Incensed Freeview says existing plasma and LCD TVs OK

Stan Beer
Wednesday, 18 March 2009 12:52

Opinion and Analysis

Claiming that the Melbourne Herald Sun newspaper had misled Australians in a report on Monday that claimed millions of plasma and LCD televisions would become obsolete from 1 May, 2009 due to changes in the way broadcasters transmit,  a seething free-to-air TV broadcasters' body Freeview has issued a statement to sooth the frayed nerves of consumers.

Freeview has emphasised that all existing plasma and LCD televisions and digital set-top-boxes will continue to work beyond 1 May, 2009.

However, unlucky analogue TV owners - a significant proportion of the viewing public - will eventually need to ditch their sets or buy a special HD digital set top box or DVR/PVR device to receive Freeview channels and watch free-to-air television as the analogue signal is progressively switched off. Either that or they can use Kevin Rudd's handout to buy a new Freeview compatible lounge lizard box.

In its statement, Freeview said: "The free-to-air broadcasters are strong proponents of providing a quality free-to-air service to all Australians, and so would never want to compromise the service by making televisions obsolete. The switchover from analogue to digital is being rolled out progressively for exactly this reason."

According to Freeview, any HD digital television receiver can receive the suite of Freeview channels and they will not become obsolete from 1 May, 2009.

From 1 May, Freeview branded digital television equipment will be widely available from electronic retailers, nation-wide.

According to Freeview, Australians do not need to purchase Freeview-endorsed equipment to gain access to Freeview - the retailer will be able to guide customers on the most appropriate equipment for their needs.

However, Freeviews states that equipment branded with the Freeview logo will include known technological advancements, such as the ability to decode MPEG4 transmission in addition to the existing MPEG2 broadcasts. This technology has been built in to future-proof these digital devices, the broadcasters' body says.

Currently, the free-to-air broadcasters have no plans to switch to MPEG4 transmission, they say. It will be at the discretion of the individual broadcasters in consultation with the Australian Government as to when any transition might occur, and if such a switch did eventuate it would not be until the vast majority of viewers had MPEG4 enabled equipment, they added