Ofcom should hold off auctioning spectrum freed by digital TV switchover until it is sure its proposed technology upgrade will work, according to this reprot from Trade magazine ERT weekly.
If it doesn’t, industry fears Freeview will be crippled as other platforms roll-out HD channels with which the digital terrestrial TV service will not have the spectrum space to compete. For more click the link below.
Ofcom plans put Freeview HD at risk
Medion has unveiled a super-cheap PC equipped with both Blu-ray and HD DVD drives. What’s more the Medion Akoya MD8828 will sell forfor less than £630. Available now at Aldi, the MD8828 offers a comprehensive specification making it a tempting digital entertainment centre for the modern home. For more details click here.
Digital UK says that the first stage in the digital switchver has been successfully completed.
Whitehaven in Cumbria made broadcasting history, becoming the first town in the UK to start switching to digital-only television services.
An initial group of five digital terrestrial channels started broadcasting at 2.37am. Following the second stage of switchover in four weeks’ time (Nov 14), a total of 20 Freeview channels will be available to 25,000 homes in the Cumbrian town and surrounding communities. Ford Ennals, Chief Executive of Digital UK, said: “This is a big day for Whitehaven and for UK broadcasting. Switchover is a complex engineering project and I’m delighted that after many years of planning, the first stage went well. For thousands of households, today delivers a first taste of the
additional choice and interactivity that digital television provides. In just four weeks’ time, their old four channel terrestrial line up will have been fully replaced with 20 free channels and digital radio.”
The first Freeview channels are being broadcast using airwaves freed up by turning off the BBC Two analogue signal. The first digital services are BBC One, BBC Two, BBC Three, BBC News 24 and CBBC. A further 15 channels, including ITV and Channel 4 digital services, will replace the remaining analogue services from November 14. The same process will be followed region by region across the UK from 2008-2012 extending coverage of Freeview channels to 98.5% of households, up from 73% today.
Mr Ennals added: “This is just the first stage of switchover. Our research suggests more than nine out of ten households are ready¹. We know some have yet to convert their analogue television sets to digital. Others may need help, advice or practical assistance installing or getting used to using new equipment. Our priority today and in the coming weeks will be to remind late converters of the final deadline on November 14 and making sure plenty of help is available.” (more…)
LG.Philips LCD and TMDisplay both plan to launch 13.3-inch LED notebook panels in the second half of 2007 while Samsung has scheduled a 12.1- to 17-inch notebook panel lineup for 2007. Panel-makers AUO and CMO have entered volume production of 12.1-inch and 13.3-/ 15.4-inch LED-based notebook panels, respectively…
CPT has announced the signing of a binding MOU with LG.Philips LCD regarding the cross license of all past and future uses of their respective patents…
IPS Alpha, the joint venture company comprised by Hitachi and Toshiba will benefit from a 9 billion yen investment to increase production of liquid-crystal displays and meet demand for slim televisions…
CMO has announced it will add investment at its OLED and LED subsidiaries, and will establish a new subsidiary for LCD module production for small- to medium-size panels.CMO will participate in the upcoming rights issue of Chi Mei EL Corporation (CMEL). CMEL plans to issue a total of 60 million shares. The raised funds will be utilized to fund operations and add new equipment purchases…
The flatpanel TVs in the Japan market totaled 489,000 units in August, up 28.8 per cent on year. LCD TV shipments accounted for 82.7 per cent of overall flat panel TVs during the month with 37-inch and above segments reaching 120,000 units, adding that PDP TVs reached 57,000 units in August, up 36.6 per cent on year. Samsung has kept its position as the world’s leading maker of televisions in 2Q07. The Korean giant had 12.4 per cent of the global TV market in the April-June quarter, according to iSuppli, followed by fellow Korean manufacturer LG Electronics with 11.4 percent and Dutch group Philips with 7.1 percent…
Samsung has partnered with six companies including Matsushita and Philips to share patents for digital TVs.
News courtesy of Witsview
Digital UK has announced further details of the timetable for digital television switchover in three regions of the UK. In line with the start dates announced by Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell in September 2005, Digital UK has published individual switchover timings for transmitters serving more than 4m households in West Country, Wales and Granada.
West Country
In Q2 2009 the Beacon Hill transmitter, serving south Devon Stockland Hill, south-west Somerset, parts of west Dorset and south-east Devon, including Exeter
In Q3 2009, the Huntshaw Cross ytransmitter, serving north Devon Redruth, serving west Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly Caradon Hill, serving much of Cornwall and Devon, including Plymouth.
Wales
In Q3 2009: Preseli, serving south-west Wales and Carmel, serving south Wales. In Q4 2009: Llanddona, serving north-west Wales, including Anglesey; Moel-Y-Parc, serving north-east Wales
In Q1 2010: Blaenplwyf, serving west and central Wales; Long Mountain, serving east-central Wales; Wenvoe, serving south-east Wales, including Cardiff.
Granada
In Q4 2009: The entire Granada region will switch to digital in this quarter, when the Winter Hill transmitter and its dependent relays – serving Lancashire, Merseyside, Greater Manchester and Cheshire, are converted.
At switchover, each transmitter will cease broadcasting analogue television services and begin transmissions of high-power digital signals, making digital TV through an aerial (Freeview) available to virtually all homes.
Currently, one-in-four households cannot receive digital television via an aerial. Digital UK, the independent body leading switchover on behalf of UK broadcasters, is running information and assistance campaigns in the three years leading to switchover in each region. Information booklets are being delivered to every home along with advertising on television, radio and in regional publications.
