Major Changes to Freeview

[Daftboy]

I couldn't see a post on here, so after finding the information, I thought it best to put it on:

On the 18th October there will be changes to the broadcast order of DDT channels.

If you have DTT set top box or IDTV, you may be required carry out reinstallation of channels.

1 BBC ONE*
2 BBC TWO*
3 ITV1* (additional regional titles)
4 Ch4* (S4C in Wales)
5 five*
6 ITV2
7 BBC THREE*
8 Ch4 (Wales)*/Tele G (Scotland)
9 BBC FOUR*
10 ITV3
11 Sky Travel
12 UKTV History
13 More 4
14 E4
15 ABC1 (not in Wales)
16 QVC
17 UKTV Gold
18 The Hits
19 UKTV Br’tIdeas
20 ftn
21 TMF
22 Ideal World
23 Bid TV
24 Price Drop TV
25 TCM
26 UKTV Style
27 Discovery
28 DiscoveryRTime
29 UKTV Food
30 vacant
31 vacant
32 E4 + 1
33 Eurosport
34 Setanta Sports
35 vacant
36 Xtraview
37 Quiz Call
38 Men & Motors
39 vacant
40 vacant
41 vacant
42 vacant
43 vacant
44 vacant
45 vacant
46 vacant
47 vacant
48 vacant
49 vacant
50 vacant
51 vacant
52 vacant
53 vacant
54 vacant
55 vacant
56 vacant
57 vacant
58 vacant
59 vacant
60 vacant
61 vacant
62 vacant
63 vacant
64 vacant
65 vacant
66 vacant
67 vacant
68 vacant
69 vacant
70 CBBC Channel*
71 CBeebies*
72 Cartoon Network
73 Boomerang
74 Toonami
75 vacant
76 vacant
77 vacant
78 vacant
79 vacant
80 BBC News 24*
81 ITV News
82 Sky News
83 Sky Sports News
84 Bloomberg
85 BBC Parliament*
86 S4C2*
87 Community
88 Teachers’ TV
89 vacant
90 vacant
91 vacant
92 vacant
93 vacant
94 vacant
95 vacant
96 vacant
97 Television X
98 Red Hot
99 vacant
100 Teletext*
101 Teletext TV Guide
102 Teletext Holidays
103 Teletext Cars
104 Teletext on 4
105 BBCi*
106 YooPlay
107 vacant
108 vacant
109 vacant
110 vacant
111-299 - vacant
300 4TV Interactive
301 301 (BBCi)*
302 302 (BBCi)*
303 303 (BBCi)*
304 vacant
305 vacant
306 vacant
307 vacant
308 vacant
309 vacant
310 vacant
311-699 - vacant
700 BBC Radio 1*
701 1Xtra BBC*
702 BBC Radio 2*
703 BBC Radio 3*
704 BBC Radio 4*
705 BBC R5 Live*
706 BBC 5L SportsX*
707 BBC 6 Music*
708 BBC 7*
709 BBC Asian Net*
710 BBC World Sv
711 The Hits Radio
712 Smash Hits!
713 KISS
714 Heat
715 Magic
716 Q
717 oneword
718 SmoothFM
719 BBC Radio Scotland/Ulster/Wales*
720 BBC Radio nGaidheal/Foyle/Cymru*
721 Mojo
722 Kerrang!
723 talkSPORT
724 3C
725 Premier
726 vacant
727 vacant
728 vacant
729 vacant
730 vacant
* = PSB

Hope it of help

[dsw182]

Toonami is a good addition

What does PSB mean?

[Geofbob]

Thanks for that. (We're going away for a week on the 18th, so will have to reinstall on return.)

[ZippyCat]

Is it just me but where do the main TV carriers get their channel numbering / ordering from, it always seem illogical? Why are there so many vacant channels?

[Starburst]

Originally Posted by ZippyCat

Is it just me but where do the main TV carriers get their channel numbering / ordering from, it always seem illogical? Why are there so many vacant channels?

It's all a mystery for us simple folk but at least there are some Freeview boxes which allow you to create your own channel list which makes life easier.

Vacant EPG slots have yet to be assigned to any channel (radio, tv or whatever) or maybe reserved. Makes the list look impressive though, you wouldn't think looking at it there was less capacity there than on a single satellite

[GaryB]

Originally Posted by dsw182

What does PSB mean?

Public Service Broadcast.

[GaryB]

Originally Posted by ZippyCat

Is it just me but where do the main TV carriers get their channel numbering / ordering from, it always seem illogical? Why are there so many vacant channels?

It's the DTI/Ofcom.

The vacant channels are for possible future expansion.

They are trying to group similar services together.

[Daftboy]

Originally Posted by ZippyCat

Is it just me but where do the main TV carriers get their channel numbering / ordering from, it always seem illogical? Why are there so many vacant channels?

Future listings as mentioned, but if you look at the size of the multiplex's available, maybe they are gearing up ready for the HD Broadcast due 2008 I think??

[Nick_UK]

What HD broadcast in 2008? This is news to me ! There isn't enough bandwidth on Freeview for SD !

[Daftboy]

There were some discussions a few months ago about the bandwidth on freeview and all the parties had to vote on staying with the 2 service or move onto the 8 service. What the service is, I can't remember, but I know the rest of europe use the 8 service. Anyway, the UK is going to move onto the 8 service which will start when analogue gets switched off in 2006/7-2012.
By moving to the 8 service it will give them higher bandwidth to show HD channels, starting with BBC1 and 2. 2008 might be a bit soon, but the dates viewed were 2008-2010 introduction of HD service.
Also, by moving onto the 8 service, all of the on-digital boxes and older freeview boxes will be incompatible and need replacing. What I am unsure about is if the cheap lot coming in now from China will be compatible??? No-one it appears governs Freeview boxes, so all the £29.99 ones we age getting now COULD be useless. I don't know and I very much doubt anyone in the shops will either.

[Nick_UK]

Sounds a bit dubious to me - presuade everyone to buy set-top boxes in preparation of the analogue switch-off, then make them all redundant by changing the specs ? Is this for real ?

[Daftboy]

Well, they haven't persuaded anyone yet!, or informaed the public yet?, like I said, I don't know if the new cheap boxes are okay as they are not checked by an authority, so who knows.
I didn't want to make a speculation post, but I think people should be aware of the changes they have listed. Afterall, who knew about the changes on October 18th?
Fingers crossed most of the boxes will be okay, I HOPE THE 2 I HAVE ARE!

[GaryB]

All recent boxes can handle both 2k and 8k COFDM transmissions. The main exceptions are some older Sony IDTVs made in the early days of OnDigital and some other very old boxes, most of which are now defunct anyway.

This was researched by Ofcom and Intellect before the proposal to change to 8k was made.

[Daftboy]

Originally Posted by GaryB

All recent boxes can handle both 2k and 8k COFDM transmissions. The main exceptions are some older Sony IDTVs made in the early days of OnDigital and some other very old boxes, most of which are now defunct anyway.

This was researched by Ofcom and Intellect before the proposal to change to 8k was made.

Thanks for clearing it up. Forgot about the Sony TV's.
I presume then Ofcom and Intellect monitor / check all of the imports coming into the UK for compatibility?

[GaryB]

Originally Posted by Daftboy

Thanks for clearing it up. Forgot about the Sony TV's.
I presume then Ofcom and Intellect monitor / check all of the imports coming into the UK for compatibility?

No, but the members of the Intellect Technical Commitee, all of whom come from the major manufacturers (I am a member), have checked their own products.

Most boxes use one of a handful of standard chipsets anyway and these are all 2k/8k compatible as they are the same chipsets that are used througout Europe.