Can a DM be a HD digital receiving Box

[fooklee]

Hi..
I am thinking of buying a DM 800 for receiving the FTA including HD channels after the D-date. Is it possible? I heard that MDA is stop broadcasting their FTA via Air in these two years. so i am thinking out of the box to get cheap receiver.

Any comments?
NB: I heard the existing $tarhub is encrypting the HD5 in their broadcasting...

[novaol]

Digital TV will cease to work at the end of the year which was announced earlier on press. StarHub is yet to announce of the new Negra N3 setup box for upgrading. So given that if they do announce say 15 Oct 2013, it would take about 3-6 months before everyone have upgraded their existing box (original) to take effect of the change from their current N1/N2 which they are using now. FTA might still work with the DM800 if you wanna buy but HD5 might not though I've heard that HDCNA/HD8/HDOCTO & HDU supposedly on the pipeline to be launch when SH have migrated to a new box in which like you said encrypted for SH subscriber's view.

And if you still insist, DM500 might just do the trick unless you are thinking of recording while you are out on your favourite shows then DM800 might be your best choice if not AC Ryan HD allows to record shows I think and it's cheaper too. Hope that helps!

[Hecate]

I may be relatively new here myself, but I think the information given above runs counter to what I have gathered to the extent of being misinformation, although I personally cannot guarantee whether anything will work come N3.

Digital TV will NOT cease to work at the end of the year, in fact, ****ogue will be simulcast till 2015, and plain DVB-T will still run alongside DVB-T2 - Are you ready for DVB-T2 broadcasts in Singapore? - Guide - TVs - CNET Asia. There is in fact no digital transmission of FTA channels via your cable if you hook it up directly to your TV, but an ****ogue broadcast converted from a digital source. Whether this ****og cable feed will still be around after N3 or 2015 switchover is unknown.

Most current SH boxes are already N3 compatible, and all is needed is a card change for many. Those who needed a box change would already have been notified. Deadline is likely somewhere late Oct from the other threads here, not 3-6 months later, but nobody really knows until it happens.

HD5 is currently unencrypted (my DB says so), and whether SH decides to encrypt FTA channels after d-day is still unknown.

I would say the potential and risk is 50-50. No point getting a DB for just FTA due to the cost, but I foresee that this would be one of the possible remaining uses left for it once D-Day is here, assuming that FTA on DVB-C remains unencrypted as it always has. At least we save on having to get an antenna (which is really dumb imho, they killed the rooftop in favour of SH handling the lines many years ago and now go back on their plan and want us all to go back to antennas), and a DVB-T2 set top box. Better to get HD5 via DVB-C.

Long story short, better to wait and see before putting money on a DB for FTA, especially if you don't already have one. If it really does work, by the time D-Day is here, the price would have likely plunged anyway, and perhaps would make more sense than now, when compared to DVB-T2 set top boxes.

[jatrophaseed]

HD5 is always encrypted , dont know what future decryption may bring. There is also Chn8i (for international audience ) too, wonder how many bros ever tune into this chn.