Streaming
” What if we announced that we were switching to HD 720p on part of our on-demand catalogue, but not our own free-to-air programs? “Would you have liked to have attended that Canal+ meeting that preceded today’s announcement? So are we.
When it comes to video content, the standard has been Full HD for several years now. As a reminder, this generally corresponds to a definition of 1920 x 1080 pixels. A standard that is already partly outdated as many services are migrating to Ultra HD 4K, sometimes even with support for HDR (High Dynamic Range), which is beginning to take a significant share of TV sales.
1080p everywhere, Ultra HD 4K sometimes… except for the replays.
This is notably the case for (S)VOD services such as Netflix, but also Amazon Prime Video or Google Play Films. Ultra HD Blu-ray is available with compatible players, including Microsoft’s Xbox One S. Even some French channels are switching to Ultra HD 4K for certain programmes, the first compatible boxes having been on the market for several months. Among them are the New Livebox from Orange, the Box 4K from SFR but also the Freebox Mini 4K.
However, there is still one area where HD is anything but a priority: the replay of TV channels. This on-demand offer usually has a rather poor level of image quality, as do live streams from applications. In the best case, this is HD 720p (1280×720 pixels).
Canal+ launches a revolution: on-demand content (sometimes) in 720p
It is in this context that Canal+ has just made a major announcement: its on-demand content is no longer broadcast only in SD (standard definition), but also in HD 720p. This was already in place at Free, it is now generalized to several decoders: +The Cube TNT (but not satellite), Cube S, Livebox 4, Freebox V5/V6.
The channel states that you must of course have a TV set that supports HDCP protection, but also a minimum internet connection speed of 6 Mb/s, and a Hard Disk with at least 8 GB of free space connected in order to enjoy it.
Not all programs are concerned (sic!) but they are ” numerous ” in the different themes and identified by a pictogram. The user will have the choice of the version to be launched at the time of reading. ” Le Clair (Grand Journal, Petit Journal, …) and Sports programs (CFC, CRC, D+1, …) are maintained only in SD “, the announcement states, topping it all off.
Other channels such as Ciné+, Disney Cinéma and OCS will be affected by this migration to high definition during the course of the year. For the Ultra HD, nothing seems to be planned. As a reminder, OCS Max is already available in Ultra HD for some programs on the New Livebox… just like Canal+.
We also note that the group has just released an Android TV application that runs on devices that support much more than HD, and even Ultra HD 4K with HDR such as NVIDIA’s SHIELD TV. Making such an announcement at the beginning of 2017 is therefore somewhat archaic.
Published on 09 February 2017 at 14:50
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