A Humax Freesat+ device has been announced that features a whopping 320GB hard drive which can store up to 80 hours of HD programming, or up to 200 hours of standard definition shows, while the eight day on-screen electronic programme guide makes it easy to scan the Freesat TV schedule and plan your viewing.

The Humax FOXSAT-HDR also has twin Freesat HD tuners which enables you to record one channel whilst watching another. The box will be available Mid-November, and retail around £299. For more information, please look at Humax’s Freesat website.

Freesat also confirmed that it will be “increasing its number of manufacturers and retailers”, and of course it will be “launching more exciting new channels and services every month”.

Although it has only been available through Terrestrial TV, Freeview and Sky, the official Freesat website has always stated that it would be joining Freesat at some time in 2008.

It is rumoured that Five, Fiver and Five US will all be joining Freesat in 2008.

We will update you when we know more.

The newest additions to the Freesat roster particularly strengthen the platform’s radio line-up, including from the Republic of Ireland RTE’s Radio 1, RTE 2fm, RTE lyric fm and RTE Raidio na Gaeltachta.  This means that RTE Radio 1 is broadcasting for the GAA All Ireland Hurling Final this weekend, and the All Ireland Football Final on 21 September.

Also new to the platform are the three time-delayed services from Channel 4, including Film4 + 1, More4 + 1, and E4 + 1. All channels will show identical programming to the originals, but time-delayed by one hour.

The Channel 4+1 stations are already free-to-air and will join Freesat at a later date.

All channels and variants will automatically be added to the set-top boxes, so viewers will not need to take any action to view the new services.

Commenting on the addition of the new channels, Freesat’s MD, Emma Scott: “We’re pleased to announce the addition of these new services to the platform. The RTE Radio stations bolster Freesat’s radio offering for listeners, while Channel 4’s time-delayed services give viewers further opportunities to watch these popular channels”

Adrian Moynes, Managing Director of RTE Radio says, “RTE Radio is looking forward to launching on Freesat this Friday. Listeners with Freesat will be able to hear RTE Radio in high quality sound anywhere in the UK, which is good news for consumers with an interest in Irish radio”

Sarah Rose, Head of VOD and Channel Development for Channel 4, states, “The time delayed channels we are launching onto Freesat will give our viewers even more opportunities to enjoy our programming”

Courtesy of ukfree.tv

The first set of channels, launching Thursday 24 July, features a range of entertainment, news, shopping and gaming channels including:

• Zone Horror (136)
• Zone Reality (138)
• Russia Today (206)
• The Fight Network (251)
• Inspiration (960)
• PitchWorld (804)
• Gems TV (805)
• Shop on TV (807)
• Netplay TV (851)
• Gala TV (861)

The second set, to launch Friday 1 August, consists of popular radio stations, including:

• Capital Radio (719)
• Choice FM (720)
• Classic fm (721)
• XFM (723)
• Gold (722)
• NME Radio (newly launched, 727)
• Insight Radio (777)
• BFBS Radio (786)

Emma Scott of Freesat’s MD said of the new channels:

Following last week’s launch of BBC and ITV regional variants, these new TV and radio channels further enhance Freesat’s offering and provide extra choice to viewers and listeners. This is great news for Freesat customers and something we will continue to do this year and beyond.

When you retune, if you enter an English postcode when you set up your Freesat box, you will now get the correct BBC One and ITV-1 region in the 101 and 103 positions.

In addition there is now:

• 114 ITV2+1
• 803 Pitch TV
• 950 BBC One London
• 951 BBC One Channel Islands
• 952 BBC One East Midlands
• 953 BBC One East (East)
• 954 BBC One East (West)
• 955 BBC One North West
• 956 BBC One North East and Cumbria
• 957 BBC One Northern Ireland
• 958 BBC One Oxford
• 959 BBC One South East
• 960 BBC One Scotland
• 961 BBC One South
• 962 BBC One South West
• 963 BBC One West Midlands
• 964 BBC One Wales
• 965 BBC One West
• 966 BBC One Yorkshire
• 967 BBC One East Yorkshire and Linconshire
• 968 BBC Two England
• 969 BBC Two Northern Ireland
• 970 BBC Two Scotland
• 971 BBC 2W

The Humax HD FoxSat appears to ask for permission to retune and the Alba SH and HD boxes just add automatically.

