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Freedish set to undertake tech upgrade, to provide 64 channels
MUMBAI: Freedish, the free direct-to-home (DTH) service arm of Doordarshan, will be able to provide five more television channels and two more radio channels to its customers in MPEG2 as a result of a technology upgrade that will see the pubcaster replacing its old encoders and modulators with new ones.
The upgrade, which would be effective midnight of 9 January, would increase the number of TV channels from 59 to 64 and radio channels from 22 to 24.
To access the upgraded platform, viewers need to edit the transponder parameter by changing the symbol rate to 28500 kilo samples per second (KSPS) from 27500 KSPS in four transponders and retune/rescan their set-top box (STB) to receive the upgraded channels.
Subscribers who do not rescan their STB will get 10 channels for a period of seven days only, from the date of the upgrade. One of these ten channels is an informative channel which will show detailed procedure for retuning the STBs.
“We are upgrading the entire platform. Our earlier equipment were very old so we are replacing them with more efficient encoders and modulators which will allow us to push more channels using the same bandwidth without compromising on the quality,” Doordarshan deputy director general CK Jain told TelevisionPost.com.
The interesting part is that the DTH operator will use only four transponders to beam 64 channels. Earlier, it was utilising five transponders for beaming 59 channels.
The technology upgrade will free up one transponder which will be used for providing MPEG4 channels. Additionally, it has leased another transponder for providing MPEG4 channels. It plans to provide 48 channels in MPEG4 technology using the two transponders.
All in all, Freedish will have six transponders out of which four will be used to provide MPEG2 channels while the remaining two transponders will be used for MPEG4 channels.
“Presently, we are leasing five transponders for giving 59 MPEG2 channels. Now we will be upgrading to provide 64 channels by using only four transponders. We will be pushing 16 MPEG2 channels per transponders,” Jain stated.
He further added, “The fifth transponder will be used for providing MPEG4 channels. Apart from that, we have hired one more transponder for providing MPEG4 channels. So we will have six transponders out of which four will be used for MPEG2 and two for MPEG4. For MPEG4, we will be using two transponders to provide 48 MPEG4 channels.”
He also revealed that the MPEG4 upgrade will take some more time.
Jain said that Freedish will conduct an e-auction to fill in the vacant slots created due to the technology upgrade. “Now that we have capacity for five more channels, we will hold another auction to sell the vacant slots,” he informed.
SHAF Broadcast is the system integrator which is executing the upgrade on a turnkey basis.
SHAF Broadcast is the system integrator which is executing the upgrade on a turnkey basis.
Freedish set to undertake tech upgrade, to provide 64 channels | TelevisionPost.com
MUMBAI: Freedish, the free direct-to-home (DTH) service arm of Doordarshan, will be able to provide five more television channels and two more radio channels to its customers in MPEG2 as a result of a technology upgrade that will see the pubcaster replacing its old encoders and modulators with new ones.
The upgrade, which would be effective midnight of 9 January, would increase the number of TV channels from 59 to 64 and radio channels from 22 to 24.
To access the upgraded platform, viewers need to edit the transponder parameter by changing the symbol rate to 28500 kilo samples per second (KSPS) from 27500 KSPS in four transponders and retune/rescan their set-top box (STB) to receive the upgraded channels.
Subscribers who do not rescan their STB will get 10 channels for a period of seven days only, from the date of the upgrade. One of these ten channels is an informative channel which will show detailed procedure for retuning the STBs.
“We are upgrading the entire platform. Our earlier equipment were very old so we are replacing them with more efficient encoders and modulators which will allow us to push more channels using the same bandwidth without compromising on the quality,” Doordarshan deputy director general CK Jain told TelevisionPost.com.
The interesting part is that the DTH operator will use only four transponders to beam 64 channels. Earlier, it was utilising five transponders for beaming 59 channels.
The technology upgrade will free up one transponder which will be used for providing MPEG4 channels. Additionally, it has leased another transponder for providing MPEG4 channels. It plans to provide 48 channels in MPEG4 technology using the two transponders.
All in all, Freedish will have six transponders out of which four will be used to provide MPEG2 channels while the remaining two transponders will be used for MPEG4 channels.
“Presently, we are leasing five transponders for giving 59 MPEG2 channels. Now we will be upgrading to provide 64 channels by using only four transponders. We will be pushing 16 MPEG2 channels per transponders,” Jain stated.
He further added, “The fifth transponder will be used for providing MPEG4 channels. Apart from that, we have hired one more transponder for providing MPEG4 channels. So we will have six transponders out of which four will be used for MPEG2 and two for MPEG4. For MPEG4, we will be using two transponders to provide 48 MPEG4 channels.”
He also revealed that the MPEG4 upgrade will take some more time.
Jain said that Freedish will conduct an e-auction to fill in the vacant slots created due to the technology upgrade. “Now that we have capacity for five more channels, we will hold another auction to sell the vacant slots,” he informed.
SHAF Broadcast is the system integrator which is executing the upgrade on a turnkey basis.
SHAF Broadcast is the system integrator which is executing the upgrade on a turnkey basis.
Freedish set to undertake tech upgrade, to provide 64 channels | TelevisionPost.com
