TV Licence Super Thread

Pottsey · 1 Sep 2018 at 09:13

Tefal said:
I'm guessing they've gone that route for ease's sake

Apart from Amazon also do live streams. Not sure its got anything to do with taking the easy route.

-UnderClocker- · 1 Sep 2018 at 09:39

I do find myself wondering why the BBC gets to do things the way it does. Years and years ago when TV was new and there weren't lots of channels, I could understand having to pay for a licence. It could help to support TV in general. But now it just comes across as very outdated to me. They seem to have an unfair advantage over competitors, as they have a much easier way of getting money out of us.

LuckyBenski · 1 Sep 2018 at 10:11

-UnderClocker- said:
I do find myself wondering why the BBC gets to do things the way it does. Years and years ago when TV was new and there weren't lots of channels, I could understand having to pay for a licence. It could help to support TV in general. But now it just comes across as very outdated to me. They seem to have an unfair advantage over competitors, as they have a much easier way of getting money out of us.

You say that, but BBC get zero advertising income. Other channels can charge £30,000 for a single advert slot. It's not hard to work out which method will deliver more cash.

You're right about the historic relevance though - basically we have a TV license because that's how it's always been done. And to be fair it's only the last 10 years or so where viewing habits have really shifted off of broadcast.

Tefal · 1 Sep 2018 at 11:07

Pottsey said:
Apart from Amazon also do live streams. Not sure its got anything to do with taking the easy route.

I mean ease as its thier platform.

They can't really police Amazon that's dont to user honesty

LuckyBenski said:
You say that, but BBC get zero advertising income. Other channels can charge £30,000 for a single advert slot. It's not hard to work out which method will deliver more cash.

You're right about the historic relevance though - basically we have a TV license because that's how it's always been done. And to be fair it's only the last 10 years or so where viewing habits have really shifted off of broadcast.

No they don't BBC worldwide or whatever the commercial international arm has adverts

https://www.bbc.co.uk/corporate2/insidethebbc/howwework/policiesandguidelines/advertising.html

-UnderClocker- said:
I do find myself wondering why the BBC gets to do things the way it does. Years and years ago when TV was new and there weren't lots of channels, I could understand having to pay for a licence. It could help to support TV in general. But now it just comes across as very outdated to me. They seem to have an unfair advantage over competitors, as they have a much easier way of getting money out of us.[/QUOTE

The main reason is they have a royal charter and as such are required to spend money on technology and r&d and other loss making expenses.

As such they are compensated with the license fee as well has being removed from the commercial world in the UK.

All the commercial channels use standards and technology heavily developed by the BBC without having to bear any of the cost.

So it's swings and round abouts.

Suicidal Ferret · 1 Sep 2018 at 17:21

BBC still manages to make millions by selling dvd/BR of old shows/series. Stuff that we've already paid for through the license fee. The entire back catalogue should be made available online.

Then the license fee might be justified.

LuckyBenski · 1 Sep 2018 at 17:27

Suicidal Ferret said:
BBC still manages to make millions by selling dvd/BR of old shows/series. Stuff that we've already paid for through the license fee. The entire back catalogue should be made available online.

Then the license fee might be justified.

Interesting angle.

The BBC being very invested in R&D, they have their entire digital back catalogue available 24/7 to staff via an online system. So we know they have access, it's just a case of having the full server load/bandwidth for public use.

Pottsey · 1 Sep 2018 at 17:41

I don't really buy that quote as a good reason for a licence. The R&D BBC do is getting more and more irrelevant. Take ITV in my house hold we watch that channel completely unrelated to any standards and technology developed by the BBC. What little BBC do could easily be covered by others or in better ways. That and BBC is way behind in standards and technology. BBC is one of the worst way to watch TV as the sound and image quietly is so far behind.

Tefal · 1 Sep 2018 at 17:54

Pottsey said:
I don't really buy that quote as a good reason for a licence. The R&D BBC do is getting more and more irrelevant. Take ITV in my house hold we watch that channel completely unrelated to any standards and technology developed by the BBC. What little BBC do could easily be covered by others or in better ways. That and BBC is way behind in standards and technology. BBC is one of the worst way to watch TV as the sound and image quietly is so far behind.

except for the broadcast standards it uses to reach your house?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/rd/about/standards

LuckyBenski · 1 Sep 2018 at 17:54

Pottsey said:
I don't really buy that quote as a good reason for a licence. The R&D BBC do is getting more and more irrelevant. Take ITV in my house hold we watch that channel completely unrelated to any standards and technology developed by the BBC. What little BBC do could easily be covered by others or in better ways. That and BBC is way behind in standards and technology. BBC is one of the worst way to watch TV as the sound and image quietly is so far behind.

