Washington, D.C. (January 18, 2008) -- From Microsoft to Apple, companies are launching new services that purport to offer High-Definition movies and TV shows via high-speed Internet downloads.

However, ZDNet technical director George Ou says the picture quality on the HD downloads is not as good as the PQ on a DVD 1080p upconverter player.

In a column just posted at ZDNet, Ou writes that high-def downloads has become an industry "big lie," meaning they really don't offer HD-quality images.


Apple's Net TV device now offers HD downloads.

He contends that HD downloads must be compressed so that the bit rate used in the transmission is typically just 1.5 to 4 mbps for 720p H.264.

In layman's terms, that means that the signal strength -- and picture quality -- is far lower than what you'll see on a Blu-ray or HD DVD high-def disc. It's even lower than what's offered by cable and satellite operators and a good DVD upconverter player.

"There’s just one minor little problem (with HD downoads), it’s not HD," Ou says. "These so-called HD movies use very low bit-rates compared to even standard definition DVDs let alone something like HD DVD or Blu-ray DVD."

Microsoft is now offering high-def downloads via its XBox 360 gaming console while Apple just added them to its Apple TV device. Additionally, Netflix and several other companies are planning to offer HD download services.

But ZDNet's technical director says the companies are just using "marketing" techniques to make it sound like the downloads are really HD.

"Marketing will push the nicer sounding “720p” aspect of the video but they don’t tell you it’s way too compressed to offer good video fidelity.  Blu-ray has a maximum bit-rate of 40 mbps while HD DVD offers 28 mbps.  Over the air broadcasts can be up to 24 mbps though they’re typically between 16 to 20 mbps," he says.

Ou adds: "Under most normal circumstances, the low bit-rate 720p so-called 'HD' video will be inferior though many companies are betting that consumers won’t know any better. So the bottom line is that so-called “HD” video from Microsoft’s XBOX360 HD download service and Apple’s new Apple TV service or any other web download service is simply not HD by any respectable definition."

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.