BBC HD channel to launch - but may be delayed on Freeview

The BBC Trust has provisionally approved the launch of the BBC HD channel on Freeview, satellite, cable and the Internet, but they seem to be favouring that the channel should not be launched on Freeview until 2009 in order to wait for new set-top boxes to come out that supports the new DVB-T2 transmission standard. Also, due to bandwidth limitations the channel could only launch on Freeview for four hours from 2 a.m. to 6 a.m.

The issue with launching the HD channel on Freeview is summarised in the BBC Trust's provisional conclusions on the HDTV PVT (Public Value Test) document as follows:

DVB-T2 is a new transmission standard for DTT that will be more spectrally efficent than the current DVB-T standard that's used for Freeview, and the BBC Trust is concerned that if they launch the BBC HD channel on Freeview next year people will buy HD DTT set-top boxes that support the current DVB-T standard, but which won't support DVB-T2, so another set-top box would need to be purchased in 2012 in order to continue to receive the HD channels, because Ofcom is proposing that the four HD channels that could launch nationwide would be put on their own multiplex that would use the new DVB-T2 standard -- multiplexes cannot mix DVB-T and DVB-T2 channels in the same multiplex.

The BBC Trust document says that HD DTT receivers that support DVB-T2 should be ready by late 2009, although in another document they say that DVB-T2 receivers would be ready in 2009 at the earliest. I have to say that I'm somewhat sceptical that they will manage to get set-top boxes that support DVB-T2 into the shops by late 2009, because the DVB Project, which is the organisation that oversees the DVB standards, only issued a Call for Technologies for DVB-T2 in April this year, and DVB-T2 looks to be a large-scale overhaul of the DVB-T system to try and squeeze every last drop of capacity out of the system rather than just a simple upgrade, which was the case with the design of DAB+, because that only consisted of adding an audio codec and error correction coding and leaving the base standard untouched.

I think there is therefore a relatively high risk of DVB-T2 set-top boxes not being available by late 2009, because the system design would first have to be finalised and simulated, then it would have to go through the ETSI standardisation process, then receiver chips and set-top boxes would have to be designed and the system would have to go through field trials. Only after all of this has been completed could they get DVB-T2-enabled set-top boxes into the shops, and considering that WorldDAB decided to design DAB+ in October 2005, and the DAB+ software hasn't been completed yet by Frontier-Silicon or Radioscape, and DAB+ was only a relatively simple upgrade, I'm not at all confident that they would be able to get DVB-T2 set-top boxes into the shops in just two years.

I therefore favour the BBC HD channel being launched on DTT next year and use existing HD DTT set-top boxes (countries such as France and Estonia are already using MPEG-4 H.264 for their DTT services, so set-top boxes are already available). The BBC Trust also expresses concern that consumers would buy these HD DTT set-top boxes that only support DVB-T and that they would become redundant once the HD channels move over to using DVB-T2 in 2012 once digital switchover has completed, but these receivers would also be backwardly compatible with MPEG-2 video, so they would simply revert in 2012 to offering the same functionality that current Freeview receivers provide.

My opinion is that so long as these DVB-T-only HD DTT set-top boxes were sold with a big label on the box and on in-store point-of-sale material and on online retailers' web pages saying that the HD part of the receivers won't work post-digital switchover then that would be okay, and I don't think we should have to wait 2 or more likely 3 years for DVB-T2 set-top boxes to come out before we're able to watch HD on Freeview.

The BBC Trust is holding a public consultation for its proposals for the BBC HD channel that closes on 23rd October, so if you've got Freeview and you'd like to be able to watch HDTV over the next 2-3 years rather than waiting for DVB-T2 boxes to come out I suggest you let them know what you think.

HD growing rapidly

According to the mediaguardian, Sky and Virgin Media now have 450,000 HD subscribers between them, which is an incredible take-up rate considering that Sky's HD service only started around 15 months ago and they charge £300 for the Sky HD box, an additional £10 per month subscription and people have to own an HD-ready display in order to see any difference in picture quality.

If the BBC HD channel does go on Freeview next year, I think HDTV has a good chance of stealing DVD's crown as being the fastest-selling consumer electronics product of all time.

ITV and Channel 4 to launch in HD

ITV has said that it will launch ITV1 in HD on satellite from spring next year, and Channel 4 will be launched in HD on Sky from December this year. ITV1 HD and BBC HD will both be free-to-air, so they will be able to be viewed by anybody with an HD satellite receiver, whereas Channel 4 will only be viewable by people that have a Sky HD receiver and a viewing card -- i.e. they're encrypted but still free to watch if you have a viewing card.