I think it’s easier to see the difference with the now popular larger TV sizes.
It’d be nice to know how few TVs out there still can’t decode MPEG4.
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GWN7 isn’t in HD despite Prime7 being in HD in Eastern Regional Australia.
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GWN7 is a good candidate for going MPEG-2 HD just like WDT.
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The original HD channels were a fixed bit rate of 15Mb/s though encoders were not as good back then.
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I didn’t realise that much was needed.
Even then, a bit of reconfiguring of the bitrates for each channel and they could easily just run the HD channel as MPEG2 HD.
Of course, MPEG4 HD would be preferable, but I don’t think there are enough people with MPEG4 TV’s.
I think something like this would be better. Although, I admit I’m not fully adept in the comparison of how bitrates affect picture quality.
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I think we’re at the stage of being able to remove multi channel SD simulcasts (9Gem SD, 7mate SD) with little interruption. Take SBS as an example of that. A couple more years and we can remove primary simulcasts. That’s if DVB-T is staying put for the next decade.
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Good point.
7QLD have removed the 7mate SD simulcast in North QLD last time I was there, it’s only available in MPEG4 HD there now, so certainly achievable IMO
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Yes all major main channels are MPEG-4 with Dolby 5.1 Sound and/or HE-AAC V2, and secondary and +2 hour channels are MPEG-4 SD with HE-AAC V2 sound.
Miles better quality then Aussie stations
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Really? Didn’t know that! Interesting.
Yeah. I was visiting Mackay in April and LCN 73 had a full on screen notice saying that 7mate has moved to 74.
LCN 74 did not work on my parents TV as their TV is only MPEG 2, so they were quite annoyed that they couldn’t watch 7mate anymore.
I did mention it in a thread here somewhere and found out from @TV.Cynic that the SD simulcast was still available in Southern QLD, so not sure why they’ve only removed it in the north.
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Absolutely. But didn’t NZ have a more ‘walled garden’ launch, with MPEG-4 from the beginning?
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Yes 73 and 74 HD version of 7Mate still in Southern QLD.
I think it’s definitely worth switching over the main channels to MPEG2 HD in markets like Regional WA, Remote Central & Eastern Australia. DVB-T started later in these sorts of places and as a result, a much higher likelihood of viewers having HD tuners.
MPEG2 SD main channels will probably have to remain on-air in the major metropolitan markets until DVB-T becomes entirely redundant though.
And of course, anamorphic SD should be made completely redundant (with a possible exception for those “Who the f*** cares?” infomercial channels) if/when we ever head over to DVB-T2 and HEVC compression.
Am I right by presuming that Digital TV didn’t really begin in New Zealand until around the Late 2000s? Pretty sure MPEG4 codecs had matured enough to be integrated into the DVB-T ecosystem by then anyway…
Its probably unnecessary - but I cant see it happening unless the spectrum consolidation that the Government is proposing happens
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Excellent! Thanks for providing that. I wasn’t able to get a cap of it whilst I was there.
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The suggestion would definitely provide a better picture from legacy MPEG 2 devices but a degraded result for anyone with newer Mpeg 4 HD tuners. The bit-starved MPEG 2 HD would not look as good. Not only would the image be less clear and at a lower resolution (1440 x 1080), it would have a lot more motion artefacts. Priority should be for the newer devices.
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No worries 
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MPEG4 HD should be shown on both Number 5 and 50. SD can be on 51 etc.
Or replicate 7 Regional with the main channel only available in MPEG2 HD atleast.
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Yes, if we kept trying to keep legacy device owners happy back in the digital switchover we’d probably still be broadcasting analogue signals that Myrtle would be watching from her 40 year old TV set. 
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