do we really need the digital switchover?

gumdrops

Well-known member
my parents - partly cos i think all their friends have got new tvs - decided they just HAD to get a new wide screen tv too, despite their old one working just fine, and tbh, i think its a needless waste of money. i know the old one will be obsolete when the digital switchover is complete, but im wondering what are the benefits of this? i know hd promises sharper picture quality but a lot of hd films look too hyperreal. why is it important for the govt to spend so much on this technology?

the fm to dab switchover looks like its going to be harder to achieve but im surprised theyre not making people simply upgrade all their car stereos, although of course, most ppl could just refuse that and listen to cds, so the radio industry is prob less willing to go along with this.
 

lanugo

von Verfall erzittern
why is it important for the govt to spend so much on this technology?

1984_telescreen.jpg
 

Leo

Well-known member
we switched over a year or two ago in the states. you didn't need to get a new TV, could get a (free, i think) converter box that plugged into your old set. i think the switchover had something to do with freeing up airwave space.
 

craner

Beast of Burden
I'm still worried about the radio. I don't get it. Is my FM dial going to go as dead as my AM dial?
 

matt b

Indexing all opinion
Yeah, you don't need a new TV, just get a Freeview box. Obviously, you won't get HD TV on a non-HD TV, but you don't notice the difference unless really close to the TV, or if the TV is big (above 32").


Re: car stereos- the car industry is not to be fucked with. When all new cars come with DAB as standard (it is too costly at present), then analogue radio will be switched off. Of course, internet radio is much better than DAB, so car companies may be resistant to change.

The Gvt want to do it to free up bandwidth, which they can then sell off for £££.
 

gumdrops

Well-known member
i think the idea is that dab will be replaced by some sort of dab mk 2 with better quality so the point of car manufacturers installing in costly dabs now is pointless for them.
 

Amplesamples

Well-known member
Grrr, the whole dab thing annoys me. With DAB as it currently stands, you get low quality, less choice (no pirates on DAB of course and I think that DAB licenses are well expensive, as someone as resonance fm once told me years ago) than FM or internet radio.

I could always see why we'd need a digital switchover for TV (don't forget, some people still can't get Channel 5 in the UK), and there are some good things about Freeview which I like (all the music docs on BBC4, for a start). But DAB radio is shit, the coverage is crap, the quality is crap, the dynamic range is crap, the choice of stations is crap. This is quite interesting http://www.digitalradiotech.co.uk/articles/DAB-vs-FM-sound-quality.php
 

gumdrops

Well-known member
dab is like digital tv. they both look and sound like shit. its technology ushered out far too quick before they are really at a pleasing standard.
 
Top