Cable companies worry about HDTV

[tnale]

THe following URL takes you to a story on a Denver TV station web site that discusses the problem of inadequate bandwidth that the cable companies will have upon the adoption of HDTV as the american standard tv fare in 2009.
http://www.9news.com/acm_news.aspx?OSGNAME=KUSA&IKOBJECTID=a4a4d9b4-0abe-421a-0011-c7b1331f01d6&TEMPLATEID=0c76dce6-ac1f-02d8-0047-c589c01ca7bf

 

[cableman265]

The only reason cable still has analog is to accomodate the people that are reluctant to change. Shortly they are going to have no option. Analog channels are already being moved to digital. 75% of the bandwidth is being used for analog channels 2-99. But if you think about it, the other 25% is being used for all the digital channels, pay-per-view, Video on Demand, Hi speed Internet, and telephone service. So once those analog channels are gone, there is going to be a lot of room for HD channels and whatever else.

 

[charper1]

Duplicate story here: http://www.satelliteguys.us/showthread.php?p=581905#post581905


1 HD to every 3 analog removed sounds real close to me. Not a ton of room if you ask me! Are there even 70 analog channels to remove? Even if there are 70 to remove, that only adds 23 channels to the HD capacity based on the 3 to 1 ratio (what if its higher - like 5 to 1 ?)... That is far less than the capacity satellite can offer, which is what I really think the story was eluding too.

Examples:

25 analog removal 8 HD capacity added

30 analog removal 10 HD capacity added

35 analog removal 11 HD capacity added

40 analog removal 13 HD capacity added

45 analog removal 15 HD capacity added

50 analog removal 16 HD capacity added

55 analog removal 18 HD capacity added

60 analog removal 20 HD capacity added

65 analog removal 21 HD capacity added

70 analog removal 23 HD capacity added (at 3/1)

ONLY 14 added HD channel capacity added at 5/1 ratio.

 

[chrisw27]

Well here's your answer. Do you want HD or HD-Lite?

Also, cable is still using MPEG2.

 

[Edgar_in_Indy]

The way I read the article it was three HD channels for each Analog channel.

Quote from article:
"The first thing we'll do when we start putting on more HDTV pictures is to take one analog channel off the system," says Comcast Chief Technology Officer David Fellows. "In its place, we can put three HDTV pictures."

Edgar in Indy

 

[charper1]

That would be better for them, but 3 HD to 1 SD sounds weird. I will research it and edit it if needed. Thanks.

 

[Edgar_in_Indy]

Sure, the channels are SD but they're also analog, which, by nature, takes much more bandwidth than compressed digital feeds of comparable quality. Same reason that terrestrial broadcasters are able to offer multiple digital feeds of TV or radio where they offer only one analog channel.

The whole discussion of freeing up space for new HD channels by axing analog channels is probably going to end up being academic since IPTV ('switched digital') seems to be the direction cable would like to go.

 

[wherron]

I don't see how the article can state that Sat currently offers more HD channels than Cable. They don't. With the exception of the old Voom channels on Dish, I get more HD channels and better quality HD with my cable system. The list below lists my current HD line up, my previous address's HD line up and the HD line ups of Dish and Direct TV. The article seemed pretty biased to me.


Blue Ridge (14)

ABC HD
CBS HD
NBC HD
FOX HD
HBO HD
Showtime HD
STARZ! HD
Comcast Sports Net HD
NBA HD/NFL HD
ESPN HD
Discovery HD Theater
HDNet
HDNet Movies
Universal HD


Comcast (17)

Comcast SportsNet HD
ESPN HD
TNT HD
Discovery HD Theater
INHD
INHD2
HBO HDTV
Cinemax HDTV
Showtime HDTV
STARZ HDTV
ABC-HD
NBC-HD
CBS-HD
FOX-HD
WB-HD
UPN-HD
PBS-HD


DirecTV (10)

TNT HD
ESPN HD
ESPN2 HD
Discovery HD Theater
HDNet
HDNet Movies
Universal HD
HBO HDTV
Showtime HDTV
NFL Sunday Ticket


Dish (25)

TNT HD
ESPN HD
ESPN2 HD
HDNet
HDNet Movies
World Sport
Rush HD
HBO HDTV
Showtime HDTV
Monsters
World Cinema
Film Fest
Discovery HD Theater
Equator HD
Animania
GamePlay
Family Room
Universal HD
Gallery HD
HDNews
RAVE
TreasureHD
ULTRAHD
KungFu
CBS HD

 

[charper1]

Where are they saying that? Seems they are saying sat has more capacity for the future explosion of HD.

 

[gbjbany]

I don't see how the article can state that Sat currently offers more HD channels than Cable. They don't. With the exception of the old Voom channels on Dish, I get more HD channels and better quality HD with my cable system. The list below lists my current HD line up, my previous address's HD line up and the HD line ups of Dish and Direct TV. The article seemed pretty biased to me.


