SA to switch on digital TV signal

[Gammaray]

South Africa will switch on its digital broadcasting signal on Thursday

The department of communications will host an event on 30 October to mark the advent of a new digital era in the broadcasting sector, which will see the country switch on its digital broadcasting signal.

The digitisation of the country's broadcasting infrastructure is in line with a Cabinet decision taken in 2007, that South Africa would start its migration process from an analogue broadcasting signal to a digital platform when Sentech switches on the digital signal on 1 November 2008.

With the switch-on, South Africa will join a few leading countries in the world that have started the digital migration process and it will also place the country well ahead in respect of meeting one of its broadcasting guarantees for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

The switch-on event will form part of the closing plenary session of the World Telecommunication Standardisation Assembly on Thursday.

I could've sworn they said they'll have HD transmission for the world cup, not just digital.
o_O

Link (http://mybroadband.co.za/news/Telecoms/5764.html)

[Wesley]

But, what channels are to be converted to digital output? And will the digital boxes that they've been shelling out work properly with the older televisions?

[Chevron]

But, what channels are to be converted to digital output? And will the digital boxes that they've been shelling out work properly with the older televisions?

Sabc and etv. Yes.

[Wesley]

Sabc and etv. Yes.

Alright, but then is there any change in the image quality? Is it like moving from DVD to Blu-Ray?

[Chevron]

Alright, but then is there any change in the image quality? Is it like moving from DVD to Blu-Ray?

Nope. Same resolution. You'll maybe get less of the snow effect.

[CrashHelmut]

I just hope they are not encoding the digital transmission so we are forced to use the government's decoders.

I've had a DVB-T capture card now for ages, will give things a whirl come this November.

Wonder how extensive the roll-out is, or if it is only major metropolitan areas.

[Wesley]

Nope. Same resolution. You'll maybe get less of the snow effect.

Then doesn't it really suck? lol. But the digital format would be great to work with, maybe then we'll get full HD content on the main channels (DSTV aside), like they have done already in America.

[CrashHelmut]

The big advantage of digital is that if you've got a signal, you've got a signal. No SABC2 is snowy and cannot even receive E-TV. All channels are there in crisp standard definition quality.

The big disadvantage of digital is that if you've got a poor signal, you've got no signal.

[Gammaray]

Alright, but then is there any change in the image quality? Is it like moving from DVD to Blu-Ray?

The sound may be a bit more crisp if your usual analogue signal wasn't fully efficient.

[KFC]

OMW Ive been waiting ages for this moment
Thanks for the awesome news :)

[Drakus]

I could've sworn they said they'll have HD transmission for the world cup, not just digital.
o_O

Link (http://mybroadband.co.za/news/Telecoms/5764.html)

Who says they won't. HD is mostly broadcasting in digital form.

The changeover from analog to digital will take a couple of years. They will broadcast in parrallel untill 2012 (not sure), so no need to buy the analog to digital converters yet.

[Chevron]

Afaik the digital signal will be encrypted so that people without tv licenses can't watch.

[CrashHelmut]

Afaik the digital signal will be encrypted so that people without tv licenses can't watch.
Has this been confirmed? I haven't seen anything official on this.

[Gammaray]

Who says they won't. HD is mostly broadcasting in digital form.

The changeover from analog to digital will take a couple of years. They will broadcast in parrallel untill 2012 (not sure), so no need to buy the analog to digital converters yet.

It states that the broadcasting guarantee is digital, not HD as i believed. Yes they still may broadcast HD, i just thought it was the primary plan. Going just digital isn't exactly pushing my buttons here, although i guess they must start crawling before walking.

[Higushi]

It states that the broadcasting guarantee is digital, not HD as i believed. Yes they still may broadcast HD, i just thought it was the primary plan. Going just digital isn't exactly pushing my buttons here, although i guess they must start crawling before walking.

HD is digital. We will just be getting a lower resolution of digital for now, until they decide to implement a higher, HD resolution. Making things digital is the first step to going HD, it should be pushing all your buttons... ;)

[Chevron]

HD is digital. We will just be getting a lower resolution of digital for now, until they decide to implement a higher, HD resolution. Making things digital is the first step to going HD, it should be pushing all your buttons... ;)

I beg to differ. At one stage Japan had Analogue HD at 1080i. HD is HD and Digital is Digital. They are not interchangeable.

[Azimuth]

I beg to differ. At one stage Japan had Analogue HD at 1080i. HD is HD and Digital is Digital. They are not interchangeable.

Don't be obtuse. Technically speaking, NTSC is also an HD format. But when we talk about HD today, we're talking about digital formats. For television broadcasting purposes, moving to digital is a necessary precursor to broadcasting in HD.

[KFC]

One question, does that mean we cant use our antennas anymore and forced to buy dishes?

[Drakus]

Your antennas will become obsolete, but like I said, you have until 2012 to change over.

Edit you'll need a decoder though:

Lastly, the public broadcaster reminds viewers that they would not need a satellite dish to receive DTT, but only a set-top box (STB, also known as decoder) plugged in their TV sets to receive the digital signal.

http://www.bizcommunity.com/Article/196/59/29335.html

[Banlam]

Afaik the digital signal will be encrypted so that people without tv licenses can't watch.

The signal will be encrypted. But anyone with a decoder will be able to view it. They may not sell decoders to people without TV licences, but that hasn't stopped people buying TVs without a licence.

I do know that they wanted to block broadcast to people who stop paying their TV licence, but they are not legally allowed to do this. Something to do with the guidelines set by the UN.

As far as aerials go. You will still use your aerial to receive the signal, it will just go through a decoder before it goes to your TV. No satellite is needed. AFAIK

As for your signal. It will be similar to what happens when you lose signal with DSTV. It starts hiccuping, blocks don't display properly, sound goes mute. Stuff to that effect.

[Visi_Ace]

The problem is that with the current spectrum (of frequencies) is full. They cannot add more analogue signals to the current spectrum. In order to alleviate the problem, they have decided to go digital. This means that for the same frequency they can combine 8 signals through a multiplexing technology. Although it is possible to go HD with this, it takes more "bandwidth". So they first have to convert the analogue to digital and free up spectrum and then they can convert from SD to HD. Compare this to an HDD that is full. You can then go through an excercise of zipping your files to free up space before you can put on new files. In effect you have then much more files on your HDD compared to when they were not zipped. The multiplexing of signals will also make it possible to increase the number of channels in terrestrial zones whrere thereare low "bandwidth" signals that can currently only disstribute a few channels. Furthermore, it would be possible to use a standard RGB TV. It will also be able to work through the DSTV decoders. One will only have to upgrade ones TV once the signal is HD only or if you prefer to watch HD from other sources on your TV. The signal should be better as it reduces interference and it would be possible to get clear pictures in areas where you previously had "ghost" images witht he analogue signal.

[Banlam]

paragraphs perhaps?