Quality Versus Quantity: The Great Debate

The debate about the quality of television continues and has become a very heated topic in the television world. We aren’t talking about the quality of programming – that is another debate altogether – rather, we are talking about the quality of the images you see when you turn your television on.

Cable and satellite companies are in a quandary as they try to determine whether it is better to offer quality television or more channel options to their viewers. What it comes down to is this: in order to offer more channels, they are compressing the signals. As a result, the quality of the image is sacrificed.

Compression is a common occurrence and it is bound to happen somewhere along the line. At the same time, if it is compressed and decompressed over and over again, there is no way of getting around the loss of image quality. First, the image may be compressed by the video camera used to create the program. Then, it may be compressed when the satellite system delivers the program to it distributors. Compression also takes place in control rooms, trucks, cable headends and more.

So, what is the cost of all of this compression and decompression? It may be more than just a slightly less crisp image. In fact, overcompression can lead to tiling, “mosquito noise,” and the appearance of little colored blocks on the screen. Obviously, all of these effects can be quite distracting.

At the same time, all of this compression makes it possible for carriers to deliver more channels to their customers. Offering plenty of channels is important because that is how companies stay competitive against one another. Therefore, the broadcasting community continually debates whether or not it is better to use the 19.2 megabits of bandwidth they have in order to broadcast one HD channel in really high quality or if they should lower the HD quality and simultaneously broadcast a couple standard definition signals at the same time.

Currently, quantity is winning out with most broadcasters because the majority of the American public does not have big screen televisions. Therefore, in order to get the companies to start broadcasting in the highest quality possible, it looks as if consumers are going to have to start demanding higher quality instead.