noggin's posts, page 83

N Series

SVOD services are having to invest in creation of their own content, as acquisitions of third party content become more difficult (as original rights holders create their own SVOD services instead)

Content creation is usually significantly more expensive than content acquisition, and requires funding...

Telesoftware's end - 30 yers on.

Very true, if only we'd migrated to a higher level Teletext service that could have done satellite images without needing a BBC Micro or similar.

(Though I am glad that there is some Level 2/2.5 recovered stuff kicking around from the days when Ceefax In Vision used the higher level stuff. #pastelcolours )

Sony's Shenanigans

The cost difference between running a low bit-rate SD service that can be received by all receivers on the local TV mux vs a decent bit-rate HD service on a DVB-T2 Com7 or Com8 mux, only available to those with Freeview HD receivers, will be very significant. If the channels are only just about breaking even or making small profits, those will be wiped out by the increased costs of broadcast on T2 muxes (which also have reduced coverage), and Freeview HD-only reception.

Telesoftware's end - 30 yers on.

Either The Compute Programme or Making The Most of The Micro did an audio broadcast of a computer program, I think in something like BASICODE so it would run on multiple platforms.

One broadcaster in the UK also used a flashing dot that you received with a photodiode stuck to your screen...

BBC Broadcasting House, Belfast - Redevelopment

I don't think I've seen any announcement of a dedicated OB truck to be used just for Blackstaff. I think this is just a replacement for the ex-Telegenic truck that BBC NI currently have as their large OB unit (used both for OBs and to provide facilities at Blackstaff).

YouTube Gold

I think that was the era when Sports Personality of the Year was one of the very few UK shows with music that was second counted, not beats/bars counted.

A question about HDMI over ethernet

There are both HDMI over Ethernet and HDMI over Cat5 (aka Ethernet cable) solutions - but beware - they aren't the same thing.

HDMI over Ethernet will compress the video (and also the audio) to a much lower bitrate, introducing a small amount of latency and a potentially noticeable quality loss. This is because the video is compressed and carried as IP packets (either UDP or TCP) over an existing Ethernet network.

HDMI over Cat 5 just uses the Cat 5 (or Cat6) cable that is often used to carry Ethernet to carry HDMI - but doesn't use any Ethernet IP network protocols, and instead uses the cable just as a carrier for the HDMI signal. It is often not compressed and has less latency.

I've not used either in anger - but know people who have used both.

BBC News (UK) presentation - Reith launch onwards

Some of the feeds are converted by third parties (so the choice of conversion isn't necessarily the BBC's), and they use 14:9 LB (14L12) and 4:3 CCO (12F12) for the same reasons that the BBC did for 14 years when it had analogue 4:3 outlets to feed...

16:9 letterbox (aka 16L12) is often the least favoured conversion option as it reduces the picture height (meaning you have to keep text bigger for it to be legible in 360/432 lines in 525 and 625 SD respectively) and deep letterboxing is unpopular with viewers away from movies. (It's not that popular with movies)

BBC News (UK) presentation - Reith launch onwards

Yes - you certainly see BBC World News in 14:9 letterbox across South East Asia (and when it carries News Channel content with 14:9 unsafe graphic treatments it looks terrible)

Interesting and unusual uses of teletext

I'm imagining you tuned the channel that had the full-frame teletext, entered text mode, dialled an access number and used the tone keypad on your phone as the reverse channel - either being given a page number when you called or having your 'own'?

Prestel in the UK ran using 1200/75 baud modems - but AIUI the system could have run with a 1200 baud half-duplex modem only, and a touch phone for the user control for the basic page selection (which were based on *800# style page numbers. However email was already becoming a thing - and a 75 baud modem back-channel allowed for alpha numeric text entry.

What type of connectors do I need

They are dual purpose connectors. You can either put bare speaker wires that you have stripped and twisted around the screw terminals and tighten them (the red and black plastic ends screw down to tighten and trap the cable making a good connection) , or you can fit banana plugs to your speaker cables and plug them into the holes in the ends.

Cricket world cup - Final on Channel 4

Are they using Tata for connectivity?