BBC 3D programming 'on hold' indefinitely

[Chug a Bug]

My TV set certainly wasn't cheap. I've had it a few years, apparently the sets built before a certain time, 2009 I think, don't have the HD tuner built in, at all. I actually get a better SD picture with my Humax box than with the Freeview mode on the TV set, I think the box is better at upscaling than the circuitry inside the TV set.

The swapping channels for local content between BBC one and BBC one HD is my personal bugbear with it, its a PITA.

[Scubbie]

Apologies, I should have qualified things a little better.

Yes I believe that you are correct about TVs made before a certain date too. Freeview HD has not been around for as long as Freeview. It would have been unnecessary to include the HD tuners in TVs that were aimed at the UK market initially. HD TVs were also quite expensive at first.

However if you look at the TVs being sold cheaply in the supermarkets or on-line, you will nearly always find that the cheapest HD TVs do not include a HD tuner.

Many people will be unaware of the fact until too late.

[James_Mitchell]

I was also unaware of the Freeview HD thing here. Have 2 HD TV's here both with FreeView built in, but it seems only 1 has FreeView HD.

Only discovered this when I had to have scaffolding erected on one side of my house the other week, the side where my Sky dish is, so until the dish was temporally moved, I had no Sky for 1 day and started using the built-in FreeView for the first time is ages.

[seawright]

I realise that it would be impossible to have all the local content for every area available on HD but surely it is not beyond the ability of modern technology to have an option to switch to the equivalent local SD channel when there isn't any content being broadcast on the HD channel in a similar way to that used on RDS radios to allow travel bulletins to take priority over other content. After all there are already programme start signals available to display reminders and switch recording on and off.

[dog-man]

Hmmm, they must know that I have fairly recently purchased a 55 inch smart tv and are out to spoil it for me.

3D is awesome on my television. I was always sceptical but decided the time was right and purchased one.

I have no complaints at all.
Even the HD transmissions can be converted to 3D on the fly by my television.



dog-man

[Rturner003]

I believe the problem for the BBC with Three and Four in HD is the availability of HD space on Freeview, but that does not excuse them on Sky except for cost.

[seawright]

Sky's view on the subject:
Sky 3D now in half a million homes

It’s early days for 3D TV in the home – and it is also fair to say that the market isn’t quite where some people had hoped it would be by now.

Certainly the on-going economic downturn has meant that households are tightening their belts and people have upgraded their TV sets to 3D at a slower rate than the industry first forecast. Some potential viewers may have also delayed experiencing 3D, preferring to wait for new technologies which mean they don’t have to wear glasses.

We’ve also recently seen some broadcasters scale back their 3D services. In the US sports broadcaster ESPN will cease 3D broadcasts by the end of the year, while in the UK after experimenting with a handful of shows the BBC has said it is going to put its 3D development on hold. And some industry critics say the technology side is still complex and adds extra cost to the production process, which some broadcasters struggle to recoup through their existing business models.

[JPL]

BBC 4 in HD next year: BBC News - BBC to launch five new HD channels as Freeview expands