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Topic
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I am on the Executive Committee of a small block of 11 units. The TV system is very soon to change from “Analog” to “DIGITAL”
Does current STRATA LAW require/demand that the entire building be up-graded by The Strata Plan to receive the DIGITAL TV “signal”.
The Department of Fair Trading seems to believe that The Strata, legally, only has to repair or maintain EXISTING facilities and is NOT legally
required to install NEW technology.
They seem to think we can advise owners and tenants to get their very own “Set-Top-Box” instead.
Someone said that the existing analogue TV antenna may be able to be
“retro-fitted” with some type of inexpensive Conversion Box that can pick-up
the new DIGITAL signal which can then be picked-up by the owners/tenants own personal Set-Top-Box which they, themselves, own.
Others have advised that all that is needed is a personally-owned Set-Top-Box to receive the DIGITAL signal.
I sure would appreciate receiving your comments on this topic.
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Replies
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Digital TV has been around for a number of years already, and no doubt many, if not all, of your residents are already enjoying it, either with dedicated TV sets or “set top boxes”. The only change to come will be that the analog system is being shut down.
In most cases there should be no need to change anything within the building, as existing aerials and wiring will cope. A quick survey of your residents who are receiving digital should give an indication of any problems.
Boronia is right. However, depending on the building’s layout and location relative to the transmitter, some people who have tolerated a slightly fuzzy picture on analogue may have problems. As analogue reception declines in quality you get ‘snow’ etc, but with digital there is a fairly ‘thin’ transition zone from the usual brilliant picture through intermittent pixellation to ‘no signal’. There are specialists in antenna installations for apartment blocks who can check your antenna and the various relays in your building. Even in my block in Sydney’s east, with all three transmitter sites visible from the roof, there can be some interference due to conventional antenna leads picking up adjacent channels from one of the other transmitters. Quad-core antenna leads can help with this.
From observation of the numbers of cathode-ray TVs (and even the huge projection units) put out for kerbside cleanups, there can’t be too many people still watching analogue.
Boronia is correct.
There is no need for a new aerial or wiring.
The OC’s responsibility ends at providing the signal to the TV wall plate.
The OC is not responsible for providing a set-top box, or a digital TV, or for setting those up, or for popping in to change channels, or for bringing viewers their slippers.
There is the possibility that, if the signal strength in your area is not great, you may need a new masthead amplifier, which goes on the communal aerial or up in the roof space, and is OC responsibility. That’s because with analogue, a low signal strength will manifest as a “snowy” picture, whilst with digital it will manifest as a “pixelated” picture, which is very hard to watch, or a “loss of signal” message.
But, if those of your residents already watching digital TV haven’t already complained about that, you’re probably OK.
Some other things you should know:
1) Most channels are broadcasting in SD (standard definition) rather than HD (high definition) anyway.
2) Set-top boxes (SD or HD) are very cheap.
3) But a LCD/LED digital TV is much better. A lot of the “clarity” associated with digital TV actually comes from a LCD/LED TV being able to directly use the digital signal to control its pixels, rather than by analoguely focussing an electron beam on fluorescent spots, as a CRT does.
Agree with Boronia, ex-Cathedra and Kangaroo. If, however, your residents haven’t switched to digital because the signal isn’t strong enough, then a different set of concerns come into play.
As previously said, unlike analog, where a degraded signal means a degraded reception, digital is pretty much either on or off so it is feasible that a building might survive reasonably well on analog but get nothing on digital.
Which brings us to the question: does the EC have to upgrade its aerial and cabling to receive digital? And do they have to provide set-top boxes for each unit?
Just a couple of weeks ago there was an Appeals Court ruling that the Owners Corporations duty to maintain and repair common property extends only to restoring the basic functionality of the CP.
In other words, you don’t have to raise the standards of your infrastrucuture to the latest levels, whatever they may be (unless there is a question of safety). So that means you don’t have to provide set-top boxes.
However, if your current system is incapable of receiving digital signals – for whatever reason – you have to restore its functionality and that means doing what is required to make it receive TV signals again. That said, you don’t have to provide the technology to turn those signals into TV pictures so, no, you don’t need to buy set-top boxes.
There is a very helpful website about the change to digital and you could do a lot worse than start HERE and follow the prompts until you find the answer you are looking for.
On a slightly different note, it would be worth getting a local retailer of TVs and DVD recorders to come in and address interested owners about what their options are. For instance, someone who records a lot of TV for “time shifting” purposes is going to find it very frustrating if they have to set their set-top box to be on the correct channel every time for shows that are recorded regularly.
With that in mind a digital hard drive recorder/tuner is the perfect piece of kit for embracing the new digital age.
The opinions offered in these Forum posts and replies are not intended to be taken as legal advice. Readers with serious issues should consult experienced strata lawyers.
A a member of the EC and an employee of the commerical television industry, I had our block upgraded back in 2008 to make sure we were ready for DTV.
This was largely driven by the residents who had bought great big HD flat screen TV’s that were not working that well on our system.
We replaced all the cabling, the splitters and the antenna.
I thought this to be more cost effective than trying to do it in a piece meal fashion as each resident complained after purchasing a new digital TV.
We were looking at $700 per unit to fix one at a time and $550 per unit to do all.
My block is circa 1970 and none of the existing infrastructure was digital capable. Mind you it was borderline for analogue services.
When I first moved in I applied for Foxtel as I had no luck convincing the EC to upgrade until I joined the EC.
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