NTL should switch to a digital only service!
 

I honestly feel that it is about time that NTL switched to a purely digital TV service.

I know that several areas don't have access to a digital service at the current time but I feel NTL need to provide a service in the same league as Sky and the only way it could provide that is by freeing up the capacity wasted on the analogue service.

I had analogue cable several years ago before the switchover and I couldn't put up with a service like that today.

I think NTL should switch analogue only customers to a telephone only service to free up the capacity to provide a far better range of channels and services for the majority of customers.

Several years ago, when digital television was in its infancy, it was mooted that cable tv would be able to carry 300+ channels compared to 200 or so on satellite which clearly hasn't happened due to their insistance on retaining an outdated and completely inferior system for a minority of customers rather than offering a high quality service to far more customers.

The viewers lost from areas without digital would be likely to be made up from viewers who didn't want to subscribe to NTL due to their current services limitations.

Weeto

Re: NTL should switch to a digital only service!
 

hi Weeto :welcome: to Cable Forum.

purely my personal opinion, but I am quite happy to stay with my analogue tv. I don't get any of the problems I see people with digital reporting on here

lock-ups
pixellation
epg problems
sound dropping out

etc

I'm happy with the channels I get on the family pack & am not fussed about interactive.

I hear what you are saying about the bandwidth, but until the problems with digital stated above, are ironed out, it will take one hell of an incentive for me to change.

As I say, I'm not saying you are wrong, just that I am happy with the status quo. :)

Re: NTL should switch to a digital only service!
 

do the government want to phase out analouge by like 2010? i remember hearing that somewhere, maybe i just dreamt it, lol

Re: NTL should switch to a digital only service!
 

That's analogue terrestrial, which is a different beast to NTL analogue.

Around 30-40% of NTL's TV customers are currently on analogue... that's far too many to switch them all off in one go. I agree though that they should offer incentives for them to change, because the sooner it's all digital, the better.

(Although likely as not, by the time that happens they'll introduce a super-duper hi-def "digital 2" to use up the space instead...)

Re: NTL should switch to a digital only service!
 

afaik that is the plan - but bearing in mind there is just over 5 years to go, no-one seems to be actually doing anything to enable it.

there are lots of places that can not recieve digital due to location or infrastructure, for example, what will happen to them? Who is going to pay to enable the implimentation of this 'plan' by the deadline, for those people - who are often in remote locations where it will be expensive?

Re: NTL should switch to a digital only service!
 

I do not agree that analogue should be switched off, as digital is inferior in many ways compared with good analogue reception. The main problem is the compression used - all the channels on digital are heavily compressed, much like jpeg photo's, DivX or Xvid video, and quality is lost. Many users report NTL digital is much worse than freeview. The BBC reception pages, and a recent Which? report, both come to the conclusion that a digital TV picture is no better than analogue in most cases, and worse in some.
I guess this could be seen as a good reason to turn off analogue, but the bandwidth freed-up would be used for more channels, not better quality.
Sky are addressing the problem of low quality by starting trials of high-def sattelite broadcasts in 2005 - but guess what? The bandwidth used is much higher than the existing broadcasts.
I think at present people are being suckered into the digital TV realm - the Government does not want to turn off analogue to increase the quality for viewers, they are doing it so they can sell the freed-up bandwidth to mobile phone companies, to get another windfall like the G3 licences.
Pob!

Re: NTL should switch to a digital only service!
 

I have to agree with Pob, if you compare a decent analogue picture along side a digital one the Ano one is far better. If you get the oppertunity, next time there is a football match on the Beeb compare both. You will see a big differance! The background of the digital picture does not change, they do that to conserve bandwidth. You will also notice the players faces aren't clear on digital, where as on Analogue you can ID the player quite easy, even from a distance.
Having said that, the Kent area have stopped the Analogue service, and the noise (interferance) has all but gone, so most of the problems that plague digital have also gone.

Re: NTL should switch to a digital only service!
 

[QUOTE=Pob!]Many users report NTL digital is much worse than freeview./QUOTE]

Ntl take the feed for the BBC channels from the local transmitter so there shouldn't be any difference. I can certainly say I've not had any customer complain about freeview being a better picture and to my eye pretty much all of the digital services have similar pictures for the freeview channels.

