Giz Explains: Why HD Video Downloads Aren't Very High Def

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

> From: dewayne () warpspeed com (Dewayne Hendricks)
> Date: October 17, 2008 1:24:39 PM EDT
> To: Dewayne-Net Technology List <xyzzy () warpspeed com>
> Subject: [Dewayne-Net] Giz Explains: Why HD Video Downloads Aren't  
> Very High Def
>
> [Note:  Worth reading!  Makes it clear why we're going to need  
> access to broadband infrastructures a lot faster then we have today  
> if we're really going use/view HD content.  DLH]
>
> Giz Explains: Why HD Video Downloads Aren't Very High Def
> 2:20 PM on Wed Sep 10 2008
> By matt buchanan
> <http://gizmodo.com/5048025/giz-explains-why-hd-video-downloads-arent-very-high-def 
> >
> Yesterday Apple introduced HD TV downloads to the iTunes store,  
> meaning you can watch Peter be super emo on Heroes at a crispy 720p  
> resolution. That's a higher resolution than DVD, and technically,  
> yup, that's HD. There's a catch though. Like every other video  
> download service touting HD videos, it's all actually lower quality  
> than DVD.
>
> It's all about bitrate: How much data is packed into a file,  
> described as bits per second. Generally speaking, a higher bitrate  
> translates into higher quality audio and video, though quality can  
> also be affected by codec—the encoding and compression technique  
> that was used to make and read the file—so bitrate is not an  
> absolute mark of quality, but it's still a very good indicator.
>
> You're probably most familiar with this bitrate business when it  
> comes to ripping your CDs. When you shove a CD into your computer,  
> your ripping program will ask what format you want and what bitrate  
> you want. A song ripped at a higher bitrate will sound better, with  
> more presence and detail, but it does take up more space.
>
> The same principle applies with video, though it's actually a bigger  
> deal, because it's easier to see quality differences in video than  
> it is to hear differences in audio. The bits make a huge difference  
> when you get into fast moving stuff like sports or action movies—to  
> be frank, they'll look like splattered, smeared shit in highly  
> compressed low-bitrate vids. This chart below, expertly crafted by  
> George Ou at ZDNet provides a solid starting point for comparison,  
> with average bitrates of most digital video available.
>
> [snip]RSS Feed: <http://www.warpspeed.com/wordpress>




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