The new s/w upgrade is now OTA for Alba/Bush/Goodmans/Grundig receivers:-

a. HD from 1.3.23 to 1.4.33
b. SD from 1.1.12 to 1.2.16

This adds the ability to tune Non-Freesat channels, defeat the Genre selection etc – go to Menu -> Settings to see the new options.

Thanks to ukfree.tv for this post.

This handy little online tool will tell you your latitude/longitude and all the technical info you need to align your dish such as dish elevation and LNB skew.

Head over to www.dishpointer.com to give it a go!

The tests, which are being conducted from the Guildford transmitter, follows the approval by the DVB Project of the DVB-T2 specification, an improved version of the DVB-T standard currently used for digital terrestrial transmissions in the UK designed to increase capacity and thus permit the carriage of high definition services on the platform.

Plans announced in April by broadcasting regulator Ofcom will see multiplex B cleared of its current standard definition services, converted to use the DVB-T2 standard to increase its total capacity, and used for the carriage of BBC HD and other public service broadcasting offerings by the end of 2009.

BBC Research and Innovation is conducting the test transmissions in partnership with National Grid Wireless and Arqiva. It is also developing a modem compliant with the newly-ratified DVB-T2 standard.

Justin Mitchell, who leads the DVB-T2 modem development team for BBC Research and Innovation, said:

“We are delighted that our team in collaboration with our partners has been able to deliver such a key piece of technology in such a short timescale. This is a big step forward in enabling the introduction of full HD terrestrial on Freeview by the end of 2009.”

What is HDTV?

High definition (HD) offers picture quality with four times more detail than standard definition (SD) TV delivering vibrant colour, stunning detail and incredible depth. It’s the ultimate way to watch your favourite movies, TV programmes and sporting events and it’s going to blow you away!

High definition television, or HD TV, is a new standard that delivers higher picture quality and better sound than traditional TV technology. Put simply, older flat screen TVs support current standard definition TV broadcasts, DVD players and games consoles but they can’t reproduce the higher picture quality of the new generation high definition programming.

How Does It Work?

HD TV or high definition television offers the highest picture quality available today. Instead of using the conventional 625 lines to plot a TV picture, HDTV uses 720 or 1080 lines. In addition, the pixels in each of those lines are closer together. This results in a hugely improved picture quality, clarity and colour definition. HD also uses millions more colours than SD TV, increasing the richness and intensity of everything you watch. Most HD programmes and movies are also created with cinema-style surround sound, that you can experience in full with a compatible surround sound system.

What do I need to watch HD TV Programmes?

• HD Ready Television
• HD Set Top Box / Receiver - such as Freesat HD, Freeview HD or Sky HD OR HDTV with Integrated HD Receiver
• HDMI, DVI or Component Cable

HD Ready or not?

The HD ready logo appears on all TV screens and projectors that are compatible with HD TV signals. All TVs on the market featuring the HD ready logo are able to produce at least a true 720p image.

HD ready screens must meet the following specification:

• Minimum 720 vertical lines (the latter figure when a resolution is written out, e.g. 1280 x 720)
• Analogue component video and either DVI or HDMI inputs
• Support for HDCP content protection
• Able to display 720p (1280 x 720 at 50Hz and 60Hz progressive)
• Able to display 1080i (1920 x 1080 at 50Hz and 60Hz interlaced.

