In article <57d50a493f...@audiomisc.co.uk>, Jim web > Can't pin the date down exactly, but around the start of July the rate > dropped from 320 to 128. I'll try asking, but any reply depends on a > 'pass the parcel' at the BBC, so no idea when I'll get a response or how > helpful it may be!
I've now talked to a couple of people about this. The response basically is that the 320k aac for TV wasn't available via 'sanctioned' routes. Thus it has been axed because 'no one was needing it'. I'm in the process of pointing out the weird inconsistency of, by default, *all* radio - regardless of content type - being available as 320k aac, but *not* doing this at least for music on TV via iPlayer. In principle, I could in isolation agree that many types of 'speech' programme would be fine as 128k aac. And that using the same standard for all programme content types and stations makes for simplicity of processing. But it seems clear that both listeners and the BBC have decided that 320k is beneficial for music. Indeed, this is used to argue that flac *isn't* needed. Which then leads to the conundrum that iPlayer TV becomes the poor relation when it comes to music broadcasts like Proms. A mere 128k aac compared with the 320k aac of R3 and the 5.1. surround of HDTV DVB-T2, etc! I doubt bandwidth is the issue because the 320-128 difference compared with the rate required for the 'best' video is small. The present situation seesm to be that the BBC policy is that: if you want to listen to *and* see Proms with excellent sound, *don't* use the iPlayer! Not good when bandspace is being removed from the Terrestrial TV broacasting in the UK! (We are currently having another 100MHz chunk removed and the transmissions squeezed down into a smaller UHF range. And it isn't clear what may happen to BBC4 yet.) I'll see how I get on with this line of argument, but I suspect 'decisions have been taken', end of. :-/ I can only be thankful I have a way to capture DVB-T2 broadcasts while they remain available! Jim -- Electronics https://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/~www_pa/Scots_Guide/intro/electron.htm Armstrong Audio http://www.audiomisc.co.uk/Armstrong/armstrong.html biog http://jcgl.orpheusweb.co.uk/history/ups_and_downs.html Audio Misc http://www.audiomisc.co.uk/index.html _______________________________________________ get_iplayer mailing list get_iplayer@lists.infradead.org http://lists.infradead.org/mailman/listinfo/get_iplayer
