When did Panasonic start including MPEG-4 tuners? My 2010 Panasonic plasma does MPEG-4.
Random Thread
1 Like
Standard in 2011. Prior to that some models included the feature but it had to be manually activated.
3 Likes
Yep I recall I had to select the “Add MPEG-4 AVC channels” when 9HD first started in 2015. Might have only been available after a firmware update too.
2 Likes
I did have a 2008 Panasonic TX-32LXD700A ($1,300 back then!) that would only decode MPEG2.
But it had two good features that most TVs today don’t have:
- Picture In Picture (only LG still seems to have this on most models - very handy for me to compare metro stations and regional affiliates side by side!).
- Good quality sound. Of course you have to buy a sound bar for that these days! It made the bezels on the sides quite thick though, but I didn’t mind that.
2 Likes
I reckon you’re onto something!
4 Likes
A successful missing person search.
6 Likes
Ash Ketchum has finally won a Pokemon league in the most recent episode. Spoilers if you follow the English dub
Also, clips are floating around YT (including fansubs), but I won’t link any
2 Likes
Australian television has had an obsession with dating/relationship/wedding-themed “reality” formats over the last few years. No less than 15 programs (to varying degrees of success) have been made covering just about every stage of a relationship, so how long will it be until there’s a format which does the entire process in a single series?
Week 1: Participants find dates.
Week 2: Relationships become official.
Week 3: The newly formed couples make marriage proposals, much to the (quite understandable, because one week is way too soon) disapproval of their families.
Week 4: Weddings.
Week 5: The couples switch partners.
Week 6: With their set up for TV relationships in tatters, the couples try and retrieve their failing partnerships by holidaying on a tropical island.
Week 7: Divorce.
Week 8: Participants try and reunite with their for TV ex.
Week 9: Finale/Reunion Week, with manufactured drama/cat fights amongst contestants.
As much as something like this sounds like an absolutely horrible idea for a show, sadly I wouldn’t be overly surprised if one of the commercial networks eventually tries it! 
2 Likes
Why do that when you can make 9 shows to fill your schedule throughout the year.
Just add a Block style challenge in there and it’s sure to be a ratings winner. Perhaps the couples could do up each other’s houses like House Rules instead.
1 Like
Don’t forget to call George to thank him for his years of service before you go to bed tonight. He didn’t have time to chat when I did it but I’m sure he appreciated the sentiment and I’m positive Telstra will appreciate the 39 cents I just contributed to their coffers.
“At the third stroke it will be 9.26 and thirty seconds…”
Vale George.
Thanks for the reminder! I tried to call but I could not get through, it must be congested with lots of people calling to wish the old mate goodbye.
RIP 1194
Apparently, the weather on 1196 is also being shut down tonight but I don’t think anyone will miss that quite as much 
3 Likes
The automated talking clock was launched in 1954, before then if you called the number for the talking clock you’d hear a female switchboard operator manually reading the time into a microphone
YouTube: vk3ase
4 Likes
This probably won’t happen, but I reckon it’d be great if a short “Thank you and Goodbye” message was played just after the third stroke at midnight as a mark of respect to all those who’ve used the service over the years.
That was the exact time that I was on the phone to him!
I will! I used to ring that one just as much as the 1194 prior to the Internet and having things so much more readily available.
I never called the weather line that much, but I do remember when the first Gulf War happened in 1991, none of us in the office had a radio or access to a TV, so we called the news number (1195?) to get an update.
In another life, when I used to configure PABX systems I often called 1194 to get the accurate time as in those days PABX clocks operated in isolation and were not synchronised to anything and sometimes we’d have to reset the clocks manually. Lots of calls to 1194!
4 Likes
Australia also used to have a national time signal radio station VNG in Lyndhurst that could be heard on SW radios on 4.5, 7.5 and 12MHz but it closed in 1987.
1194 got shut off before midnight. Outrage! 
2 Likes