GregA1503560021

Thanks all. some great links and thoughts. The first link you gave, in the EPG principles #2, says that Time will be contained in the EITp/f data. Yes it's odd that the accuracy of the EPG isn't important. Just the present/future show information.

Thanks for the ACMA link. There's lots of information on the STB/TV manufacturers and their responses (including criticisms that lag can cause problems and TV providers will need to provide accurate information), but I haven't found anything specific to Now & Next information being the thing to use (I presume it's optional whether to use EPG or N&N?) I also haven't found anything saying that starting this year (or any time) the broadcasters have to be accurate in one or both types of information. I'll keep looking but any hints appreciated.

That's fine, I'm more interested in the fact that the TV channels transmit 2 different indicators of the show start time. I'm not concerned about what the receivers do with it currently. I assume you mean "Now that all broadcasters", not "Not that all..." That would make the N&N very useful! (if they actually do it). I've tried searching for this online with no luck, any suggestions on search terms? Yes exactly the sort of thing that could improve recordings.

Thanks Peter, that fine tunes my understanding just where I need it. So the "now on" is just part of now and next. It is more accurate than EPG but is only available for a short time which makes its use limited. How does the Freeview OTA EPG compare for accuracy and precision anyway? (edit: I'm pretty good with the acronyms , just didn't know where to start to look up if there was a special term for this!)

I'm sending a request to a PVR maker and just want to get the terms right, and find out first if the following are all the same thing. On my TV/STB, there is 1) "now" - an information panel showing what's on now 2) now-next 3) an EPG going forward a week Just wondering if they are all the same thing in the OTA signal. On many channels, the show title of what's on now changes at the precise second that the show starts. It sometimes contradicts the EPG time (but perhaps my system had cached earlier info). Precision is incredibly useful for a PVR (though I've seen it be wrong too!) Anyway, I presume "now" and the "EPG" are different sources of information. ("Now-Next" is just a shorter version of the EPG I think) Could anyone tell me the correct term for the information saying what is playing now, and if it relates or is separate to the other info like OTA EPG?

Yes absolutely. They wanted to make sure you could always watch any FTA TV channel (including pause-live-TV), while still recording any 2 other FTAs. Personally I'd rather use all 3 tuners to record, or at least use the 3rd tuner "when available" to supplement the others when busy. Is that since the latest firmware update? They switched over to webkit and everything performs much more smoothly. I'm interested in why you don't like it as a FTA PVR.

Yep me too. I'm not making the decisions though. Just changing one apartment.

Maybe if I could find a box which takes 4 component inputs and converts it to a single DTV transmission with 4 channels .... just 3 of those could take away our analog pains. edit: Seems VERY expensive and problematic at present: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/archive/ind.../t-1302051.html

There is a central dish connected to 12 old digital Austar receivers in what's basically a storeroom, each set to one of the 12 channels the accommodation block has subscribed to as a group. Those 12 stbs output an analog TV signal on different available frequencies, which then get mixed in with the regular TV antenna (basically), including some amplifying of the signal. Then any old TV in the 50-odd apartments just does a scan and gets all the analog FTA and analog Austar channels. The Austar quality is crap (4:3, mono, it's got some fuzz in the transmission) and if any box outputs a message/error then the caretaker has to go into the store room and exit the message. Also occasionally 2 channels will swap. But that's the way it is, and the individual apartment owners (who rent out their apartments themselves or centrally) can vote in their strata meetings if they want change, but no-one really understands the technology. So now the TV will have to handle digital and analog signals. If we can add some good PVR technology that would be brilliant but I don't really think there is any worthwhile option there. And even with the current setup, when I check out the apartment occasionally people have deleted a FTA channel, or retuned it... no idea why they do it. Once someone pulled the plasma off the wall to try to plug in a game station and did huge damage. So my technological hopefulness is conflicting with my "why bother even trying". It'd be great to have a good PVR recording Movie One and GEM or whatever, with a nice TV guide for both.... At the least I have to see if the Plasma handles digital (I assume it does) and see how it does it - if it can integrate analog and digital signals together then it won't make much difference at all to current setup, but most have an analog/digital toggle and I'll have to write up some new instructions. Either way the bedroom TV is an old CRT which has to be dealt with.

We do the same. Everything is series-tagged and adds 5-15 mins. I shuffle some recordings if there are 3 things on that are all wanted (usually getting lucky, there's a repeat on one of them, so I try to re-prioritise the series tag list to get the same result). The things I'd like to see in PVRs include 1) PVR should default back to the PVR menu, or a screen saver and music - not back to Live TV 2) start and end times need to be fixed. Perhaps we need a twitter-like solution. 3) I'd like an EPG that just lists anything that wasn't on last week in 3 sections: movies, sport, and new tv shows. 4) Can any PVRs create a pseudo channel of my low rating series links, so I can put that on in the background? 5) My Fetch PVR has 3 tuners, I'd like them all available to record but one is dedicated to live TV. 6) My Fetch PVR has on-demand preloaded content - good quality, no ads, but should be in the same area as the regular PVR recordings.

