Kenya will officially switch on its digital TV signal in 2015; let’s focus on what this is all about. Firstly, digital TV is not HDTV(High Definition T.V) although it can be used to broadcast HDTV. It’s more like DStv, except that instead of broadcasting a programme via satellite, the programme is broadcast using the terrestrial transmitters that are used for analogue broadcasts such as the KTN and KBC. Most HDTV sets and all HD-ready sets sold do not have a tuner that is capable of receiving the digital TV broadcast (in much the same way as they don’t have a built-in satellite receiver capable of receiving DStv), which is why you would need to buy a digital TV set-top box. One of the fundamental benefits of digital TV over analogue is that:
1. They can fit several channels in the same spectrum that a normal analogue station occupies. It is also possible to broadcast interactive content similar to DStv, such as the EPG (electronic programme guide) on Dstv Channel 1. Kenya has standardised on the DVB-T standard, which is used in most places around the world, with the notable exception of the United States of America. Kenya has chosen to use H.264/MPEG4 AVC codec to encode the video.
MPEG-4 offers much higher compression, meaning that we can potentially get several more channels than with MPEG-2. However, one must be careful when purchasing a set-top box or digital TV tuner and ensure that it supports H.264 decoding.
So, should you rush out and buy a digital TV tuner? Absolutely not! For one, you will be hard pressed to find one available for purchase, let alone one that plays the H.264 video. As it stands, there is no significant advantage to getting a digital TV set-top box right now. Quality-wise, it is on a par with analogue, provided you have good analogue reception (if you don’t, you probably won’t pick up the digital TV broadcast). Content-wise, you get two additional TV channels. Future content providers may encrypt their channels using one of several encryption schemes, so a wait-and-see approach might be better in the long run, before plonking down for a box that might not be able to access those channels.
Bearing in mind that this is still a trial phase of digital TV broadcasting, I am sure there will be more content, EPG, interactive services (such as the intention of the government to provide public services), and better quality broadcasts to come in future when digital set-top boxes are launched. In addition, the DVB-T standard allows the broadcast of DVB-H content simultaneously, which will allow people to watch digital content on their cellphones or portable media players. This is certainly a technology to get excited about and I look forward to the day when the infrastructure is in place and the content providers come to the party.
