instead of doing just 24 hours - for the whole day, they should change it for a few hours or so. Then change it back when the program finished.
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Exactly. Minimal impact on the schedule.
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Sorry, yep, got ya. I absolutely agree.
But seriosuly, Seven wouldâve thought of this straight away, surely?
So must be some technical challenge at BCM (as in canât switch feeds across channels quickly or sometkng?) Who knows.
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But they have the capacity to switch. Timing the switch to right before and right after the game canât be that much of a technical feat for them.
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Hereâs a clip of the demo loop currently being shown on the new HD channel broadcasting in Sydney:
First FTA 1080p channel in Australia, as far as I know. Also using HEVC (H.265).
I would think very few people can actually receive this transmission. DVB-T2 already knocks out a large portion of receivers, HEVC knocks out even more.
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The Fetch Mighty boxes are HEVC, but not DVB-T2 unfortunately.
I think the changeover was done in the wee hours to avoid viewer confusion at 7:30pm in going straight from âHome And Awayâ on 7 to the football on 7mate when many would be expecting to see MKR straight after H&A as advertised.
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Yep, it doesnât come up on my Fetch Mighty box.
On the topic of Fetch, mine didnât handle the addition of the new SBS radio stations too well. After a rescan, stations in the 50 range (Southern Cross Nine) were replaced with SBS Radio.
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Is anyone able to record the 7HD switch back (presumably midnight)? If not, I can at least grab some caps.
Wasnât it poor form last year? As in mid-program there was a flash and suddenly viewers were watching a different program 
Should really wait until an ad break, rather than switch bang on midnight regardless
Tonight on 7mateHD movie âGone In 60 Secondsâ follows, so will be when it switches.
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Iâm thinking it would be too difficult and not worth it to schedule programs or time ad breaks etc just so there is a seamless changeover on the HD channel.
Particularly when it only happens once a year.
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From memory, and Iâm sure someone will know for sure, Seven used to use NBC Today to handle some of that kind of switch over/recovery testing stuff. Theyâd schedule it across all the channels in the early hours.
Interesting pick-up from my end.
My EPG is showing different end times, for the same progeam on the same feed, bizarre:
7HD: Gone In Sixty Seconds scheduled 10:30pm to 12am.
7mate: Gone In Sixty Seconds scheduled 10:30pm to 12:57am.
So looks like the switch back might be 12am?
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Then what resolution to the HD channels use? Do you mean first fully native FTA 1080p channel?
Out of curiosity, which LCN is it on? And will the ABC and SBS trials run independently or will they be part of the same trial conducted by FreeTV and Broadcast Australia?
FTA HD stations use 1080i rather than 1080p.
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Yep, 7HD just switched back at 12am.
Gone In 60 Seconds returned from an ad break and during the PRG, Greys Anatomy appeared instantly.
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Currently, all FTA HD stations are H264 1080i. In the past MPEG-2 576p, 720p and 1080i were also used.
No, thatâs not what I meant.
Comes up as 401 for me.
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Great recording. Wouldâve been nice if they showed some footage of Sydney on the test transmission loop, but the vision of Newcastle is still good! 
Let me guess what youâre using to receive these trialsâŚa PC and some form of DVB-T2 tuner card or USB stick? 
I think there might still be 1080i MPEG2 HD channels in some regional/remote areas.
But yeah, all the HD channels on air in metropolitan markets + Regional NSW, ACT and Victoria are in 1080i MPEG4 these days.
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Youâd be correct.
Youâre right. I should have clarified â all the FTA HD channels I receive (i.e. Sydney + Southern NSW) are H264 1080i (except for this new test transmission).
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As of 25th April 2018, the following MPEG2 HD channels that are still operating are:
- 7mate in regional areas of QLD, SA, WA, Darwin and Remote Central & Eastern Australia
- 9Gem in regional areas of SA, WA and Remote Central & Eastern Australia
- One in Darwin, Spencer Gulf/Broken Hill and Remote Central & Eastern Australia
You can add Tasmania to this too.
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Yes. There are 3 streams. Channel 70 should keep working but switch to the same stream as Channel 7/71. Series links would not be affected. Some people wouldnât notice.
Similarly 73 should switch to the HD stream without missing a beat.
And since with this the SD 7Mate wouldnât actually be being used⌠they can allocate that bandwidth to improving 7 and 7HD/mate.
Only problem would be the few TVs that canât see the 7 HD. (Perhaps they could add a temporary channel 79 for SD 7mate).
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