Freeview Plus difficulties

I have a beautiful Bang & Olufsen Beovision Avant 55" with built in HbbTV - this is what Freeview Plus runs on.

There is an incompatibility somewhere and given that my TV (along with most TV's nowadays) is software based, B&O have been trying to work with Freeview NZ to get the required information to provide me with a working HbbTV solution.

However, I'm caught in the middle of a breakdown in discussions between Bang & Olufsen HQ in Denmark and Freeview Plus NZ, whereby Freeview have "blacklisted" Bang & Olufsen.

Come on you guys, stop being so immature and get on with the job.

This behaviour seems typical to me with a lot of New Zealand businesses, making them difficult to deal with because of their bad attitude towards customers.

The Freeview Plus concept is a brilliant one and I'm pleased to see that we are an early adopter of the technology.

B&O need the information they request to get my Freeview Plus working and therefore I request that you please do so.

I'm posting this here in the absence of any other way to contact you people.

regards,

Brent.

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Permalink Reply by forumuser on February 19, 2016 at 12:15

Hi Brent

Thankyou for getting in touch, I'll get the right person to contact you for response either on here or by the email you provided on sign up.

We will do the best we can to help with the issue you are currently having.

Thanks
Joshua

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Permalink Reply by Brent McCracken on February 19, 2016 at 12:30

nice one, thanks.

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Permalink Reply by forumuser on February 22, 2016 at 23:03

Hi Brent, I have spoken to Freeview their response below:

They aren’t black listed – as with all manufacturers they need to go through the development and testing process. Every HbbTv deployment is slightly different.

We [Freeview] are more than happy to work with B&O on this so suggest that the viewer keeps talking to the manufacturer of his product.

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Permalink Reply by Brent McCracken on February 29, 2016 at 18:31

Hello again,

Given that HbbTV is an open standard, can you please confirm to me that Freeview NZ have not in any way altered or deviated from that standard ?

Also, because it is a standard, any device that complies with the HbbTV 1.5 standard, should be able to receive Freeview Plus. That is, unless, you have locked it down so that only "certified" models can receive Freeview Plus. You wouldn't do something like that would you?

Regards,

Brent.

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Permalink Reply by forumuser on March 1, 2016 at 15:05

Hi Brent

Yes HbbTV is open source, so literally anyone can make apps and software as long it complies with its own certification.
FreeviewPlus is not open source and because the content contains content which is copyrighted from the broadcasters and studio outputs, the HbbTV product needs to be certified from Freeview in order for the manufacturer to be able to use it. Freeview is very open to new manufacturers but at the end of the day it is up to the manufacturers to talk to Freeview, not vice versa.
FreeviewPlus is the only HbbTV application transmitting on the network. If there were others then any TV are free to decode and display.
The Freeview certification guarantees using the FreeviewPlus logo, feature on the website and comprehensive support from both the manufacturer and from me (Freeview Forum Online)

Thanks
Josh

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Permalink Reply by Brent McCracken on March 1, 2016 at 15:27

Josh, I'm not quite sure what you mean by your second bullet point. Can you please clarify that a bit.
Are you saying that Freeview plus is not open to use by any manufacturer unless you have certified them? If so, does that mean you lock it somehow? I don't understand what the copyright has to do with it as all the channels available on Freeview Plus are Free to Air channels, which anyone in the country can receive with a standard television and aerial.

I'm trying to find out where the breakdown is between my TV set and Freeview plus. I certainly get the Freeview plus pop up on my television.

Cheers.

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Permalink Reply by forumuser on March 1, 2016 at 15:41

Hi Brent

Can you please send an email to freeviewadmin@freeviewnz.tv and you can reference this Forum page from someone with more authority.

Many Thanks
Josh

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Permalink Reply by willis on March 2, 2016 at 1:09

certified probably means things like channels in a specific order and no delete or move in the channel edit menu

did you immigrate with it?

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Permalink Reply by forumuser on March 2, 2016 at 10:14

The documents that are issued out to manufacturers can be found at the Freeview Website here: http://www.freeviewnz.tv/company/equipment-supply-chain/

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Permalink Reply by Brent McCracken on March 2, 2016 at 11:33

Nope, it is built for the Australasian market. Purchased new here in NZ

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Permalink Reply by Brent McCracken on March 2, 2016 at 11:35

Thanks Josh. Does this cover Freewiew Plus as well?

I'm curious to know, given that the brand "Freeview" and "Freeview Plus" is used in NZ, Australia and the U.K., are all the systems identical?

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Permalink Reply by forumuser on March 3, 2016 at 10:34

Hi Brent

It should cover FreeviewPlus as the info was added with HbbTV. Although the UK, Australia and New Zealand Freeview have the same name and same scope, each operates differently and separately. The UK system uses different technology to encode content which most of the receivers will not work with NZ specifications, Australia however work on similar specs and receivers can be brought over between countries and work, the Freq range is different but can be manually tuned in.