Videokarma.org

Go Back   Videokarma.org TV - Video - Vintage Television & Radio Forums > Television Broadcast Theory

We appreciate your help

in keeping this site going.
 
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Prev Previous Post   Next Post Next
  #9  
Old 04-30-2017, 08:48 PM
Jeffhs's Avatar
Jeffhs Jeffhs is offline
<----Zenith C845
 
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Fairport Harbor, Ohio (near Lake Erie)
Posts: 4,035
Quote:
Originally Posted by dr.ido View Post
If the transition is handled like the current transition here (Australia) from MPEG2 to H264 you will probably be forced to upgrade the converter boxes sooner rather than later. I've scrapped all of my MPEG2 only boxes as they are basically useless now.

Yes, every channel still broadcasts it's main channel in SD MPEG2 that even the oldest 1st generation converter boxes and digital TVs can still receive - however the bit rate keeps dropping and it is reaching the point that it is unwatchable. The last of the HD MPEG2 channels converted to H264 recently. I think some stations are dynamically adjusting the bitrate depending on what considered higher priority as sometimes some channels look fine, but at others they look like youtube at 360p.

I watch more youtube than I do OTA TV, so it doesn't really effect my own viewing that much. It just makes it harder to sell used TVs.
I don't watch OTA TV anymore, preferring to watch the local TV stations via streaming video, with a Roku player connected to my flat screen. I don't see these players being made obsolete by new standards, ATSC 3.0 or any other, when those standards change; the players will just be upgraded to newer software. Roku players already update their firmware daily, so that won't be a problem if and/or when ATSC 3.0 replaces the current standard. Even at that, US television stations will be required to carry both formats indefinitely, so no one will be left without TV when the new standard takes effect--unlike the DTV switch, which had plenty of people all but scared to death that they would lose their TV reception on June 12, 2009.

Blame the local TV stations for this (the aggressive advertising for the DTV switch). I remember vividly (I won't forget it anytime soon) when the CBS TV affiliate in Cleveland began advertising for what it called "The Big Switch", that is, the switch from analog to digital television. "Your TV will go black on June 12 (2009) if you don't upgrade to HDTV!" the announcement all but screamed at viewers across northeastern Ohio; the announcement was repeated over and over again for weeks afterward, at every opportunity the TV station had: during commercial breaks, station breaks, name it. I never saw such an aggressive advertising campaign on TV in my life.

As for programming, I have a subscription to Netflix, so I can watch any program in its library I don't already have on DVD or VHS. My Roku player has an icon on its home screen that takes the viewer directly to Netflix (I canceled my 3-DVD delivery plan some time ago in favor of streaming directly from Netflix), so accessing the channel is no problem. I could probably, even certainly, put an icon on that screen for YouTube as well. I am sufficiently put out (to put it mildly) by the grade-ZZZ fare on network TV that I have little use for OTA television, in this age of streaming video.

My hat is off to the developers of the Roku streaming-video player, as it is an idea whose time has come; in fact, IMHO, it is long, long overdue. This little box has changed forever how I watch TV. I still have a cable connection, but only so that the Spectrum TV app on my Roku will receive local TV, which I do watch occasionally--mostly for news and for the retro subchannels of channels 8 and 19 (Antenna TV and MeTV, respectively), as well as certain programs on subchannels of the PBS affiliate in Cleveland.
__________________
Jeff, WB8NHV

Collecting, restoring and enjoying vintage Zenith radios since 2002

Zenith. Gone, but not forgotten.

Last edited by Jeffhs; 04-30-2017 at 09:12 PM.
Reply With Quote
 


Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -5. The time now is 01:47 AM.



Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
©Copyright 2012 VideoKarma.org, All rights reserved.