DTV and Linux
This guide attempts to provide an overview to receiving FTA digital TV transmissions in New Zealand. The New Zealand freeview FTA (free to air) service utilises two broadcast methods -
- DTH – Direct to Home satellite service via Optus D1
- DTT – Digital terrestrial television via UHF
If you want to try out DTT under Linux yourself I suggest you take a look at the following guide on
DTH Technical Details
The DTH service utilises two half transponders on the Optus D1 satellite. Each half transponder is capable of providing upto 9 services.
| Setting | Transponder 1 | Transponder 2 |
|---|---|---|
| Frequency | 12456000 | 12483000 |
| Polarity | Horizontal | Horizontal |
| Symbol Rate | 22500000 | 22500000 |
| FEC | 3/4 | 3/4 |
| Inversion | Auto | Auto |
| Transmission Encoding | DVB-S |
| Transmission Stream | MPEG-2 TS |
| Video Encoding | MPEG-2 |
| Audio Encoding | MP2 |
| Video Resolutions | 4:3 576i, 16:9 576i |
DTT Technical Details
The DTT services is transmitted via UHF, covering 75% of the New Zealand population. Initially 3 multiplexes will be in use capable of providing between 18 and 20 services.
| Multipex A | Television New Zealand |
| Multiplex B | MediaWorks |
| Multiplex C | Kordia |
The current design allows for upto 2 additional multiplexes to be added at some point in the future.
Unlike the DTH service they have decided to utilise H.264 AVC (MPEG-4) for the video encoding, and a combination of HE-AAC and AC-3 for the audio. There will be a mix of SD and HD services.
| Transmission Encoding | DVB-T |
| Transmission Stream | MPEG-2 TS |
| Video Encoding | H.264 |
| Audio Encoding | HE-AAC, AC3 |
| Video Resolutions | 4:3 576i, 16:9 576i, 720p50, 1080i50 |
Full technical details of the DTT service as well as the transmission sites can be found on Kordia’s Website.
Channels
| Num | Name | 16:9 | DTH | DTH SID | DTT | DTT SID | DTT HD | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
1 | TV One | Y | 12483H | 1035 | Mux A | 1200 | 720p |
 |
2 | TV 2 | Y | 12483H | 1036 | Mux A | 1201 | 720p |
 |
3 | TV 3 | Y | 12456H | 1920 | Mux B | 1300 | 1080i |
 |
4 | C4 | Y | 12456H | 1921 | Mux B | 1301 | SD |
 |
5 | Maori Television | Y | 12483H | 1025 | Mux C | 1400 | SD |
 |
6 | TVNZ 6 | Y | 12483H | 1904 | Mux A | 1202 | SD |
 |
7 | TVNZ 7 | Y | 12483H | 1038 | Mux A | 1203 | SD |
 |
8 | TV 3 PLUS1 | Y | 12456H | 1922 | Mux B | 1302 | SD |
 |
20 | TVNZ Sports Extra | Y | Mux A | 1204 | SD | ||
 |
21 | Stratos | N | 12456H | 1922 | |||
 |
22 | Parliament TV | Y | 12456H | 1923 | Mux C | 1401 | SD |
 |
23 | Cue | N | 12456H | 1924 | |||
 |
24 | Te Reo | Y | 12456H | 1925 | |||
 |
30 | tvCentral | Mux C | 1408 | SD | |||
 |
50 | Radio NZ National | 12456H | 1929 | Mux C | 2000 | Radio | |
 |
51 | Radio NZ Concert | 12456H | 1930 | Mux C | 2001 | Radio | |
 |
70 | George FM | 12456H | 1935 | Radio | |||
 |
71 | Base FM | 12456H | 1936 | Mux C | 2002 | Radio | |
 |
100 | freeview|HDâ„¢ | Y | Mux C | 1406 | 720p |
DTH/DTT Hardware
Details of hardware that is know to support digital television under Linux. More details can be found at the linuxtv.org Wiki.
| Card | Bus | DTH | DTT | Analogue | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Freecom USB Stick | USB2 | Y | |||
| Hauppauge WinTV Nova-S | PCI | Y | |||
| Hauppauge WinTV-Nova-T-500 | PCI | Y | |||
| Hauppauge HVR 4000 | PCI | Y | Y | Y | Only one tuner can be used at any time |
| Hauppauge HVR 900 | USB2 | Y | Not in mainline kernel, only mono audio for analogue | ||
| Hauppauge WinTV-HVR-2200‎ | PCIe | N | PCIe card – Driver in Development | ||
| Technisat SkyStar 2 | PCI | Y | Only supported by revision 2.6 or below hardware | ||
| Technotrend S-1401 | PCI | Y | |||
| Technotrend S-1500 | PCI | ||||
| Technotrend T-1500 | PCI |
Tools + Libraries
Here is an overview of some Linux video tools and their level of support for the DTH and DTT services.
| Tool | DTH | DTT | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| mplayer 1.0rc2 | Yes | Partial | Poor video support, no audio support for DTT |
| mplayer 1.0svn | Yes | Yes | Video issues with interlaced DTT channels |
| ffmpeg svn | Yes | Partial | No audio support for DTT |
| vlc | Yes | Partial | |
| MythTV 0.20 | Yes | No | |
| MythTV 0.21 | Yes | Partial | Interlaced video issues, and cannot support HE-AAC audio |
| Kaffine | |||
| totem |
| Library | Notes |
|---|---|
| libfaad2 | Provides support for HE-AAC Currently cannot support LATM encapsulated AAC audio frames, which is required for DTT Support MPlayer SVN has a custom patch for this support |
Useful links and references
- freeview’s website
- OpenMedia’s page on Digital TV
- Overview on Digital TV at pvr.geek.nz
- freeview and DRM info at pvr.geek.nz
- Wikipedia has a page on FreeView in NZ