BTV bitrates discussion (split from PQ thread).

08-01-2010, 07:59 AM

At the moment, transponders 1 & 2 are all SD signals. The rule of thumb is usually about 6 SD channels take up the same space as 1 HD channel. That means they could fit at least 1 HD signal in with the SD signals on each of those transponders and possibly 2 with their "aggressive" compression.

Many transponders have, for instance, 1 Centre Ice feed and 1 MLB Extra Inning feed, etc. If they avoid using these at the same time, the HD additions listed below are possible. As well, many TPs listed below currently only have 3 services on them.

There's room for maybe a couple of HD signals on TP6.
1 more could be added on TPs 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 17, 18, 20, 24 and 31.
2 more on TPs 15 and 16.

08-01-2010, 04:57 PM

Thanks VuMax.

That is very helpful and I won't need to waste my time comparing CITY with OTA. I still plan to check Global (4 channels per transponder) with OTA, because to me, CTV East (3 channels per transponder) has excellent HD quality.

08-01-2010, 11:43 PM

Thanks again to VuMax for enlightening me about the French language ppv's.

That makes my first post incorrect.

TSN is on a transponder with 3 channels (my original comment of 4 is incorrect) so it should be every bit as good as CTV East.

The maximum number of "full time" HD channels is only 4 per transponder (my original comment of 6 is incorrect).

08-02-2010, 08:46 AM

If you check out the picture quality thread, I have come to the conclusion that the structure of channels per transponder is only a minor factor (as long as they don't go above 4 channels).

Whatever systems Bell is using to lower the bitrate that is content dependent is probably more important, and I'm sure that is proprietary information that they will not share.

**Benito** · 08-02-2010, 03:46 PM

Also, I believe the channel number can be confirmed by looking at the information on the BTV STB screens.

Is there anyone who knows how to find the information of Mbps on a specific channel by the TV screen? Thanks!

Ben

08-04-2010, 05:13 PM

It's not possible with your receiver alone.

There is a "crude" way to check it by recording a program with your pvr and checking to see how many hours and minutes available were reduced after the recording. Use search to find more details if you're interested but this technique is not generally accepted as being very good, especially for programs that are short. If you did it for say 8 hours straight it might be a better indicator.

There are software programs that do this but you need some specialized cards and hook up your pc to the satellite feed.