New True Visions Hd Box

[jsat]

The reason for the change to the new True set top boxes is because they are changing from the current Irdeto encryption subscription cards to the newest NDS encryption subscription cards which was announced globally, over 8 months ago ( http://thaisatellite...uevisions-.html ).

So shortly no 3rd party boxes will work at all, even with the new True subscription card so be prepared to loose it all when they turn off the Irdeto encryption.

Edited January 10, 2012 by astral
No need to quote the entire post, just relevant parts

[Pib]

The reason for the change to the new True set top boxes is because they are changing from the current Irdeto encryption subscription cards to the newest NDS encryption subscription cards which was announced globally, over 8 months ago ( http://thaisatellite...uevisions-.html ).

So shortly no 3rd party boxes will work at all, even with the new True subscription card so be prepared to loose it all when they turn off the Irdeto encryption.

What's your timeframe definition of "shorty?"

Apparently the new HD boxes can handle both Iredeto and NDS encryption since I'm assuming TrueVisioins is still using the Iredeto encryption since current TrueVisions SD and 3rd party boxes still work. Then again, maybe they are already transmitting NDS coded signals along with Iredeto encoded signals which means the HD boxes would use the NDS and the SD boxes use the Iredeto.

I also wonder if it's possible to transmit both the Iredeto and NDS encrypted signals using the current (or unused) bandwidth, especially on cable? Or, is it just the HD box is able to handle both Iredeto and NDS signals?

Edited January 10, 2012 by astral
No need to quote the entire posr, just relvant parts

[jsat]

What's your timeframe definition of "shorty?"

Apparently the new HD boxes can handle both Iredeto and NDS encryption since I'm assuming TrueVisioins is still using the Iredeto encryption since current TrueVisions SD and 3rd party boxes still work.

I also wonder if it's possible to transmit both the Iredeto and NDS encrypted signals using the current (or unused) bandwidth, especially on cable?

I have no time frame, it is after all up to True when they turn off the old irdeto encryption and guessing will not do anything to help that but the press releases suggest mid 2012 sometime.

True have been simicrypting their satellite signals for over 5 months now (using both encryptions) and the new HD set top boxes from them are of course NDS encryption boxes only, not both. So when the time comes all the old original boxes and 3rd party boxes will cease to work as they do now.

If you want the time frames ask True themselves as only they know what they are.

[Pib]

True have been simicrypting their satellite signals for over 5 months now (using both encryptions) and the new HD set top boxes from them are of course NDS encryption boxes only, not both. So when the time comes all the old original boxes and 3rd party boxes will cease to work as they do now.

Since there has been no official date announced yet based on their web site, mailings, TV notices, etc.,as to when True will stop simicyrpting then I expect it may be a very flexible date based on how successful they are in swapping out boxes which could be in the millions but definitely hundreds of thousands. And that success will to a degree be determined as to whether current subscribers feel that swapping boxes will just end up in a higher monthly subscription price by having to also sign up for HD service (i.e., that approx extra 490 baht/month).

Seems strange that True is not clearly advertising via TV, mailings, etc., the pending encryption change and how people must get it done by date XYZ; maybe it's because its really a flexible/not set in stone date yet because of many factors. Heck, if I wasn't a ThaiVisa member and read the thread I would have never heard of this issue....have not heard it through any other channels. Oh well, won't be the first (or last) time I don't find out about something until the the last minute. I'll wait until TrueVisions gets some "clear" words out on the subject--does that mean I may be waiting forever?

[PattayaParent]

Since there has been no official date announced yet based on their web site, mailings, TV notices, etc.,as to when True will stop simicyrpting then I expect it may be a very flexible date based on how successful they are in swapping out boxes which could be in the millions but definitely hundreds of thousands. And that success will to a degree be determined as to whether current subscribers feel that swapping boxes will just end up in a higher monthly subscription price by having to also sign up for HD service (i.e., that approx extra 490 baht/month).

