URGENT ACTION - NO HD television on Freeview.

[ProfJohnL]

I apologise now for bringing up a non caravanning issue, but as this is something that will affect most of us I hope you will forgive me.

How many of you have purchased an HD ready television based on the understanding that HD programmes will be broadcast on the free to air Freeview channels in the future?

Well, yet again, this government has not told us the whole truth. The forced switch over to Digital was, hyped up with the strong suggestion of HD television being made available on Freeview.

What they failed to tell us is that they have no intention of leaving enough signal bandwidth available for Freeview to carry the HD broadcasts.

I have just heard on News 24, that the television regulator OFCOM is preparing to sell off of the necessary bandwidth to the highest bidders, leaving nothing for HD Freeview.

The likely outcome is that HD will only be available to the premium satellite channels.

We only have until the 30th of March to register our concerns. Please feel free to spread this appeal to any of your other email acquaintances.

If you feel as angry as I do about this further sell of our public property then go to:

http://www.ofcom.org.uk/consult/condocs/ddr/howtorespond/form
-and register your opposition to this money raising exercise.

HOW TO DO THIS:

Complete the

'Your details'

'Confidentiality'

& 'Declaration'

boxes

Then For question one I suggest answer 'NO'

Either cut and paste the following in Question 2 or compose your own.

"It is my understanding that the proposals to sell off more of the available radio frequency spectrum to the highest bidder is likely to prevent or severely hamper the ability of Terrestrial Digital TV to carry High Definition Programme Material on the Freeview channels.

This is not in the public interest to restrict the Freeview capability to handle HD and goes against the common perception that has been created by the media and equipment manufactures that HD would be made available on Freeview.

I am against any proposal that seeks to limit by frequency allocation or by cost the capacity of Freeview to carry HD material."

Please feel free to add any other answers you wish

Then go to the bottom of the form and click 'SUBMIT'.

 

[cris_408518]

It's not really the end of the world is it, its great to be away from TV for a few days and when caravanning so whats the worr about HD TV.

What do you expect from this government when they will shaft millions over road pricing !

HD TV, shows you all the spotty stars of the silver screen as the make up can't cover all the flaws! So you are probably being done a favour ;-)

 

[ProfJohnL]

Hello Cris,

I agree that road pricing is going to affect more people than HDTV, but it is the principal, I don't subscribe to being a socialist, but I do believe that the privatisation of so many of our national services has not been to the publics best interests. Call me a ludite, but all too often the sale of our utilities may have produced a cash bonus to the Government, and in some cases commercial competition may have reduced prices to the consumer, but in terms of overall service, and how easy it is to get things fixed when they do go wrong, we lose out almost every time.

The radio frequency regulator is charged with 'making best use of the bandwidth, but this relates simply to how can the Gov make more money from it, and it matters little that public losses out by reduced choice. The available frequencies will be sold off to the highest bidders, and the people with most money with an interest are the mobile phone operators.

Interestingly the same frequencies are used by the majority of radio microphones as used by broadcasters and theatres. The loss of these frequencies has a major cost issue for them, not only because you cannot simply retune such devices they will need to be totally replaced and because the proposal is to push the radio mics up to a much higher band, and that poses technical problems with microwave transmissions close to living tissue, range of transmission, and battery life.

When the first announcement of the analogue turn off was made, it was strongly suggested by equipment manufacturers that the digital alternative would allow HD transmissions. The Government supported the sale of digital boxes and sets with suggestions that it would provide more choice and better quality. They made no attempt to stop the growing perception that terrestrial systems would not carry HD.

They have now realised that the bandwidth vacated by analogue TV can be sold off. This is just another act by cynical Gov to raise billions of pounds, and not to consider the broader public rights and wishes.

I would welcome your support, but I do accept that not everyone may choose to do so.

 

[ThePlotter]

I apologise for going ever so slightly off at a tangent to the original post but still relevent.All the hype put out regarding freeview and 'all you need is a set top box' is a little misleading as unless you are in a very strong signal area you may need an ariel upgrade,well maybe thats fine but many houses these days have more than one television with sets in the kitchen,childrens rooms etc and these invariably use set top ariels as it is not feasible to connect them all to the min ariel.Only problem is of course most set top ariels will not pick up the signal(even with a booster)so how do you get round that.Also on the radio the other day was an expert on this subject who said that in the recent snow many people on freeview had problems as the service can lose 75% of its signal strength in bad weather,and even dishes can have a problem when covered in snow.Thats what I like progress! :0)

 

[colin(bridgend)]

Ask me do I care - do I h**l. I watch very little TV at home and even less in the caravan. For what rubbish is being broadcast as "entertainment" is an insult to the average human intelligence. They have a nerve to even expect a rise in the licence fees. Eastenders, Coronation Street, Emmerdale, etc. etc. not to mention all this reallity TV eg Big Brother - what a load of rubbish and a total waste of electricity. Cut this rubbish off the TV and save on performers fees and also save the environment. The other point is the bad contribution these programs are making to society. Lets go back to the good old days of clean entertainment of the early 1960s for both radio and TV.

