Nice to see this...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008/dec/10/digital-radio-radio
2008/10/21 Brian Butterworth [EMAIL PROTECTED]
2008/10/21 Ant Miller [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Having said that, and my earlier point about low bit rates actually
being better for reaching the audiences they're tyring to get to, the
higher bit rates do exist. If anyone in backstage would like to
suggest something we could do with better quality streams at low cost
(i.e. none!) then fire away!
The UK audience's bitrate doesn't need to be the same as for other areas,
and there are lots of different services worldwide...
*BUT* my DAB rescue plan:
- BBC given 'national commercial multiplex 2' on five-year loan
- BBC doubles up all it's DAB TX sites to do this mux
- BBC emits DAB+ version of all services - boost audio quality for all
services
- Restricted national commercial bandwidth drives up DAB slot values
- BBC promotes upgrade to DAB+ for all existing users!
- After five years, BBC moves it's national mux to DAB+, returns com mux 2.
- Com Mux 2 for new DAB+ services
- Then Com Mux 1 moves to DAB+
Then the BBC can promote the true CD quality DAB+ get it now service,
people have five years to upgrade all their DAB sets.
a
On Tue, Oct 21, 2008 at 10:39 AM, Brian Butterworth
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
2008/10/21 Christopher Woods [EMAIL PROTECTED]
This one's a late night, in-the-kitchen thought. I turned the radio on
while
I was making a cup of tea and of course, after R4 closedown the WS is
simulcast. On FM, you get a wonderful, crisp stereo feed. On DAB, the
WS
feed is fine when listening to the Radio 4 simulcast, 128kbps stereo,
but
its own dedicated slot is naff: a 64kbps mono stream. On the web, it's
even
worse - only streamed at 32kbps WMA/RA. AsianNetwork is 64kbps mono on
DAB
-
even 5Live has a better bitrate (80kbps mono).
It is probably worth pointing out that the World Service, unlike all
other
BBC services is paid for out of direct taxation. Thus the service has
an
even more limited budget than License Fee services, it is down to the
FCO
http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/about-the-fco/what-we-do/funding-programmes/public-diplomacy/world-service
While I'm not a big Asian Network listener, I do live in Brum so take a
bit
of an interest in Asian community goings on. However, I'd quite like to
listen to the WS during the daytime, either via the web or via DAB -
how
come the bitrates haven't been upped for these stations on the web
streams?
They're dragging behind the other BBC radio stations' online streams.
Are
there any plans to ever up the bandwidth of these neglected stations,
either
on DAB, on the web or both? I'm under the impression that the maximum
bitrate for the multiplex is 1184kbps useable. According to
DigitalRadioTech
[1], the pre2002 bitrates were significantly higher (which I remember),
and
I can understand the reasons for lowering the bitrates to fit in the
newer
channels. The web's a different matter entirely though. What's stopping
the
Beeb from upping the bitrates for all the online streams to the same
bitrate?
(and will the bitrates ever go above 128kbps? I'd love a 192kbps or
256kbps
stream, particularly for... Well, all of the radio stations!)
And also, as a final question - how come the iPlayer pages for *all* of
the
radio stations are currently reporting each one as being currently
off-air?
Have the boxes doing the encoding and streaming been taken offline for
work
overnight or something? If someone aboard the HMS Sceptre is browsing
the
Radio 4 iPlayer site and sees that it's currently offair, they might
think
Britain is under attack and launch some Tridents at the Soviets.
Wouldn't
*that* be an interesting one for Gordon Brown to try and explain!
-
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--
Brian Butterworth
http://www.ukfree.tv - independent digital television and switchover
advice,
since 2002
--
Ant Miller
tel: 07709 265961
email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
-
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--
Brian Butterworth
follow me on twitter: http://twitter.com/briantist
web: http://www.ukfree.tv - independent digital television and switchover
advice, since 2002
--
Brian Butterworth
follow me on twitter: http://twitter.com/briantist
web: http://www.ukfree.tv - independent digital television and switchover
advice, since 2002
