The technology will also prevent ad skipping and restrict the copying of programs.
Matt Kossatz, the General Manager of Ice TV an electronic program guide Company said "The use of MHEG5 will pave the way for overlay ads and other forms of on-air advertisements in a Freeview branded device. This combined with the restrictions Freeview impose on the functionality of supported devices by third party vendors, such as no '30 second skip' or fast forward speeds greater than 30x, will certainly not sit well with Australian customers that have already bought into the Freeview hype".
Questions are also being raised as to whether the new technology will make current Freeview boxes obsolete. SmartHouse is currently trying to find out whether current Freeview products can be upgraded.
Robin Parkes CEO of Freeview said that upgrades "will depend on manufacturers and the type of Freeview device purchased. We do intend to support all devices".
Freeview Australia has also admitted that that they have selected MHEG-5 as the interactive TV middleware for its suite of free-to-air DTT channels.
Receiver specifications including the MHEG profile for Australia have now been released by Freeview Australia and are available under NDA, announced IMPALA, the International MHEG Promotion Alliance.