 

[chrissie2]

Sorry, I haven't a clue what 'HD' is, so I suppose I can't have it. We rarely bother to take a TV away with us and don't even watch it much when we are at home. So forgive me if I don't get too agitated about this particular issue...

 

[AdifferentJim]

I got as far as your second sentance before I lost interest. What has HD television got to do with caravanning?

If you've got one of these monster goggle boxes and take it with you to a site please advertise where and when you are going so we can all avoid you.

 

[colin(bridgend)]

The other alternative is that we could all sit outside in the evening sun with a glass of wine, etc. and enjoy a public viewing. Perhaps John could provide the wine and his wife the ice cream and popcorn. What a nice social relaxing way to enjoy an evening and meet new friends.

 

[emmerson2]

What's a television?

 

[Lord Braykewynde]

In fairness John L did state that it wasn't a caravan topic and apologised for the fact. Perhaps if he had posted it under Chit Chat that might have made people a little happier.

I wonder if His Moddyship could move this thread to Chit Chat then maybe peace will prevail and the subject could then be debated nicely ;O)

*Wearing my halo today and I've now turned over a new leaf. I'm setting myself up as a role model for this site and....

if you believe that crap you'll believe anything :O)

 

[colin(bridgend)]

Lord B. your posting reminds of that well known statement made by Spike Milligan about HRH Prince Charles at a dinner. Can't remeber the exact words but it went somewhat along the lines of "... crawling, snivelling little b*****d".

 

[Moderator2_5083849]

Having looked at the posting, it falls between the two categories,but seems more appropriate in General.

Having watched a programme about HD televisions, then it would seem that those who have already bought one are in fact receiving poorer quality pictures than those who are staying with the current "standard" televisions, as the HD technology is not able to process the current signals as well as standard sets.

 

[colin(bridgend)]

For what little television I do watch I think the digi-box distorts the picture. I may be wrong but the picture appears to be stretched vertically.

 

[Lord Braykewynde]

For what little television I do watch I think the digi-box distorts the picture. I may be wrong but the picture appears to be stretched vertically.

Put the Irish Whiskey bottle down Colin, watching t.v. through that distorts the picture.

 

[colin(bridgend)]

For what little television I do watch I think the digi-box distorts the picture. I may be wrong but the picture appears to be stretched vertically.

Alas at present sir I am on the Scottish variety, and to make matters worse it is a blended version (not a single malt) and is Tesco's own brand. Thank God the whisky comes from a different source than their petrol. How low can one go - finances over the Christmas period stretched to the limit and therefore on the begging bowl thankful for any morsal.

 

[chrissie2]

Oddly enough, Colin, my husband had remarked on the same thing. I don't think I've looked at it long enough to form an opinion, but you may have a point.

 

[Surfer]

More important issues around than HD which is basically over hyped. Not many people can tell teh difference between a normal picture and a HD picture except the extra large hole in their wallet.

 

[smiley]

When I buy my digital tv, it will only be because that is the only way I will be able to watch.

I now have freeview through the dvd recorder, so we have a few extra channels.

But I won't be subscribing to any satallite channels so hd doesn't bother me.

 

[Icemaker]

John was merely bringing to your attention the fact that the government and ofcom are taking away another free service from us and selling it to a premium suplier, What is wrong with that ?. some on this forum need to calm down, and i dont believe for one second that people dont watch any tv.

 

[LizCornwall]

You don't give a toy to a child then take it away unless they are naughty, so we all must be naughty children.

 

[Icemaker]

More important issues around than HD which is basically over hyped. Not many people can tell teh difference between a normal picture and a HD picture except the extra large hole in their wallet.

The difference is absolutely huge Ian, the quality upgrade from sd to hd is more pronounced than that from vhs to dvd and we all remember how big a step up that was. if you cant tell the difference then you have either got it set up wrong or your going blind.

 

[colin(bridgend)]

Yet again another call for a petition to be set up on the government web site. From another posting it appears thatone has been set up objecting to speed humps. I am not computer literate otherwise I would attempt to set one up.

This is another ploy for Mr. Brown to receive more coffers in his pot of gold.