They can guarantee success of the swapping over by simply turning off the signal to the old boxes.

The next day should see everyone in their nearest office asking to be swapped over.

[bkkjames]

I don't have any horse in this race anymore... But for those who do, why don't you call TrueVisions CSR English speaking folks and see what they say on the subject. Not that they're always accurate...but at least that would be a start.

John you'll be happy to know we now have a 24 hour rugby channel but no NFL.

On TrueVisions? What channel?

107 I think.

[Pib]

Since there has been no official date announced yet based on their web site, mailings, TV notices, etc.,as to when True will stop simicyrpting then I expect it may be a very flexible date based on how successful they are in swapping out boxes which could be in the millions but definitely hundreds of thousands. And that success will to a degree be determined as to whether current subscribers feel that swapping boxes will just end up in a higher monthly subscription price by having to also sign up for HD service (i.e., that approx extra 490 baht/month).

They can guarantee success of the swapping over by simply turning off the signal to the old boxes.

The next day should see everyone in their nearest office asking to be swapped over.

Nope, that would be a public relations disaster for True...and I expect a good many customers would cancel their subscriptions with such an abrupt change....they would be going to True office alright (if they could get away from work for a few hours)--to turn-in their set-top box(es) and cancel their subscription.

There are also folks out there who have bought their own True equipment but pay the monthly subscription fee. I expect True will require these folks to pay a HD set-top box deposit fee of 2,000 baht plus the HD set-top 155 baht monthly rental fee on top of the subscription they already pay. Now these folks are going to be the ones who are probably not going to be very happy especially if they don't care about HD....all they know is their monthly cost went up to stay on SD service and went up even more if signing up for some HD service.

[PattayaParent]

Since there has been no official date announced yet based on their web site, mailings, TV notices, etc.,as to when True will stop simicyrpting then I expect it may be a very flexible date based on how successful they are in swapping out boxes which could be in the millions but definitely hundreds of thousands. And that success will to a degree be determined as to whether current subscribers feel that swapping boxes will just end up in a higher monthly subscription price by having to also sign up for HD service (i.e., that approx extra 490 baht/month).

They can guarantee success of the swapping over by simply turning off the signal to the old boxes.

The next day should see everyone in their nearest office asking to be swapped over.

Nope, that would be a public relations disaster for True...and I expect a good many customers would cancel their subscriptions with such an abrupt change....they would be going to True office alright (if they could get away from work for a few hours)--to turn-in their set-top box(es) and cancel their subscription.

There are also folks out there who have bought their own True equipment but pay the monthly subscription fee. I expect True will require these folks to pay a HD set-top box deposit fee of 2,000 baht plus the HD set-top 155 baht monthly rental fee on top of the subscription they already pay. Now these folks are going to be the ones who are probably not going to be very happy especially if they don't care about HD....all they know is their monthly cost went up to stay on SD service and went up even more if signing up for some HD service.

You really think that True would hold up the switch over because a few people do not want to change their boxes?

[Pib]

As previously stated, it would be a public relations disaster for True to abruptly implement the change with good, advance notification to all its customers. To date other than the third hand information in this thread about any possible cut off date of Oct 12, it appears no one has seen anything "in writing" from TrueVisions "as to the specific cutoff date." Nothing on their web site and nothing in their monthly bill mailings where it says all customers must switch from SD boxes to HD boxes by Oct 12...all the web site and billings are doing is promoting the HD service. And I just don't think many Thai's view ThaiVisa, other than a few who can read English. And probably the best way to get the word out is simply text scrolling across the bottom of the screen notifying viewers...that would be simple and easy for True to get the word out and maybe quickly increase the number of people using HD service...but has True done this...the answer is no....I wonder why.

Without notification to all customers by various means clearly identifying the cutoff date there would be many, many customers who would be impacted and I expect get very mad. And for many folks, especially Thai's who probably form 95%+ of the customer base, it could be just the nudge to switch to free C band or another pay service...and True definitely cares about lost business they could have avoided.