I have an odd question for an apartment owner.... A motel block in regional queensland is sharing 12 Austar channels to 50 apartments. These are all in analog/mono. Regional queensland is going digital for FTA - so they need to receive the 12 Austar analog as well as the 15-ish FTA digital channels. The bedroom TV is old and definitely needs a STB. The main plasma receives analog now, trying to find out about digital capability. Obviously I can write some instructions for using the TV channels 1-12 or turning the TV to AV to get FTA digital via a STB, I'm just wondering about more elegant solutions. I've done a search on hybrid PVRs, and generally see * some HTPC options, * Beyonwiz's with analog component inputs (but not analog TV tuners), * DVD recorders from a few years back... * and the FiiVo (http://www.gamedude.com.au/prod_show.php?art_no=tvPBpbr_500_1) which looks geek-friendly but not so much user friendly. My question is probably not as common today. What PVRs would you recommend for receiving digital and analog simultaneously? I'd really like something simple to use. In my ideal world I'd get a TiVo with hybrid tuner (which doesn't exist) and add IceTV for an Austar channel guide (which they don't do). It doesn't need series links since no-one stays longer than a week. Perhaps I should avoid a PVR altogether? or just set it up for pause-live-TV. My parents have an old Panasonic DVD recorder (which receives analog or SD-digital and re-compresses to the HDD), maybe I should get this handed across. Any thoughts on this are appreciated. I'll probably have to set it up and then it needs to be idiot and fool-proof so I don't need to fix it all the time. (edit: I think I asked something similar a few years back, I can't find it. And they didn't think it was worth it... but now it's crunch time)

No! Someone else spoke of the feature. I merely speak of it as if I don't know the latest devices.

Just a side issue... but of the PVRs with "accurate recording" (which I presume is the marketing name for using CRID to attempt accuracy), a fairly large percentage would now have network connections, right? Is using the Internet for show data becoming an option? (Of course... if the channels wanted to show the right show times, they'd show the right show times... so whatever is stopping them from doing that is unlikely to change no matter how many tuners we have, or more sophisticated information, or use of internet for updates)

I have been asked some advice about buying a new TV, but haven't been following things lately. So in summary of the last bunch of pages... for my mother-in-law looking for a 40/42" TV in the next 6 months 1) No-name LCDs are often around $500 (Okano. Soniq?) 2) Low end Samsung Plasmas (720p) are a step up and can get down to $750. Panasonic 42" Plasmas just under $800 So if I see something beating those generalisations it's a very good deal. And for someone with a Foxtel SD system as their base (or watching SD) - low ends aren't great, Panasonic is better but a little soft, and Samsung will look better?

Unfortunately, the reason it's confusing is because technically it's correct... but people don't understand what question they're asking ie: Q: can my old CRT show HD? A: No, it can't. but.. Q: can my old CRT show the new channels that are on HD? A: Yes, just get an HD STB. It will convert them to SD which your CRT can show.

From a practical viewpoint, I presume this means Optus users will be able to upgrade to IQ1 and IQ2 now - so HD is an option. The features I find useful on Foxtel (from my parents) which are missing from Optus (my in-laws) are 1) remote scheduling from the web EPG or iPhone app 2) the on-demand content, Foxtel on PC Hope we see some movement on these!

I saw a 52" full HD screen in JB Hifi today for under $700. Might have been plasma though. I'm not even sure what the going prices are.. just came here to start looking.

Is One SD on satellite now? I'd expect 11 to take over that spot. If ONE is not on satellite then 11 won't be. AFAIK Foxtel doesn't have any of the HD FTA stations on satellite. This means they don't have GEM, ABC24, or 7mate (for example), and won't have ONE HD.

Without changing government regulations, I'd rather see them drop the HD resolution if they're going to upscale everything anyway (and then not have enough bandwidth!). 3 channels (2x576i and 1x576p) with plenty of bandwidth each would look better.

Misunderstandings are easily made but easily corrected. I saw you say they couldn't add new channels, and responded that there would be 3 new channels. And actually both are true (due to simulcasts being removed). Apologies, and thanks for the clarification.

I don't think we know any more than we knew a couple of weeks back. 7, 9 & 10 are going to release new channels in the next 6 months or so. The channels are supposed to be: 1) 7mate (Sep 25) channel for men. 2) GEM (rumour only - showing 9's 'old shows & movies', or "crime", or "women's channel"....) 3) 11 ("early 2011") - a channel with a young adult focus, leaving the main TEN to move to an older audience. It's a joint venture with CBS who will own 1/3 of the channel. They are not "adding" a new channel, it's just that the HD channel will no longer be identical to an SD channel. So if you don't have a HD receiver, you'll be missing more than just ABCnews24. * GEM is a big unknown (some say it'll be SD since it's old shows). * 11 will be SD (leaving ONE sports only in HD). * 7mate will use the HD channel (the "guy" shows tend to need HD more, and the guy viewers are more likely to be HD capable) For logos of 7mate and 11, see http://freeview.com.au/channels/default.aspx?regionId=1 No idea when/if GEM will appear of course. 7mate: Yahoo7 article: http://au.tv.yahoo.com/mate/article/-/article/7759064/ Eleven: CBS announcement: http://www.cbscorporation.com/news-article.php?id=677

My sister-in-law would like to purchase a 32" flat screen. She's seen cheap prices advertised here and there - but I'm sure the quality is variable at best! Any recommendations for the best options on a lower price flat screen? I see Samsung has a few options at the $600 mark... Thanks

My god, Seven actually gets it. Possibly.

Thanks for this. I sent it on to my Sister-in-law. She just laybyed (sp?) it and I've told her she has to buy before the end of the month. Dick Smith didn't know about it. It wasn't on display but the DSE website said they had stock. They said the web was notoriously inaccurate, and tried to show me the refurb/broken box section. It wasn't until I found the model number (GH5719) that they found they had 9 out the back. http://www.dse.com.au/cgi-bin/dse.storefro...uct/View/GH5719 That's $447 for a 160GB TiVo (while in stock), $50 of CASPA credit, and a free 1TB expander disk (till the end of July). Can't get much better than that. (oh, and I bought a $5 HNP license last year, time to redeem/connect it....)

Yeah true. I have occasionally gotten multiple channel 7, 9 etc from a repeater station, had to look at the frequencies to know which ones to delete.