I wrote on this page a week or two ago how ABC.com is planning to begin streaming HD video of its most popular programs like Lost and Grey's Anatomy this summer, with more programs expected in the fall. The way they plan to accomplish this, given the large bandwidth requirements of HD content, is via a generous use of compression technology. ABC.com will stream 720p video at 24 frames a second encoded at a rate of about 2 megs a second, compared to about 1.5 megs a second for the SD content already available at ABC.com.
For you techno-geeks out there, MPEG-4 is compressed at about 5 megs a second, while standard cable and satellite HD video in MPEG-2 is encoded at 12-19 megs per second. What this means is that you shouldn't expect the same quality HD video on your PC that you get on your TV -- probably not even close. And that's assuming your PC is capable of rendering HD-quality video, which for many people will require some amount of tweeking.
Still, considering the quality of much of the streaming video on the Internet today (YouTube, I'm looking at you), even greatly compressed HD should be a substantial upgrade.
More from Multichannel News.
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