quality vs bandwidth

[pounce]

with respect to the broadcasters, how will quality vs bandwidth play out in time.

right now, many of the HD television channels still show artifacts from the compression they are using to cut down on bandwidth. it sucks when that happens. i have a huge hd tv because i want things to look good and i don't give a shit what they have to do to deliver it. bandwidth.

just a week ago or so i got xm satellite radio for my car. i like the idea of it. i'll be on a road trip this week to visit out of town family for thanksgiving. the xm radio will be a nice thing for the drive. the selection of channels is great. otoh, the quality of the broadcast really sucks. it's the weird compression system they are using. i also have my ipod plugged in to this same car stereo and the ipod sounds pretty good. certainly good enough for listening to music in the car. the xm is a far worse quality than the ipod. it's disappointing. i'd think that the compression algorythm they use could change, or that they could get additional bandwidth in time to improve the quality of the audio.

having good radio channels is part of the equation, but if they sound like shit it's not necessarily a big help.

so the fight is bandwidth vs quality. both radio and tv obviously go through this. i'm convinced that in time certainly with more satellite radio subscriber and more hd televisions out there the demand will be stronger and stronger to have this content. and technology or money will allow for the extra bandwidth. we know it's possible to deliver better quality tv and radio if they use the bandwidth to do it. in time when broadcaster have even more bandwidth to play with will they add more content at this quality point, or will there be any improvement of the quality of the material?

i think there are folks here in the broadcast areas that are better aware of the rumors of what is happening on that side of the industry. of course i just want higher quality because i'm the customer that appreciates the quality. but i fear that the quality will stay the same and they simply add more channels or stations. anyone want to chime in?

[Grapestomper]

Pounce,

Sory to be so negative, but my guess is that for the forseeable future, any additional bandwidth will only go to "more content"

Believe me, I agree with your feelings on this subject, but from the point of view of the bean-counters running the download sites and digital radio stations, there's no additional revenue in higher quality, only in "expanding thier demographics."

To get better audio resolution will take some real, broad-based consumer demand...

It amazes me how we'll demand the highest possible video resolution for our TVs, and will happily pay extra for it, while most of us don't even realize or care that we're being stiffed on sound quality.

Listening with our eyes...
M

[magicchord]

Things are getting bad on both the picture and sound fronts.
The providers will always try to cram as many channels in as they can get away with so it's really up to the viewers and listeners to band together and fight for quality.

Like this customer who is currently suing DirecTV (a flagrant offender, IMO):

http://www.tvpredictions.com/directvlawsuit092006.htm

[pounce]

yeah, i don't know what it would take for this trend to change. and i also don't hold up much hope in the short term at least.

i just want my xm radio to be the same quality as the ipod. that would be totally fine with me. have it be similar to regular fm. that would be fine. but it's not, it's kind of like am radio. i'm really really aware of the compression scheme on xm. obviously, with things like the compression on ipods (mp4, etc.) i know there are codecs that sound better.

but it's about bandwidth being more important than quality. i dont' know what i think about the directv lawsuit, although i like the fact that it address the concept that broadcasters are taking too many liberties with smashing signals that are by defintion supposed to be high definition. and with xm, i'd settle for "as good as" my radio.

[nobby]

Cells phones are another culprit. Not just the harsh crappy sound, but breaking up, dropped calls and dead zones.

They'll tell you they are adding more transmission towers, but what they don't tell you is that the reason is not for improved communications but for giving minimal service to more customers.