NG
Satellite providers can reencode to fit their distribution platform however they cannot change anything that would alter how it’s displayed - if it’s 1920x1080i they’d have to transmit it at the same quality of the station. The same goes for cable which up until a while you could plug in a tv without a box and tune to the stations OTA channel number and get the channel. Now that’s all encoded. Like satellite they can’t distort or change the signal.
They were certainly horizontal down-sampling in the MPEG2 days https://www.engadget.com/2007/01/11/the-engadget-hd-interview-directvs-cto-re-hd-lite/
HD-Lite was the name that people who didn't like it christened it. I wasn't aware of any legislation in the US that dictated that broadcast resolution has to be maintained 1:1.
HD Lite was never used on broadcast, OTA channels.
Yep - I was clear to use the word platforms and never suggested that HD Lite was used for ATSC platforms (though ATSC QAM cable operators do resolution conversion, and some affiliates of '1080i' networks broadcast at 720p on their ATSC 8VSB OTA transmissions I believe - some PBS stations for example)
HD Lite was particularly a thing for satellite operators who had to cope with large numbers of local regional affiliates on their platform, and didn't have the bandwidth to carry them - and all the other national channels - at full quality. HD Lite was their solution to getting bitrates down...
I'm going by one of the comments in a Comcast forum from an employee. Also, since my local Comcast headend (and most across the country) have moved to "enhanced HD" aka down converting all non broadcast channels to 1280x720p and encoding them in MPEG-4. They may have converted OTA to MPEG-4 but the resolution stands. I believe if Comcast and others could downsize broadcast affiliates to 720p, they could and would.
Yep - HD Lite was (and may still be) more of a satellite thing.
In the days when DVC Pro HD and HD Cam (1280x1080 and 1440x1080 respectively at i29.97) were often used in acquisition - there often wasn't much information between 1280 and 1920 horizontally anyway... However once HD Cam SR, XD Cam 422 HD etc. became widespread (and for operators using HD-D5 back in the day instead of HD Cam) there was good reason to keep to 1920. (DVC Pro HD in 720p is even worse - it's 960x720 at p59.94)
noggin
Founding member
Satellite providers can reencode to fit their distribution platform however they cannot change anything that would alter how it’s displayed - if it’s 1920x1080i they’d have to transmit it at the same quality of the station. The same goes for cable which up until a while you could plug in a tv without a box and tune to the stations OTA channel number and get the channel. Now that’s all encoded. Like satellite they can’t distort or change the signal.
They were certainly horizontal down-sampling in the MPEG2 days https://www.engadget.com/2007/01/11/the-engadget-hd-interview-directvs-cto-re-hd-lite/
HD-Lite was the name that people who didn't like it christened it. I wasn't aware of any legislation in the US that dictated that broadcast resolution has to be maintained 1:1.
HD Lite was never used on broadcast, OTA channels.
Yep - I was clear to use the word platforms and never suggested that HD Lite was used for ATSC platforms (though ATSC QAM cable operators do resolution conversion, and some affiliates of '1080i' networks broadcast at 720p on their ATSC 8VSB OTA transmissions I believe - some PBS stations for example)
HD Lite was particularly a thing for satellite operators who had to cope with large numbers of local regional affiliates on their platform, and didn't have the bandwidth to carry them - and all the other national channels - at full quality. HD Lite was their solution to getting bitrates down...
Quote:
I'm going by one of the comments in a Comcast forum from an employee. Also, since my local Comcast headend (and most across the country) have moved to "enhanced HD" aka down converting all non broadcast channels to 1280x720p and encoding them in MPEG-4. They may have converted OTA to MPEG-4 but the resolution stands. I believe if Comcast and others could downsize broadcast affiliates to 720p, they could and would.
Yep - HD Lite was (and may still be) more of a satellite thing.
In the days when DVC Pro HD and HD Cam (1280x1080 and 1440x1080 respectively at i29.97) were often used in acquisition - there often wasn't much information between 1280 and 1920 horizontally anyway... However once HD Cam SR, XD Cam 422 HD etc. became widespread (and for operators using HD-D5 back in the day instead of HD Cam) there was good reason to keep to 1920. (DVC Pro HD in 720p is even worse - it's 960x720 at p59.94)