DStv keeping an eye on UHD

Kevin Lancaster

Kevin Lancaster

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DStv keeping an eye on UHD

UHD/4K TV support is starting to gain traction in the market and DStv is keeping a close eye on international developments as standards for ultra-high-definition broadcasting begin to emerge.

Gerdus van Eeden, CEO for Video Entertainment Technology at Naspers, said that all new technology in the consumer market goes through an adoption cycle or dies.
 
ThinkCentre said:
Is DSTV still around?
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Yes they are and for good reason. I have a 20mbps VDSL line at home but satellite has its advantages especially with live sport broadcasts. The catch-up is quite good actually and the hardware makes it a joy to use. If you can afford the premium of DSTV premium, it is definitely worth getting.
 
Was DSTV biggest critic for a long time, until December...
I do watch a lot of TV and haven't been too keen on downloading series (just not into watching series any more).

For sport I stream over the Net (I just follow F1 and love the SkyF1 feed). The rest is just to watch a movie or two, watch Cartoon Network and enjoy some programming in my native language.

As for UHD - upgrade ALL channels to 1080p first guys...
 
Are you sure they know what 4K means, because they live in the old dinosaur world, they refer to it as 4KB. They can only dream and talk about it, will take 20 years before its fully implemented.
 
As with anything in Africa they (Monochoice) wont take the initiative and lead the way on a global front, instead they try and find excuses why not to upgrade from 480p and milk customers for more money in turn for less.

Hey Naspers, here is the problem:

However, until standards are clear and consumers can buy TVs with confidence knowing that, for example, all forms of HDR are supported, the technology will be classed as “emerging”.
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Now why don't you as the massive conglomerate that you are throw some money at this and YOU set the global standard in what the definitions are and what the criteria should be and lead the way on a global front.

Heck you can even score some social responsibility points by slapping a "Proudly South African" sticker on it and put us on the map and show people here's no lions roaming freely.
 
Soul Assassin said:
They don't even have 1080P yet.
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DSTV broadcast at 720p/HD and 576p/SD
Most viewers acknowledge that 720p is not great, better than SD, but not great.

If DSTV wanted to improve, they should:
a) stop compressing the stream so much which results in artifacts (requires more bandwidth)
b) broadcasting in 1080p/FHD

Most recent TV's sold today are 1080p capable...
 
New Decoder, Dish and LNB requirements incoming. Unless they offer this to customers with VDSL/Fibre (still would require new decoders)
 
system32 said:
DSTV broadcast at 720p/HD and 576p/SD
Most viewers acknowledge that 720p is not great, better than SD, but not great.

If DSTV wanted to improve, they should:
a) stop compressing the stream so much which results in artifacts (requires more bandwidth)
b) broadcasting in 1080p/FHD

Most recent TV's sold today are 1080p capable...
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I thought they brodcast at 1080i.
 
1080i is the standard for HD channels broadcast by MC and has been for quite a while now ....
The new Explora 2A is UHD compatible .....
The older Explora is not .....
 
The problem for DSTV is the various models of decoders they have in the market.
They will have to create a special UHD channel, if they want to target only specific decoders. This is not very efficient use of bandwidth.

The solution would be to include decoders free of charge if you sign up for 2 years, for example, but decoders are another revenue stream for them, so will not happen.
 
Nod said:
The problem for DSTV is the various models of decoders they have in the market.
They will have to create a special UHD channel, if they want to target only specific decoders. This is not very efficient use of bandwidth.

The solution would be to include decoders free of charge if you sign up for 2 years, for example, but decoders are another revenue stream for them, so will not happen.
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They kind of already do that with the PriceLock thing...
 
Nod said:
The problem for DSTV is the various models of decoders they have in the market.
They will have to create a special UHD channel, if they want to target only specific decoders. This is not very efficient use of bandwidth.

The solution would be to include decoders free of charge if you sign up for 2 years, for example, but decoders are another revenue stream for them, so will not happen.
Click to expand...

MC already broadcast many channels in 2 formats - one for the older decoders with DVB-S and the other for DVB-S2. It is really no big deal for them to have a 3rd transmission in UHD for selected channels. (Technically speaking, cost and business issues aside).

Converting all channels to HD/1080i is about the decoder base out there. One of the stumbling blocks is to sort out what to do with the many decoders used by the accommodation industry ---- most of which are 1131/1132/1110 decoders.
 
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