Which codecs do TV channels use?

[ProVision]

Hi,

I'm sorry if I posted this in the wrong section. And I am also not living in the US, so if this sounds confusing I am also sorry. Here goes. :thanks:

I was wondering what codecs are using in TV (Cable for US?). For example, Sky Sports, Fox News, Disney Channel etc. what do they use for encoding? Is it the same codec when transmitted to the satellite? Then does the satellite transcode it? Same goes for audio. And what bitrate do they encode at, and we receive it with our receiver at?

Thanks a ton, I understand that those are alot of questions. Thanks again.

[ProVision]

Thanks you guys!

[Nintendo Maniac 64]

I'm pretty sure OTA (over the air) ATSC uses MPEG-2, but a newer revision of ATSC also allows the use of h.264.

[Blue_MiSfit]

OTA broadcasts in the USA to indeed use ATSC, which realistically means MPEG-2. The latest version of ATSC does support H.264, but I've never heard of an implementation. A full bandwidth ATSC channel is about 18 Mbps, which can actually look quite good for 1080i or 720p.

Cable, satellite, and IPTV are almost entirely H.264. Note, this only applies to the final distribution - i.e. the signal you get from DirecTV, Comcast, AT&T etc. The origination signal (which is taken by all of the above) is still MPEG-2 in many cases, though this is increasingly relegated to SD channels. Most HD services are 1080i at about 8 Mbps. 720p is present, but much less common.

VOD offerings from these service providers are mostly H.264 as well, but Cable VOD is all MPEG-2 (CableLabs specifications)