It would appear to me that my 'objectionable' post was this one:-
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Originally Posted by Sirius C
One can only hope, that with another day of missing posts, the following can be accepted as fact by everyone on the forum:
There is space for more than 1 HD channel.
A mixture of HD and SD channels can be broadcast on the same frequency (and stat mux in two groups HD/SD using fixed bandwidth limits for each type in total). As carried out by Vodafone in Germany. Virgin have done the same with Sky Sports Box Office HD.
HD channels could be broadcast with fixed bitrate - as done so on the Astra 2 satellites without issue. Nobody believes this to be the most efficient way, however if 10Mb/sec is left over somewhere, and it's going to be dead space anyway...
Virgin are actively testing 7 HD channels per frequency - and nobody has (thus far) noticed a drop in quality for those (at least) 12 HD channels affected.
Virgin could change a number of frequencies to 256 QAM from 64 QAM, increasing the bandwidth for each by 30% or so. This was carried out last year for the majority of frequencies but a small number remained 64 QAM due to software on legacy boxes which are being phased out (tomorrow officially?).
BSkyB have indicated the closure of Sky Sports SD channels could occur as early as January 2020, with HD being 'free' between October and this date, with a price rise of £2 per month taking effect then. This could give a green light for Virgin to close Sky Movies and Sports SD channels, plus BT Sport SD channels later this year - as nobody subscribing to these channels will be using legacy SD hardware on the Virgin network.
There are a number of issues around carriage on the Virgin platform, especially around fledgeling broadcasters who are free to air on satellite but would prefer Virgin to pay them, market issues with Sky having significant market power and seeking a unique selling point for their own platform.
I think if everyone could agree on all of the above the conversation could move forward constructively and give value for forum users here versus elsewhere discussing the same topics. Capacity isn't the issue on the Virgin network.
Indeed there is so much capacity and there are so many options that while DVB-T2 and DVB-S2 are natural successors to DVB-T and DVB-S respectively the people most "in the know" are asking if DVB-C2 is a technology that missed the boat.
http://www.csimagazine.com/pdf/featu...-jun_09/22.pdf
It may enter the cycle at some point but at this point no cable operator in the world has it on the roadmap.
I look forward to contributing to this forum on an ongoing basis, offering insight, opinion and constructive conversation with anyone willing to engage with me in that same spirit of respect. If people are off the forum reading this and think I'm wrong then let's cut out the middle man - hit the join button. I've been on forums discussing cable, satellite and terrestrial since about 2000 and yes every once in a while you learn something useful.
The HD box office channel has to resurface at some point and it'll be interesting to see where. Will it be a seventh HD channel - which may make sense because of the minimal broadcasting hours over the average month. Will it have 'protected' space in with SD channels or red button events.
There could also be an argument for Virgin making BT/Sky channels share space for red button events - as there will only be six simulcast Champions League games going forward instead of eight (and of those six probably two on main channels). I can't remember the last time a Sky 'red button' event required more than 3 or 4 streams. That said I've not looked at the fixture list for enhanced coverage of the Football League. |
I'm happy to contribute to this forum while others do not. I'd hope that everyone on a 'coming soon' thread would consider my input of some value, especially considering neither of them can offer evidence based opinions on the capacity on the Virgin network.
If we aren't considering the evidence made available by others then what is the point.
My intention of quoting my post from the other place is to ensure comments on available capacity are evidence based and not speculative. I'm happy to discuss those further should forum members require it.
For clarity the legal issue may arise around GDPR. Although that's not relevant to any discussion here.