Cable Forum - View Single Post - General Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2014) Vol. 2

blue666666 · 29-05-2014, 19:18

Today, 18:56 #1295
Sirius C
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Join Date: Nov 2013
Posts: 141
There seems to be a bit of cynicism in another place as to the accuracy of my post regarding Virgin squeezing 4 HD channels into a multiplex, as opposed to 3 previously. Someone has suggested Virgin have been doing this since "2011" and cited a poll indicating that channels are scoring highly in quality as perceived by the viewer.

Well... I got bored and decided to check it out in closer detail. Now, a poll that predates BBC3/4, BT Sport 1 and 2 HD among other channels that have launched since shouldn't really be the benchmark in my view. It is questionable if the channels cited as being squeezed in actually shared with another 3 back then.

Of the multiplexes carrying HD channels in my area 50 per cent have 3 HD channels, and 2 only have 2 HD channels (one of which is mixed with SD local variant of BBC/ITV). I would contest that 4 channels per multiplex is not the norm, and would not have been when the poll was conducted.

Edit: I should point out I'm not hinting that Virgin have capacity issues in the medium/longer term. I have posted endlessly in the past about this that Virgin (well, actually it predates that name) would use analogue shutdown, 256 QAM and then could switch to MPEG4. It'd be easy to convert say, HD premiums and swap out old SA V+ boxes for affected customers in favour of Samsung V+ (if they still have any) or Tivos. Then move onto all HD channels and effectively double the amount of HD capacity on the platform.

The V+HD, Samsung V+ and TiVo all support MPEG4.

29-05-2014, 19:18	#1126
blue666666 Inactive Join Date: Aug 2013 Services: XL tv bb 200 mb tivo 500gb box Posts: 655	Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2014) Vol. 2 Today, 18:56 #1295 Sirius C Forum Member Join Date: Nov 2013 Posts: 141 There seems to be a bit of cynicism in another place as to the accuracy of my post regarding Virgin squeezing 4 HD channels into a multiplex, as opposed to 3 previously. Someone has suggested Virgin have been doing this since "2011" and cited a poll indicating that channels are scoring highly in quality as perceived by the viewer. Well... I got bored and decided to check it out in closer detail. Now, a poll that predates BBC3/4, BT Sport 1 and 2 HD among other channels that have launched since shouldn't really be the benchmark in my view. It is questionable if the channels cited as being squeezed in actually shared with another 3 back then. Of the multiplexes carrying HD channels in my area 50 per cent have 3 HD channels, and 2 only have 2 HD channels (one of which is mixed with SD local variant of BBC/ITV). I would contest that 4 channels per multiplex is not the norm, and would not have been when the poll was conducted. Edit: I should point out I'm not hinting that Virgin have capacity issues in the medium/longer term. I have posted endlessly in the past about this that Virgin (well, actually it predates that name) would use analogue shutdown, 256 QAM and then could switch to MPEG4. It'd be easy to convert say, HD premiums and swap out old SA V+ boxes for affected customers in favour of Samsung V+ (if they still have any) or Tivos. Then move onto all HD channels and effectively double the amount of HD capacity on the platform. The V+HD, Samsung V+ and TiVo all support MPEG4.