Re: NTL should switch to a digital only service!
 

Although ntl do rebroadcast Freeview signals, the quality of the decoder also plays a role. I've done side-by-side comparisons of ntl and freeview decoders showing the same content, and the quality of the ntl picture is better.

Re: NTL should switch to a digital only service!
 

i agree that on some channels the picture quality can be poor compared to the analouge broadcast, but i dont think we should keep analouge as a result of it.

If the analouge system was removed, rather just replacing the bandwidth with more sopping channels they should focus on the compression issues. if for example out of 10, a digital channel takes up 1 and an an anlouge channel takes up 4(cant remember the exact ratio), decrease the compression so that a digital channel uses 2, allowing better quality but still get the amount of channels

DD2K

Re: NTL should switch to a digital only service!
 

That's a little unfair, given that football is probably the thing that digital TV is worst at. It's not a matter of conserving bandwidth, it's just how digital TV (well, MPEG compression) works. That's why the Sky Sports channels have a higher bandwidth than anything else (apart from, um, BBC1...)

Re: NTL should switch to a digital only service!
 

One analogue channel takes up as much bandwidth (8MHz) as a digital multiplex. The number of digital channels on this multiplex can vary according to the quality you want to get out of the resulting channels. For example, Sky Sports or the movie channels are pretty high quality, so there aren't many to a mux, whereas it's the opposite case for shopping channels.

Your argument that by reducing the number of analogue channels, NTL could up the quality of the digital ones works in theory, but is rather stumped by the fact that NTL don't encode the channels themselves, apart from a couple of exceptions. The feeds are all taken from DSat or DTT. So it doesn't matter how much space NTL give E4, it will always look crap because it's broadcast on satellite at a low bitrate.

On thing that very definitely could be improved if there was more bandwidth though would be the EPG. NTL could devote an entire mux to the broadcasting of EPG data, like Sky do, and we'd be back to 7 days...

(Of course, NTL could also use a digiguide style EPG using the interactive return path, which would be limited only be the amount of future info the TV companies release. I have no idea why they don't do this, other than the fact it would leave Videotron people high and dry.)

Re: NTL should switch to a digital only service!
 

ahh i see what you mean, so effectivly we have to wait for Dsat to improve before ntl can.

yeah i agree, they should dedicate more room to the EPG

Re: NTL should switch to a digital only service!
 

<Quote: One analogue channel takes up as much bandwidth (8MHz) as a digital <multiplex. The number of digital channels on this multiplex can vary according to the <quality you want to get out of the resulting channels. For example, Sky Sports or <the movie channels are pretty high quality, so there aren't many to a mux, whereas <it's the opposite case for shopping channels.

And the new high-def broadcasts being trialled by Sky use 15Mhz of bandwidth, or twice that of existing analogue broadcasts for each channel! NTL will have to compete with Sky on High-Def so bang goes any ideas for using the freed-up bandwidth from switching off analogue...
If you try downloading any HDTV TV shows from the states, even though compressed using XviD and the resolution dropped to work on standard TV's, the quality is outstanding - better than DVD - and this is for TV recorded by home users onto their DVR's.
P.S. I got the idea of NTL digital being worse than freeview from posts to ntl.discussion.cable-tv.digital newsgroup and ntlhell.co.uk
Pob!

Re: NTL should switch to a digital only service!
 

You can't directly compare the (analogue) bandwidth of a digital multiplex across different platforms. For example, DSat and DTT have a lot of error-checking which is not needed on cable. Likewise, DSat used QPSK, and DTT 16QAM for some muxes, whereas DCab uses 64QAM all round -- there is even the possibility of moving to 256QAM in future (this is already used for broadband in some areas).

Basically, cable can get the highest "bitrate per MHz", then terrestrial, then satellite.

For all that though, 15MHz for one channel does seem a hell of a lot...

Re: NTL should switch to a digital only service!
 

Are you sure about that? Or do you mean 15Mbps?

Re: NTL should switch to a digital only service!
 

Slighty OT - Telewest will be turning off ALL analogue sevices on their network by the end of March 2005 (info recieved from Telewest insider)

Re: NTL should switch to a digital only service!
 

The crafty way to "encourage" analogue customers who live in a digital area, is to make the anlogue service more expensive than the equivalent digital, and have an incentive program to upgrade.

