Yes. The lower the bitrate, the more HD channels they can squeeze down the pipe. If you have a 10 Mb pipe and each of your channels take up 1Mb, then you can only have 10 channels. If each channel only takes up .5Mb, then you can have 20. (I made up these numbers, but the concept is established, afaik).
for cable and HD telecasting, what bit rates are considered to be minimum acceptable quality for HD video... i would like some consensus numbers in order to compare how much compressed do cable companies actually do.
Yes, by compressing bit rate they can still offer more channels at HD resolution so the advertising looks better... The lower the bit rate, the lower quality of processing for each pixel on the screen... So you end up with up to 2 million terrible looking dots per frame on the screen but it can still be advertised as "1080P!" This is no different from many streaming HD services available today.
By the way, Bluray offers 40 Mbps bit rate and I think standard definition DVDs are like 12 Mbps...
So comparing cable versus, satellite and FIOS tv for high def channels. is it a huge noticeable difference in the PQ? when it comes to HDTV ive only dealt with Cable (cablevision) and have always been very disappointing in the PQ.
Now that we've thrown 'em off the trail, use the form below to get in touch with the people at Engadget. Please fill in all of the required fields because they're required.
so is the main way cable compaines compress signals is just to significantly lower the bit rate? is it all about the bit rate?
Yes. The lower the bitrate, the more HD channels they can squeeze down the pipe. If you have a 10 Mb pipe and each of your channels take up 1Mb, then you can only have 10 channels. If each channel only takes up .5Mb, then you can have 20. (I made up these numbers, but the concept is established, afaik).
for cable and HD telecasting, what bit rates are considered to be minimum acceptable quality for HD video... i would like some consensus numbers in order to compare how much compressed do cable companies actually do.
Yes, by compressing bit rate they can still offer more channels at HD resolution so the advertising looks better... The lower the bit rate, the lower quality of processing for each pixel on the screen... So you end up with up to 2 million terrible looking dots per frame on the screen but it can still be advertised as "1080P!" This is no different from many streaming HD services available today.
By the way, Bluray offers 40 Mbps bit rate and I think standard definition DVDs are like 12 Mbps...
My bad.. DVDs are only 8 Mbps...
Here is a list of bit rate compression for different formats, streaming services, and broadcasting/cable/satellite services:
http://blogs.zdnet.com/Ou/?p=962&tag=rbxccnbzd1
Another more in depth look at bit rate and compression schemes:http://blogs.zdnet.com/Ou/?p=511
And:
http://blogs.zdnet.com/Ou/?p=959
Take a look..
So comparing cable versus, satellite and FIOS tv for high def channels. is it a huge noticeable difference in the PQ? when it comes to HDTV ive only dealt with Cable (cablevision) and have always been very disappointing in the PQ.