Tuesday, November 29, 2011

ASEAN pushing for analogue TV shutoff in 2015 – PTV4 chief

by Domingo B. Natividad V

QUEZON CITY, Nov. 29 (PIA) -- The migration happens in 2015 – that is, for television transmission in ASEAN member-countries from analogue to digital format.

On Tuesday’s “Talking Points” radio program at DZRB-Radyo ng Bayan, People’s Television – Channel 4 (PTV4) General Manager Renato Caluag revealed that the Association of Southeast Asian Nation (ASEAN) is pushing for the digital TV migration, which he described as “beneficial” for the TV audience.

Caluag said there has been a series of ASEAN meetings in various parts of Asia – of which the latest happened in Manila - related to the television digital transmission. “The main point of the series of meetings is to prepare the region on (TV) digital transmission,” he said.

Though, he said, this is not a binding agreement among ASEAN members, yet they are receptive of the global standards. This, as “the world is going digital,” he said. Thus, the ASEAN is now looking into what is referred to as ‘the regional analogue shut off” in 2015.

As to its readiness to shift into digital TV transmission, he said “some (ASEAN) nations are more prepared than others because they consider this economical.” Two countries he identified are Singapore and Brunei Darussalam. The other member-countries of ASEAN are Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar, and the Philippines.

Though lagging behind in readiness, the implementation phase in the Philippines – maybe not exactly in 2015 – “but not too long after that.” For now the Philippine government is at the process of formally adapting the standards. He also said that the government is being careful as this is a “big decision” which involves the masses, who are used with the conventional television set.

Caluag explained that the current analogue TV transmission refers to the mode of broadcast using the very high frequency (VHF) band. In the Philippines, TV networks that broadcast through VHF bandwidth are Channels 4, 2, 5, 7, 9, and 13, also called as “free TV”.

He said the viewership in the country “is still predominantly on free TV” with television as a primary medium of mass communication. “TV ownership is 87-90 percent of total households nationwide” which are still on free TV apart from those being serviced by cable networks.

Once the digital transmission is in place, Caluag explains that Juan dela Cruz would need to have a “digital set top box” installed on their current TV sets to receive the digital signal.

But this “digital box” comes with a cost that the government is still formulating measures on how to address this that will not cost much to one’s budget. “Ito ay masusi pang pinag-aaralan, dahil doon magkakaroon ang cost to consumers,” he said. He said they are looking into two systems of approach related to the digital box cost – the considerably expensive and the subsidized.

But Caluag is quick to point out that cost should not undermine the upside of the digital transmission. “Remember that everything digital becomes cheaper over time,’ he said.

He also underscored the fact that digital TV transmission “would be clearer in audio and in higher resolution (picture quality)”. He likened the digital migration to the audio and picture quality produced through a “DVD” from that of a “Betamax”.

Apart from this, he pointed out that digital TV transmission would help create more free TV channels in the country. He said the current TV frequencies “will be subdivided into multiplex transmissions” – meaning, more TV channels. He reasoned that having “more channels (mean) more room for product segmentation – and information will cascade faster”. (PIA-NCR/ RJB/ DBNV)

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