Just once I’d like to see a triple-edged sword, for fun and giggles. As it is, today I bring to you a bit of a quandary about new HD TV shows in iTunes. To wit:
1. those HD shows might interpret “high definition” a bit loosely
2. “True HD” TV shows might play rough with bandwidth caps
See, it’s totally a double-edged sword of mildly epic proportions. In theory, the HD-flavor of TV shows on the iTunes Store should be of such high resolution and quality that if you ran into Jack Coleman in real life, you’d probably insist that he’s been Photoshopped. However, that HD video from the iTunes Store (or other video download service) might actually be of lower quality than the plain-Jane DVDs from Best Buy because of bitrates.
But cramming as much data into an HD video file as possible can backfire when that file starts ballooning in size. I once downloaded a 1.08GB copy of The Queen from the iTunes Store (in standard definition) and that took about 30-40 minutes on a fairly capable Verizon FiOS connection. Imagine if The Queen had been available in HD.
The other problem with “increased quality means increased file size” is the annoyance of bandwidth capping. Customers of Comcast’s cable Internet service are looking forward to impending monthly caps of 250GB beginning October 1. While it might seem unfathomable that someone could download that much data (or more) in a year, let alone a month, it’s very likely that HD video is only going to get more popular from here on out. Video files will get bigger; movie downloads will increase; the price of external hard drives will fall. Suddenly, downloading 250 GB of movies and TV shows doesn’t seem like such a crazy idea.
Unlike tripled-edged swords.
Time to leave Comcast.
Here you go. :)
http://www.trueswords.com/ultraviolet-sword-full-tang-triple-edged-engraved-movie-p-2396.html
This article reads more like the rough outline or notes for an entry on a personal blog.
Develop your thoughts a little more before writing this kind of article. Introduce more detail to better explain what you're talking to. Linking to the details and leaving it to your readers to go back and figure out what you're talking about is just laziness.
I would suggest analyzing the numbers and charts you linked to and then also discussing a qualitative perspective based on actually watching the various formats of HD video mentioned.
Good luck.
Ya. Despite all the millions of "Professional" blogs and the obsession with monetization across the net, blogs are supposed to be "personal".
Thankfully, MacUser is not one of those stuffy uptight charts and graphs kinda blogs.
I'm on Comcast, and pretty happy with it. They have their moments though. For me, there is no other alternative, since there is only one cable provider in the area, and I'm too far away from the phone company CO for DSL.
I think the caps are part of a marketing ploy though. They will slowly raise them as the demand continues to rise. And they will of course use the rising caps as a selling point.
"Suddenly, downloading 250 GB of movies and TV shows doesn't seem like such a crazy idea."
Every month?