And you based this on what?

Cost of a half hour program can be around RM40-50,000 per episode. An hour will cost around RM50-70,000. A TV movie about RM70-100,000. Multiply that for the number of hours per day.

Those numbers represent SD programming. HD programs costs more to produce.

External channels are cheaper and popular in the short run. In the long run, internal channels generate more income because they can sell the ad slots and DVDs of the show.


fuad

No it won't. Variable Bit Rate encoding is done Astro's side. It's a matter of packing data efficiently, not as a measure to defeat rain fade. To defeat rain fade, the satellite must be 2-5 times more powerful and for satellites, that's unlikely.


fuad

If the TV is HD, then when you connect it to B.yond decoder using a HDMI cable, then the HD channels will be in HD.

For example, if you have the sports package already, then you get Supersport HD and ESPN HD.

The RM20 monthly is the fee to access the HD channels in your subscription package, not to access the package.

If you get Astro PVR, you can automatically record. If you get B.yond decoder, you need to get an external HDD then activate your recording function by calling Astro. PVR costs an additional RM10 a month. B.yond + recording costs RM5 a month.

When you read the information on Astro's website, read slowly and carefully. All the important pricing information is there. It's not complicated.


fuad

If there's a "sun outage" error, the last thing you'd be worried about is Astro's service. The sun has gone supernova and in 8 minutes, Earth will be sucked into it.

True. But using a 1080p HDTV with a good interlacer will give a better picture. For instance, B.yond on the Panasonic AE4000 projector gives an amazing picture because of the interlace algorithm in it. So if you don't have a HDTV yet, a good 1080p is the way to go.


fuad

The content may be the same but the audio (5.1) and video (1080i) resolution are not. There's a company out there that handles the censorship for HBO and other movie channels. I'm guessing they do it offline but if they do it online, that might explain the one-hour delay.

What is MOST important is that currently, Malaysian cinemas are showing more "stuff" than Astro. No full frontal nudity but definitely more violence and more foul language. I don't understand the discrepancies but Astro can make a case for it, if they want to.

That sounds about right. AEC and Vaanavil should be next. Then Astro will have to deal with the Chinese and Indian channels and asking them for HD feeds.

This is good news because that will push OTA channels (Media Prima and RTM) to change their transmission to HD. This means that everything else down the production line will have to be upgraded.

When Formula 1 was on, did you complain to MMC that it was not a HD feed but an upconvert?

You can complain to Astro that ESPN HD's quality suffers, but you can't claim that they are "cheating on HD" because they are merely re-transmitting the content based on what ESPN is giving them. Just like how some movies on HBO HD is not in HD or in 5.1. What you need to do is demand ESPN to give you the quality as before.


fuad

The content in Zhi Zun is not produced locally. Those six Malay channels will have content primarily produced locally.

This doesn't count as RTM did not sustain their HD broadcast.


Some people has been doing that for ages...


Again, it's the nature of being a small country.

There is no point in having a second or third satellite provider if there is no way the Malaysian population can sustain it. Look at what happened with the mobile telco boom in the 90s. In the end, the government via Telekom Malaysia had to bail out those non-performing companies. That's why things that Astro does is heavily watched by the government as the monopoly is unavoidable.

You do realize that NGC HD is the only HD channel in the lineup because NGC has not prepped other NGC channels to be in HD in South East Asia, right? Right?

That what I was alluding at. It had started earlier than The Expendables. It may take another year before the Malaysian public is ready for their channels to be less censored.


fuad

Where did you hear that?

Regardless, it is rather horrible to watch Cities Of The Underworld with the UK dub. As I said before, it reduces the authenticity of the program.

First half correct, second half incorrect.

SACD and DVD-A do have music recorded and mastered in 5.1. They are also the first lossless audio format for home use, preceeding Blu-ray Discs by about 4 years. DVD-A is practically gone but SACD is still somewhat alive with new classical recordings. I prefer the sound and simplicity of SACD.


fuad

Why do you say that Lost Season 1 should be non-HD? Care to point for the proof?


fuad

Because the DD 5.1 has had its dynamic range attenuated. All channels on Astro has it's dynamic range attenuated. You want better sound, get the DVD. You want the best sound, get the BD.


fuad

In the US, DirecTV is showing some matches of the US Open in 3D. Don't know if the test channels are for that.


fuad

Here's an idea: you figure out how to launch a satellite TV service and make the figures work for Malaysia/SEA, and you too can get financial backers to fund you billions of ringgit to make it work.


fuad

If I know the answer, I'd launch three satellites that will only broadcast in HD. I think I have an idea why but I wont' share.

