Set-top boxes adequate for digital switchover

I refer to the letter titled Digital Switchover (November 12). Free-to-air Maltese digital TV broadcasts will be transmitted on UHF channel 66, one of the radio-frequency channels reserved for free-to-air digital TV broadcasts. It is not excluded that...

I refer to the letter titled Digital Switchover (November 12). Free-to-air Maltese digital TV broadcasts will be transmitted on UHF channel 66, one of the radio-frequency channels reserved for free-to-air digital TV broadcasts. It is not excluded that VHF could also be used in the future. It is thus advisable to buy a digital set-top box with frequency range that spans both the UHF and VHF bands.

These broadcasts will be using the DVB-T transmission standards and will be encoded in MPEG-2, a standard for the generic coding of moving pictures and associated audio information.

The system will support both 4:3 picture format as well as the more modern 16:9 widescreen format. An electronic programme guide in the DVB-SI format will also be broadcast alongside the TV channels.

In short, the following are the minimum specifications of a set-top box that can be used to watch free-to-air digital Maltese TV:

Feature: Specification/Standard.

Frequency range: VHF/UHF.

Broadcasting standard: DVB-T fully compliant.

Compression coding: MPEG-2

EPG: DVB-SI.

Picture quality and size: SD, 4:3 and 16:9.

Language: English.

Set-top boxes conforming to these minimum specifications should work fine to watch the free-to-air Maltese TV in digital. The same applies to all digital (DVB-T) receivers found in digital TV sets and other equipment such as personal video recorders.

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