EXCLUSIVE: Sharp Australia is set to be one of the first TV manufacturers to launch a Freeview HD LCD TV however it will not have an exclusive MPEG4 chipset instead it will have a duel MPEG2 and MPEG4 processor that will allow consumers to continue getting a digital TV signal without the threat of their TV recording being restricted.
Freeview which is a consortium made up of Australia’s free to air TV networks wanted TV manufacturers to exclusively build an MPEG4 video processors into their TV’s next year so that the recording and the potential skipping of TV commercials was restricted to a limited amount of frames.
Initially the TV manufacturers said that they would not support Freeview however a compromise has been reached that will see processors in selected HD LCD TV’s upgraded over coming months.
According to Laurie Nolan the marketing director at Sharp the new Freeview compliant TV will be available soon however he has refused to offer any more details due to “commercial in confidence” clauses existing in a contract between Freeview and TV manufacturers.
It is not known which models or what sizes the new Freeview TV’s will come in.
The move to a duel processor Freeview HD TV means that consumers will be able to get the new Freeview EPG along with several new HD digital channels however it will not restrict their ability on non MPEG 4 TV’s to receive a HD digital signal.