When NTL started charging for dialup internet access, they also had the 128k Broadband which was more or less the same price as what the dialup was going to be, that was enough to get BB installed, and junk the slow dial up service.

Re: NTL should switch to a digital only service!
 

Well this is confusing, and a google search uncovers lots of info, but although digital data throughput is measured in bits per second, HDTV or any digital TV broadcast is still said to use 'bandwidth' to express how much room is needed to deliver the signal. In japan the bandwidth needed to supply one channel is 20Mhz, but using compression in the USA they can fit one HDTV and two standard channels into a 6mhz feed, so there is a real range of figures.
http://www.pbs.org/opb/crashcourse/d...g/squeeze.html
Whichever way you look at it though, HDTV will use up a lot more room than existing digital broadcasts.
Pob!

Re: NTL should switch to a digital only service!
 

Hmm - maybe you should turn that on it's head and suggest digital is made cheaper? At present the analogue base package inc telephone is £13.50m onth - the way I see it, that means I pay £4 per month for channels like Sky1, MTV, ITV2, E4, etc
The base digital pack is £19.50m onth inc telephone - so thats £6month extra for, well, nothing - actually less channels (no MTV), and a suspect picture and sound quality and the fabled interactive services.
BTW, Telewest offer a digital base pack indentical to NTL's for £14.50 per month. Sadly though, I am in an NTL only area.
Pob!

Re: NTL should switch to a digital only service!
 

I can't belive that there are that many neanderthal's on analogue still..! The whole point of cable is to go digital... Switch them off now, they're holding us back in the dark ages, time to shape up or ship out.

Wonder what percentage of these muppets watch it on black and white haha..

Re: NTL should switch to a digital only service!
 

Don't forget that many of these "neanderthal muppets" live in areas that can only receive NTL Analogue. If you lived in such an area in a property that for one reason or another couldn't receive Sky or Freeview would you just have channels 1 -5 or would you take Analogue?

Re: NTL should switch to a digital only service!
 

I can explain... On UK satellite, QPSK modulation is used. (Simplifying a little)each transmitted symbol carries two bits of data, so the bit rate is double the bandwidth.

See http://www.educatorscorner.com/media/AN_5965-7160E.pdf if you want to know a load more about this.

I think the BSKYB HDTV trial will use up to 15Mbps, but I'm not certain.

Only if you use the same compression technology (e.g. MPEG-2). New technologies are on their way which will get higher quality from the same bitrate (eg. MPEG-4 and WMV9).

Re: NTL should switch to a digital only service!
 

Perhaps they're gonna use DVB-S2 instead of DVB-S - I dunno.

http://www.tandbergtv.com/pdfs/dvbinfo.pdf

Re: NTL should switch to a digital only service!
 

Well compression is the key - analogue broadcasts are not compressed at all, therefore (with a good signal) provide the best quality. Digital TV at present is analogous to MP3's, rather than CD's, as it is apparent that quality is lost. In fact the audio bitrate of didital TV is similar, or even lower than, a typical MP3.
Now if they do switch to Mpeg4, then so much the better - it's not exactly a new technology, and most of us have seen great quality XviD or DivX video. Suprised they did'nt switch to Mpeg4 ages ago. But even so, it is still a lossy compression. I'd like to see us moving forward, not backwards!
Pob!

Re: NTL should switch to a digital only service!
 

Well I think only a neanderthal would blindly fall for the idea that digital is always better in any circumstances. It is not. A cheap digital camera is not as good as a decent SLR film camera. An MP3 is nowhere near as good as CD audio track (which in itself is compressed), a digital watch is not as good as a machanical one - anyone remember the early days of the digital age, when Sinclair produced the 'stunning' red LED watches? How many of us wear digital watches now? Not always better...
Pob!

Re: NTL should switch to a digital only service!
 

Digital TV will always use lossy compression, unless some genius can come up with a lossless codec that can compress things to the same size.

Still, using lossy compression doesn't always mean the end result is crap -- you'd be *very* hard pushed to tell the difference between a JPEG picture and an uncompressed bitmap, for example, without a magnifying glass, yet the first may be just 10% of the size. Likewise, an MP3 encoded at 192kbps (with a decent encoder) is very difficult to differentiate from the original CD, and at 256k it's damn near impossible for most types of sounds.

