236 replies to this topic

[diesel]

Well Freeview is here now so I guess it is time to get a list of those devices that are Freeview compliant. I suppose in a year or two's time, the majority will be compliant, but for now as we transition into this new offering, it would be good to create a list of those that are approved.

A good place to refer to is the FreeView website or Peter's Freeview FAQ

I guess as brands/models come online, I can add them to this first post and keep it updated that way.

BAUHN - Aldi brand
Freeview Compliant HD Set Top Box - $149

BEYONWIZ
FV-LI 320 GB (RRP $749) and a 500 GB version ($849).

DGTEC
DGTEC Freeview HD STB DGFV7200 - $229

DIGITALVIEW
At this stage it seems DigitalView will wait and see what happens regarding Freeview before deciding to produce a FV spec model

LG
TBA

HOMECAST
HT8200 PVR - saw one in JB HiFi, no details on the web yet - looked like 320GB HDD, 4xUSB, ethernet etc

PANASONIC
TBA

PIONEER
TBA

SAMSUNG
TBA

SONY
TBA

STRONG
SRT 4910 - PVR ready dual receiver STB MPEG4 ready, (Freeview approved - TBC)

TIVO
TiVo Series 3 HD PVR

TOPFIELD
TRF-7150 - twin tuner HD PVR, MPEG4 compliant and DCM - supports Phase 1 Freeview specs
TBF-7110 - Freeview compliant HD STB
TBF-7120 - Freeview compliant PVR Ready HD STB

Edited by diesel, 23 July 2009 - 09:49 PM.

[Robert E]

"ad skipping will not be allowed in any Freeview endorsed TV's".

Add skipping on a TV .. now I would like to see that

[DrP]

TBH if I was in the market for a FTA PVR, I'd specifically go for one that wasn't freeview certified to avoid anti-adskipping.  You may even find some enterprising Chinese manufacturer sells a line of STBs into Australia explictly stating that they can ad skip.  Wouldn't that be mud in freeview's eye.  

Edited by DrP, 25 March 2009 - 01:47 PM.

[ozdoc]

Robert E, on Mar 25 2009, 12:32 PM, said:

"ad skipping will not be allowed in any Freeview endorsed TV's".

Add skipping on a TV .. now I would like to see that

I think you'll find there are a host of TV models due to come out with inbuilt hard drives / PVR functioning.

[Crusher]

Honestly, freeview for most of us will come down to 14 day freeview EPG vs ad skip tradeoff. I know which I would prefer since I never use EPG's due to their notorious unreliability.

There will be some other middleware fluff that adds debatable levels of value, and MPEG4 compatibility will be required (big whoop).

Will existing STB's and PVR's work with freeview broadcasts? Of course. So not exactly a compelling argument to throw away existing units in order to get a pretty freeview logo on your PVR.

[MickB......]

What do you actually get with Freeview that you don't already get?  Bugger all really.  Another EPG that may or may not work.  Its just marketing hype.  Its not 15 new channels.  The only real new channel seems to be the Ten HD sport channel,  and that is at the expense of their normal programming HD channel.  SBS is making noise about doing something with their extra channels that already exist but don't do much.  ABC already has ABC1 and 2 and a HD version.  7 and 9 are very quiet about their "new" channels.

Notice how the adds for Freeview don't detail what you actually get.  What the new channels are going to be.  What content will separate them from each other.

The FTA channels are bleeding viewers because of poor quality journalism, shoddy scheduling and the late changes and time overruns, etc. Freeview won't change any of that.  The UK Freeview model looks like a much better idea.  Why did they have to change it?  Because they have no substance to back up the claims or the requirements of the UK system.

Freeview branded boxes will have to be cheaper than their non freeview branded competitors a few months after launch.  People will soon realise its all about nothing and won't fork out extra money for something with a Freeview logo on it.

[diesel]

The one real benefit if it does materialise is any extra functionality the EPG may provide around series recordings, keyword searches etc like the TiVo EPG and IceTV. IIRC, the company that provides TiVos EPG will also be providing the EPG for Freewview

[Robert E]

ozdoc, on Mar 25 2009, 02:51 PM, said:

I think you'll find there are a host of TV models due to come out with inbuilt hard drives / PVR functioning.

I had considered that possibility but they wouldn't be TVs, they would be PVRs with a built-in display.

[Timmy Downawell]

60x Fast Forward is pretty fast... I could live without my 30-sec skip function if FF was going to whiz through an ad break in less than 3 seconds.

[DrP]

60x is the upper limit.  There's no guarantee the PVR will actually do it.  Look at the TF5000 sat series.  IIRC their max playback speed was 6x.

[Timmy Downawell]

DrP, on Mar 25 2009, 06:51 PM, said:

60x is the upper limit.  There's no guarantee the PVR will actually do it.  Look at the TF5000 sat series.  IIRC their max playback speed was 6x.

Well on the Toppy it was compromised by the architecture of the product (something to do with the CAM, I think, and this carried through to the terrestrial version even though the CAM was not even needed).

Any manufacturer who wants an edge in the Freeview market will offer "fast" FF. Bring on 60x! I am actually surprised that Freeview have allowed it to go that high, to be honest. I would have assumed they would nobble it completely at 10x or something.

