more on Well VOOM is going going gone (after 30 April)

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

So if I wanted Directv what do I do? nothave hdtv till they convert??

Dave
------ Forwarded Message
From: Tim Onosko <onosko () gmail com>
Reply-To: <tim () onosko com>
Date: Sun, 10 Apr 2005 01:39:24 -0500
To: <dave () farber net>
Subject: Re: [IP] i Well VOOM is going going gone (after 30 April)

On Apr 9, 2005 3:05 PM, David Farber  <dave () farber net> wrote:
> Wonder what I should do with their dish and set-top box?
>
> BTW any suggestions re DISH or DIRECTV?

Yes, one suggestion with regard to DirecTV:  Don't buy their HDTV receiver,
because they have stated that they will be re-transmitting local network
digital (HD) channels using the H.264 (aka "AVC") codec, which will
essentially obsolete the current HD boxes.  (All of those use the MPEG2
transport stream for conveying HD.)

I think it is only a matter of time before both DTH satellite systems shift
over to this same codec for all SD as well as HD carriage, due primarily to
its high efficiency and for bandwidth conservation purposes.  Sat b'casters
can send an HDTV stream in less than double the bandwidth that they spend on
a standard-def channel right now (VS about 10 times the bandwidth for
MPEG2-based HDTV.)   H.264 video also "scales" better, from tiny phone
screens, though portable multimedia devices, standard-def screens and HDTV.

Anyway, DirecTV will start employing H.264 encoding later this year.

As for the dish and settop box, I suggest either a donation to a museum, or
use as a boat anchor.




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