DAB + comming
Winston_1
Posts: 5,832 Forum Member
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ABU Weekly News Digest
24 April 2014
The UK communications regulator, OFCOM, is considering changes in the Digital Radio Technical Code, which could precipitate the introduction of the DAB+ standard.
The proposed new Digital 2 multiplex could therefore contain a mix of original DAB and DAB+ services.
A516digital.com is also reporting that OFCOM has confirmed that it does not intend to impose minimum bit rates on radio stations in order to ensure a ‘certain level’ of sound quality.
According to OFCOM: "There is no evidence to suggest dissatisfaction from consumers with the technical quality of content from platforms that are not subject to explicit technical quality standards requirements.”
http://www.abu.org.my/Latest_News-@-OFCOM_considers_DAB_for_the_UK.aspx
(In January 2013 Ofcom tested DAB+ in central Brighton, not much progress since then).
24 April 2014
The UK communications regulator, OFCOM, is considering changes in the Digital Radio Technical Code, which could precipitate the introduction of the DAB+ standard.
The proposed new Digital 2 multiplex could therefore contain a mix of original DAB and DAB+ services.
A516digital.com is also reporting that OFCOM has confirmed that it does not intend to impose minimum bit rates on radio stations in order to ensure a ‘certain level’ of sound quality.
According to OFCOM: "There is no evidence to suggest dissatisfaction from consumers with the technical quality of content from platforms that are not subject to explicit technical quality standards requirements.”
http://www.abu.org.my/Latest_News-@-OFCOM_considers_DAB_for_the_UK.aspx
(In January 2013 Ofcom tested DAB+ in central Brighton, not much progress since then).
0
Comments
http://forums.digitalspy.co.uk/showthread.php?t=1955299&highlight=dab%2B
Needs a commercial station to start testing?
Also
The BBC may be involved with tests
http://forums.digitalspy.co.uk/showthread.php?t=1950935&highlight=dab%2B
Is DAB+ not tried and tested technology ?
And why has it taken so long to bring DAB+ to the UK? Countries like Italy have had it for at least 5 years or more!
But when did Italy start digital broadcasting? The BBC have had a public DAB service since 1995 with tests before then.
I find it strange that the European versions of Roberts Radios are DAB + and yet, the UK models are DAB only. Not even upgradable via a software update.
I've been saying the same thing myself i.e. that no one should even contemplate buying a DAB only radio. Why they are still being sold at this stage of the game is beyond me.
There are plenty of DAB+ radios on the market in the UK at present. Most of the Pure models now support DAB+ so there's ne excuse.
DAB+ radios from the likes of Pure and Sony have been on the UK market for several years now.
We knew this was coming.
Now I read this thread!
Okay so why have so many people got DAB only radios then?
As long as DAB is around for a fair while, we can still get good usage from our DAB only sets. Just have to make sure if we buy any others, they are DAB+ compatible.
All new Roberts sets are now seemingly DAB enabled and must include the licence, some new Pure and other make sets still need upgrading.
Some sets have the software already and just need an unlocking code.
It could be existing stations stay current DAB and only stations new to DAB go DAB. But a 56k stereo DAB+ service on D2 may allow stations such as Jazz FM, Chill, Arrow, Gold, the Hits etc to get quasi national coverage back at lower cost than current 128k stereo DAB?
It's probably more helpful to view any DAB+ provision on D2 as an additional 'band', where new services will broadcast. In the UK the option taken by other countries, of wholesale forced migration from DAB to DAB+, probably is unfeasible. In the seventies and early eighties, many FM sets didn't include frequencies above 102 MHz as that part of the band hadn't been released yet, so when services were launched up there, those sets couldn't be used to receive the new stations, but could still happily receive everything below.
There are at least three unknowns:
a) the extent to which DAB+ will make digital radio possible in areas of the UK where DAB reception is marginal. This encompasses not only areas of poor signal strength like most of Scotland and Wales, but also areas such as East Anglia where SFN mutual interference is the problem.
