COMMENT
Compiled on the Ipswich to London train and dispatched to silicon.com from the Institute of Directors via a free wi-fi service an hour later.
Many countries are migrating to digital broadcast services, with most in 'partial transition' toward completion dates spanning from 2009 to 2015 (and later).
The UK is making rapid progress and the sale of digital TV sets is progressing well. However, digital radio sales remain sluggish and are overshadowed by the numbers migrating to IP alternatives.
The obvious advantages of going digital have been sold hard but there are few mentions of the subtleties of digital failures. Unlike analogue systems, digital has 'cliff-like' failure characteristics. These manifest themselves in bit and block errors in the bit stream, which show up as sudden audio glitches and pixilation errors in video.
You can see an example of pixilation problems with a US digital TV service in this video clip on YouTube.
Then there are the more interesting artifacts such a frame freezes and lip-synch slippage - these can be really annoying.
There you are watching a football match and a player is working his way to the goal, when suddenly the picture freezes whilst the audio continues. The crowd cheers wildly and picture movement is restored as the goalkeeper is retrieving the ball from the back of the net. You missed those vital frames!
With lip-sync slippage, the lips move and the words come out but there is a delay between movement and the correct words of one second or more - that is quite noticeable. This I find nearly as irritating and inexcusable as the length of time it takes to switch channels whilst waiting for that 'loading interactive services' message to go away.
Where do all these annoyances come from? Some are natural and unavoidable within the system-design specification and the laws of physics, but for sure, many are down to poor software and ill-conceived architectures that will be with us for a very long time.
So are there alternatives and potential threats to digital radio and TV? After all digital broadcasting is the same old analogue stuff served up with a few extra 'bells and whistles' - each of which comes with increasing complexity and annoyance potential. Most likely IPTV and radio, plus new content formats, will change everything in this old arena.
In the IP medium, if you don't like something you just move on until you find an alternative that meets your needs. The technology, content and use is fast-paced and follows the user's needs. This means standards evolve rapidly, as do user interfaces.
Judging by the falling audience numbers and nose-diving advertising revenues, I reckon the clock might just be ticking for the old broadcast paradigm.
Comments
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1. Andie
Technology improves Pete. The DirecTV was the digital TV pioneer so it uses relatively old technology. Here, the Digital TV service only started a few years back and it's top-notch.
Similarly, I have a 5 year old, cheap satellite box which takes about 5 seconds to switch channels (CHANNELS, not transponder, or satellite) and crashes once in a while.
I spent some time in a German apartment where there was a new (still cheap) satellite STB and channel switching, EPG, audio and subtitle changes happened instantly.
Give DTV some time, it will get better. IP, on the other hand, will always be constrained to the limitations of a shared, unfair medium (the internet).
2. karen challinor
possible reasons for the sluggish sales of digital radio are the cost and size of the devices
typical DAB radios cost £40+ and are relatively large devices to carry around, the size is usually explained as 'retro styling'
whereas you can get a pretty good AM/FM radio that fits in your pocket for under £10
or even one that's built onto the headphone lead for a mobile phone
why buy what is essentially an expensive piece of furniture when you want something cheap and portable
3. David Gaskill
I suspect that many of the problems that Peter is experiencing are due to multi path propagation - the bane of digital TV. At the risk of sounding rather smug I would have to say that from a Hong Kong perspective broadcasting TV seems a bit quaint in these days of fibre.
Like most in Hong Kong I have the luxury, (by European standards), of FTB. I actually have two feeds to my flat one of which is IP TV with several hundred channels being available. The other feed is a 20 Mbs, (medium speed by local standards), Internet connection.
The IP TV quality is flawless and suffers from none of the DTV problems that Peter mentions.
The only problem with BBC Iplayer TV, (don't mention proxy servers!) seems to be caused by the very aggressive compression used by the BBC, particularly on live, content apparently due to large GOPs. As Iplayer is intended for UK consumption I suppose the very heavy compression is necessary when much of the distribution is over twisted pairs.
