Graham's response to Questions on 3D and Other Issues (from Facebook)

[Karen-inVA (Admin)]

This is a thread from Facebook where questions were asked and Graham was explaining what is going on..... (all names other than Graham's are purposely left out for privacy reasons). Posting this here on Ning because not every one utilizes Facebook and are unable to see this shared info.

Poster: Graham, it is just my personal opinion, but to me more time, money and energy should be spent on improving the feed on game drives than on the 3D project. Since the introduction of the Ganda; the signal from the field has deteriorated greatly. The picture quality improved but there are definitely too many dead spots ... All the best

Graham Wallington:  Yes I understand your frustration. Without entering into an exhaustive blow-by-blow explanation of what has been going on behind the scenes,
let me briefly explain ...
The reason why the signal quality is less than you are used to wit...h the Jigga (which BTW was not good enough either) is that the Jigga
system broadcasted at twice the RF power as the Ganda, and also we only
have one receive tower, which is located at the Vuyatela lodge rather
than at where it would get the best signal.
The Jigga system was only capable of Standard Definition broadcasting and now that the Ganda
is commissioned, it (the Jigga system) is in Johannesburg with RF
engineers, being adapted to HD (or for that matter 3D) transmission. At
the same time another, higher powered, amplifier is being modified in
New Jersey. When either of these are ready they will be sent back to
Djuma, and replace the amp on the Ganda, thereby getting the Ganda
signal coverage area equal to that of the Jigga.
Now the real solution is of course increasing the receive network of towers both in
terms of quality and quantity, but that will take a great deal of
capital. To secure that capital WE need to increase our revenue, which
is not possible on the Internet right now, as the advertising revenue
does not even cover the distribution bandwidth costs, let alone the
costs of creating this content, employing all the crew, maintaining all
the equipment, paying for the traversing in Djuma, feeding the crew,
etc. etc. The only way to generate sufficient revenue is by licensing
our channel to pay tv operators, and they want 3D!
Therefore going to 3D will help us get the revenue, which will help us get the capital
which will help us get the receive network to provide the kind of
service that WE are actually capable of and that you expect from us.
I hope that this has helped to provide a little insight into what it takes to do what WE do.
Thank you for your support and understanding and I am glad to hear that you appreciate our efforts. :)
Graham

Poster:  thanks for the update Graham.. may I suggest you share some of this info with the
viewers .. by reading this answer you have given me the patience to
understand the signal problems and filled me with hope that we can enjoy
a better drive so...on :-)
Thanks so much

Graham Wallington: I appreciate that people are inclined to believe that nothing is happening behind the scenes when they see a problem, but I think our
track record of being by far the leaders in what WE do and never giving
up until it works, all with
very little resources, should count for something. Frankly, we are all
working so incredibly hard on trying to get a myriad of things ready for
our big launch in the next few days.
Maybe you could share some of this info with anyone that you think suspects that nothing is being done
... or maybe just say: "chill this team are the best in the world at
what they do, if it was easy they would have done it, they will get it
working soon. Oh yes, its not the 3D's fault either, in fact 3D is what
is going to make this all come together and reach it's potential'? i am
sure they will listen to you ... :)

Poster: Thanks for the response Graham. It explains alot that I was unaware of. I could not understand why the Jigga did a better job of
transmitting; now I do. Thanks again.

Poster: I can tell that even the crew is frustrated with all the problems they are experiencing. Not only problems broadcasting drives but also with
vehicle mechanical problems, problems with the camera & feed from
the Gowrie Cam and every little other thing that comes along.

Graham Wallington: you don't know the half of it ****.
There are soooo many little things that WE and safari.tv are trying to overcome at the moment, but
... overcome them WE will. ;-)

[Tom (kb7get)]

Thanks, nice to see someone remember that WE has this site also again to give us some information on what is going on.

[Mike and The Kids]

Thanks for that Update Graham. I knew of some of the problems.. and as said above.. 'silence' breeds misconceptions. I would like to make a suggestion to the WE team: And that is to have a Once a Month BROADCAST STATUS.. That would probably be very helpful in keeping ALL of us informed, less frustrated, and especially for the Die Hard Avid WE Original Supporters - Keeps us "In the Loop" ! Thanks again - Mike and The Kids

[El -]

Do you think things will fall into place and the quality of your product will be ready for the world to see before the end of 2010?

[Tom (kb7get)]

By the way. I am not on facebook so can only see the open ones. I can read the facebook we have for wildearth here and the safari.tv facebook from their blog. Is the place your getting this info from a secret hidden account they are afraid to open to the general public for some reason, or have I just not stumbled across it yet?

[Karen-inVA (Admin)]

Tom, the questioned was asked on Graham's personal profile page, so that is why you were not able to see it. On Facebook, you should be able to see all Fan Pages, as they are all open to the public and no one has to have an account or join them to view any thing. Hope that helps.

[Helen in PA]

Thank you Graham. I just found this explanation. I will now try to be content knowing that things are going to be much better. The 3D clips by the way are amazing. Why do some of them have side by side images?

[Ramar]

I feel that I must make this point about 3-D and the safari broadcasts. When they make a 3-D movie...it is made with the idea that the 3-D effects seem to make the objects that are in the movie come right out of the screen at you...hence the 3-D effect. In a safari drive...NOTHING comes at you so the use of 3-D is kinda useless. It would seem to me that a good high definition picture would be way more appreciated. Besides, NO ONE I know who watches the safari broadcast online and I would imagine on their TV wants to wear glasses to watch a 3-D drive. Until 3-D effects are made for movies where no glasses are required, then 3-D will take off. But a safari drive in my opinion does not lend itself to this technology.