Like DAB, DAB+ has many 'operating points' that can trade off signal quality versus reception robustness and there will be a period of fiddling around with settings to get things right
b) latent, unpublicised DAB+ capability in the parc of UK receivers, particularly those purchased in the last 3-4 years
c) the willingness of Joe and Josephine TwitFace to go through the hassle of upgrading upgradeable receivers to be able to listen to new DAB+ services in which they are interested
only by actually launching a palette of real, compelling services will those answers be found.
I think it is very unlikely there will be much new or unique content on DAB+ and is more likely to be more or less identical to existing DAB. The bitrates will also be equivalent. E.g. a station that is 128kbps J Stereo on DAB will be 64kbps on DAB+
1. The quantity of choice on DAB has only ever reduced in the last decade
2. It's been so hard to get the UK population to switch to DAB in the first place, let alone trying to get them to upgrade to DAB+
Not used as an excuse to increase audio quality from the existing networks.
Most listeners probably wouldn't be able to tell the difference between 96k and 128k dab.
I would prefer additional choice with new stations running average quality rather than stations I don't like and never listen to in theoretical fantastic quality.
I think it's fair to say the average non-anorak, non-Dspy poster would feel the same. I can't see consumers that happy after upgrading to a new DAB+ set only to find it has the same mundane services and an almost identical menu on the station list.
I can't see broadcasters being that interested in providing new, exciting services on DAB+ with nobody listening, especially considering all they've done with DAB is shut down interesting services and / or replace them with drivel e.g. The Absolute "suite" and Xtian nonsense
I really hope there is new content, if not at least more competition.
And even on an all-in-one stereo radio, the difference is quite noticeable. The better ones probably use some processing to give spatial enhancement.
I don't think many consumers would prefer the improved spatial enhancement over improved choice and more stations.
This is true at the moment but more and more new cars are coming with DAB built in and the difference both between mono and stereo stations and those in stereo running at 128k or greater versus lower than 128k is really noticeable.
Increasingly broadcasters will have to deal with this as DAB becomes more mainstream because stations that sound poorer than others will ultimately suffer where the radio and speaker setup is of higher quality, such as in car. At least I hope that's the case...
And so it is with radio. The life cycle of technology gets shorter as we go on. DAB has been around for 15 years ( Hanssolo will correct me if it's much different I'm sure... ).
It's legacy technology now by a long way. There's no doubt that the radio industry has handled DAB very badly; as it handles nearly everything that it does very badly.
In order to get a vibrant and exciting set of channels that will attract more listeners, the economics have to change. It needs to be financially viable for channel providers to participate, and to be able to sustain their service. As someone else said, there have been some diverse channels such as Capital Disney, PrimeTime, OneWord, the Storm, Amazing, that were unable to attract advertising at the rates they needed to charge.
If DAB+ can bring about a lowering of rental costs by packing more channels in to a multiplex at "kitchen table radio quality", then let's move on to that technical progression. DAB in it's original form needs to be left behind.
DAB is 15 and much more years old 'digital technology'.
If tomorrow morning a salesman in PC World tried to sell me a 80286 CPU PC with 512k RAM, a 10 Meg Winchester (hard drive for the younger listeners), or even TWO 5 1/4-inch floppies instead of a hard drive, and a 28k dialup modem, with Wind&ws 3.1 op-sys or even DOS, and a BIG 12-inch 16-colour CRT 'VDU' screen, and of course no CD drive or speakers, and claimed it was 'the state of the art' PC technology, I'd laugh me head off.
Yet DAB as being flogged to the unsuspecting Brits is effectively in D|GITAL technology terms as ancient and as tired as that ancient PC spec - even if 'codecs are much better now'.
Would any of you BUY THAT PC today, but still think DAB is a truly up-to-date state-of-the-art system?
PS dont let the apologists say that 'but FM is 70 year old technology!' Its ANALOGUE, and continuous wave technology doesnt 'age' as rapidly inits engineering priciples as does 'digital'.