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dino · 25-01-2004, 18:39

I understand NICAM stereo is a digital bit stream; the sound is compressed at a rate of 32khz / 14 bit accuracy (compared to 44khz / 16 bit accuracy for CD). The raw broadcast data is fed into NICAM encoders at the broadcast end and is decoded at the TV end. I think NICAM compression is lossless, but stand to be corrected on that.

NTL on the other hand uses a lossy compression technique; the audio layer of MPEG-2. Not sure whether they use the same raw broadcast data, but both methods employ encoders / decoders and are digital.

25-01-2004, 18:39	#7
dino Inactive Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Manchester Posts: 8	Re: Stereo audio: Terrestrial vs NTL I understand NICAM stereo is a digital bit stream; the sound is compressed at a rate of 32khz / 14 bit accuracy (compared to 44khz / 16 bit accuracy for CD). The raw broadcast data is fed into NICAM encoders at the broadcast end and is decoded at the TV end. I think NICAM compression is lossless, but stand to be corrected on that. NTL on the other hand uses a lossy compression technique; the audio layer of MPEG-2. Not sure whether they use the same raw broadcast data, but both methods employ encoders / decoders and are digital.