Physical & Digital EST: The Future of Home Video Discussion Thread

[PenguinInfinity]

Originally Posted by Lee A Stewart

The average size for a 2 hour streaming movie is 6GB (HD) and 14GB (UHD). So you could watch 200 movies/month in HD or 85 in UHD. That's a lot of movies.

Only if you live alone. Anyone who shares their bandwidth with multiple people and watches movies separately would have problems if they did all their viewing via streaming.

[Lee A Stewart]

Originally Posted by PenguinInfinity

Only if you live alone. Anyone who shares their bandwidth with multiple people and watches movies separately would have problems if they did all their viewing via streaming.

IMO - the issue might pop up with more than 3 people in a household.

Does Comcast allow sharing passwords with family not living at the same address? That could definitely create a problem.

In January and February, Comcast will give its Xfinity customers not on an unlimited plan a “credit” for any data usage charges over 1.2TB during those months to ease them into the new limits. Then, starting in March, non-unlimited customers who exceed 1.2TB in a month will be charged $10 per 50GB of data, for a maximum of $100.

Customers who go over the limit will get one “courtesy” credit per 12 months, so if you go over 1.2TB in March, you get a grace period for April. If you go over again in May, you’ll pay $10 for each block of 50GB up to the $100 max. Customers will be notified as they approach the 1.2TB threshold.

The affected states include Connecticut, Delaware, Massachusetts, Maryland, Maine, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Vermont, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia, as well as parts of North Carolina and Ohio.

According to Comcast, 95 percent of its customers don’t get close to using that much data per month; over the last six months, the median monthly data use was around 308GB.

[Anthony P]

Originally Posted by Lee A Stewart

The average size for a 2 hour streaming movie is 6GB (HD) and 14GB (UHD). So you could watch 200 movies/month in HD or 85 in UHD. That's a lot of movies.

1) not everyone is happy with low quality
2) the internet isn't used by anyone just for films (you have to assume some of the BW goes to other stuff)
3) not everyone lives alone

if for example you add some kids doing on-line learning (that is what is going on here except for elementery schools) , adults working from home (most people I know have at least one in the home), emails, web surfing, on-line gaming, DL video games....

[Lee A Stewart]

Originally Posted by Anthony P

1) not everyone is happy with low quality
2) the internet isn't used by anyone just for films (you have to assume some of the BW goes to other stuff)
3) not everyone lives alone

if for example you add some kids doing on-line learning (that is what is going on here except for elementery schools) , adults working from home (most people I know have at least one in the home), emails, web surfing, on-line gaming, DL video games....

Guess you missed this:

According to Comcast, 95 percent of its customers don’t get close to using that much data per month; over the last six months, the median monthly data use was around 308GB.

[JohnAV]

Originally Posted by Wendell R. Breland

I sure hope my small independent cable co. (Morris Broadband) does not get purchased by one of the large corps.

Posted on several sites, one here.

You get Comcast business class and no data cap. But most of the streaming you watch won’t be hours and hours of 4K.

[Lee A Stewart]

Originally Posted by JohnAV

You get Comcast business class and no data cap. But most of the streaming you watch won’t be hours and hours of 4K.

Or . . . change IPs. Get an IP that doesn't have data caps.

[JohnAV]

Originally Posted by Lee A Stewart

IMO - the issue might pop up with more than 3 people in a household.

Does Comcast allow sharing passwords with family not living at the same address? That could definitely create a problem.

How can you have internet sharing not living at the same address? You mean someone trying to operate their own internet provider service?

[Lee A Stewart]

Originally Posted by JohnAV

How can you have internet sharing not living at the same address? You mean someone trying to operate their own internet provider service?

No idea. I haven't had CBL/Comcast in 11+ years.

[Wendell R. Breland]

The cable corps are losing linear pay TV subs to OTT subs so there is no telling what steps they will take to make up for lost revenue. Raising ISP prices is one they will most likely use. Some large metro areas have more than one ISP but most do not so a simple ISP change is not an option.

Another change will be for the streaming providers to continue to reduce the data rates of content.

[Lee A Stewart]

Originally Posted by Wendell R. Breland

The cable corps are losing linear pay TV subs to OTT subs so there is no telling what steps they will take to make up for lost revenue. Raising ISP prices is one they will most likely use. Some large metro areas have more than one ISP but most do not so a simple ISP change is not an option.

I live in ABQ, NM which is hardly a major metro city (650K pop) and we have two ISPs: Comcast and CenturyLink.

