(05-06-2022, 03:59 PM)Aplus1 Wrote: I had at least four set-top-boxes which became ewaste following DSO, and if DVB-T2 became the default that would do the same for at least four newer sets and boxes that I own. Multiply that by the whole country and that's a very significant amount of equipment being needlessly wasted. (And the whole "you can just plug in a new set top box!" doesn't work if the equipment that no longer works IS a set top box or a PVR.)
The difference with old routers and smartphones is that people can stick those on eBay or give them to friends or charity shops or whatever, and they find a second life because they are still usable. Whereas there is no use whatsoever for digital TV equipment that doesn't pick up TV any more.
To add a competing anecdote - I stopped using my former ONdigital box a few months after the company went bust. It was a Nokia and so it was ridiculously slow at the best of times, and since Sky had started to do multiroom it was an obvious no brainer to just move to satellite. Split-NIT or the switch to 8k wasn't what did it in for me.
While I do have DVB-T only TVs, I have only rarely used the tuner on it. Most of the time it has been connected to a Freesat PVR, and more recently I set up an old BT TV box for Freeview HD just because I could. Of course these TVs don't have to be e-waste, they can just be augmented with a suitable receiver. I see your point about PVR e-waste, but frankly I'd imagine the vast majority of DVB-T only PVRs have either had their hard drives or power supplies die by now, or the proprietary guide data having been long gone (a problem that also affects a T2 TV that I have - Panasonic with "guide plus" and no way to switch to the generic DVB EPG beyond now/next)
I'd argue that their longevity is actually better than a router or a smartphone, both of which need regular software updates to stay secure, are made obsolete by changes in network technologies, smartphones have batteries with a finite lifespan, and the ISP supplied routers are pretty much universally "rented" to subscribers anyway & will be e-wasted if the ISP deems it not worth refurbishing for a new customer.