Quote:
Originally Posted by spiderplant
I've just checked a few, and in every case the SD channel is ahead (7 seconds ahead in the case of Channel 4). I suspect the MPEG4 encoding processing delay is the biggest factor. ITV HD, which is still MPEG2 in my region, is only very slightly behind the SD version.
|
I figured encoding would make a difference but wasn't sure how it works out. Although SD has less information, I wondered if it would take longer due to being a higher definition source re-encoded on the fly to lower resolution/bitrate and codec type or something similar.
That would have made the SD slower so obviously not the case but interested to know how the SD/HD channels are actually done and if it all relies on digital hardware or if any old analogue stuff is used.
In the future the answer to which is faster could potentially change according to hardware encoding/decoding and broadcasting specs. 4k could potentially get to someone quicker than SD.