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URFloorMatt
join:2009-07-08
Arlington, VA

1 recommendation

URFloorMatt to SeattleMatt

Member

to SeattleMatt

Re: [HD] Another QAM Bites the Dust - More Spanish MPEG-4 HD!

Just 2 QAM for 10 channels? Even at MPEG4 compression, that seems of dubious quality to me.

cypherstream
MVM
join:2004-12-02
Reading, PA
·PenTeleData
ARRIS SB8200

cypherstream

MVM

said by URFloorMatt:

Just 2 QAM for 10 channels? Even at MPEG4 compression, that seems of dubious quality to me.

Ericsson's 8190 encoder can fit 6 HD H.264/mpeg4 avc streams with "complex material" in a 30mbps window.

1 QAM is 38.8 mbps. 5 HD MPEG4 is cakewalk.

Advancements in Encoding Technology (pdf):
»www.globecommsystems.com ··· gner.pdf

Ericsson 8190 Encoder module (pdf):
»archive.ericsson.net/ser ··· stFree=Y

Ericsson Broadcast Encoders and Transcoders:
»www.ericsson.com/ourport ··· _101_752

SeattleMatt
Streaming Tech Director
Premium Member
join:2001-12-28
Seattle, WA

SeattleMatt

Premium Member

And from what I was told, they are using brand new MPEG-4 hardware for this.

I did subscribe to the Spanish package for a day when they added the first 5. The PQ wasn't HD Net quality, but, it was better than SD.

TitusTroy
join:2009-06-18
New York, NY

TitusTroy

Member

said by SeattleMatt:

I did subscribe to the Spanish package for a day when they added the first 5. The PQ wasn't HD Net quality, but, it was better than SD.

huh?...I thought MPEG-4 was this holy grail of efficiency and amazing picture quality due to no re-encoding of MPEG-2?...if it only looks better then SD then that's not saying much...I want every program to look as good as Bikini Destination on HDNET

and yes I know MPEG-4 is mainly meant to add space for more HD channels but who's to say that Verizon will actually do this even if they had plenty of space?
BosstonesOwn
join:2002-12-15
Wakefield, MA

BosstonesOwn

Member

mpeg4 is a small step, I think they are waiting for a new compression scheme before pulling the trigger, mpeg4 is inefficient compared to some of the newer schemes, however it's going to cost them in the long term if they fail to move to the newer schemes region by region.
necochino
join:2004-09-28
Burke, VA

necochino to TitusTroy

Member

to TitusTroy
I have the Spanish package. I checked the channels. The PQ is just ok. However, I think this is mostly because the channels don't appear to be broadcasting HD (some of the shows are in 4:3 format). I too wish they had added Cartoon, BBC or GolTV first. I'm hoping that they are using these channels as guinea pigs for the MP4 introduction. If they did it with Cartoon or any of the other nationals we are awaiting a lot of people would post angry comments or maybe even leave Verizon while they iron out the implementation bugs (when the first few Spanish channels went on, the picture pixelated a lot).
tennisman94
join:2010-02-18
Palm Harbor, FL

tennisman94 to BosstonesOwn

Member

to BosstonesOwn
said by BosstonesOwn:

mpeg4 is a small step, I think they are waiting for a new compression scheme before pulling the trigger, mpeg4 is inefficient compared to some of the newer schemes, however it's going to cost them in the long term if they fail to move to the newer schemes region by region.

What newer codecs are you referring to? MPEG 4 Part 10 (H.264) is the most efficient codec around at the moment. H.265 hasn't even been standardized yet, which means that hardware encoders and decoders are at least a few years out.

amarryat
Verizon FiOS
join:2005-05-02
Marshfield, MA

amarryat

Member

said by tennisman94:

What newer codecs are you referring to? MPEG 4 Part 10 (H.264) is the most efficient codec around at the moment. H.265 hasn't even been standardized yet, which means that hardware encoders and decoders are at least a few years out.

That's what I thought. I wonder if he meant mpeg2

Thinkdiff
MVM,
join:2001-08-07
Bronx, NY

Thinkdiff to TitusTroy

MVM,

to TitusTroy
Either he's crazy or the content on the spanish channels is just poor quality to begin with.

I re-encode baseball games from FiOS's ~18Mbps MPEG2 stream to 3.5Mbps MPEG4 (one pass) and it looks better than a few channels on Time Warner Cable - not even exaggerating. Sure, a fast camera pan will send it into pixelation hell, but the same thing happens frequently on TWC. A properly hardware encoded MPEG4 stream at 7+Mbps should look amazing.
BosstonesOwn
join:2002-12-15
Wakefield, MA

BosstonesOwn to amarryat

Member

to amarryat
its a form of h.264/avc supposedly it compresses better then mpeg4 without losing as much quality. I was reading it awhile ago how most stb manufacturers are looking into using it on stbs soon.
URFloorMatt
join:2009-07-08
Arlington, VA

URFloorMatt to SeattleMatt

Member

to SeattleMatt
said by SeattleMatt:

I did subscribe to the Spanish package for a day when they added the first 5. The PQ wasn't HD Net quality, but, it was better than SD.

Heh. Well, that narrows things down not at all.

With channels like these, I wouldn't put much stock into how they look at all. The source is probably crap, like the .TV channels or AMC.