I don't know where you get your claim that the audio bitrate is low for DTV. I don't know about satellite-sourced channels, but this is certainly not the case for channels taken from DTT.

Re: NTL should switch to a digital only service!
 

For the record, CD audio isn't compressed, it's stored as PCM data. Purists claim that the relatively narrow frequency range for CDs makes them sound more "artificial" than vinyl, but I think there's a good deal of psychology in that.

But then NICAM sound on the TV does much the same thing, so I guess there's no getting away from it.

Re: NTL should switch to a digital only service!
 

What part of the uk can't recieve Sky?

I was refering to the people who can get it but choose to live in the past.


Maybe so, but in this case you'd be wrong.

Re: NTL should switch to a digital only service!
 

care to back up that statement - in my opinion, in every case the original analogue data will always be superior to the digital sample ;)

Re: NTL should switch to a digital only service!
 

The sampling rate for CDs is sufficiently high that it can encode all frequencies that are in the human range of hearing. If the frequency is too high to record to CD you couldn`t hear it in the first instance.

This is strictly true for pure, sine wave tones in isolation. Some people argue that the interaction of the non-audible tones with the audible ones makes the music sound "fuller", "richer" or any of those other subjective terms that get thrown around. I've never agreed with this sort of argument.

In a nut shell, if the digital sample, be that visual or audio, can encode what humans can perceive anyway you are going to be ok.

Re: NTL should switch to a digital only service!
 

I didn't say that there were parts of the UK that couldn't receive Sky, I said properties. This can be because they are rented and the landlord won't allow a dish, listed properties, nowhere with line of sight of the satelliete, etc.

It would have been clearer if you had actually said that. How is it living in the past if you have analogue and it gives you the channels that you want in the quality you want and at the price that you want? You walk into the house of someone who has analogue TV and see if you can tell if they are on analogue or digital without seeing the STB.

Re: NTL should switch to a digital only service!
 

I definately say there is a difference with SACDs even with my crap hearing, there is a large noticeable difference in the fidelty of the sound.

Re: NTL should switch to a digital only service!
 

I know some people in a digital area who are totally opposed to switching to digital purely because it costs a couple of pounds extra per month.

Surely this is just plain stingyness at its worst as the existing digital service is very cheap at the low end (only about £20 per month!) which isn't much more than the basic analogue package as far as I know.

I certainly couldn't cope without an EPG or interactive service now after four years of digital (not all of them interactive though!) but there are still a number of pretty big problems such as the frequent crashes, blackouts, interactive hangups and so on.

I feel sorry for NTL users who can't switch over to a digital service as my ideas would leave them with a blank screen (apart from analougue of course!) but I would still like NTL to switch over all customers in digital areas to the digital service as a precursor to a total shutdown of analogue.

Only a portion of the saved bandwith would bring the important missing channels from Sky to NTL (FX,VH2,TWC and possibly up to ten more) and the rest could be used to expand the EPG system and improve the bandwith on the major channels.

I think NTL should offer a higher spec STB for users on high level packages with further features such as a PVR hard disk and possibly a more customisable front end.

Basic (ie cheaper) technology could be used to lure miserly ex-analogue customers out of the woodwork as many of them are either unwilling or unable to use digital features as many of them seem to be older customers who don't seem to understand why digital is a little more expensive.

Sky didn't care about losing a few (mainly low level) customers by going digital only so why should NTL?

Weeto

Re: NTL should switch to a digital only service!
 

Well said.

I'm all for the 'move it or lose it' brigade. I can remember my time on analogue, that was years ago but there was no end to removing parts of it then, if that isn't an incentive then i don't know what is. ntl should give a push to analogue users, offer some deal to upgrade the box for free (unless they already do?) and lose the customers that don't.

Though, there was nothing reguarding the evolution or ending of analogue on ntl in that latest investors paper-thing.

Re: NTL should switch to a digital only service!
 

Don't forget that until the analogue service is turned off nationwide, no bandwidth will be saved by turning off some areas.

Browneggsandham :)

Re: NTL should switch to a digital only service!
 

Another happy analogue user here. I am putting off updating until the last possible moment.

Re: NTL should switch to a digital only service!
 

