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Channel 4 HD to start on Freesat

From April 2011, Channel 4 will be broadcast in high definition for Freesat viewers.

From April 2011, Channel 4 will be broadcast in high definition
published on UK Free TV

Channel 4 and Freesat today announced that Freesat HD viewers will soon be able to enjoy Channel 4 HD when the channel launches on the subscription free satellite TV service in April.

Channel 4 HD becomes the fourth HD channel on Freesat joining BBC One HD, BBC HD, and ITV1 HD.

Freesat Managing Director Emma Scott said: "This is fantastic news for Freesat. C4HD is a high quality channel and we're sure it will prove popular with our discerning viewers.

"The addition of a fourth HD channel makes Freesat an even more attractive offer for savvy TV viewers looking for quality TV without monthly bills."



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Comments
Friday, 25 March 2011
G
George Buchanan
sentiment_satisfiedBronze

10:21 AM

I just got C4 HD (usually encrypted). It's been a blank screen for me so far. But it's very jerky.

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George Buchanan's 30 posts GB flag
Wednesday, 30 March 2011
Briantist
sentiment_very_satisfiedOwner

8:37 AM

George Buchanan: A jerky blank screen?

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Briantist's 38,915 posts GB flag
Thursday, 31 March 2011
G
George Buchanan
sentiment_satisfiedBronze

10:16 AM

No - of course not. It had been blank when decrypted, but now it's not - but 'jerky. That is, the video stream seems to freeze momentarily before resuming at point some milliseconds later. The audio seems unaffected. It has been like this since it's been visible and 'unblanked'.

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George Buchanan's 30 posts GB flag
Briantist
sentiment_very_satisfiedOwner

3:35 PM

George Buchanan: It sounds like you are having a few bit errors. Video takes longer to recover than audio and the higher bitrate means much more chance of single bit errors effecting it. See How digital television works | ukfree.tv - independent free digital TV advice .

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Briantist's 38,915 posts GB flag
DaveCheltenham
sentiment_satisfiedBronze

5:29 PM
Cheltenham

George - The skew setting of your LNB is particularly important for transponders like the one used by Channel 4 HD where 2 transponders (H & V) are on the same frequency.

Some time ago now, I also had a faulty LNB the started to lose discrimination between H & V polarizations. The common frequency transponders gave the first sign of a problem and could not be corrected by adjusting the skew.

Regards

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DaveCheltenham's 35 posts GB flag
DaveCheltenham's: mapD's Freeview map terrainD's terrain plot wavesD's frequency data D's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Friday, 1 April 2011
G
George Buchanan
8:29 AM

Looks like I'm stuck with unwatchable C4 HD. The installation is still under warranty but I don't think I'd be able to persuade the installers of a fault when all other channels are ok. My experience of dish installers is that expertise is thin on the ground.

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George Buchanan's 15 posts GB flag
Saturday, 2 April 2011
D
David
sentiment_satisfiedGold

8:59 AM

I understand there are 2 standards of DVB and Ch4 HD uses a different one to the other Freesat HD stations. I have tuned to CH4 HD on "Other Satellite", 12606 vertical, on my Panasonic TX-37LZD81 Freesat TV and get error " No Signal", will I still not get it when it is on the Freesat EPG next week?

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David's 306 posts GB flag
M
Mike Dimmick
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

10:24 AM
Reading

David: Yes, the transponder uses DVB-S2 rather than the original DVB-S. DVB-S2 generally gives more capacity per transponder with the same robustness, or more robustness for the same bitrate.

TVs with Freesat logos are supposed to support DVB-S2 as well as DVB-S, as it was widely expected that HD transmissions would soon go to DVB-S2 transponders, due to the extra capacity.

The manual for your TV does claim it supports DVB-S2. I don't think it's likely that this is your problem. It's more likely to be a dish alignment issue - 4hd is on a different satellite position from the rest of the cluster, and that satellite uses the same frequencies for both polarizations, unlike the Astra satellites where they're staggered and less likely to interfere with each other if the polarization is a bit off.

See DaveCheltenham's reply above for information about skew problems.

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Mike Dimmick's 2,486 posts GB flag
Mike's: mapM's Freeview map terrainM's terrain plot wavesM's frequency data M's Freeview Detailed Coverage
G
George Buchanan
sentiment_satisfiedBronze

11:36 AM

Looks like there's more than just me who's going to miss out on Channel 4 HD because of the method of transmission. It seems odd that reception of C4 HD requires a greater degree of accuracy in dish alignment than normal. My installation was by a commercial installer company so I'm not sure if there can be any solution to this issue. Smack for Channel 4 for this.

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George Buchanan's 30 posts GB flag
D
David
sentiment_satisfiedGold

11:50 AM

Mike and George I very much doubt it is in my case at least an alignment problem.
Many Broadcasters use this same satellite, Eurobird and I can recieve thier broadcasts, both Vertical and Horizontal ones.

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David's 306 posts GB flag
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