Originally Posted by de525ma:
“The BBC and ITV broadcast in 1080p on Freeview for certain programmes. However it's only 1080p25.”
I know they have went a little higher for certain broadcasts like the olympic opening ceremony, its just expensive to sustain. Most content produced for TV is usually at a higher resolution, its jusy downscaled to fit within the 1080i setup. So far as I know Virgin and Sky don't broadcast native 1080p, though for Virgin they have TiVo and iptv related services to get round that.
There are some far more clever and knowledgeable people in TV forum who would better explain it than me. However to broadcast 1080p constantly and consistently it may use double the spectrum/resources compared to 1080i.
Originally Posted by enapace:
“Before you wrote 2160i I had never heard of it but you probably right will likely be done that way.
You would think by now they would be at least looking to upgrade infrastructure to 1080p but never have always found it slightly odd.
Maybe IPTV may become the norm in the next decade that reminds me I still need contact Sky about Multi Room.”
2160p is just the new 4K standard (even though strictly speaking UHD tellys and such aren't true 4K), this is expected to see new services come online over the next 5 years or so. Again iptv will usually be the preferred way of delivering 2160p given the resource needs. Sky and Virgin are operating their own trials for 4K services, given how Virgin's network is setup its expected they will come to the market sooner.
Sky I think has some test cards, although I am unsure if this is with new equipment or standard Sky HD boxes. I do question whether they will stick with the HD fee and possibly slap on another one for 4K, that particular thing has been going almost 10 years now and its long past its selby date.