IMHO, without widespread and clear notification, True won't be implementing "any" set-in-stone switchover date where SD boxes die. They may not provide the best customer service in some cases, but they ain't stupid. Now with that being said, maybe True is planning a widespread and clear notification program to include words scrolling across the bottom of the screen...maybe it will begin within the next few minutes, tomorrow, next week, next month--or not. It may turn out that they plan to continue broadcasting in Iredeto encryption and the new NDS encryption until they get the number Iredeto-only SD boxes down to a small amount (ie., say 10%) of the total number of SD and HD boxes and then set a hard cutoff date.

[petedk]

You really think that True would hold up the switch over because a few people do not want to change their boxes?

I think this is what they did last week regarding analogue signals. As I mentioned in a previous posting we still use the analogue boxes and True have been at us for ages to upgrade to digital. Last week they cut the analogue signal in the Sukhumvit area and I know of four or five other people that lost their signal. Two days later the signal was back.

Was this a kind of test to see the reaction of people?

Edited January 10, 2012 by astral
No need to quote the entire post

[WarpSpeed]

You get a weeks worth of program schedule and can also have reminders programmed that far in advance, but the schedule is smaller and harder to read from a distance and when it freezes up at times as it has fairly often and needs to be rebooted by unplugging it you loose any advance reminders you have set and need to reset them all over again, but I still like it so far but also will not pay an additional 500b per month to keep it, I hadn't heard about that extra charge..

From what I understand with satellite service you can only get 3 additional channels anyway, of those only one is worthwhile and that's HBO as one is Thai so they had not better try to charge additionally for that..

[PattayaParent]

As previously stated, it would be a public relations disaster for True to abruptly implement the change with good, advance notification to all its customers. To date other than the third hand information in this thread about any possible cut off date of Oct 12, it appears no one has seen anything "in writing" from TrueVisions "as to the specific cutoff date." Nothing on their web site and nothing in their monthly bill mailings where it says all customers must switch from SD boxes to HD boxes by Oct 12...all the web site and billings are doing is promoting the HD service. And I just don't think many Thai's view ThaiVisa, other than a few who can read English. And probably the best way to get the word out is simply text scrolling across the bottom of the screen notifying viewers...that would be simple and easy for True to get the word out and maybe quickly increase the number of people using HD service...but has True done this...the answer is no....I wonder why.

Without notification to all customers by various means clearly identifying the cutoff date there would be many, many customers who would be impacted and I expect get very mad. And for many folks, especially Thai's who probably form 95%+ of the customer base, it could be just the nudge to switch to free C band or another pay service...and True definitely cares about lost business they could have avoided.

IMHO, without widespread and clear notification, True won't be implementing "any" set-in-stone switchover date where SD boxes die. They may not provide the best customer service in some cases, but they ain't stupid. Now with that being said, maybe True is planning a widespread and clear notification program to include words scrolling across the bottom of the screen...maybe it will begin within the next few minutes, tomorrow, next week, next month--or not. It may turn out that they plan to continue broadcasting in Iredeto encryption and the new NDS encryption until they get the number Iredeto-only SD boxes down to a small amount (ie., say 10%) of the total number of SD and HD boxes and then set a hard cutoff date.

I'm sure they will advise SD box users of a cut off date, probably 1 month before hand, and then cut the service regardless. So no need to worry about it now if the target is October 2012.

[nbm47]

I have an Hd cable receiver (rented) with the new channels and also an SD satellite receiver which I bought last May 2011 for my kids to watch thai tv. When I asked Truevisions about changing it over for a new receiver, they said that the sale of that receiver was a one off and I would have to rent another receiver when the changeover came around. So having spent 2490 baht on the True Life + receiver, it will become worthless unless I fork out another 2000 baht for another Hd receiver. My response was when the changeover comes around you can take both machines and shove them up your a--e.

