2014-06-23, 11:59
(2014-05-30, 19:44)Prof Yaffle Wrote: I just heard a rumour that Sky UK has implemented HEVC on a whole raft of HD channels - I find it dubious, though, as I'd have thought that it would have forced an upgrade of the hardware even if they could get all the software in place. All I can find on Google is some testing in the UK and Germany, though.
I believe this was a bit of misinformation (which is being perpetuated). Sky haven't switched to H265/HEVC on their existing HD channels, but instead have changed their encryption, causing people with non-Sky receivers to lose the services.
Because this change came about around the same time Sky started talking more widely about their HEVC/H265 4K testing of 3840x2160/50p 10bit sport broadcasts, some have assumed that they lost their channels because of a codec change. However the channels continue to be received on standard Sky boxes that pre-dated the HEVC/H265 standard ratification - and Sky boxes use hardware video decoding not software - so the chances of 5+year old boxes being upgraded to a new codec over-the-air are pretty low... (i.e. non-existent)
HOWEVER - the BBC are currently broadcasting a 4k HEVC DVB-T2 service in London for the World cup. It's 2160/59.94p and can be viewed in recent builds of ffplay - or on a PC using LAVFilters (which leverage ffmpeg). DVB Viewer recognises the video as HEVC.
(2014-05-31, 03:05)DJ_Izumi Wrote:(2014-05-30, 19:44)Prof Yaffle Wrote: I just heard a rumour that Sky UK has implemented HEVC on a whole raft of HD channels - I find it dubious, though, as I'd have thought that it would have forced an upgrade of the hardware even if they could get all the software in place. All I can find on Google is some testing in the UK and Germany, though.
Yeah, this seems pretty unbelievable. You'd much more likely see this in OTT systems like Netflix or other streaming systems, where the data format to be streamed could be determined by communicating with the client. SetTop type cable and sat systems on the other hand are unlikely to see such rapid upgrades. Sounds like whimsy to me.
Yes - I believe it was a conclusion that was jumped to when Sky viewers using non Sky receivers lost their channels due to an encryption change on the HD services - not a codec change.
(2014-05-31, 06:44)nickr Wrote:(2014-05-30, 23:52)Dzhus Wrote: I think providers will try to co-support both legacy H.264 and HEVC to ease the transition.Yeah you think they will waste their precious and expensive bandwidth broadcasting in 2 formats?
Well they do for SD and HD on satellite - and terrestrial in some countries. (Others like Ireland and Norway launched their digital TV services after HD become a done-deal, so mandated HD reception and SD downconversion in all their boxes, removing the need for SD and HD simulcasting).
If Sky launch HEVC/H265 on satellite (and who knows - they could use broadband instead?) then they are likely to have to simulcast H264/AVC HD services as their current HD receivers are not H265/HEVC compatible AFAIK. Whether they phase out SD services, as they did analogue, will be a more interesting question. You wouldn't really want to have to broadcast three versions of Sky channels (SD MPEG2 576i, HD H264 1080i, UHD H265 2160p) would you?
