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BBC HD faces claims of HDLite after slashing bitrate
Even on this side of the Atlantic, we've been hearing complaints about a supposed drop in HD quality from the BBC over the last few months. After installing new encoders in August, the broadcaster slashed its bitrate and viewers have since complained about a variety of PQ issues. Of course the Beeb claims its new hardware is capable of delivering similar quality while saving bandwidth when it went to replace old, out of date technology. In the last few days it's received a bit of a boost, as consumer watchdogs Which? went to the tape, comparing earlier recordings from BBC HD with live broadcasts over Sky and Freesat, claiming any difference between new and old is "tiny, and smaller than the existing differences between any two HD programmes filmed in a studio or on location." Only time will tell if that is enough to calm the commenters on BBC's blogs calling for a return to the old, if your Top Gear and Doctor Who watching has been affected, let us know.
Overcompressed bitstarved HDTV frustrates World Cup fans
It's an unfortunate but familiar circumstance for many high definition television owners, after spending a lot of money on a new HDTV, hooked up the cable/satellite/antenna and settled in to watch the big game, only to get a blurry, blocky mess. While American soccer futbot football soccer fans have commented that they "can finally see the ball" during the World Cup broadcast, Korean watchers are flooding the nations three major broadcasters with complaints that they can't see anything thats moving quickly.The broadcasters have been testing a new multicasting system, MMS to broadcast more channels within the same frequency, lowering the bitrate from 19Mbps to 13Mbps. It looks like viewers noticed the difference, with threats to sue and other complaints posted on the internet. The Korean Broadcasting Commission is going to vote tomorrow on whether to continue the MMS test or not. Korea, we've got our fingers crossed. Whether or not someone will sue ESPN for their poor color commentary during games remains to be seen.
