| British TV & Radio News June 2011 |
| Changes to BBC HD channels on satellite on 6th June |
Friday, June 3 2011
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The BBC will shortly be making changes to the satellite transponder that carries BBC One HD & BBC HD. The signal on this transponder is currently broadcast using a modulation scheme called "DVB-S". On 6 June the BBC will be upgrading to a newer "DVB-S2" scheme. This is a more efficient way of operating the transponder and it creates more capacity from the same amount of spectrum.
If you have Freesat you may need to put your HD box or TV into standby for 30 seconds and then restart to continue to receive the two BBC HD channels. If the channels are still unavailable then carry out a 'freesat channel retune' or a 'first time installation'. Full instructions can be found in the manual for your box or TV. Further help with retuning can be found at www.freesat.co.uk or by calling their customer support team on 08450 990 990.
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If you have any other kind of satellite receiver, you will need to check that it is capable of receiving a DVB-S2 signal. If it can, then you can use the following parameters to tune manually into the services carried:
Satellite: Astra 2D tp.50
Frequency: 10,847MHz (vertical polarity)
Modulation: DVB-S2, QPSK
Symbol Rate: 23.0
FEC: 8/9 |
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| BBC to show Wimbledon finals in 3D |
| Wednesday, June 8 2011 |
The BBC has confirmed plans to run its first ever live 3D broadcast for the 125th Wimbledon Championships, as part of experimentations with emerging technologies. Coverage of the women's Wimbledon final on July 2 and the men's final on July 3 will be beamed live in 3D direct to homes on digital terrestrial, satellite and cable TV.
The BBC's broadcast, in collaboration with the All England Lawn Tennis Club, AELTC and Sony Professional, will use the existing BBC HD channel available at Freesat channel 109, Freeview 54, Sky 169 and Virgin Media 187.
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Viewers will need a 3D-ready TV set to watch the broadcast on BBC HD, but will not need to purchase additional receiver or set top box equipment.
There are also plans to run live 3D screenings of the men's singles final at selected 3D-enabled cinemas and at BBC Television Centre in West London. People can apply for tickets to the screenings at the BBC website from today until June 13. The BBC's full Wimbledon coverage will be available in standard and high definition on BBC One, BBC One HD, BBC Two and the BBC HD channel. |
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| BBC iPlayer launches on BT Vision |
| Wednesday, June 22 2011 |
BT has launched the full version of BBC iPlayer on its IPTV service BT Vision, enabling users to watch hundreds of hours of on-demand TV.
The launch of iPlayer, first announced last November, replaces the selection of BBC programmes previously available on BT Vision's TV Replay platform.
A phased implementation of iPlayer on BT Vision began last December and has now reached completion, offering all of the BBC's TV and radio shows on a "simple and intuitive BBC iPlayer-branded application".
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Marc Watson, the chief executive of BT Retail, said: "The launch of BBC iPlayer on BT Vision adds to the enormous range of quality entertainment already available to our customers. We are really excited to be partnering with the BBC to bring BBC iPlayer to our customers."
BT's digital TV service added a modest 30,000 net new subscribers in the first quarter of 2011, bringing its total customer base to 575,000. |
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| Ocean Blue teases Freesat G2 features |
| Wednesday, June 22 2011 |
DiSEqC 1.2 multi-satellite and advanced MHEG interactive TV are supported in the latest Freesat update from set-top box software creator Ocean Blue.
Sunrise DVB-S2 supports DiSEqC 1.2 motor control, with further upgrades due to add Unicable SCR* support and DiSEqC 3.0**.
It has both Freesat-compliant and general satellite modes, and all these features would be very welcome in the Freesat G2 products expected in early 2012.
Ocean Blue said: 'The stack has been engineered to meet the demands of the latest system architectures and will work as a stand alone product, or in a multi-process environment.'
The software also provides MHEG-5 HD support in line with both Freesat's specifications and the DTG D-Book 6.2.1, allowing services like the BBC iPlayer and ITV Player.
*SCR, or single cable routing, allows an LNB to serve multiple tuners or receivers via a single coaxial cable, without the need for a multi-output LNB or multiswitch.
**DiSEqC 3.0 allows motors, LNBs and other peripherals to send feedback to the receiver, enabling features such as completely automated alignment for mobile dishes. Product support has been very rare so far, however. |
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