Once E. Musk's Starlink goes live everyone will have access to broadband and an additional ISP to consider.

Another change will be for the streaming providers to continue to reduce the data rates of content.

New more efficient compression codecs will be introduced soon. Gives the OTT device OEMs a chance to sell new hardware to their customers.

[Wendell R. Breland]

Originally Posted by JohnAV

How can you have internet sharing not living at the same address?

Can be done locally depending on distance, buildings and vegetation. Some hardware here.

[JohnAV]

Originally Posted by Wendell R. Breland

The cable corps are losing linear pay TV subs to OTT subs so there is no telling what steps they will take to make up for lost revenue. Raising ISP prices is one they will most likely use. Some large metro areas have more than one ISP but most do not so a simple ISP change is not an option.

Another change will be for the streaming providers to continue to reduce the data rates of content.

Your discussing this.

On Tuesday, Comcast announced it will roll out its 1.2 terabyte Wi-Fi data plan to all remaining Xfinity customers as of Jan. 1, 2021. ... According to an explainer on Xfinity's website, users who go over the 1.2 TB cap will automatically receive blocks of 50 GB of extra data for $10 each.

Nothing new here, just people that never were pushed to a data cap in their area.
Comcast raises monthly Internet data ceiling to 1.2 terabytes - lightreading.com 7/1/2020

After a multi-month suspension of its usage-based policy during the pandemic, Comcast has restored and updated its residential data plan with a new twist that raises the monthly data ceiling to 1.2 terabytes, about 200 gigabytes more than the 1TB limit that was in place before the US outbreak.

According to the updated policy, Comcast is now extending one courtesy month for customers who exceed their monthly data thresholds before overage charges are applied, versus an earlier version of the plan that allowed for two courtesy months. Under the updated policy, customers won't be billed the first time they exceed the monthly limit.

[Wendell R. Breland]

Originally Posted by Lee A Stewart

I live in ABQ, NM which is hardly a major metro city (650K pop) and we have two ISPs: Comcast and CenturyLink.

Do you need a link to the FCC site for ISP’s?

Once E. Musk's Starlink goes live everyone will have access to broadband and an additional ISP to consider.

I have been posting in this thread about Starlink for sometime now. Latest word is $500 for the hardware, $100/month for 100 Mbps down, 25 up. Can’t remember about data caps if any.

New more efficient compression codecs will be introduced soon. Gives the OTT device OEMs a chance to sell new hardware to their customers.

Link? The problem with new codecs is new hardware is required. When they do come it will be a very gradual process because you can not stop using the old and start using the new because it would render untold millions of devices useless.

[JohnAV]

They don't charge $50 extra anymore
With the Unlimited Data Option, is there a limit to how much data I can use? - Comcast

No Limit to Data Usage

For users who typically use more than 1.2 Terabytes (TB) of data per month or who don’t want to pay for overages, we offer an Unlimited Data Option. Data usage is Unlimited when enrolling in this plan.

The Unlimited Data Option costs an additional $30 per month. This fee is independent from your actual data usage. The 1.2 Terabyte Internet Data Usage Plan will not apply to customers who enroll in the Unlimited Data Option.

[Lee A Stewart]

Originally Posted by Wendell R. Breland

Do you need a link to the FCC site for ISP’s?

Sure.

I have been posting in this thread about Starlink for sometime now. Latest word is $500 for the hardware, $100/month for 100 Mbps down, 25 up. Can’t remember about data caps if any.

No data caps. Yes those are the prices. For the 41 million rural Americans that have no internet it will be a God send.

Link? The problem with new codecs is new hardware is required. When they do come it will be a very gradual process because you can not stop using the old and start using the new because it would render untold millions of devices useless.

You need a link for VVC?

New OTT devices will handle both new and old codecs so your Device Apocalypse won't happen. Thought you would've known that. Just like new TVs will have ATSC 1.0 and 3.0 tuners in them next year.

[Wendell R. Breland]

Originally Posted by Lee A Stewart

What was it you told Vilya to do about a link recently?

You need a link for VVC?

Not that I am aware of.

New OTT devices will handle both new and old codecs so your Device Apocalypse won't happen. Thought you would've known that. Just like new TVs will have ATSC 1.0 and 3.0 tuners in them next year.

Never said or implied there was going to be one. When and if a new codec is used by streamers the change over will be slow. Now their storage requirements will be even greater because they will need to keep their old codec files along with the new codec files.

