FINALLY, an Australian free to air TV station is set to put Full HD, 1080p content to air in a move that could have an impact on TV sales.
The Nine Network will today start broadcasting the third
test between Australia and New Zealand in high definition, consumers with an
MPE4 capable TV will have to re-tune their TV’s or manually switch to the new
channels. The traditional Nine Network channel will still be broadcast as a
720p signal, however not all viewers with a high definition television will be
able to watch it.
To broadcast 9HD, the Nine Network is set to use the MPEG4
standard.
This means that older TV sets and set top boxes may be able
to receive a high definition MPEG2 signal, but are not an MPEG4 signal.
This could result in consumers flocking to retailers to buy
a new generation TV claims Harvey Norman.
The network said that Its current HD channel Gem will shift
to standard definition,
Nine will introduce its new free-to-air broadcast lifestyle
channel 9Life, and Nine will begin broadcasting its primary channel as a pair
of standard definition and high definition channels.
Currently the average life cycle of a television set in
Australia is between 4.5 and 5.5 years, with older sets that don’t support
MPEG4 no longer being used as a household’s primary set.
When asked how many viewers may be negatively affected,
Nine’s director of broadcast operations Geoff Sparke advised Mediaweek that
it’s “hard to say. We believe that MP4 decoders have been inbuilt since about
2007, and on average about one million panels are sold per year. So I would
suggest the main screen in about 90% of homes are MP4 capable”.
Viewers who cannot receive the HD signal will be able to
continue to watch Nine as a standard definition channel.
The shift to adopt MPEG4 compression broadcast does bring
with it a significant video quality upgrade. Currently the Australian HD signal
offers a 1440 x 1080 resolution, but MPEG4 will provide greater clarity, with
Sparke confirming they will broadcast in full HD 1920 x 108
To view 9HD you will need to retune your television. It’s
simple and easy. Just go to your TV Menu
settings. Select Setup and click on the Auto Tuning Option.
How to re-tune your television:
. Menu or
Home button on remote control
. Press OK
. Settings
or Setup
. Press OK
. Digital
Setup
. Press OK
. Auto scan
or Auto retune will appear
. Press OK
. It will
take few minutes to do the re-scan. This will search for the channel and
restore it in your Digital TV or receiver
. Press
Exit
After you re-tune your TV you will have Channel 90 available
if you have a HD-enabled TV. If you don’t receive Channel 90 after you re-tune
then you don’t have an Mpeg 4 decoder and will not be able to receive 9HD.
Viewers without an HD-enabled television will still be able to watch Channel
Nine in standard definition on Channel 9/91.
For viewers with any questions regarding the re-tune, the
Nine Network has set up the following contacts for further assistance:
. Phone:
Contact the 9HD Helpline number 1800 173 055