As I said, get these neanderthals off our service and let's go forward with the system instead of being held back.

Re: NTL should switch to a digital only service!
 

I'm most definitely with you there, aliferste - in fact from some of the comments in this thread I would keep analogue just to upset cro-magnon man :D

analogue works well & you get a SACM for broadband - which works well.

digital you get lock ups, freezing, pixellation & stb's are worse for broadband than SACM. Ooh but you get a red button - that doesn't work properly. :erm:

- I'm not convinced this is progress, myself & will stick with my choice, so long as I have one. :)

Re: NTL should switch to a digital only service!
 

alot of channels are digital only, so although analogue is cheaper you get less channels, you also have no interactivity. I wonder why NTL are refusing to upgrade everywhere to digital telewest have done it and are in a worst financial state.

Re: NTL should switch to a digital only service!
 

i believe areas which are analogue only are:
parts of southampton
parts of leicester
central london & westminster
milton keynes.

the southampton parts and the leicester parts could be reletively easy to upgrade, as no major digging up the road etc, would have to be done. please correct me if i'm wrong.
but, central london, westminster and milton keynes needs major works done, i think much of the cabling has to be re-laid. so lots of money would be needed. telewest don't have this situation; eurobell areas for example need new equipment, not new cabling - much cheaper.
plus, ntl are spending a lot of money on upgrading ex-videotron areas in london. so that'll have to be finished before ntl move onto something else.
:)

i think ntl should start migrating analogue customers to digital (where possible), offering discounted prices and the like. also, i think ntl should remove all premium content on analogue (like sky movies, disney etc) to free up more capacity for the digital network.
:)

Re: NTL should switch to a digital only service!
 

And Microsoft are actively push STB builders to include WMV9 in STBs.

The problem is that for any new compression system to take off, Broadcasters would need to replace their encoding systems, and, seeing as they tend to encode the same signal for multiple platforms, the STBs on those platforms would need to support it. So, to carry on providing those channels, NTL would have to upgrade all STBs (which would cost millions, and probably generate very little financial return), SKY & Freeview would have millions of users who would have to be persuaded to buy new STBs.

Still, I do think that when specifying HDTV box Specs, they should use WMV9/MP4. Same with broadcasters when they specify encoder boxes.

Re: NTL should switch to a digital only service!
 

My daughter was told that it will probably be something like at least 2 years before the part of Leicester that she lives in will be upgraded. The work involves new fibre, new ducts, new drop cables, new and additional cabinets and the existing amps have to be removed, re-engineered and replaced.

Re: NTL should switch to a digital only service!
 

that was a bit on the harsh side , how about ppl who cant afford the extra ;)

Re: NTL should switch to a digital only service!
 

great :(

Re: NTL should switch to a digital only service!
 

Many of your so called neanderthals could switch to digital but why should they if analogue gives them the channels that they want at the price that they are happy with.

Other neanderthals live in areas that cannot receive digital and won't be able to do so for quite a while. Could be two years or more. The problem is that the current number of channels and use of broadband was not envisaged when some of the early areas were cabled and they need extensive and costly work to bring them up to scratch. The other problem is that the work has to be done at times that minimise the disruption to services, mostly during the night. There is still a very large number of customers on analogue and NTL could not afford to lose them by stopping the analogue service.

Re: NTL should switch to a digital only service!
 

There is a couple of points I wish to make after reading all the posts, so hear goes. They are in no paticular order (much like my thought patterns!)

1, The turning off of Terrestrial Analogue has no bearing on ntl. We could, and do recieve Digital broadcasts, and re-broadcast them as Analogue.
2, There is going to be a change in the programs on Analogue, so as to make room for VOD.
3, As was said by ianathuth, the areas that are not able to get the Digital service at the mo, will be waiting a long time, all the money and resorces are being flushed down the drain, sorry, spent in London (The ex-Videotron areas are a shambles)
4, browneggsandham said "Don't forget that until the analogue service is turned off nationwide, no bandwidth will be saved by turning off some areas". Well that isn't strictly true!, But it would cause NTL a marketing headache because differant services could/would be available in areas


My questions are......

