modul8

Thanks foxy, Super fast and a pleasure to deal with! Sean

If I was an advertiser and a station put a watermark on my commercial I would expect it shown free.

True but most of this would be of benefit for PVR owners. Most PVRs can timeslip so an offset for the record on/off in relation to the watermark on/off would be relatively easy i would of thought.

My Dell laptop has SP/DIF out via the AV dongle and via the docking station.

Yet I believe the international standard for interchange/delivery of HD material is 1080i. And the panel manufactures have said they are using 1920x1080 as the standard for new displays

A mate just brought one around to have a play with. Found a bit of a bug in the software for weekly epg. If you press the green button to get epg you should be able to press the green button again to get weekly epg, but it just shows up an empty list. However if you enter epg then select detailed info (blue button) then select the green button (while the detailed info is displayed) you will get it. (If you are living in Perth and tuned to Nine )

Considering the change from Now/Next to Full Epg is a simple mouse click in the Tandberg equipment chain it would have been a LOT cheaper.

strazos, do you understand that if South Australia gets a Nine VPG, channel 9 and channel 90 cannot look as good as they do now? modul8

Sorry, my point was the same bandwidth with different resolutions give different results. If you watch an AFL game (same game, same source) you can see a noticable difference.

A good comparison is to have a look at Win and Imparja on Aurora. Win is I THINK tx'd at 704 while Imparja is 544. The difference in detail is significant as is the artifacting. Win is greater detail and more artifacting. Imparja 'softer' but less 'blocky'

A Dreambox can. Not recommended for novices though. Some Linux and computer knowledge is a must. http://www.dream-multimedia.com.au/

Yes that’s what the Snell ARCs do. (all ARCs can be used as a WSS inserter) If you send a signal into an ARC, it can do a few things. One if there is WSS incoming and the ARC is set to 'auto recognition', then it will change the aspect to what ever the WSS is set to do. On the other hand the ARC could be controlled by something external (automation or a manual switch), and the ARC will what it is told. Now if the WSS on the OUTPUT is turned on it will also send out WSS encoded with instructions to the next in line device. On all Snells (all the latest ones) this means line 23 has to turned on. Now if as Nine and the ABC does, use line 19 for robustness, then 2 lines are active. The main default is 23, and the aditional is 19. Turning line 19 on is a simple option, which does not allow 23 to be turned off separately (I thought I said that earlier). On the ARCs that feed the analogue network, the output WSS is not active as its not needed. However on the main 16:9 conforming ARCs the WSS has to active so the information is sent on to the next ARCs that revert the signal to 4:2. Now I have given up the ARCing secrets, I only hope you understand 50% because it took most of us 2 years back in 1999 to work it all out to get it this far. It is a big headache for the Networks, and I think some of us give the punters a damn good output considering the working constraints. None are 100% perfect. In a perfect world we would have to get the production people to ‘shoot’ 2 versions, 1 x 4:3 and 1 x 16:9. We would then run 2 complete networks in sync with a perfect image for each. The result is the cost would send the bills into outer space. So we (the networks) have come up with a compromise that works for a certain amount of money. I think the average commercial network would have forked out $1.4 –1.8 million for ARCs right Aust. Not a small amount <{POST_SNAPBACK}> I understand WSS just fine I just havent used a snell. I assumed the encoding was done via a seperate encoder as we do in perth. A seperate decoder is also used to switch the ARC. Makes for a cleaner picture in the end I guess as we dont see WSS in perth on nine

I can tell you that is partly correct. Nine and the ABC use the same coding system. Line 19 is the active in use one. However the line 23 cannot be turned off separately. The Snell aspect converters use line 23 as a default, and you can turn any additional line of VBI on, but you cannot turn 23 off separately. Line 23 is not stable enough as its a vision line and is subject to mpeg compression distortion. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Hi gepm What system cant turn the line 23 off? I'm probably just being thick but i dont understand what you mean about the snell ARC not being able to turn 23 off. The ARC isnt introducing the dots (at least none of the ARCs nine perth uses does) Do you mean the WSS encoder cant turn off line 23?

Yes its on a per station basis. Channel 9 perth blank line 23 out of the source (eg Digibeta or server). WSS as a standard is on line 19 and line 23. Perth have set the WSS decoders for the ARCs to read line 19 instead. Some stations may have fixed line decoders and still need line 23.

Mcleods Daughters on Wednesday nights is HD & 5.1 on channel 90 if you are really desperate

Not quite released yet. I think it is unveiled properly on May 12th on MTV. Bit more on HD http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2...ungHDXBOXPR.asp

maintanance on digital only. Should be back by 0500

Is it just me, or did they naff it again? <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Dunno bout that. My house was booming. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> It would have had to have been booming in order to hear the dialogue. They only transmitted front left and front right again. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> I think the problem may have been at your end. This weekends Starwars were both correct in Perth

I'm in the industry and it's not 'law' , rather its a DVB spec. It probably is AC-3 2.0 which unfortunately gets decoded across to Pro-logic IIx in many modern surround processors such as mine. With that scenario there is no noticeable improvement over the SD channels, hence my misguided reference to pro-logic. I'm well aware of AC-3 2.0 from working with Divx and Xvid files encoded with 2.0 and they do the same thing when you play them back. Nine may have moved into descrete 5.1 for some McCleods and a few movies, but seeing as I can't stand that show and don't watch many FTA movies, I can understand why I haven't come across it yet. Anyway, the gist of my post was to help Rayjer with what to do about his STB, not debate HD channel audio formats, so no need for heroics. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> No heroics, just facts. The legislation for commercial TV networks stipulates DD(AC3) audio for HD channels, so it is the law. The fact your sound processor is 'auto' has nothing to do with the STB.

You won't be getting actual AC-3 on any of the HD broadcasts, all they are providing at the moment is Pro-logic, the same as the SD channels. Nine HD were running descrete surround when they had their demo loop on air but that was it. I suspect you have a fault in your STB, especially if it just started happening. I have never heard of the STB you have but I'd take in to the retailer that you bought it from and ask if you can try it out with their equipment. Failing that I would call the distributor and speak to them directly. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> What a load of tripe. All HD channels have AC-3. It is required by law. You may very well be referring to DD5.1 which Nine has done a few movies and McCleods Daughters every week. For your info AC3 can even be 1 channel

I'd like to know which NDS package they got. NDS(Tandberg) has it as standard on most packages. It is called 'schedule' rather than 'present/following'.

I thought WSS would be a waste of time on ABC2 because it's not transmitted on analogue. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Too true. Would of thought you could blank it at the output of presentation fro that channel. Would save upgrading hundreds of encoders.

Some use 1920x1080 here (Australia) too.

What state are you in? I think you are referring to a VPG (Video program guide) rather than an EPG (Electronic Program guide)Not all channel 9 stations run a VPG. All of them should have an EPG, some witrh more information than others. Most people consider the VPG a waste of available bandwidth. If your in a state that doesnt have one (SA or WA) then consider yourself lucky and enjoy your higher quality HD Modul8