F.A.Q.
1.*My broadcaster has announced a switch from MPEG-2 to MPEG-4 transmission. Can I upgrade my QS1080IR / QS1080IRCI / QC1080IR / QC1080IRCI to receive MPEG-4 transmissions?
Our current QS1080IR(CI) / QC1080IR(CI) receivers support MPEG-2 only. A software upgrade to MPEG-4 for these receivers is not possible, since MPEG-4 requires significant hardware changes as well.
At the moment there are no MPEG-4 receivers on the market yet. We have a MPEG-4 receiver in development, but it will not be ready before the last quarter of 2005. We have been working closely with Broadcom for the past years, and only just now we are receiving the first MPEG-4 HD chips. This will be similar for other chip vendors. Based on our experience it will take around a year to develop a receiver on a new chipset, and get it tested, certified and consumer-ready.
We do expect broadcasters like Euro1080 to continue MPEG-2 transmission well after December 2005, if only for the large customer base that is already enjoying HDTV on MPEG-2 receivers at this moment. A further press announcement regarding this topic will be made available in the week of 31-1-2005 jointly by Quali-TV and Euro1080.*
Please note that there is no difference in image quality between MPEG-2 and MPEG-4. MPEG-4 just implements a higher compression ratio, allowing broadcasters to use their available bandwidth more efficiently.