1, Why don't NTL either up the price of Ano, or drop the price of digital so there isn't a price differance.
2, Why don't NTL force the issue in franchises that are completely Digitaly ready?. They have in Kent, (Ashford/Dover/Folkston) why not insitagate a program accross the country?

Enough from me...sorry if my post is hard to follow :dozey:

Re: NTL should switch to a digital only service!
 

A couple of points to bear in mind is the cost of all those STBs that have to be swapped for digital ones and the engineering time to install those digital boxes in customers homes. If NTL have a significant number of analogue customers in an area it will take quite a while to install all the digital boxes and if they are only just coping with engineer visits as it is, where does all that time come from?

Additionaly there may be a significant number of customers who may not want to switch to digital and they could risk losing some of these to Sky and maybe taking telephone with them.

It is probably in NTLs interest to get interactive and other problems fully sorted before moving customers fully to digital as less than a perfect digital experience for them could lead to churn.

Re: NTL should switch to a digital only service!
 

Womble I see your point on the price difference but I would expect customers in analogue only areas would be very annoyed if digital was the same price yet has more channels.

Re: NTL should switch to a digital only service!
 

The day NTL can offer me a digital service for £4/month then I'll be on the phone. Until then I'll be sticking with analogue - the only channels I generally watch are News 24, Sky One and E4. If ntl analogue was switched off then I'd go to Freeview, although if VOD turns out any good then that might cause me to switch.

Also in 6+ years my box has crashed a grand total of ZERO times - how many digital customers could say the same?

Re: NTL should switch to a digital only service!
 

Do you ride your bike up and down motorways? They don't break down and are much cheaper..

Technophobe.

Re: NTL should switch to a digital only service!
 

Analogue boxes do breakdown. I had two before I switched to digital and I have had 4 digital boxes so far. But the digital picture IS far better than analogue, especially when projected on to an 83" screen. Then you can really tell the difference.:dozey:
But an interesting point is that no one is manufacturing analogue boxes anymore, so NTL are using up there existing stock. At some point they will run out of them. And as a digital customer I will be dissapointed when they turn off the analogue as I get the 5 terrestrial channels through my digital box as analogue signals which I push around the house to 4 TVs. If they turn off the analogue then I have to get more digital boxes or reconnect the arial on the roof....if its still there...so I'm in no rush for NTL to turn off analogue !!:)

Re: NTL should switch to a digital only service!
 

my analogue is spotty this time of the year and at least once a week dies for an hour or so.

Re: NTL should switch to a digital only service!
 

i think ntl have to carry the 5 terrestrial channels on their network, it's the law - so when ntl switch off analogue, those channels should remain (well, until the government want to get rid of analogue tv completely)
:)

Re: NTL should switch to a digital only service!
 

I'm afraid there is no law requiring them to carry the anologue terretrial signals if the same channels are available as digital signals. Otherwise Sky would have to as well....

Re: NTL should switch to a digital only service!
 

Cable is subject to its own set of regulations, defined in the Broadcasting Act 1984. Sky don't have to follow these.

Re: NTL should switch to a digital only service!
 

...now replaced by the 2003 Communtications Act which has it's very own website:
http://www.communicationsbill.gov.uk/

Re: NTL should switch to a digital only service!
 

I wish ntl would sort their bloody boxes and software first before forcing everyone onto digital. Also they need to up the bit-rate they broadcast at as well and stop re-encoding DTT and Sky streams.

If my evening's experience of ntl's STB software is anything to go by, I feel sorry for those who have it as their main source of television - just think of it, all that crawling behind the TV to reboot the STB. ;)

Re: NTL should switch to a digital only service!
 

ntl don't re-encode anything. A few premium channels (Sky One, Sky Movies, Disney and a few others) are encoded by ntl from uncompressed video. This is done to give a higher bitrate than is available off satellite.
The rest of the channels are taken directly from DTT or satellite.

Re: NTL should switch to a digital only service!
 

and you can get more bikes (channels) on a motorway (digital) than you can on an 'A' road (analogue) :D

Re: NTL should switch to a digital only service!
 

Perhaps we should remember that the colour TV system we use on analogue TV (whether it be NTSC, PAL, or SECAM), employs a primitive 3-into-1 compression, which is not only lossy, reducing definition, but also introduces artefacts, such as dot-crawl and strobing, and is very sensitive to noise. The analogue colour TV technology is 50 years old, and about as technologically satisfactory as recording stereo sound by means of a wavy groove physically cut into a rotating disc.

