Bandwidth – Internet Use and HDTV

This may be a bit off topic but since it involved bandwidth, we thought Webmasters would enjoy something few truly understand.

Assuming you have HDTV service, did you ever wonder why HDTV sometime freezes or the audio stops? Did you ever wonder why the freezing of the picture is sometimes for only a second and other times it is for ten seconds or so?

Well, we all know that HDTV is a digital signal. Here is what Consumer Reports has to say in their March 2008 issue:

“Bandwidth limits my degrade quality… HD programming requires much more data capacity then standard content, so the increase in HD content is straining TV providers, especially as many expand phone and Internet service. Providers compress the signals to varying degrees to squeeze more channels into the same bandwidth; heavy compression can reduce HD picture quality. They might be “stealing” bandwidth from less data-demanding programming, such as a talk-show interview, and redistributing it to, say, a car-chase scene in an action movie on another channel.”

Pretty interesting stuff!

Marc L., President, AdultChamber