[thaimate]

All i can say is that i had four phone calls from the girl at true telling first my wife that we need a new box ,i told her to refuse it as i was happy ,eventually the wife handed the phone to me (the day before xmas) when the girl told me we must have a new box ,as we had guests and i was busy i told her to call back after xmas ,this she did on the monday and said that if we did not take the new hd box we would not be able to get a signal soon ,i then said ok we will have one ,within a couple of hours they were on our doorstep box in hand .

we now have a couple of hd channels ,which i certainly will not pay extra for and the free bbc channels ,which again after the month is up do not require as especially on bbc entertainment the progs are so old ive already downloaded them ages ago. .

We were happy to pay for the platinum package before to get bbc entertainment ,but once they cut it off I like most others i should think looked and found the progs elswhere for free and just downgraded to gold.

it seems just ineficiant to lose your top end of the market client base and then try and get it back when its too late.

[astral]

All good news for Astro, if you live in Bangkok or south of there.

[2unique]

Pretty much the same story, called New Year's Eve and kept calling so we changed our box over from HD to HD+ had to buy a second remote to user our IR box upstairs but no real difference outside of cosmetic. Makes me wonder if we're all being brainwashed into their crappy HD service of 2 channels on satellite especially as none of the â€plus†features work. Time will tell.

Posted with Thaivisa App http://apps.thaivisa.com

[astral]

No not brainwashing, see the JSat posts

but not sure the benefits are for the customer...................

[2unique]

No not brainwashing, see the JSat posts

but not sure the benefits are for the customer...................

For me it all happened so fast I didn't even have time to query the nuances - they called as we were driving back from Ban Tak and my wife left at 7 the next morning so couldn't get real and proper answers from the tech who arrived that afternoon. My wife also said the girl did not know her job and didn't even appear to be from True but maybe an agency.

Is there a minimum period one must keep this new box and if the bill comes in with extra costs are you then liable for this minimum period? I have HD for the football but I'm not about to pay for these "plus" services that do not function! And I'm sure all the other users who refused an HD upgrade wouldn't be too happy about True sneaking it in through the side door.

[Pib]

Recommend you call them and ask specifically about your account number as to whether you are now on a HD promotional period (i.e., 3 or 4 months of free viewing before the higher HD service price because part of your monthly bill) or they still have you on your regular plan with no projected price increase just because they gave you a HD box. Since they changed the box so very recently it wouldn't surprise me that if you called today that the TrueVisions Customer Service Center database may still show you with your old boxes since the swap paperwork may not have updated the database yet, so keep that in mind when making the call.

But if they do reflect you on a 3 or 4 month HD promotional period, I guess you will need to be sure to tell them to cancel the HD portion of the service before the promotional period ends if you don't want to pay the monthly HD service...that is, just stay on whatever core plan your are currently on like Platinum, Gold, etc....they wouldn't come change the box again back to SD; they would just update your service plan.

Edited January 11, 2012 by Pib

[samtam]

Can anyone tell me the cost of having one additional "normal", (non HD) box?

[PattayaParent]

Can anyone tell me the cost of having one additional "normal", (non HD) box?

As their plan is to change everyone over to new HD boxes I very much doubt that they will be giving new customers the old boxes only to have to change them over later.

But then TIT?

[Pib]

Can anyone tell me the cost of having one additional "normal", (non HD) box?

Take a look at Post #22. Based on Post #22 which also matches with my monthly bill since I have two boxes, an additional outlet/box would be B282.48 for one additional outlet plus B155.15 for box rental...both a per month charge...totalling B437.63/month plus 7% VAT. This applies to either SD or HD boxes. HD boxes can also display SD channels, but not vice versa. But if also signing up for the HD service there would be another B490/month.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

On the subject of the potential TrueVisions cable service cutoff for customers still using SD True decoder boxes...

Today, I had to call TrueVisions re a small follow-up on a different matter, so figured I'd use the call to ask the question that's been getting tossed about here: are customers with regular SD True decoder boxes facing a service cutoff due to some forthcoming signal or encryption changeover on TrueVisions' part?