Who else has got UHD streaming of live TV and on-demand sorted already?

azazl187 · 1 Sep 2018 at 18:05

I'm more than happy for the BBC to get their income from advertising in the breaks so that I don't have to pay a bill. I think its shocking that still they are able to hold us ransom for us to pay for a TV licence... I mean just the description for what it is is quite shocking to me. I need a licence to watch TV? What a load of bulls nuts.

I already pay for Sky TV and that holds much more value than what I get from BBC. I don't care for their radio or TV shows.

Yes I know that some of what you pay goes towards the tv broadcasting infrastructure in the UK but I use the sky TV satellites!? I personally think it's daylight robbery and find it more and more infuriating to pay as the years pass and it becomes seemingly more and more outdated

Pottsey · 1 Sep 2018 at 19:02

LuckyBenski said:
Who else has got UHD streaming of live TV and on-demand sorted already?

Amazon have great live TV and OnDemand sorted. That's how we watch ITV. Although I do not use the live part I have access to it. Amazon are doing pretty good on some live sports as well. Again I do not use them but they are a great alternative to BBC.

Tefal said:
except for the broadcast standards it uses to reach your house?
https://www.bbc.co.uk/rd/about/standards

I cannot read that as BBC is blocked from here. As far as I am BBC has zero to do with how I watch TV channels like ITV and Discovery via Amazon channels.

Tefal · 1 Sep 2018 at 19:06

Pottsey said:
Amazon have great live TV and OnDemand sorted. That's how we watch ITV. Although I do not use the live part I have access to it.

I cannot read that as BBC is blocked from here. As far as I am BBC has zero to do with how I watch TV channels like ITV and Discovery via Amazon channels.

amazon dont have 4k streaming do they? it certainly doesnt look as good as netflixs 4k if they do

yeah checking on amazon its only sd and hd

BBC R&D - How we Influence International Broadcast Technology Standards

DVB
DVB is an industry-led consortium of the world’s leading digital TV and technology companies who design open technical standards for the delivery of digital TV. BBC R&D has been deeply involved in a wide range of the detailed standards as well as providing a number of the leadership team. We have had particular roles in the development of the terrestrial transmission standards: DVB-T and DVB-T2, companion screen services and the standards for subtitling services.

W3C
W3C standards define an Open Web Platform for application development that has the unprecedented potential to enable developers to build rich interactive experiences, powered by vast data stores, that are available on any device. We are involved in and often lead work on streaming and multi-screen experiences, including audio and accessibility as well as new areas such as VR.

Audio Engineering Society
The AES develops, reviews and publishes engineering standards for the audio and related media industries. BBC R&D is particularly involved in networking standards and particularly for audio over IP interoperability.

Advanced Media Workflow Association
AMWA is developing standards for interoperability of networked media, which is key for us in our IP Studio work as we move towards all production and other facilities move to IP networks. As well as developing the next generation of standards we have run workshops and plugfests to test the proposed standards.

International Telecommunication Union
The ITU sets standards for radio communication, including for broadcasting. This includes standards for the signals carried and the spectrum that they are carried upon. The BBC is active in a number of areas including standards for High Dynamic Range video, audio renderers for next generation audio and ongoing spectrum requirements for broadcasting.

European Broadcasting Union
The EBU is an association of public service broadcasters. It has a large number of working groups across the broadcast and broadband industries to develop standards, recommendations and guidelines to use them in practice. BBC work in a wide range of groups including Future Distribution, Video Systems, Radio and Production Infrastructures and give substantial input. We are also on the steering committee which strategically directs the work.

Society of Motion Picture & Television Engineers
SMPTE is a professional membership association which seeks to advance moving-imagery education and engineering across the communications, technology, media, and entertainment industries. We are involved in a number of groups working on video, including quality such as high dynamic range and colorimetry, as well as the carriage of video on IP networks.

Consumer Technology Association
The consumer technology industry relies on CTA for cutting-edge market research and forward-looking industry standards. The Technology & Standards program seeks to lead the industry conversation and ensure that new products hitting the market continue to work with existing devices and platforms. BBC R&D is particularly involved in the WAVE project which is working improving how internet-delivered commercial video is handled on consumer electronics devices and to making it easier for content creators to distribute video to those devices, particularly for UHD video and new audio standards.

Hybrid Broadcast Broadband TV
HbbTV seeks to bring together broadcast and broadband services to make new experiences, for instance through connected TVs, set-top boxes and second screens. BBC R&D has worked to ensure that the standards can support the Freeview Play service in the UK.

