Are the free to air TV channels broadcast in Standard Definition Digital format? I have a SD PVR and want to know if I will be able to use it in NZ or if it would just be an expensive paper weight?
Are the free to air TV channels broadcast in Standard Definition Digital format? I have a SD PVR and want to know if I will be able to use it in NZ or if it would just be an expensive paper weight?
I think that you need to give us a bit more detail e.g. make and model before we could answer that question.
The 'normal' free to air TV channels in NZ are not digital i.e. they are analogue and AFAIK same as Australia, so if you can use it for analogue transmissions, then it should be OK in NZ.
Not sure if the DVB-T system in Australia is compatible with the NZ Freeview system?
Ian
Last edited by IanW99; 6th June 2008 at 12:36 PM.
The PVR is a Topfield brand, model no. TF5000PVRt
In Australia the free to air TV stations broadcast the same signal in both analogue and Standard Definition digital formats. So is this the case in New Zealand?
From the model details it is unlikely that this unit will be of any use in NZ.
From what I can see, it can only decode digital signals and not analogue.
If it is only capable of digital signals, then it only decodes an MPEG2 stream whilst NZ Freeview uses MPEG4 which isn't compatible.
For NZ, they broadcast in analogue and HD digital via terrestrial signals, so sorry it would appear that it is of no use?
Did find this quote for you:-
Ianbeware of any information on digital terrestrial in the Australia forums. Australia uses a different system to New Zealand and many people have been caught out when buying an Australian digital terrestrial receiver for use in NZ. Only the satellite receivers are the same as NZ.
Thanks Ian. Now I know to sell it before I move and buy a new NZ compatible one when I get there. By any chance, do you know how much PVRs cost in NZ (or where I could look to find out for myself)?
Unfortunately, the sort of PVR that you have got at the moment isn't currently available in NZ.
The closest there is at the moment is MySky and the soon to be released MySky HDi (July).
Freeview are meant to be releasing a similar product in the near future, I haven't seen any release dates for this yet though.
If you are considering the MySky (which I would recommend) then I would wait until July as there will no doubt be some changes to how they charge for this service.
Alternatively, the quote implies that you could buy the satellite version which is compatible with NZ version of Freeview (their satellite version isn't MPEG4 or HD)
Ian
If you're feeling adventurous and nerdy, you could setup a computer to get this sort of functionality. But there are no decent 'turnkey' solutions for NZ's HD and satellite offerings. Looks like MSFT is working on a patch to Vista which may make it simpler in the future, but it's a ways off. (it's in a closed beta right now, codename 'fiji')
There are lots of other pvr software suites out there, but none of them qualify as turnkey.