats and dvd quality is also ok
 
So if they decide to go 1080 does that mean new decoders will have to be bought?
 
milomak said:
So if they decide to go 1080 does that mean new decoders will have to be bought?
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Yup, thats correct. Well to receive any form of HDTV. you can still view standard def on older decoders.
 
He was talking about the HD decoders.

The HD decoder can do 720p and 1080i.
The current one is just for SD, obviously.
 
well that will be good news then. i'd hate to have to upgrade the HD decoder as well just because they decided to go to a higher standard.
 
Any ideas if this LCD panel is capable of DSTV's HD content?

LA32S81 - Samsung

Ta

Edit - Never mind, DSTV has put a list on there website :) i'm good to go
 
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noxibox said:
Good luck with that. Maybe they should start with something easier, like counting the grains of sand on a beach by hand.
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lol - Exactly. I wonder when the content providers will realise this is a battle they will never win. Yes, it will deter most consumers, but it just adds complexity to the confusion that is HDTV/Plasma TV/LCD TV/DVR/PVR/HDMI/DIVX/MPEG etc.

Most of us who read these forums keep up to date with the emerging technologies, but most of my family and friends are so confused that they refuse to buy any new Video/Audio device for at least another 3-5 years - hoping the technology will "stabilise" and start to make sense to the average Joe.

The media industry (both hardware and content providers) will at some stage realize that they should stop throwing techie terms and acronyms at consumers and provide simple solutions. People are getting more tech savvie, but not to the extent that they embrace these new technologies – especially when considering the effect it has can have on their wallets.
 
Good idea to wait till tech matures. Then again you can buy a 24 inch ACER from Incredible Connection which is HDMI and HDCP compatible and shows full HD picture
1920 by 1200 pixels, for R4500.
 
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