ABC turns HD on December 6
All the details you need, including retune info, for ABC HD.
- Published by David Knox
- on
From Tuesday December 6 ABC’s primary channel will be available in High Definition.
New Year’s Eve fireworks will be the first major event in High Definition.
Here’s all the details you will need, including retune info, thanks to ABC:
Viewers with HD compatible TVs (with MPEG-4 functionality) will be able to experience ABC in spectacular HD, including this year’s New Year’s Eve fireworks.
Viewers without an HD compatible television will still be able to continue to watch ABC in standard definition on channel 2 and 21.
To accommodate the HD upgrade there is a minor change which will impact ABC News 24. ABC News 24 will change from HD to SD (whilst remaining on channel number 24). So viewers who previously couldn’t receive ABC News 24 (because they didn’t have an HD TV set) , will be able to watch ABC News 24 following this change in December.
You may need to re-tune your TV sets to be able to receive ABC HD and ABC News 24.
As part of this update we have changed ABC News 24 to a standard definition playout. This remains on channel 24, but because it converted from the old HD to SD, some viewers who previously couldn’t access it will now be able to do so.
ABC stays on 2 and 21 and stays in standard definition format.
ABC HD is new on 20 in the new HD (MPEG-4) format
ABC2 stays on 22 and stays in standard definition format.
ABC ME stays on 23 and stays in standard definition format.
ABC News 24 stays on 24 and will now be in standard definition format.
You may need to retune your TV to get ABC HD.
All TVs are different. Your TV instruction manual will give you specific instructions on how to retune.
Usually it’s as simple as the following process:
Turn on your TV
On the TV remote control, click on the MENU button
On your TV screen look for the SET UP, CONFIGURATION or TUNING option and select it
Then look for AUTO TUNE or RESCAN option and select it. Then wait for it to fully initiate
The retune process should take about 4 – 5 minutes to scan for all available channels
After the retune, you will find all ABC channels in the same place, but you should additionally find ABC HD when you go to channel 20.
If channel 20 isn’t appearing or appears faulty (audio only), it means your TV isn’t HD MPEG-4 compatible.
ABC News 24 is HD broadcast using MPEG-2, where the new ABC HD will be an upgrade to the HD and uses MPEG-4. If you can see ABC News 24 before the change, but can’t see ABC HD on channel 20 after retuning your television, this probably means that your TV is not MPEG-4 compatible.
Most TV sets, set top boxes, PVRs and Freeview devices purchased from 2009 onwards will be compatible.
Foxtel:
At this stage ABC HD will be available for cable customers only. It will be on Foxtel channel number 202.
Phone 1300 222 4388 for more help.
Refer: ABC is changing to HD
16 Responses
But will it be 1080i or 720p MPEG-4 HD? I believe News 24 was/is still 720p MPEG-2.
So, if you don’t have a MPEG4 TV, you will now lose the only HD ABC channel you had. The 7Flix introduction showed how few people have MPEG4. I understand that there is a drive towards it, but at this stage it seems to be a retrograde step.
Viewers without MPEG-4 decoding will still be able to watch ABC in SD. Also I doubt many people would care about News24 being HD.
It’ll be an interesting week, will my mobile phone still work on Dec 1 (2G switch-off) and will the FF button work for ABC HD on Dec 6 (PVR time-shifting)? I suspect a double negative.
David I think the final sentence should probably be amended to:
*For Foxtel viewers* ABC HD will be available for cable customers only. It will be on Foxtel channel number 202.
Need to start some crowd funding to pay for a new TV.
Whilst this is sort of good news, it still means that TV sets have to be MPEG-4 capable. Not ABC’s fault, but have any governments ever got anything right re Aust’n TV? From the start “only need 10 channels”, put 3 & 4 in the FM band because Menzies believed “FM radio is a passing fad and will never be introduced in Australia”. Then 10 channels had to become 13 in the same space, so move 4 (which viewers could no longer see), squeeze in 5a, add 0 & 11, which sets of the day couldn’t receive. Then not utilise UHF until aggregation forced it, then go for MPEG2 when all around us were MPEG4 (NZ, PNG), abolish the ABCB to replace it with the toothless ACMA, 12 mins/hr of commercials now 20+ (but who cares?), and “datacasting only” allowed to carry 24/7 advertising and racing. Then there was allowing the sale of SD STBs as “this is all you need, absolutely”.
To be fair, Australia started DTV in 2001 – and MPEG-4 Part 10 (i.e. AVC video) wasn’t released until 2003.
We _were_ one of the first in the world with “mandatory” HD (even if it was MPEG-2) from the start – but we all know how our broadcasters (abetted by several pundits and “experts”) decided to handle that…
The broadcasters collectively advocated for 2001 HD channel rules. There was no adaption, just implementation of a pre-existing plan. The main aim was to ensure a lack of new players to the FTA market.
100% spot on. The govt knew from at least 2005 that MPEG4 would be important sooner or later, yet they did absolutely nothing to encourage its use or support.
I recon new Doctor Who finally in HD on Boxing Day will be the first major event. 😉
I mean reckon! (I blame auto-correct.)
This is great news. Looking forward to Fireworks in HD.
so that will leave stupid ch7 in some states where 7 is not in HD but is still 7mate.
Yeap, so the small number of people who watch AFL in those states can watch it again in March 2017.
Yes, and I hope advertisers realise that I refuse to watch Channel 7 in SD. In fact the only time all year I’ve watched anything on 7 is the Olympics.