On 09/07/2020 08:00, Mark Tinka wrote:
So is there a reason why we are not seeing widespread 1080p TV via
satellite? They seem to exist where a broadcaster also supports an IPTV
platform.
Mark.
I'd assume it's a question of available bandwidth and availability of
decoders. From my observations most HD satellite feeds seem to sit
between 3 and 5 mbps, a typical Ku band transponder might have a
bandwidth of around 20-25mbps. This means you can cram 5-8 HD feeds
onto a single transponder. With 4K streams the bandwidth requirements
double, meaning you can cram a lot less in the same amount of
transponder space and satellite bandwidth is expensive!
The other issue is on the decoder side. Right now, the vast majority of
satellite subscribers receive programming though dedicated decoders (set
top boxes). Most of these decoders only have hardware to decode MPEG2
and H.264 video, while 4K stuff is almost exclusively H.265. That
means it's not a simple matter of turning on 4K, you'd have to arrange
to send new decoders to all your subscribers wanting to receive 4K.
As time moves along, I'm sure we'll start to see more satellite feeds
available in 4K but like the transition to HD video, it'll be a slow
process.
Chris
