Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

BBC Lowers HDTV Bitrate; Users Notice

Posted by timothy on from the totally-amazing dept.

aws910 writes "According to an article on the BBC website, BBC HD lowered the bitrate of their broadcasts by almost 50% and are surprised that users noticed. From the article: 'The replacement encoders work at a bitrate of 9.7Mbps (megabits per second), while their predecessors worked at 16Mbps, the standard for other broadcasters.' The BBC claims 'We did extensive testing on the new encoders which showed that they could produce pictures at the same or even better quality than the old encoders ...' I got a good laugh off of this, but is it really possible to get better quality from a lower bitrate?"

6 of 412 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Focus group... by Psx29 · · Score: 5, Funny

    FTA: ""Even my wife can see a reduction in picture quality and she's got cataracts," wrote one. "

  2. Re:They suck at math too by rgo · · Score: 5, Funny

    They use the metric percent.

  3. Re:They suck at math too by zach_the_lizard · · Score: 5, Funny

    Technically speaking, they suck at "maths".

    We Amurkins don't recognize no commie "maths." We want our math to grow up as individuals

    --
    SSC
  4. Re:Focus group... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    FTA: ""Even my wife can see a reduction in picture quality and she's got cataracts," wrote one. "

    They must have a pretty big screen if she can see that difference from the kitchen.

  5. Re:Focus group... by BForrester · · Score: 5, Funny

    As a 3 yo lesbian, father of seven, socialist COBOL programmer, I'm not sure which of your stated attributes qualify you to be racially offended.

  6. Re:Focus group... by dkh2 · · Score: 5, Funny

    My cranium nearly exploded while attempting to parse

    "3yo lesbian, father of seven"

    --
    My office has been taken over by iPod people.