Resolution differences - 720p, 1080i and 1080p

There’s lots of talk about resolution – but what does it all mean?
HD TV broadcasts currently come in two formats – 720p and 1080i

The first resolution format is 720p (”p” stands for progressive), which is an image comprised of 1280 lines along the horizontal by 720 vertical lines.
Scanning is done by painting a line of pixels before the next one is painted. Because of the sequential scanning, 720p is better able to handle motion and is actually superior to 1080i for that reason.

The second is 1080i, which measures 1920 x 1080 lines and is displayed as two fields that are interlaced. Interlaced scanning “paints” the picture on the screen firstly by filling in all the odd-numbered scan lines and then filling in all the even-numbered scan lines. Done very quickly, the eye only sees one picture on the television. You get a bit more detail with 1080i but the interlaced image is not as smooth as a progressively scanned one.

Finally, you’ve got 1080p – the ultimate high definition resolution. 1080p is a progressive scan in which all the pixels are displayed at any one time, in the same way as 720p yet with a higher resolution of 1920 pixels by 1080, essentially providing a better, smoother picture.

Many believe 1080p is the ultimate resolution format since it combines the best attributes of 720p and 1080i resolutions to create the sharpest picture yet. However, it’s worth noting that the 1080p format is not currently used by broadcasters and therefore the only way to view true 1080p content currently is via an HD DVD Player, Blu-Ray Player or PlayStation 3.

Also 1080p LCD and plasma TVs are currently more expensive than similar sized 720p and 1080i screens however they are becoming increasingly more common. Look out for the full HD logo on 1080p LCD and plasma TVs.

What is HDMI/DVI?

It’s necessary for an HD ready TV to have either an HDMI or DVI connection in order for it to receive a digital signal.

A High Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) cable is an all-digital connector that can carry high definition video and several digital audio channels all on the one cable.

A Digital Visual Interface (DVI) cable provides a high-bandwidth connection between a video source and a display device.

Comparison

You can view a demonstration of the visual differences between Standard Definition and High Definition images on the Sky HD website.

For more info, visit Wikipedia.

The PZ81 Series, available in three screen sizes: TH-42PZ81 (42”), TH-46PZ81 (46”) and TH-50PZ81 (50”) will be available instore from June. These stylish and desirable plasmas boast a host of features to deliver outstanding moving picture resolution and beautiful colour reproduction together with brilliant sound and easy operation, giving viewers the optimum HD viewing experience. A Panasonic HD plasma TV with freesat built-in is a quick and convenient way to view a wide range of channels including brilliant HD programmes from the BBC and ITV, all for free*.
* Following a one-off installation payment, plus the cost of receiving equipment.

Viera TH-46PZ81B - What Hi-Fi, 5 Stars July 2008 Award

These sets give optimised picture performance, perfect for HD sports, movies and games, as they come equipped with Panasonic’s flagship Intelligent Frame Creation System, which harnesses the computing power of the V-Real Pro 3 processor, motion compensated additional frames are created and inserted between the source frames resulting in natural frame-to-frame transitions, for smooth motion high definition images.

In addition 24p Real Cinema technology ensures enhanced judder-free playback when viewing 24 frames per second material, such as that output from Panasonic Blu-ray players. The PZ81 series also features 100Hz Double Scan to ensure beautiful, flicker-less on-screen motion and an extra wide colour gamut with x.v.Colour, which produces richer, more vivid colouring from x.v.Colour signals^.
^x.v.Colour is a trademark

To register your interest in the PZ81 Viera Range with freesat HD built-in, email Panasonic at pukweb@eu.panasonic.com with “Viera with freesat HD” in the subject field with your address details, and we will send you further information when it becomes available.

The Sqish is a discreet alternative to a satellite dish and can be used to receive Sky and Freesat in the UK.

It can be camouflaged to help it blend into its surroundings with the addition of a Bespoke sticker created from a digital photo.

Why use a Sqish?  Areas sensitive to planning restrictions, coastal towns where dishes are prone to rust, dish stigma or just for the sheer hell of it!  The Sqish is a quirky contemporary alternative to a satellite dish.

More details and pictures are available at www.sqish.co.uk