You know how TM got started, right? RIGHT?

Because of that, there's no way that the government can and would want to liquidate their lucrative stock. It's financial and political leverage.

Did you ask him to compare his internet rates with Australia and New Zealand? How about Indonesia?

To vote for a new government in, Malaysians must take a drastic detour of their group think. Only then could we handle the drastic content change that FTA will undoubtedly incur.

By the way, if it's FTA who's getting paid for broadcasting those shows for free?


fuad

While 960x1080 is the effective resolution for Astro, I disagree that it "doesn't look real". I've seen demos of live action footage featuring macaques and they look exceptional.

I do prefer the passive glasses since they are lighter but so far you can only use them with the LG CF3D.

Seriously? We can't even get 4K off the ground and you're already asking for UltraHD.

Those films are shot in 35mm. The effective resolution of 35mm is 4K, twice the resolution of HD.

The reason why they picked those two movies is probably due to its popularity and the availability of the HD master.

Eventually and hopefully, the P. Ramlee films can be restored in 4K with scratches fixed. From there, maybe it can have a limited theatrical run before being released on BD.


fuad

To make a useful EPG, Astro must demand that their content providers provide useful EPG data. Season, episode and episode synopsis are important data that must be there. That way we can view if the program is new or something we've seen before. The EPG can also be embeded in the recorded program so that the seasons can be browsed through rapidly by PVR users.

What's also rather shameful is that PVR's failures recently. Losing recorded programs randomly should not have happened at all. Considering that the recording function supposedly have been tested before launch (especially the WD external drive issue), this incident should not happen again.


fuad

Trying to figure out what you mean here.

Regardless, the old decoder cannot decode MPEG-4 because it doesn't have the MPEG-4 codec to do so. It's not just the codec but probably the extra RAM required for HD decoding. MPEG-2 signals can carry HD but the memory to decode must be there in the old decoder box.


fuad

You don't watch movies on HBO expecting it to be in OAR and no censorship. You watch it just to pass time or because you didn't manage to watch the movie in the cinemas. That way, if you really like it, you can buy it on BD.

Very few movies I do a blind buy of BDs. It's either the director or cast that will entice me to do so.


fuad

I disagree.


fuad

You need to understand the telecine process before you mix-up your terminology. Films have effective resolutions higher than 1080p. 16mm and 35mm films when telecined at 2K/4K will look great. If they are telecined at SD resolution, then they won't.

For example, Frankie and Johnny was shown on HBO HD the other night. The tape was sourced from an old SD telecine and it looks horrible. But if Paramount had telecined the original negative at 4K, the HD tape would look incredible. For a better understanding of how film gets transferred, read what was done for Coppola's upcoming BD-release of Apocalypse Now here at The Digital Bits.


fuad

Seinfeld was shot in the studio and backlot using film cameras. For the initial broadcast, they were transferred and mastered in SD. For the re-run re-release, they re-scanned the film footage and mastered (matched edit and VFX) in HD.

It is unclear about Frasier. Too bad since I prefer Frasier.


fuad

You're lucky that Unifi hasn't put DL caps yet. You'd be the kind of customer they love.


MKV is not a video encoding format but more like a video container format. AVI is a media format where you can use it for uncompressed video or DIVX encoded video. The same thing with MOV.

Most new titles on BD are encoded using MPEG-4/AVC or VC-1. Rarely would new titles come out encoded with MPEG-2. Regardless, even single-layered BD (BD25) are maximized by the studio. So the movie portion itself - AVC/VC-1 with DTS HDMA/DD THD - are often 20GB or higher. Your prized 10-14GBs MKVs are really lower bit-rate rips of the real thing. Basically, you're getting BD-lite versions. As long as you don't claim to be an AV enthusiast, you'd be fine.

Try to expand your knowledge next time you get online. All that bandwidth can be put to good use.


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