For now I am happy with my TF5000, until I have reason to upgrade to a HD PVR, they would have to pry my Toppy out of my cold dead hands.

I am, for now, waiting to see what iinet has to offer with their forthcoming  IPTV/HD/PVR. They have said they want it to be  Freeview-approved. So we'll see.

[ozdoc]

Robert E, on Mar 25 2009, 02:10 PM, said:

I had considered that possibility but they wouldn't be TVs, they would be PVRs with a built-in display.

Mmm.   Kogan PVR.       Shudders..  

[diesel]

Robert E, on Mar 25 2009, 04:10 PM, said:

I had considered that possibility but they wouldn't be TVs, they would be PVRs with a built-in display.

Is the glass half full or half empty?

There are a couple of LG TV screens with built-in PVRs already on the market

[jokiin]

MickB......, on Mar 25 2009, 03:30 PM, said:

Freeview branded boxes will have to be cheaper than their non freeview branded competitors a few months after launch.

unless there is a rebate happening in the back end somewhere (not sure who would do this or why) then the Freeview version will always be more expensive as there is the cost of the Freeview license and added cost in the hardware, in a raw cost sense it could never be cheaper than a non Freeview version

[pgdownload]

diesel, on Mar 25 2009, 08:28 PM, said:

Is the glass half full or half empty?

The receptacle has twice the required capacity.

Regards

Peter Gillespie

[bjcurtis]

pgdownload, on Mar 25 2009, 09:51 PM, said:

The receptacle has twice the required capacity.

Peter Gillespie

As any engineer would respond

[ilewis]

Timmy Downawell, on Mar 25 2009, 06:37 PM, said:

60x Fast Forward is pretty fast... I could live without my 30-sec skip function if FF was going to whiz through an ad break in less than 3 seconds.

The problem with really fast foward is knowing when to stop!  As well as a Topfield PVR5000 and a Media Centre PC (both with ad skip) we have a Foxtel iQ which doesn't have ad-skipping but does have up to 30x fast forward. Stopping in time is a pain so you really need to concentrate on the ads and in the end have to rewind back to the point where content resumes from an ad.  IMHO a PVR that doesn't have ad skip isn't worth paying for.

I am interested - assuming Smarthouse are correct, will Topfield, Beyonwiz etc be offering Freeview-badged products as an additional line or will it replace their existing products? Will we be able to purchase a Freeview-compliant toppy or wiz and have some smart programmer come up with a patch to restore the ad skip but keep the EPG...

[prl]

ilewis, on Mar 26 2009, 04:58 PM, said:

...
I am interested - assuming Smarthouse are correct, will Topfield, Beyonwiz etc be offering Freeview-badged products as an additional line or will it replace their existing products? Will we be able to purchase a Freeview-compliant toppy or wiz and have some smart programmer come up with a patch to restore the ad skip but keep the EPG...

There's a topic in the Beyonwiz forum devoted to speculation on just that question.

It wouldn't be all that difficult to make the kind of hack you proposed fairly hard. Certainly a lot harder than any of the hacks on the Beyonwiz that I know of.

[cttc]

The new Panasonic X10 TV's have MPEG4-AVC decoding but come with the usual disclaimer "based of the specs today".

[diesel]

ilewis, on Mar 26 2009, 04:58 PM, said:

The problem with really fast foward is knowing when to stop!  As well as a Topfield PVR5000 and a Media Centre PC (both with ad skip) we have a Foxtel iQ which doesn't have ad-skipping but does have up to 30x fast forward. Stopping in time is a pain so you really need to concentrate on the ads and in the end have to rewind back to the point where content resumes from an ad.  IMHO a PVR that doesn't have ad skip isn't worth paying for.

Users of the TiVo seem to be relatively happy with it's FFWD capabilities, which IIRC include an auto back skip for overshooting the end of the ads

[Robert E]

diesel, on Mar 25 2009, 08:28 PM, said:

There are a couple of LG TV screens with built-in PVRs already on the market

From what I've seen of their capability it would be an insult to any half decent PVR to call them anything but a TV, of sorts.  

[diesel]

Robert E, on Mar 26 2009, 07:15 PM, said:

From what I've seen of their capability it would be an insult to any half decent PVR to call them anything but a TV, of sorts.  

...and probably the same can be said for their TV capabilities

[Timmy Downawell]

When I still had my 32" Grundig CRT, I seriously considered installing my Toppy inside its cavernous case and somehow integrating it.

[cwt]

Timmy Downawell, on Mar 26 2009, 09:08 PM, said:

When I still had my 32" Grundig CRT, I seriously considered installing my Toppy inside its cavernous case and somehow integrating it.

Oh ;Ide assumed your avatar is what happened when it didnt quite come off   Cracks me up everytime

[DrP]

Timmy Downawell, on Mar 26 2009, 08:08 PM, said:

When I still had my 32" Grundig CRT, I seriously considered installing my Toppy inside its cavernous case and somehow integrating it.

Believe it or not that is exactly how the UK's early 'intergrated TVs' worked.  There were a bog standard analogue CRT set with a STB bolted inside!