I don't know what the costs of conversion from analogue to digital TV was but might it not have been better to spend the money on burying glass?
David
4. anonymous
DirecTVPixelation issues.
Looks exactly like Sky TV in UK/Eire when it's raining heavily.....signal quality/strength drops to useless.
My main issue with digital TV is the robustness of the recording. Dropped series links and Sky's irritating to the extreme 'Series Link not available, please try later' - there's a hard disk in the box, can you not store the EPG info on their - puhlease!!!
5. Richard
I'm on my 6th Freeview STB, & this one's also broken!
Luckily, I can see the TV mast from here, so the signal strength at roof level is high.
But at ground-floor level, the signal is blocked by walls, meaning that it's too weak for portable or indoor antennas.
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However, the organisation & management of Freeview seems very amateurish:
My first Freeview STB failed when Ofcom allowed TuTV to start - apparently without ensuring that it would not disrupt existing services.
Along with hundreds of thousands of others, my STB promptly stopped receiving the existing channels.
It took another four STBs before full service was restored - without the PayTV services which I'd never wanted.
Next, folk at ITV & Channel4 changed their Teletext format: Ever since, my STB crashes each time it sees these new Teletext pages.
Then, helpful BBC folk removed the programme information from the BBC's Teletext pages; I had been using these in preference to the STB's ghastly EPG.
A couple of years ago, the NV Memory in this STB failed so it keeps demanding fresh "scans" for new channels.
The replacement STB lost sound every 20 minutes...
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Apart from the poor technology, what about the programmes?
With so many channels filled only with junk, why can't some space be found for the work of new-entrants & good amateurs?
Britain badly need new industry: Now that good quality video cameras are so much cheaper and so much easier to use, why not encourage people to broadcast their best work?
6. Ben Ingledew
It's funny that you should use the football analogy to describe this. I remember a few years ago watching an England World Cup qualifier. There was a thunderstorm during the match which affected the signal. I was watching in digital at the time and the screen froze.
This state of affairs lasted for the length of the bad weather - about 15 mins. I resolved the problem by switching over to the old (analogue) channel. The analogue channel was grainy but 'good enought' to watch the game, and the sound was unaffected.
I remember thinking, "What happens when the analogue get switched off and something like this happens ?". Murphy's law stipulates that this will happen at the worst possible moment - probably penalties during a World Cup semi final.
The powers that be will not do anything till the system breaks. T'was ever thus ...
7. anonymous
The situation today is that the Digitla TV Bouquets already contain endless amounts of bad programming in the form of Shopping Channels and Quiz Channels or Mobile Porn, looped marketing videos. A lot of “Bandwidth Filler” reminiscent of the Music world and the CD Album where you love the 1 or 2 popular tracks (substitute programmes in TV) the rest are just fillers. So just like the music industry, as we move to digital there is insufficient quality programming to fill the “Over the Air Broadcast Bandwidth”. We have reverted to low-quality TV, too many repeats, MTV split into a myriad of localized options, niche channels showing back catalogue, reality TV shows of all manner and those aforementioned horrendous quizzes. So I would like to know how will a “Mega Broadcaster” such as the internet be any better in supplying “Quality Content” than the rubbish we have today and who will pay to have it produced and who will pay to watch it in a “select-wait-watch” paradigm?
Who will actually connect their TV to the Internet and spend "hours" trying to find something amongst the millions of purported channels that will be available to watch. Presently the IPTV offers are all walled garden or “Virtual Broadcaster” managed or in many cases plain old “VOD catalogues” with a fancy company name. So how will you find what you want? Many people are saying “why do I have to go to all that effort? I am tired when I get home from work, I want to be entertained, just send a “line-up” or will they simply just look at their PVR which is much more convenient and instant”. And if you don’t know the story, content or plots how do you know what it is when you find it? You have to do a lot of work to get what you think it is that you want. Search Engines are not the answer as they imply prior knowledge! To search for something as in Google or Bing you put in a search string for something that you are looking for. If you want specifics you need to know specifics. Everyone developing IPTV search mechanisms believe somehow that we know what the content is that we want and they are right if you look at it simplistically such as find Vampire Films; Cowboy Films; CSI Miami; perhaps all movies with Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt, George Clooney etc. Of course if we have already seen it and know the programme, the series, the plot et al we are well on our way. But hang on a minute the whole idea of new programmes and TV shows and TV series like dramas and soaps and reality TV is that we are supposed to be surprised by the stories that unfold, the twists to the plot, the mystery and turns that are to surprise us leading us to want more the following episode. These are things which are the skill of the programme makers. Only once seen we can then know the specifics as we know what the story line contained and can then search.
