[BC] Panel LCD TV's

[Chuck Lakaytis]

The bandwidth gets even more interesting in our case and with many other 
operators.  We are using statistical multiplexing on our Scientific 
Atlantic gear that amalgamates our audio and video services on our 
uplink.  Each service has a lower and upper bound set for bit rate.  It 
is very interesting watching the pie chart display on our Trevini 
analyzer show that changes in "pie slice" as the bit rate changes 
depending on our set parameters for each channel and the change in video 
from frame to frame.  We have just so much money for bandwidth and many 
"customers" to allocate to that bandwidth.  There was a good deal of 
struggle between users as to who gets how much bandwidth.  We have been 
pleasantly surprised how well statistical multiplexing  gives us an 
improvement in viewing quality.

But the boxes sure are not cheap!



Paul Christensen wrote:
>> I get conflicting stories about the resolution of cable and 
>> satellite. My DirecTV HD box switches modes depending on the source. 
>> They might just be switching the resolution leds on the receiver.
>
> You're getting conflicting reports because the transmitted bit-rate is 
> constantly evolving -- and generally evolving in the wrong direction. 
> Recently, I've had to referee this issue between two south Florida 
> municipalities and their serving MSOs as part of a forthcoming 
> franchise renewal.
>
> The game the MSOs and satcasters have had to reckon with is the 
> necessity to compress HD video to the point where the public doesn't a 
> perceive a reduction in video quality.  Finding that threshold across 
> all forms of content isn't easy.  For example, content providers can 
> get away with more data reduction with movies versus live events.  
> Since the vast majority of movies are produced on film, the added 
> benefit from say 480p to either a1080i or 1080p format isn't as much 
> as it is with live video.  When I purchased a HD-DVD player last year, 
> I was very disappointed with the video quality of HD movies.  I 
> expected a lot more detail than what I had seen for years from a 480p 
> format player.  The nature of the film medium masks much of the added 
> benefit of increased line resolution.
>
> Last week, I met with a client who is a regional VP for a large MSO in 
> the southwest.  When asked about the greatest competitive threat 
> facing MSOs, he quickly responded that it was in the effort relating 
> to analog bandwidth recovery for added digital services.   
> Historically, MSOs have done a poor job of managing their spectrum and 
> its beginning to affect their ability to offer more HD content.  
> They've waited far too long to make their systems 100% addressable.  
> In the past, most system operators would point to capital costs in the 
> deployment of simple converters for basic tier service as their 
> rationale.  But that cost can be quickly recovered through a reduction 
> in cable theft.  Cable theft represents a significant cost for MSOs 
> and the sooner they make their systems fully addressable, the sooner 
> they can recover some of that revenue.  However, because cable theft 
> is primarily concentrated in the lower socio-economic strata, not all 
> of what's now stolen will be converted to revenue-generating units.
>
> We'll likely see more controversy on the matter as time moves on. 
> MultiChannel News has been presenting some interesting articles 
> including this one:
>
> http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6504772.html
>
> Paul
>
>
> ====================================
> Paul Christensen, CPBE CBNT
> LAW OFFICE OF P. B. CHRISTENSEN, P.A.
> 3749 Southern Hills,  Jacksonville, Florida 32225
> Office: (904) 379-7802    Facsimile: (904) 212-0050
> pchristensen at ieee.org
>
>
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-- 
Chuck Lakaytis
Director of Engineering
Alaska Public Broadcasting, Inc.
135 Cordova Street
Anchorage, Ak 99501
office   907-277-6300
fax      907-277-6350
cell     907-301-4339