DTT: Freeview and Top Up TV

CW

cwathen Founding member 4 April 2004 1:23am

MarkN posted:

How do TopUp TV handle the switch from one channel to another when one time slot finishes and another begins?

For instance, do they broadcast a caption for a few minutes/seconds? Is there a "goodbye" message from the previous broadcaster and a "welcome" message from the next? Or do they do something else?

They don't do anything, just a hard switch from one to the next, with the off air MHEG caption on the closed channel (customised to show the channel's broadcast hours in the white box at the top right). On the 'on air' channel, they then just cut from the MHEG to the channel source when the videostream becomes available.

As I've also noted above though, bizarre things with colour bar testcards happen if they can't join/leave a channel at a junction.

As i've also said above, they need more co-operation from their channel providers to accomodate Top Up TV, little embelishments like 'hello if you've just joined us' in the link into the first programme on the channel from when Top Up joined it would be nice, but just proper scheduling to meet their broadcast hours would at least be something

DV

dvboy 4 April 2004 1:39am

Proper scheduling will probably come after a while. Only the kind of channels that are on Top Up TV have their schedules set far more in advance than the terrestrial broadcasters do, so didn't really have much choice with the speed at which Top Up TV was launched.

CO

Corin 4 April 2004 4:04pm

cwathen posted:

little embelishments like 'hello if you've just joined us' in the link into the first programme on the channel from when Top Up joined it would be nice

Such things cost money.

Why are you proposing ways of diminishing the profits made by Chance and West and those of the subscription services?

SP

sparkiestu 4 April 2004 7:34pm

Well it wouldn't cost TUTV anything - all it'd take is the announcer to record this into the link that happens to be at 4pm (etc for other channels) - wouldn't cost the channel anything, as they are already paying him/her to make the announcement!

Stu

MN

MarkN Founding member 4 April 2004 7:46pm

How about the cost of specifically playing out the announcement just for Top Up TV viewers?

RO

roo 4 April 2004 8:25pm

Who said it had to just go to TUTV viewers?
Could just be a
"If you've just joined us, this is UKTV Gold. Up next is Fawlty Towers..."

DV

dvboy 4 April 2004 9:30pm

One of the guys from Top Up TV is on LBC 97.3 now sayign that new boxes with card slots will be available from June.

TI

This Is Granada 8 April 2004 1:38pm

Channel 9 Teletext and the Teletext TV Guide now have TV LIstings for Top-UP TV Channels. The channel names are not yet on the Channel List at the start of the TV Guide but if you press 14, 17, 29 etc it says E4 (Top-up TV), UKTV Food (Top-up TV) etc.

DJ

DJGM 24 April 2004 2:43pm

I've not read the entire thread, but I'll say this . . . I've always assumed that some form of pay TV
would return to the DTT platform, to run alongside the service currently marketed as "Freeview".

Although I've no intention of subscribing to "Top-Up TV" any time soon, if at all, because I'm not
really keen on the selection of channelsavailable to it's subscribers. If they could get rid of crap
such as UKTV Style and UKTV Food and give us some better channels instead such as the
likes of Bravo, Challenge, Paramount and SkyOne, then I'd certainly consider subscribing
to "Top-Up TV" in addition to, or even instead of my current Sky subscription.

(February 2004)