The Brazilian experience has not been a good one. Expensive ISDB-Tbr products, low number of users, very low roll out of the digital transmissions and low number of programs to be watched are now the portrait of the vicious cycle that was installed.

Many of the views above are technically relevant in developed countries but the main issue in developing countries is affordability. Poor should be the main beneficiaries of the FTA Digital TV project, as it is sometimes the only cheap option of entertainment. The rest of people can consume media through other means (HD payTV, HD contend download, blueRay, etc)

If you look from this perspective, the rest of the technical discussion loses a lot of its importance. Technical discussions are sometimes very subtle, particularly if you consider that the Digital TV standard, if well planned in terms of coverage, has no influence on the picture quality experienced by the customer. Many Standard comparisons are fake, because they still rely on old analog paradigms. Quality of a Standard, in the digital age, is much more related to spectrum efficiency, robustness of the transmission, etc., issues that the end user never will perceive. The only issue poor man really perceives is how deep he must stretch his hand into the pocket.

In this context I would take care of bedding in ISDB-Tr, a Brazilian niche-market invention which never got any major backing. It was decided at highest political level, in a year of presidential elections. There is almost no eco-system to support further development or its sustainability. As this is now being recognized, other countries beyond Latin America are being invited to join the party and to pay the bill. ISDB-Tbr seems to have all the ingredients to stay stuck and internationally isolated, similarly to what happened with former Brazilian analog standard (the PAL-M standard, which was a unique combination of PAL and NTSC standards).

In times of standard globalization for the benefits of people, with GSM and UMTS becoming irrefutable examples, it seems a bit odd bedding on Digital TV niche-market Standards. In fact this all seems now to be framed in a broader political bed. If you read the local news in Brazil you will notice that actual Government is pushing the south-south alignment, making also agreements with Iran, Venezuela, Cuba, etc. to show its importance in being able to align secondary markets, all this as a way to get a permanent sit in the UN security council.

THE BEST FTA DIGITAL TV STANDARD FOR A DEVELOPING COUNTRY IS THAT ONE WHO FITS IN THE POCKET OF POOR PEOPLE. THAT’S FOR SURE NOT ISDB-Tbr. THE REST IS DISCUSSION FOR THOSE WHO LIKE TECHNOLOGY AND CAN AFFORD OTHER MEANS OF WATCHING MEDIA. AND FOR THOSE WHO ARE DRIVING POLITICS.

No use being better…….south africans prefer the “BEST” = DVB-T2

Thanks so much!!!!

Better is not enough, it´s got to be the best!!!!

For South Africa, the best is DVB-T2!

DVB-T2 is sure better for South Africa economically and socially, specially for public tv, BBC is very happy with DVB-T2!

DVB-T2 is increadibly modern, worth adopting!

DVB-T2 IS SUPERIOR THAN ISDB-T!!!! FACT!!!!!
ISDB-T IS SUPERIOR THAN DVB-T!!!! FACT!!!!

LET´S TEST DVB-T2 WITH ISDB-T SO WE CAN TELL THE TRUTH!!!! BOTH DVB-T2 AND ISDB-T ARE JUST AS NEW, EXCEPT DVB-T2 HAS THE MOST MODERN MODULATION, WHICH IS IN “CONSTALATION” FORM, GIVING DVB-T2 BETTER PERFORMANE, BETTER EFFICIENCY, BETTER CAPACITY, AND ECONOMY FOR 8mhz countries like SOUTH AFRICA!!!!

LET´S NOT MIX THINGS!!!! DVB-T2 IS THE MOST ADVANCED STANDARD IN THE WORLD AND TUNERS ARE AREADY CHEAPER THAN BRAZIL!!!!!!

LET´S COMPARE ISDB-T WITH DVB-T2!!!!! DVB-T2 WINS!!!!! SORRY!!!!!

THE REST IS POLITICS…..

That’s pretty funny, if DVB-T was so superior than ISDB-T I guess government wouldn’t have rethink their adoption.

This only happened because in the SADC comparative tests ISDB-T was superior to the DVB-T.

All countries that have not adopted a digital tv system are adopting ISDB-T. In asia, Philippines and India are so interesting in ISDB-T. Some countries are even reviewing its adoption as the Uruguay.

Unfortunately some people only think about the money they invested. For them no matter the country, but the money will win.

1) Brazil urgently needs scale to put decoder´s prices down: That´s why they´re crying and praying for South Africa to adopt ISDB.
In Japan, a digital tv tuner ISDB-T with MPEG 2, costs US$51,00.
In Brazil, which is a modified ISDB-T (not compatible with Japan), using MPEG 4, costs R$ 349,00, which is US$200,00. Way too expensive for social benefits in South Africa.
The good news is that decoders for “DVB-T2″ in the U.K. are costing US$55,00, much less than Brazil!!!!

2) Data coding for DVB-T2 is MPEG-4, given that DVB-T2 has proven higher performance than ISDB-T, having much more spectrum efficiency, given it is a newer standard. DVB-T2 was specialy designed for 8 mhz channels, which fits perfeclty South Africa´s case. ISDB doesn´t have a single transmitter built for 8mhz at work anywhere in the world. Another expensive item which can become a scale problem.

3) DVB-T2 midleware MHP has the most advanced interactivity tools in the world with ZERO royalties.
MHP includes: A) T-GOVERNMENT
B) TAXATION OFFICE
C) POST OFFICE SERVICES
D) E-BANKING SERVICES
C) JOB VACANCIES

4) South African industry and players involved in this decision supports DVB-T2, unlike brazilian reality, where their industry and broadcasters always supported ISDB. 2 different realities! But the most important of all, is that technically DVB-T2 is superior, and NOW BECOMING CHEAPER THAN ISDB from Brazil!!!!

Facts !

1) Data coding uses MPEG-4 standard. The better standard that we have today. This allows multiprogramming, allows transmit untill 8 programs in the same channel with SDTV quality.
DVB-T uses MPEG-2.

2) The ISDB-T middleware, Ginga, is the most advanced in the world, is the only one that is totaly FREE and supports all middleware’s features (supports live edition interactive applications, development for multipe devices, media objects syncronism, adaptability and the best support for development socials applications).

There’s a cool site that provides Ginga interactive applications (include de code). There’s games, interactive programs, t-health applications, t-learning applications, and a lot of others. To run applications we need an emulator and a ginga-ncl virtual set-top-box. We can download this tools in this website too.
http://www.grupogingagoias.com.br