Yep, it's a baffling decision to move to 720x576. 704x576 makes far more sense because a lot of TVs and upscaling set-top boxes erroneously show the entire 720x576 image area, which screws up the aspect ratio and often adds black bars.

Does that matter with a number of films having to have black bars to maintain the original aspect ratio anyway?

Well I see no reason why they shouldnt time share say ether ITV2 or ITV +1 on the PSB MUX with CITV, as they would get the evening revinue from ITV +1 or ITV 2. The reason I said it was now they have taken their kids TV off their main channel surely CITV is there to meet the requirement that it met before on its main channel?

In this instance the bars dont leave the picture in OAR though, they leave it slightly squashed and so there is no need for it!
Dont get me wrong though Im all for pillerboxing on 4:3 programs/films and something that really is somewhere between 4:3 aND 16:9 (like 14:9) and for letterboxing on films wider than what can be on our TVs, I am always for OAR!

Yes, yes he will be delighted, especially as this has happened on Rowridge!

All the channels on D3&4 have gone to 720x576. Fantastic!

Why do you find 720*576 better than 704*576? Do you like the fact that 720*576 gives padding?

Part of the reason Ofcom allowed the removal of childrens' content from their main channel was due to the existence of CITV, so you'd think Ofcom would request that that channel was on a PSB mux. However for years it wasn't even available in Wales!

Anyway, this is off-topic.

I don't like it any better than 704x576, I just like it much better than 544x576.

Would have been just as happy with 704, but I'm not complaining, and I've never had a problem with the BBC's stuff at 720.

oh ok Ive got you now. I agree that 544X576 wouldnt be that good a res to watch! I dont use freeview that much though so I havent really experienced what thats like though!
I would have thought though that 704*576 would have been better for D3&4 as they might have managed 10 streams on their instead? The same could be said for the BBC using BBC A MUX as they might be able to squeeze their RB 2 stream on there with their main channels!

Apparently the whole south of England & Wales has had new coders for D3&4 this week with the north next week followed by Scotland week later.

As there are only one or two films per week on Film4 that are worth watching, a Film4 +1 seems total overkill and a waste of a channel slot. Apart from anything else, if you happen to miss a film, you can bet your life it will be repeated within the next week.

having Film 4 (not the +1) on the D3&4 MUX and I presume that Film 4 +1 will take Film 4's old place on ARQ B, this would be a good arrangment! I would like to see all the +1s moved to the COM MUXs and decent channels given to freeview lite viewers! So C4 +1 replaced by 4Severn and ITV +1 with CITV say! If they could fit a 10th channel on then having ITV 3 or 4 would be good!

I'd rather see ITV4 swap with ITV1+1 as it's sports coverage is badly affected by having such a low resolution on the COM mux.

Um, yes. The black bars are just a side-effect of most 720x576 signals really being 704x576 padded to 720x576. The real issue is the aspect ratio problem. Even high-end TVs like my Panasonic TX-P50ST50B doesn't display it properly, and the fact that a lot of DVDs incorrectly use the entire 720x576 image as the "active area" doesn't help either, since that's wrong.

Fortunately Freesat is almost universally 704x576, except for the BBC channels but they'll all be HD soon anyway.


Yes I would too but that isn't possible. Only the PSB muxes are regionalised, so ITV, ITV +1, Channel 4, Channel 4 +1, and Channel 5 have to be on D3&4. This only leaves 3 more channel slots, which are ITV2, More4 and E4.

Of course, they could change the configuration to match the COM muxes (27.1 Mbps) to get an extra channel slot on both BBC A and D3&4. In fact, there's space for an extra channel on BBC A now, so a configuration change would mean space for 3 extra channels on the PSB muxes.

That would be a great idea and make all the channels on PSB 1 & 2 704*576! then we might squeeze 11 on each MUX! the BBC could make BBC paliament and the 2 RB streams lower quallity if they need to compensate, ITV and C4 could make their ITV + 1 and C4 +4 lower quallity on the D 3 and 4 to compensate also!
this would mean 9 good channels on the D 3 and 4 MUX! meaning Film 4 4Severn and CITV could be on there with whats already there! and ITV 4 could use the CITV slot from 6PM till 6AM and be on the SDN MUX 6AM till 6PM.

Let's credit @bsaoc for that quote shall we?

Possibly, although it would be tricky trying to impose a PSB requirement on a company with no PSB obligations. They should have requested that the channel was on a PSB mux prior to changing the content requirement of the ITV Network, and conditional on its continued carriage.

A configuration change would affect reception in marginal areas. As the PSB muxes are obligated to reach 98.5% of the population, I think a mode change might be not an option at the moment.

So we can enjoy a good quality picture (as well as a higher resolution), 9 streams should be enough for now...

I would expect the BBC to first of all look at restoring BBC Radio in Scotland in the evening when they update their encoders. In Wales, they might want to consider housing S4C on BBC-A first when it changes to being licence fee funded next year.

Channel 4 has wanted Film 4 to be counted as a PSB channel in the past, so I would be surprised if Film 4 didn't become universally available on Freeview - including Wales!

If you're going to quote somebody verbatim, it's a good idea to cite the source. In this case it's https://mobile.twitter.com/bsaoc/sta...2952785920?p=v

This could of be done by PM.a516 has already posted about this subject.

will com muxes get new coders to

that would be nice but I expect they will try an cram more channels in then!

The COM muxes already have had new encoders allowing for up to 13 streams per multiplex (previous max was 12).

That was the one that slipped through at DSO - launch the COM multiplexes at various different power values below the proposed one, then boost to the final power while switching the mode Shame they didn't try launching the PSB multiplexes with the power too low and switching the mode if it wasn't a problem too!

ah ok but is that 13 streams at 544*576 res?