Discussion Will Tata Sky move to H.265/HEVC from MPEG4?

N

nn007

Newbie
Will Tata Sky move to H.265/HEVC from current MPEG4 (also called H.264/AVC) in the near future?

This could lead to only

1. 1 Mbps bitrate for SD channels (currently 2 Mbps)
2. 4 Mbps bitrate for HD channels (currently 7 Mbps)

BBC Confirms 50% Bitrate Savings For H.265/HEVC Vs H.264/AVC

Refer this article:

H.265/HEVC vs H.264/AVC: 50% bit rate savings verified - BBC R&D

The 4K UHD Set Top Boxes from Tata Sky already use HEVC codec.

Refer this article:

Broadcom to supply HEVC SoC for Tata Sky Ultra HD STBs | Indian Television Dot Com


 
M

MrMime

Frequent Flyer
They might have if it was free and would have saved them money.
But no it has licensing fee and they don't want to spend any.
And HEVC is very hardware demanding and i don't know/think current hd boxes can handle it.
So hardware change will cost even more money for every user.
 
N

nn007

Newbie
One of the two Tata Sky satellites INSAT-4A is reaching End of Life (EOL) - 12 years.

Refer this link:
INSAT-4A - ISRO

Currently, Tata Sky is using 24 Transponders (12 each from INSAT-4A and GSAT-10) using around 1800 Mbps of bandwidth (approx. 75 Mbps per transponder) which is adequate for around 900 SD channels or 300 HD channels.

However, as

1. HD channels increase
2. INSAT-4A reaches End of Life

they would be short on bandwidth again which may prompt for HEVC migration as happened earlier - MPEG 2 to MPEG 4 STB replacements.

ISRO (being a govt. entity) is very slow in replacing satellites.

BTW, many leading companies have come together to created a royalty-free and patent-free alternative for HEVC called AV1 which may become the most popular video codec during the years to come.
 
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