SA is inching closer to digital television as the South African Bureau of Standards (SABS) has released draft standards for the manufacture of set-top boxes (STBs).
STBs are needed by about 10 million households in SA so that the new digital signal can be converted for viewing on analogue sets. The country is set to turn on digital broadcast around September with switch off two years later.
SABS standards are one of the requirements for manufacturers to start production. Another issue that still needs to be resolved is STB controls, which should stop decoders made locally being stolen and sold outside of SA.
Urgency
According to the standards document, the public has until 16 May to comment on the proposals. A new set of standards is needed as SA has decided to migrate using the upgraded European DVB-T2 standard, instead of the initially approved DVB-T framework.
SABS says only 30 days have been given for comment because of the “urgent need of the document”.
The aim of the document is to provide requirements for STBs that, in conjunction with an analogue set, will provide “good quality video and sound” and to ensure the “lowest possible cost for the free-to-air set-top box”.
Feature-rich
Decoders will run on MHEG-5 middleware and will use MPEG-4 to decode standard and high-definition video. Subtitling in all of SA's official languages will also be available, as will an embedded parental control and interactive features.
The bureau's draft says the decoders will ignore any signals that are not digital terrestrial, such as satellite, to avoid “confusing the consumer”. The sets will tune in automatically, although a manual option is also available.
High-definition video will be capable of being down-converted to standard definition, notes the draft specification. Widescreen and the old-fashioned 4:3 picture output will also be supported.
The document specifies controls such as programme and volume selector, as well as connectors, which includes RF and HDMI. Each decoder will have a South African identification number stored internally, which will be the same as the box's serial number.
The standard is available here.
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