The point is that we have already seen it and in my research I have found that unlike music TV Programmes are not watched and re-watched and watched again and again and again like a song. Many people watch something only once and maybe on the odd occasion a repeat but there will be a long sometimes huge time lapse in-between those views.
I agree to the old systems and partial transition affected by new technology releases. Where are the technologists taking us in this crazy TV world? It looks like that until we all turn into mind-readers and savants we will still have to be fed TV programmes, by TV Channels and we are supposed to be surprised and entertained. Funnily enough the Internet is but just a mere delivery mechanism which has seen the likes of Channel 4, iTV and the BBC shoot themselves in th
8. anonymous
Andie,
Digital TV in the UK is ages old - Sky went Digital in 1998. The underlying technology has not changed much since with only Sky+ and HD being significant new functionality.
Buying DAB - You won't have a choice when analogue radio is turned off soon.
9. Peter Cochrane
Andie = Some of the problems are certainly genetic! And IP will be going new places too! Peter
10. Peter Cochrane
Karen = There is no real tech reason for all this - DAB can be small, compact, stylish and cheap! Peter
11. Peter Cochrane
David = It aint multi-path for sure, but the rest of your commentary is absolutely spot on. And the UK has had more fibre in the ground per capita than any other nation for decades. 85% of us live within 1km of a dark fibre. As ever - it is about people, companies and governments really not getting it! Peter
PS = At my last home I installed my own fibre feed - it aint rocket science either!!
12. Peter Cochrane
Anonymous = To me it all wreaks of amateur/cheap engineering. It really doesn't have to be this way! Peter
13. Peter Cochrane
Richard = My box just went pop too! Peter
14. Peter Cochrane
Ben = Been there done that - it is really frustrating. Peter
15. Peter Cochrane
Anonymous 2: Spot on - no choice at all - apart from IP over and ADSL dribble they have the gaul to tell us is broadband. Peter
16. Peter Cochrane
Anonymous 2: Spot on - no choice at all - apart from IP over and ADSL dribble they have the gaul to tell us is broadband. Peter
17. Rob Leach
Thank you for confirming my worst fears about over-complexity in media and technology. Is there a Moore's law in reverse operating here? The wind-up gramophone led to the instant gratification of the electric Dansette record player - which even had an autochanger to extend your listening pleasure. Meanwhile slow crystal and valve radios led to the instant hit of the transistor, and new TVs started instantly around the time of the Sony blatronic while the old ones slowly built up an image. But some time in the 1990s computers started booting more slowly, digital media delayed the startup of sound and vision - and nowl you now have to see and hear another several seconds of the really anoying item that you were trying to switch over from. When will the pendulum swing again? With IP just as staccato (unless you're in Korea) as cable/satellite/freeview, it doesn't look as if change is coming soon. Even lighting has gone slow again. Candles, oil lamps and gas mantles took a while to light up. Then we had the brief period of instant incandescence until the neon tube and now the energy-saving bulb put us back to the era of waiting grimly for the light.
18. Peter Cochrane
Rob = It seems to me that a combination of Designer and Feature Death is getting us! I have been trying a few 'conventional mobiles' recently. They are so crammed with features, and so badly designed at a physical and soft level that I wonder how 'normal people' cope.
I'm afraid our only hope might be standardization - when all innovation in a specific arena has ceased. But as you rightly observe - that is some way off!
Peter