Blue Ridge (14)

ABC HD
CBS HD
NBC HD
FOX HD
HBO HD
Showtime HD
STARZ! HD
Comcast Sports Net HD
NBA HD/NFL HD
ESPN HD
Discovery HD Theater
HDNet
HDNet Movies
Universal HD


Comcast (17)

Comcast SportsNet HD
ESPN HD
TNT HD
Discovery HD Theater
INHD
INHD2
HBO HDTV
Cinemax HDTV
Showtime HDTV
STARZ HDTV
ABC-HD
NBC-HD
CBS-HD
FOX-HD
WB-HD
UPN-HD
PBS-HD


DirecTV (10)

TNT HD
ESPN HD
ESPN2 HD
Discovery HD Theater
HDNet
HDNet Movies
Universal HD
HBO HDTV
Showtime HDTV
NFL Sunday Ticket


Dish (25)

TNT HD
ESPN HD
ESPN2 HD
HDNet
HDNet Movies
World Sport
Rush HD
HBO HDTV
Showtime HDTV
Monsters
World Cinema
Film Fest
Discovery HD Theater
Equator HD
Animania
GamePlay
Family Room
Universal HD
Gallery HD
HDNews
RAVE
TreasureHD
ULTRAHD
KungFu
CBS HD

im a little confused as why 25 for dish is not higher than 17/14 did i misunderstand your post ? or where you adding them together. ?

In addition as you counted them for Cable, you would get more than just cbs if your locals where HD. So it could be almost 30, and tomorrow we will get more. So maybe you can get more HD on Sat and that is what they were using as their comparison.

 

[charper1]

Also on DirecTV

ABC HD (DBS & OTA)
CBS HD (DBS & OTA)
NBC HD (DBS & OTA)
FOX HD (DBS & OTA)
WB HD (OTA)
UPN HD (OTA)
PBS HD (OTA)
NBA TV HD Games of the Week
NFL TV HD Games of the Week
PPV HD
CD USA HD
Select RSN HD Games

Isn't there some sort of FOX Live Reality HD that operates P/T ?

 

[riffjim4069]

You can get rid of the six useless OTA channels most people can receive with an antenna or add the four HD LIL now being provided by in 24 major E* markets...and don't forget to add NGHD, StarzHD, NFLHD, HGTV, and FoodHD that will soon be available on DishHD.

 

[charper1]

Actually many, many people can't get OTA effectivly so those are viable additions. People 60 miles and further from towers and people served by repeaters/translators have troubles.

 

[wherron]

im a little confused as why 25 for dish is not higher than 17/14 did i misunderstand your post ? or where you adding them together. ?

In addition as you counted them for Cable, you would get more than just cbs if your locals where HD. So it could be almost 30, and tomorrow we will get more. So maybe you can get more HD on Sat and that is what they were using as their comparison.

25 is higher than 17/14, but most of those extra channels are the Voom channels and from what I've heard, pretty repetitive with the programming. Plus, I hardly see how looking at art or auctions is a viable channel. Where I'm located, OTA HD is not an option and I don't believe Dish or DirecTV offer the locals in HD (and if they did, they would probably be the Scranton networks, where as right now I get Scranton and NY locals in SD and Philly networks in HD).

In any event, the point was that Cable is very much on par with Sat in the current HD lineup and in my opinion, currently a little better. The article made it appear that Sat has the advantage right now and that's simply not the case.

 

[wherron]

Where are they saying that? Seems they are saying sat has more capacity for the future explosion of HD.

I was referring to these sentences in the article:

"...Thanks to that analog legacy, most cable operators have room to add only about a dozen HD channels - roughly half what DirecTV and EchoStar already offer.

It's a competitive gap likely to widen. Satellite companies "will likely have a two-to-three-year lead over cable during which they'll be able to offer a materially higher number of HD channels..."

Bold added for emphasis.

 

[cableman265]

Right now there are 6 regular digital channels in the space of 1 analog channel. Depending on the compression, you can get 3 or 4 HD channels in the space of 1 analog channel. There are currently about 80 analog channels in my area, so that sounds like plenty of room for the time being until IPTV kicks in. Then it is a moot point.

 

[ElectricSlim]

25 is higher than 17/14, but most of those extra channels are the Voom channels and from what I've heard, pretty repetitive with the programming. Plus, I hardly see how looking at art or auctions is a viable channel.

Excluding the Voom channels is revisionist thinking. They are there and they count. The Voom channels air 24 hours of HD content, the movie channels convert movies, but everything else is HD. Of course there will be repetition, they are filling 24 hours. How much true HD content do you think is out there at this point in time? How many hours of true HD do you get on ESPN HD? HBO HD doesn't repeat programs? What about your locals? Do you get all HD on NBC? 24 hrs? No. And because you don't like art you decide to eliminate that channel. Doesn't PBS have some dull high art programming? You can slice your argument any way you like to meet your needs, but the fact is you get more HD channels on Dish than anywhere else. In baseball speak; if a player leads the league in batting, but he's a DH, he still wins the batting title. If he does steriods...that's another story. I don't mean to sound hostile, but you can't just make your own rules.