Video Asylum

Posted by Joe Murphy Jr (A) on September 17, 2007 at 22:38:42

In Reply to: RE: Does 1080P have a chance on cable TV? posted by violinist3 on September 17, 2007 at 18:14:27

Actually, cable, like satellite, has more 1080i programming than 720p. ESPN, ABC and FOX support 720p, while just about all of the rest are 1080i. One of the problems with these forms of Hi-Def is that resolution and bandwidth are treated as second class citizens. A 1080i source is supposed to be 1920x1080; however, many stations will drop the transmitted resolution down to 1440x1080. And while the bandwidth for Hi-Def transmitted signals is rated to 19Mb/s, sources for these signals would rather offer one Hi-Def channel at 10 - 12Mb/s and use the leftover bandwidth for multiple Standard Definition digital channels.

As for 1080p over cable or satellite, maybe in 5 - 10 years when bandwidth gets cheaper and the sources for Hi-Def are available to more people.