OTA TV channels pilot bandwidth sharing
- Thread starter TJ Cornish
- Start date
Re: OTA TV channels pilot bandwidth sharing
This is one of the options available to broadcasters in the spectrum repack. It's currently done in many European countries and even though they operate with 8MHz wide channels(US operates 6MHz wide) the data stream is wide enough to theoretically support a variety of HD and SD streams. When you take into consideration some of the must-carry requirements, sharing a channel is a pretty good idea. The FCC has a paper detailing the current data rates in OBI Technical Paper No. 3. http://download.broadband.gov/plan/...-analysis-options-for-broadband-spectrum.pdf) The interesting stuff starts around Page 20.
A current 6MHz channel can carry a 19.4Mbps data stream. Public comments to the FCC shows that HD program requires anywhere form 6-17Mbps and SD requires 1.5-6Mbps. A PBS mini-series in 720p had a max bitrate of 9.6Mbps and in 1080i had a bitrate maximum of 13.1Mbps. An NFL game on NBC in 1080i had a max of 14.4Mbps. I mention those two differences because the bitrate requirements for what the FCC calls HD-Low Movement and HD-High Movement. In my opinion, this is a fantastic option for some broadcasters that are only operating in HD or SD to partner up and really utilize the spectrum efficiently. It also so happens that it would be a great thing for us by allowing some stations to remain on the air and also remove themselves from the UHF landscape.
This is one of the options available to broadcasters in the spectrum repack. It's currently done in many European countries and even though they operate with 8MHz wide channels(US operates 6MHz wide) the data stream is wide enough to theoretically support a variety of HD and SD streams. When you take into consideration some of the must-carry requirements, sharing a channel is a pretty good idea. The FCC has a paper detailing the current data rates in OBI Technical Paper No. 3. http://download.broadband.gov/plan/...-analysis-options-for-broadband-spectrum.pdf) The interesting stuff starts around Page 20.
A current 6MHz channel can carry a 19.4Mbps data stream. Public comments to the FCC shows that HD program requires anywhere form 6-17Mbps and SD requires 1.5-6Mbps. A PBS mini-series in 720p had a max bitrate of 9.6Mbps and in 1080i had a bitrate maximum of 13.1Mbps. An NFL game on NBC in 1080i had a max of 14.4Mbps. I mention those two differences because the bitrate requirements for what the FCC calls HD-Low Movement and HD-High Movement. In my opinion, this is a fantastic option for some broadcasters that are only operating in HD or SD to partner up and really utilize the spectrum efficiently. It also so happens that it would be a great thing for us by allowing some stations to remain on the air and also remove themselves from the UHF landscape.
Re: OTA TV channels pilot bandwidth sharing
The downside of being able to fit multiple "channels" of content is having to feed content to that beast. So sharing sounds like a win-win to me.
The downside of being able to fit multiple "channels" of content is having to feed content to that beast. So sharing sounds like a win-win to me.
Re: OTA TV channels pilot bandwidth sharing
But due to must-carry laws that are still in place for broadcasters, there is no reason for them not to share a data stream for their must-carry channels. And for the smaller stations that are still broadcasting in SD and wish to remain on the air after the auction and repack, this sound like the best way to accomplish that.
But due to must-carry laws that are still in place for broadcasters, there is no reason for them not to share a data stream for their must-carry channels. And for the smaller stations that are still broadcasting in SD and wish to remain on the air after the auction and repack, this sound like the best way to accomplish that.