According to the English speaking TrueVisions CSR I spoke with on the phone just now, the answer to that question is YES. The guy I spoke with claimed that the TrueVisions changeover is set to occur around "the middle of the year" and those with regular SD TrueVisions cable decoder boxes at that point will no longer be able to receive True's cable signal.

I asked what channels would be affected by that, if someone was still using an SD box at that point. The CSR's answer was "all." I asked what month TrueVisions was expected to make that technical change, and the CSR answered "June or July."

I asked, what about the many many TrueVisions customers who are still using their original SD decoder boxes even now? The CSR claimed most of their customers already are switching over to the SD boxes... I said, Gee, I thought you only began advertising the HD boxes late last year, around December... And he said no, that they'd been advertising the HD boxes since last September.

So there you go... Who knows if the TrueVisions CSR is up to speed on all the details of this... But he didn't hesitate or mumble or put me on hold to go check before answering... He pretty much directly answered my questions straight away. So now, at least, the info on this isn't just third-hand reports or rumors....

I'm no longer a TrueVisions customer, but I'll sure be interested to see how this little soap opera plays out.

[samtam]

Can anyone tell me the cost of having one additional "normal", (non HD) box?

Take a look at Post #22. Based on Post #22 which also matches with my monthly bill since I have two boxes, an additional outlet/box would be B282.48 for one additional outlet plus B155.15 for box rental...both a per month charge...totalling B437.63/month plus 7% VAT. This applies to either SD or HD boxes. HD boxes can also display SD channels, but not vice versa. But if also signing up for the HD service there would be another B490/month.

Thank you. Not cheap!

[Pib]

I like the consistently of the yet to be officially announced by True cutoff dates for SD boxes. By officially announced I mean stating a specific date on their website, in their monthly billings, text scrolling across the bottom of the TV screen, etc.

Per post #41 george was told Oct 12 by a True installation technician. Per post #83 True CSR told TallGuyJohninBkk June/July 12. I think those two posts are the only ones which included some specific dates spoken by True employees. My guess it's still a To Be Determined (TBD) date since varying dates have been given combined with a marketing approach of getting customers concerned about near term cutoff of the SD boxes....get your HD boxes now!!!!

For me, since the limited selection of HD channels now available just don't excite me I'll switch when it's convenient...hopefully I'll do that before "whatever" the cut off date is and my boxes possibly stop working one day assuming True don't make no official announcement. But even when swapping out the boxes I'll be durn sure I'm not signing up for monthly HD channels/service because of the HD monthly cost & limited HD channel selection...but that's just me.

Edited January 11, 2012 by Pib

[PattayaParent]

You didn't happen to ask about the satellite customers as well did you?

Edited January 12, 2012 by astral
No need to include the entire post, pls be selective in quote

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

PP, sorry, I didn't.... I was just asking/talking about cable boxes.

[Asiarelay]

After a phone call from True the new HD box was fitted yesterday. Came home from work last night and got extremely angry with this new box. Not possible to delete channels that you do not want or to delete platinum channels (I have gold package). Also unable to arrange any of the channels in to something that makes sense. This box is really horrible and the cheapest cr*p I have ever come across.

Phoned customer service and they confirmed all of the above. Asked if I could have my old box back and was told no. Only reply was endless stream of sorry sorry sorry.....

Have been a subscriber for at least 7 years and I think this is the final straw. For all their promises of customer care Truevisions care nothing about their customers.

Will investigate other means of getting TV here.

[wayned]

The new HD DSTB comes with a new smart card. The new smart card will not work in the old SD box. My Thai neighbor still has rhe old DSTB and "knowledge". When we want ro watch football I would take my card and install it in his box. Doesn't work now. Guess he will be coming to my house to watch football and drink all of my whiskey. And ,oh boy, can he drink!

[astral]

Hide the whisky and say Mai Mee