Verizon Defends Better HD Picture Claim
The telco says its images are "uncompressed."
By Swanni
However, Multichannel News reports that Verizon's FiOS TV service delivers programming that's already been compressed by the networks -- just as the cable and satellite providers do.
But the telco is defending its 'better picture' claim by saying that it does not "compress" the video further when it delivers it to the viewer.
“It’s true that content owners compress their video before sending it to video service providers,” a Verizon spokeswoman tells Multichannel News. “But we forward the signal to our customers the way that we receive it.”
In simple terms, compression saves bandwidth by allowing TV providers to squeeze more programming into a smaller space. Cable and satellite operators say compression does not affect the picture quality.
But the compression issue has been a longtime and heated topic on Internet message boards with some high-def enthusiasts charging that TV providers are diluting the picture quality by compressing the signals.
Responding to those concerns, Verizon's current FiOS TV commercials says that it delivers "pure uncompressed" video.
But Mulitchannel News notes that Verizon provides video in the MPEG-2 format, the same compression technology used by every cable operator. The satellite services used a mix of MPEG-4 and MPEG-2.
Comment on this article!
___________________________________________
____________________________________________
Click
TVPredictions.com to see today's Swanni
Sez.
©
TVPredictions.com
____________________________________________
Swanni (Phillip Swann) is
president and publisher of TVPredictions.com. He has been quoted in
dozens of publications and broadcast outlets, including CNN, Fox
News, Inside Edition, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The
Chicago Tribune, The Financial Times, The Associated Press and The
Hollywood Reporter. He can be reached at
swann@tvpredictions.com
or at 703-505-3064.
Click
TVPredictions.com
to read more news and features on TV
technology.