WorldDAB
WorldDAB is the global industry forum for digital radio, facilitating the adoption and implementation of broadcast digital radio based on DAB / DAB+. BBC R&D has long been involved in the development of the standards for DAB and DAB+, right from the start of the ideas, and the launch of DAB services in the UK. We continue to work to keep the standards up to date, especially as the first countries switch from FM to Digital Radio

Advanced Television Systems Committee
The ATSC is an international, non-profit organization developing voluntary standards for digital television with member organizations representing the broadcast, broadcast equipment, motion picture, consumer electronics, computer, cable, satellite, and semiconductor industries. ATSC standards are used for the delivery of digital TV internationally, particularly in the American continent, including the USA and Canada, and in South Korea. We are involved in the standardisation of video signals for digital TV, particularly relating to UHDTV and High Dynamic Range.

Nasher · 1 Sep 2018 at 19:07

They have 4k for some things, but it has to be filmed in 4k to begin with. The Grand Tour was in 4k.

Tefal · 1 Sep 2018 at 19:10

Nasher said:
They have 4k for some things, but it has to be filmed in 4k to begin with. The Grand Tour was in 4k.

grand tour just says HD for me?

or do they just not label the uhd stuff? on the search filters the only options are sd and hd?

Nasher · 1 Sep 2018 at 19:13

There is an option for it somewhere. It might scale up automatically depending on bandwidth.

Suicidal Ferret · 1 Sep 2018 at 19:17

LuckyBenski said:
Interesting angle.

The BBC being very invested in R&D, they have their entire digital back catalogue available 24/7 to staff via an online system. So we know they have access, it's just a case of having the full server load/bandwidth for public use.

This just annoys me even more.

Kenai · 1 Sep 2018 at 19:17

Amazon's UHD content is almost 'hidden' and generally will just end up playing instead of the HD stream if your device is UHD capable.

Lmg80 · 1 Sep 2018 at 19:24

Kenai said:
Amazon's UHD content is almost 'hidden' and generally will just end up playing instead of the HD stream if your device is UHD capable.

Prime TV has a section called "Prime 4K Ultra-HD TV"

And a similar section for buy or rent too

Pottsey · 1 Sep 2018 at 20:17

Tefal said:
amazon dont have 4k streaming do they? it certainly doesnt look as good as netflixs 4k if they do

yeah checking on amazon its only sd and hd

Digital Television Group
The DTG is a UK centre for collaboration and has more than 125 member companies driving innovation and growth in the television and technology sectors. Joint expertise from DTG Members continues to define the technologies that make the UK a world-leading TV industry and ensure market interoperability, particularly underpinning the Freeview platform. The BBC is a founder member and has been significantly involved in all the versions of the D-Book. We have participated in a very wide range of the working groups, chairing a number of them.

Moving Pictures Expert Group
MPEG is a working group of ISO/IEC with the mission to develop standards for coded representation of digital audio and video and related data which are used by many millions people worldwide. The BBC has been involved in a wide range groups including video, audio and systems. Recently this has included HEVC and the Common Media Application Format (CMAF).

Thank you for posting the contents of the link. Most of those have very little to do with BBC and would still be around if BBC didn’t take part. It not like BBC are a major player all that . BBC are just 1 out of well over 100+ companies. Plus I am not even sure I use any of them. How do they relate to Amazon channels and Netflix broadcasts?

Amazon is 4k and HDR, has been for years. Not all content but then again neither is Iplayer. The reason I use Amazon and Netflix is 4k + HDR + Atmos sound. Which is miles ahead of Iplayer, or was last time I used it which was a long time ago. Have they at long last added 4k HDR, Atmos to Iplayer?

Tefal · 1 Sep 2018 at 21:12

Pottsey said:
Thank you for posting the contents of the link. Most of those have very little to do with BBC and would still be around if BBC didn’t take part. It not like BBC are a major player all that . BBC are just 1 out of well over 100+ companies. Plus I am not even sure I use any of them. How do they relate to Amazon channels and Netflix broadcasts?

Amazon is 4k and HDR, has been for years. Not all content but then again neither is Iplayer. The reason I use Amazon and Netflix is 4k + HDR + Atmos sound. Which is miles ahead of Iplayer, or was last time I used it which was a long time ago. Have they at long last added 4k HDR, Atmos to Iplayer?

i haven't used i player in ages dont have a license. I cant see 4k mentioned anywhere on any amazon video page other than an faq. under qwuality its just "low medium high" catagories are sd or hd.

netflix has hdr and 4k options labeled.