1080@50/60p will have to wait for H.264 or VC-1. In MPEG-2 video, MP@HL tops out at 62,668,800 luma samples per second or 1920x1088@30 frame per second, progressive or interlaced. Given that nobody is going to build encoders or decoders to an MPEG-2 level that does not exist (never mind the bandwidth requirements), you'll never see 1080@50/60p in MPEG-2. In H.264, level 5.1 (the highest level) tops out at 251,658,240 luma samples per second which gets you to 4096x2048@30i/p or 1080@xxxxxx/p. Level 4.2 (the lowest level required for 1080@50/60p) tops out at 125,829,120 luma samples per second which gets you to 2048x1024@60i/p or 1080@xxxxx/p I don't have the VC-1 specification here at home, but I'm pretty sure it tops out at 1080@60p, so H.264 is more "future proof" in regard to maximum resolutions/frame rates in it's defined levels. MPEG-2 Transport Streams will happily carry H.264 or VC-1 video, so the transport is a non issue for 1080@50/60p. H.264 and VC-1 video only require that new stream_type identifiers are defined. In fact, 0x1b for H.264 video and 0x88 for VC-1 video have already been assigned. They are referenced in these ATSC candidate standards: http://www.atsc.org/standards/cs_documents/cs_t3-608reva.pdf http://www.atsc.org/standards/cs_documents/cs_t3-609reva.pdf The 1080@50/60p infrastructure probably approaches zero right now. If you started development on a 1080@50/60p H.264 encoder tomorrow, I'd guess you'd have a difficult time even finding any 148.5 MHz HD-SDI equipment to feed it with. My prediction for the proliferation of 1080p@50/60 equipment, encoders, decoders and content would be at least 5 years from now. Ron Terry Harvey wrote: > At 10:17 PM 10/18/2004 +0100, Alan Roberts wrote: > >Indeed, MPEG2 would struggle, but a truly anonymous transmission system > >could carry MPEG4, WM(whatever version) etc, and by thoroughly future proof. > >What we need to standardise on is the transport stream, not the scanning > >format. Let's try to get it right this time. > > > > > > > > > > I agree, 50/60P should be the ultimate format when technology can > > > accommodate. However, I don't know that it can be done in a transport > > > constrained to MPEG2. > > What do you mean an MPEG2 transport cannot progressive scan??? The MPEG-2 > transport can carry any data one could wish to convey. > > Also, the choice between interlace and progressive scan is a no-brainer. > Interlace was novel when it was introduced in 1933, but it has no place in > a modern broadcast system. > > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > You can UNSUBSCRIBE from the OpenDTV list in two ways: > > - Using the UNSUBSCRIBE command in your user configuration settings at > FreeLists.org > > - By sending a message to: opendtv-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word > unsubscribe in the subject line. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- You can UNSUBSCRIBE from the OpenDTV list in two ways: - Using the UNSUBSCRIBE command in your user configuration settings at FreeLists.org - By sending a message to: opendtv-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word unsubscribe in the subject line.