Last week we reported some initial findings from the UK HD terrestrial trial.
Here are some more qualitative results:
Not surprisingly, HD was found to be more important to people the bigger their TV screens got. However, the difference was visible from screens sized 28 inches and bigger, not 32 inches as some previous studies have suggested.
Some technical results:
The bit rate chosen for the HDTV trial was 20 Mbps, which allowed only one feed per multiplex. Some European satellite stations use bit rates as low as 13-15 Mbps.
"The impact of lower bit-rates on perceived quality could not be tested in detail during this field test. This is unfortunate as we believe that unless there is strong progress in MPEG-4 encoding efficiency in the future, so that at least two or three channels can be broadcast in a 24 Mbps multiplex, it will be difficult for broadcasters to convince regulators and Governments that HD-quality DTT is not a waste of valuable spectrum (up to eight SD channels can be transmitted on a DTT multiplex today in MPEG-2). However, transmitting SD channels in MPEG-4 after analogue turn-off could release additional capacity enabling more HD broadcasts."
An interesting argument is that the perceived improvement of HD over SD in Europe is less than in the US because the PAL system is of better quality than NTSC.
(Via Screen Digest)
Related stories: HD-by-aerial UK trials begin in earnest; Sky calls DTT "Fisher-Price digital" | HDTV for Freeview this summer? | Freeview HDTV trials update | A Freeview HD trialist tells all
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