Now, with a digital TV source connected to a display with digital, RGB or Component leads (not composite or S-video), we are at last free of the relics of the old 3:1 compression, and can enjoy noise-free colour.

The quality of the digital TV signal will vary according to the bandwidth given to it by the carrier, which is a commercial decision, and affected by what customers are in practice willing to pay for: quality or quantity?

Re: NTL should switch to a digital only service!
 

What do you mean by "taken" directly from DTT or satellite?

I was under the impression by the word "taking" that they got the compressed satellite stream or DTT stream, fed it through their encoders and then re-broadcast it onto their platform? :confused:

How do they do it then? Is it fed "directly" onto the platform then, without any tinkering about or re-encoding?

Re: NTL should switch to a digital only service!
 

Yes.

Re: NTL should switch to a digital only service!
 

No point in re-encoding when it is already encoded as MPEG-2. (It is re-encrypted though, as different encryption is used, but this doesn't alter the bitrate or quality)

Re: NTL should switch to a digital only service!
 

ntl has 3 million TV subscribers; 1.5 million of these are Digital TV, which leaves 1.4 million homes on Analogue - do you expect ntl just to ditch all of these?

Re: NTL should switch to a digital only service!
 

sorry to be pedantic , but i am curious as to where 100,000 ppl have gone :confused: :confused:

Re: NTL should switch to a digital only service!
 

ntl don't have 3 million tv customers!!
2 million.
1.4million dtv
the other 600,000 are analogue - that's still a big chuck of the total tv subscribers! around 80% of customers are dtv.
ntl's network is around 90% digital.
there are plenty of analogue customers in digital areas.

Re: NTL should switch to a digital only service!
 

I am on analogue, and have no intention of bothering with digital until ntl offer a PVR hard disc recorder cable box. My Ntl box is now rarely used since I got a Freeview hard disc recorder, and is now only switched on for a channel that I cant get with Freeview. When you are used to a PVR machine, you cant go back to a TV receiver without these facilities - I havent seen any ads for months!

As soon as the ntl PVR arrives, then yes I will change to digital.

Re: NTL should switch to a digital only service!
 

Do these figures count customers with two set-tops twice, or count them as one customer?

Re: NTL should switch to a digital only service!
 

The timing is all wrong to switch off analogue on NTL, either by area or nationwide.

What NTL want is to make customers want to move from analogue to digital without them having to force the issue. When NTL get VOD and Personal Video Recorders up and running during 2005 they will be in a much better position to tempt customers to change and to attract new cusomers. With the increased broadband speeds there will be another avenue for getting the rewards from a big advertising push and hopefully getting more customers to take multiple services.

There is no point in trying to persuade customers to move from analogue until there is something substantial that makes them really want to change.

Re: NTL should switch to a digital only service!
 

With a digital only service how are u supposed to watch one channel and record another without having to subscribe to a service like Sky+. Channels 1-5 on analogue can viewed on more than one TV via a splitter, how can this be done with a digital only service?

Re: NTL should switch to a digital only service!
 

roof top aerial , well you did ask :erm: :D :D :D

Re: NTL should switch to a digital only service!
 

Ur missing the obvious, alot of people, including myself, went on cable in the first place because the aerial signal was weak and they couldn't receive all the terrestrial channels. All I can receive is 1-3 and S4C.

Re: NTL should switch to a digital only service!
 

no i am not i was winding you up :dozey: :rolleyes: :D :D :D :D



someone else who dont want dtv

:erm:

Re: NTL should switch to a digital only service!
 

Indeed, there are many parts of the country -- Milton Keynes and Nottingham are two I can remember -- where NTL are legally required to carry the terrestrial channels unencrypted. So I don't think they'll ever be switched off.

Of course, there is the possibility that NTL would be required to carry the Freeview muxes down the cables instread... now that would be an interesting thing...

Re: NTL should switch to a digital only service!
 

I'd support that or them only showing 1-5 on analogue. The current digital service is being hampered by the not having enough bandwidth for interactive content (like the Sky Sports). If they opened up the bandwidth they could broadcast the 8 screens on 8 EPG numbers, so matching Sky.