Saorview Updates - 2024

Ta for the info The Cush. As I said IIRC and I obv didnt.

Any predictions on what the radio EPG will look like if RTE stick to their word and shutdown the digital radio stations? (Except gold)

No. You are not wrong as hell. I would say they will keep RTE Gold and Radio maria Ireland. Thats my opinion

I could see Radio 1 moving to 201 and RTE Gold put on 205.

The new DG Kevin Backwards (or whatever his name is) did announce it back in November.

Oh. Did he say where the funding was going to come from? This will require all original content and probably have an even smaller audience than the (cost almost nothing) digital stations they're cutting.

Good idea of course

I came here looking for a reason why my HDHomerun bitrate for RTE2 had dropped from 8Mbps down to ~3Mbps. My eyes have not noticed a huge difference but I did notice more pixelation watching the rugby just now where there is a close up of grass. Also around the RTE2 logo in the top right. Thanks for the info.

Thinking out loud here, I wonder if the recent squeeze on bitrates on Saorview Mux 1 (with the current large amount of null PIDs), instead of preparing space for new services, is instead an ongoing test for 2RN looking at potentially reducing the transmission powers combined with a change in the transmission parameters to make them more rugged in lieu of a power reduction? Changing the current parameters from 64QAM FEC 2/3 to either 64 QAM FEC 1/2 or 16QAM FEC 3/4 would give a multiplex capacity of ~18 Mbps (which is a little more than what Mux 1 is being squeezed at right now) while dropping the required reception SNR by ~3db, allowing 2RN to cut transmitter ERP's in half but give the same effective coverage area?

For a while now I've noticed some breakup on Saorview, thought it might be my own internal wiring, haven't got around to putting a meter on it since. Signal & quality reading on the TV is 98% and 100% respectively. Over 90 km from Mullaghanish here.

One argument against changing the parameters, they have lit up some LCNs with test cards, for future channels on that spare capacity maybe?

I would say is that could happen here too if they put new channels on saorview on channels 9 10 28 31 and 32

I doubt Saorview will ever transfer over to being a DVB-T2 only platform unless there's two specific reasons (1) being that new UHF frequency use constraints force it to provide all services on one 7 or 8 MHz frequency block, or (2) all TV services on the platform were to be upgraded to HD without a third multiplex being powered up. There's no capacity issues for the Saorview platform ATM compared to other countries that have or are planning to convert to DVB-T2 and while most receivers in the state should be DVB-T2 compatible (IIRC all Saorview approved receivers since 2013 are required to be DVB-T2 compatible with MPEG4 video - though it's worth remembering all the non-Saorview badged equipment that was floating around over a decade ago!), it would be too much of a technical upheaval compared to running two DVB-T multiplexes in a more rugged reception mode - but at half the current ERP - giving close to the same combined bitrate payload as one DVB-T2 multiplex (if configured like PSB3 in the UK).

@The Cush I'm not sure myself what point running four testcard channels on Mux 2 are for - combined they are running at a video bitrate of 2.5 Mbps which could easily provide for 1 SD service, two at a push, but they couldn't run four separate video services with the 0.6-0.7 Mbps bitrate they're running right now for each testcard. I'm of the opinion that 2RN are running these testcards for internal technical testing in conjunction with the testing on Mux 1 with the large amount of null packets on that multiplex right now - if it's not for new services, then it might well be a transmission configuration change that I mention in my last post on this thread. If they're doing neither, then I wonder what exactly are they doing technically as it just seems a waste otherwise.

As a final observation, the reduction of available bitrate for RTÉ 1 (Mux 2) on Saturday night during the ESC was very noticeable IMO with strobe effects etc.

The bitrate for the ESC Grand Final on Saturday was down to SVT providing lower than expected technical broadcasting requirements for the 2 semi-finals & the Grand Final. SVT were only providing HD broadcasts at 1080p 25fps as opposed to 1080P 50fps.

There is an article here about the broadcast requirements for the ESC held in Malmo.

I didn't watch the final on RTÉ One on Saturday. I watched it on BBC One instead.

It had a better quality picture as opposed to RTÉ.

That's the way it should be done with rte radio channels on saorview

It has. I initially didn't notice it but the Eurovision was a dead giveaway with all of the panning and lighting effects.