[Lee A Stewart]

Originally Posted by Wendell R. Breland

Not that I am aware of.

So why did you ask for one?

Never said or implied there was going to be one.

Originally Posted by Wendell R. Breland
The problem with new codecs is new hardware is required. When they do come it will be a very gradual process because you can not stop using the old and start using the new because it would render untold millions of devices useless.

When and if a new codec is used by streamers the change over will be slow. Now their storage requirements will be even greater because they will need to keep their old codec files along with the new codec files.

How many years = slow?

[JohnAV]

Originally Posted by Wendell R. Breland

I have been posting in this thread about Starlink for sometime now. Latest word is $500 for the hardware, $100/month for 100 Mbps down, 25 up. Can’t remember about data caps if any.

Reference this 2019 article
SpaceX Is Banking on Satellite Internet. Maybe It Shouldn't - Wired

As detailed in a 2016 revenue projection obtained by The Wall Street Journal, SpaceX estimated that by 2025 its launch services would be pulling down approximately $5 billion in revenue, which was dwarfed by the projected $30 billion for its Starlink internet services. The company hasn’t released any details about the price structure for its internet service or how much ground stations for users will cost. But the fate of past efforts to launch internet satellite constellations, as well as probable future developments, suggest that SpaceX may need to adjust its rosy expectations.

The costly collateral damage from Elon Musk's Starlink satellite fleet - phys.org

A colossal chess game of immense consequences is being fought in outer space, right now. On March 18 and April 22 2020, two rockets from SpaceX, owned by billionaire Elon Musk, each put 60 satellites into orbit. Those launches are but the sixth and seventh in a series intended to rapidly make 1,584 satellites available.

The aim is to create a satellite network called Starlink. If Musk has his way, by 2025 no less than 11,943 of his satellites will circle the Earth, and if permission is granted, the ultimate result would be a staggering 42,000. This mind-boggling number must be compared to the 8,000 satellites sent into orbit since the Soviet Sputnik, of which 2,218 are still in operation. Why such outsized ambitions? To implement his dream of a "multiplanetary" society, and to fund it by providing all (solvent) Earthlings with high-speed Internet access.

Musk would first target the 3% or 4% of the US population living in remote areas or on island. The financial benefits of providing Internet access to such a tiny slice of the nation are not obvious. The polar regions are not known for their density of wealthy but underserved American citizens, for example. Could the expected profitability come from US defence spending? The United States maintains hundreds of oversea bases and has already expressed its interest in using SpaceX, in putting satellites in a low Earth orbit (LEO) and also for Starlink.

Light pollution and traffic jams in orbit

Whatever the potential benefits of such a system, one of the disastrous consequences would be light pollution. As they travelled across the skies, thousands of Starlink satellites would effectively make astronomical images useless by leaving long luminous trails. At the March 9 "Satellite 2020" conference keynote speech, Elon Musk dismissed those worries and claimed that his satellites will do no harm to astronomical research—if need be, they will be painted black. This idea was tested with satellite 1130, "DarkSat". The results were unconvincing, to say the least. The next generation is supposed to be less luminous than the faintest stars that can be seen with the unaided eye, but this is still far too bright for astronomers' ultra-sensitive instruments, which can observe stellar objects four billion times fainter than that threshold.

Interesting reading, yes should we turn our orbiting space into Elon Musk junk yard of stuff that you can't remove so easily? I like the "we'll paint them black"

[Lee A Stewart]

SpaceX’s Starlink satellite network wins $885M in federal aid for rural broadband

December 7, 2020

https://www.geekwire.com/2020/spacex...ral-broadband/

[Wendell R. Breland]

Originally Posted by JohnAV

Interesting reading, yes should we turn our orbiting space into Elon Musk junk yard of stuff that you can't remove so easily? I like the "we'll paint them black"

It is an ever changing landscape (or skyscape). Any bets on the fate of DirecTV? Will AT&T sell all or part of DirecTV (here).

DirecTV kicked off in my hometown at the time (summer 1994) and I was excited till I saw the PQ. It was pretty bad at the time but improved quite a bit by late fall so I purchased dish and receiver from Walmart for $550. Kept the service for 10 years and had several different receivers during that time. More excitement came with the RCA DTC-100 because it could do HDTV and had a ATSC tuner as well.

Member drmpeg (here) did the compression engineering (MPEG 1.5 and MPEG 2.0) for DirecTV and for D-VHS. Also did the FireWire engineering for D-VHS.