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PUBLISHER’S LETTER www.siliconchip.com.au Publisher & Editor-in-Chief Leo Simpson, B.Bus., FAICD Production Manager Greg Swain, B.Sc.(Hons.) Technical Staff John Clarke, B.E.(Elec.) Peter Smith Ross Tester Jim Rowe, B.A., B.Sc, VK2ZLO Rick Walters Reader Services Ann Jenkinson Advertising Enquiries Leo Simpson Phone (02) 9979 5644 Fax (02) 9979 6503 Regular Contributors Brendan Akhurst Rodney Champness, VK3UG Julian Edgar, Dip.T.(Sec.), B.Ed Mike Sheriff, B.Sc, VK2YFK Philip Watson, MIREE, VK2ZPW Stan Swan SILICON CHIP is published 12 times a year by Silicon Chip Publications Pty Ltd. ACN 003 205 490. ABN 49 003 205 490 All material copyright ©. No part of this publication may be reproduced without the written consent of the publisher. Printing: Hannanprint, Noble Park, Victoria. Distribution: Network Distribution Company. Subscription rates: $69.50 per year in Australia. For overseas rates, see the subscription page in this issue. Editorial & advertising offices: Unit 8, 101 Darley St, Mona Vale, NSW 2103. Postal address: PO Box 139, Collaroy Beach, NSW 2097. Phone (02) 9979 5644. Fax (02) 9979 6503. E-mail: silchip<at>siliconchip.com.au ISSN 1030-2662 Digital TV is a complete failure Hands up all those readers presently watching digital TV broadcasts. Not very many of you, are there? That’s probably why there weren’t any protests when the ABC announced the end of its childrens’ and youth digital channels (Fly TV and ABC Kids). Nobody was watching them anyway. Who cares? The fact is that if the Government’s timetable is adhered to, all the analog TV stations will cease broadcasting in five years’ time, in 2008. Bit of a problem that. In fact, I don’t know of anyone who has actually spent the $600 or so required to buy a digital TV decoder box. So my entire circle of friends and acquaintances won’t be watching much free-to-air TV in a few years’ time. Apparently, little more than 1% of Australian households have digital TV. Quite a few people might take up Pay TV but a large proportion of the Australian population does not have that option. So will all the rest lose their access to TV broadcasts in 2008? I don’t think so. In reality, there has been little reason at all for any one to purchase a digital decoder because there is no new programming (apart from the abovementioned killed-off ABC services). The Seven, Nine and Ten networks have been concentrating on digitis­ing their networks and currently offer a low-quality digital signal in tandem with their analog channels. Soon they are re­quired to offer HDTV signals and having seen test broadcasts on large screen sets, I can report that they look very, very impres­sive. But large HDTV sets will be very, very expensive as well. Actually, we came up with the only other reason to buy a digital TV decoder back in April 2001, when we reviewed the Thomson DTI352TH set top box. If you have analog reception plagued by ghosts, noise and interference, a set top box can make a major improvement. But the much-vaunted multi-viewing broadcasts with different camera angles on sports programs have yet to eventuate. It’s all been a big fizzer. And prices have dropped only marginally, if at all. So where to now? Senator Richard Alston, our esteemed Communications Minister, is presently thrashing around, lambast­ing the ABC for dropping out of the race, but there is not lot else he can do. He can see that he and the Government are going to have a lot of egg on their collective faces. Unless the cost of digital decoder boxes drops markedly and new digital channels or features become available, digital TV will continue to have very poor market penetration in Australia. All of this was predicted years ago of course, in this magazine and in the general media. So you can keep on happily watching your analog TV, safe in the knowledge that it will be there for years to come. Leo Simpson PS: unfortunately, we have had to increase our cover price this month. It’s our first price rise in three years. * Recommended and maximum price only. 2  Silicon Chip www.siliconchip.com.au