Sky Arts goes FTA

The 1080p HD version on YouTube isn't great. It streams at 30fps due to YouTube only allowing live streamers to use 30 or 60fps, the North American standard. It also doesn't show the proper sports bulletins during the EPL season due to rights issues. It has also been known for the YouTube version to not show the same version of the U.S. Presidential debates. I remember one debate where Sky News on YouTube showed a distant wide shot of the debate, while the linear version showed the normal feed.

The only way you can watch a Full HD version of Sky News online that is the same as the linear version on Sky and Virgin is to pay for the Entertainment Pass on Now TV with the HD boost where it's 1080p/25fps.

Agree with Brekkie that there needs to be a reassessment of broadcast standards on Freeview. HD should no longer be a primarily premium (pay) option, it needs to be the standard. I can’t even understand why SD is still even a thing. People are used now to the picture quality of online streaming that Freeview feels like the absolute pits, and that benefits literally nobody but Sky.

I’d have - in HD only - all BBC channels (including regions), all ITV, C4 and C5 plus up to 4 spin-offs each, then 4 each for Sky, UKTV, Discovery, and the rest sold to whoever wants them. No +1s.

Considering Brekkie's point about the French TNT DTT service. There are still a minority of SD services on the platform, including LCI and Franceinfo which are 720x576 which is still an improvement on the 544x576 which the commercial muxes use in the UK.

Both of those news channels are in HD behind the paywall, even the more surprising that the PSB Franceinfo is a paywall exclusive.

France 4 is 1440x1080, which is what I believe RTÉ use on Saorview in Ireland for the two main channels, which isn't proper Full HD.

However the platform is largely Full HD, with even the three local channels in Paris being 1920x1080 which compared to London Live is a disgrace. There's even a test UHD mux!

Yep - the UK had a test DVB-T2 UHD mux 6 years ago which lasted for a while using the frequencies allocated to COM8 (I think) prior to COM8 launching. It carried the 2014 World Cup and Commonwealth Games UHD tests.

I still have some recordings of the broadcasts somewhere (it wasn't encrypted, but h.265 2160p decoders were a bit rarer in 2014 than they are now...)

The Sky News app has the UK linear feed, but only in HD.

The problem you're up against with Freeview is that only in the last 5 years have TVs tended to come with Freeview HD built in as standard, and even now some available (e.g. on Argos) support only DVB-T. Whilst some of those connect their TVs up to Sky or Virgin, many TVs aren't. Not everyone can afford to buy a new TV or an external device to be able to watch DVB-T2 channels.

However it would be preferable if one of more multiplex on Freeview could be switched over to DVB-T2. This would help with capacity, and perhaps encourage some channels to switch to a HD only service. Then eventually long term there could be just one DVB-T mux for the PSB channels (BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5) in SD, providing the equivalent of a pre-DSO service for those with older TVs.

According to the UKDTT website, Sky Arts is expected to launch on Freeview on the 17th September.

Just like with DSO it has to be tough **** to an extent. Technology has changed too and (sadly) become much more disposable with the frequency of updates to phone and computer operating systems and support ending within just a few years. Yes a support scheme may be required but frankly you can get a Freeview HD box for less than £30 now, a fraction of the price set top boxes were when schemes were in place.

Also by sticking with SD don't think Freeview has future proofed at all in the battle for spectrum with 5G. I'm not saying it should be a fully HD platform but everything should be T2 now. On average I suspect with how Arquiva squeeze in channels you'd probably get around 6 HD and 6 SD channels on each mux, so removing simulcast across six muxes we'd be almost where we are now.

It's a similar situation with the Arqiva owned DAB muxes, where they're still only DAB compatible, while MuxCo, D1, SDL and the small scale DAB trial muxes all offer DAB+, which allows for more stations at a lower bitrate.

There really has to come a time when the commercial DTT muxes stop with the squeezing in of unwatchable channels in 544x576 and move to DVB-T2 which would allow for a minimum of 720x576 SD up to FHD. (I know those SD channels that have used DVB-T2 have used 544x576 still to cut costs)

And in terms of cost I'm having to shell out for a new aerial, just a decade after the last, thanks to the BBC and next week ITV, moving their channels to weaker frequencies to make space for 5G, so a new box in comparison for those still with an old SD box is no more of an inconvenience for people.

Winter Hill ? They are not weaker frequencies, just lower ones, which (with the correct aerial, and all else being equal, will make for slightly more signal than now)

Are you sure you need one though, COM 7 and 8 used to be on similar frequencies, (and at lower power) did you receive them OK ?

Sadly yes as we've had significant issues with BBC in SD since it moved and Com 7/Com 8 been hit and miss too - I think they were switched to lower frequencies too in recent years.

Anyway back to the matter at hand and my point us Freeview would have a much stronger case in holding on to higher frequencies if they were largely transmitting in HD or at least T2. Frankly launching Sky Arts in SD makes as much sense as designing a service for dial up internet.