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Terrestrial HDTV?

BBC whitepaper claims HD Freeview possible using MIMO (April 2007)

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:-(
A former member
Brekkie Boy posted:
Considering IPTV is the future - and is also an area Freeview is looking at (already a reality with BT Vision), I think the most feasible way of providing HD content to Freeview viewers in the future is probably via a combined Freeview/IPTV set top box.


I still maintain that full-quality unicast IPTV is a non-starter for the foreseeable future -- most ISPs still limit downloads to a certain number of GB per month, which would be eaten up in a couple of hours if HDTV were to be piped down in this way. It may work in its current form for a few thousand subscribers, or for a simple "gap-plugging" on-demand service, but it simply won't scale.

Ten million viewers all downloading a 4GB edition of Eastenders on a Tuesday night -- serious bandwidth needed. The infrastructure required to send 40,000TB in half an hour -- and this is only one channel -- is staggering.

And don't think that broadband technology will simply catch up -- the Japanese manufacturers' capacity to improve the technical standards knows no bounds. Sony and Panasonic were demonstrating UHD four years ago, and that will take up for-TY gigabytes every half-hour. It'll only increase.
CW
cwathen Founding member
Quote:
What they plan to do for DTT is close BBC FOUR early, at 2am, and also close BBC PARLIAMENT, the BBCi channels and News Multiscreen for 4 hours a night and broadcast BBC HD from 2-6am Top Up TV style. Then, if Ofcom gives new MUXes after DSO they'll switch to the full 9-hour channel, otherwise they'll keep with the 4 hours a night format.

Is HDTV still delivered using MPEG2, or have they moved to MPEG4? I ask because what doesn't appear clear is whether an 'HD Ready' digital TV is capable of receiving DTT HD in itself, or whether it merely contains an HD screen which must be used in conjunction with a separate HD DTT box to get HD.
PE
Pete Founding member
jason posted:
I still maintain that full-quality unicast IPTV is a non-starter for the foreseeable future


Am I correct in thinking that the addition of live TV to iPlayer will be using the multicast trial streams?
DB
dbl
cwathen posted:
Quote:
What they plan to do for DTT is close BBC FOUR early, at 2am, and also close BBC PARLIAMENT, the BBCi channels and News Multiscreen for 4 hours a night and broadcast BBC HD from 2-6am Top Up TV style. Then, if Ofcom gives new MUXes after DSO they'll switch to the full 9-hour channel, otherwise they'll keep with the 4 hours a night format.

Is HDTV still delivered using MPEG2, or have they moved to MPEG4? I ask because what doesn't appear clear is whether an 'HD Ready' digital TV is capable of receiving DTT HD in itself, or whether it merely contains an HD screen which must be used in conjunction with a separate HD DTT box to get HD.

Well AFAIK, Virgin Media use MPEG-2 and Sky use MPEG-4 for HD, I believe BBC HD used MPEG-4 for their DTT trail as well.
BC
Blake Connolly Founding member
dbl posted:
cwathen posted:
Quote:
What they plan to do for DTT is close BBC FOUR early, at 2am, and also close BBC PARLIAMENT, the BBCi channels and News Multiscreen for 4 hours a night and broadcast BBC HD from 2-6am Top Up TV style. Then, if Ofcom gives new MUXes after DSO they'll switch to the full 9-hour channel, otherwise they'll keep with the 4 hours a night format.

Is HDTV still delivered using MPEG2, or have they moved to MPEG4? I ask because what doesn't appear clear is whether an 'HD Ready' digital TV is capable of receiving DTT HD in itself, or whether it merely contains an HD screen which must be used in conjunction with a separate HD DTT box to get HD.

Well AFAIK, Virgin Media use MPEG-2 and Sky use MPEG-4 for HD, I believe BBC HD used MPEG-4 for their DTT trail as well.


And they plan to confinue using MPEG-4 for DTT. So, HD Ready IDTVs won't be able to pick up the new service without getting a new set-top box (and it had better be a PVR given the late-night timeslot!).

As well as the well-known HD Ready logo, there's another one which looks the same but says "HD TV", this means that the television can recieve HD broadcasts without additional equipment - there aren't any TVs with this logo available in the UK yet.
:-(
A former member
Hymagumba posted:
jason posted:
I still maintain that full-quality unicast IPTV is a non-starter for the foreseeable future


Am I correct in thinking that the addition of live TV to iPlayer will be using the multicast trial streams?


Multicast is better, of course, but it still needs vastly better technology than the current copper wires going into people's houses to achieve full quality HDTV. SDTV perhaps, but that's old tech now -- are people really going to accept that?
GS
Gavin Scott Founding member
jason posted:
Hymagumba posted:
jason posted:
I still maintain that full-quality unicast IPTV is a non-starter for the foreseeable future


Am I correct in thinking that the addition of live TV to iPlayer will be using the multicast trial streams?


Multicast is better, of course, but it still needs vastly better technology than the current copper wires going into people's houses to achieve full quality HDTV. SDTV perhaps, but that's old tech now -- are people really going to accept that?


I thought copper wire was more than sufficient to carry bandwidth rich content?

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