Film 4 - reduction in picture quality

[woodieallen]

Has anyone else noticed this ? They seem to have drastically either cut the data rate or messed about with the codecs but I find the picture quality now dire. What prompted this was watching a film I'd recently recorded. Dire picture quality. Switched over to Film 4 live ...similarly dire. Went back through my recordings to some several months ago and the picture quality is much, much better.

 

[fatbob]

They had a fire about two weeks ago so everything is coming from a back-up source.
No subtitles either.
Also affects channel5 and various other channel 4 based channels.
statement-channel-4-regarding-technical-issues

 

[DBT85]

If the fire was that bad they were lucky to be running at all. It's unlikely that they have changed what format the files are stored in on their servers/archives, but with kit being knocked out it may well be that they are now having to run 10 channels through kit in racks that used to do 5 channels. Or the place its coming from as a backup is just limited in the bandwidth it can use, or is older equipment.

 

[woodieallen]

Ah, that would explain things as I also noticed it on Channel 4 SD. For my eyes, pretty unwatchable TBH.

 

[woodieallen]

If the fire was that bad they were lucky to be running at all. It's unlikely that they have changed what format the files are stored in on their servers/archives, but with kit being knocked out it may well be that they are now having to run 10 channels through kit in racks that used to do 5 channels. Or the place its coming from as a backup is just limited in the bandwidth it can use, or is older equipment.

Could you please have a looksie at Channels 4 and 5 SD to see if you can see the pixelation etc. If you can't then maybe it's a fault at my transmitter. TIA

 

[Sachakins]

The company that transmits for channel 4 basically had its transmission data server room destroyed by the sprinkler system, however when the switched to the back system, that immediately failed too.

Here is they're last update.

On Saturday 25 September 2021, Channel 4’s channels and on-demand services were significantly affected when the fire suppression system was triggered at Red Bee Media, the company that broadcasts our services. The building was evacuated and no one was injured, but as a result, we were temporarily off-air.

Even though all our channels are now broadcasting again, the problems caused by the incident means we are still experiencing issues with programmes and adverts as well as with audio and video quality. Since the incident we have also continued to have problems with our All 4 service and are not able to offer any programmes with audio description, subtitles or sign language.

So, we would like to apologise for any problems you might still be experiencing as you watch your favourite shows. We want to reassure you that we are doing everything we can to return to a normal service as quickly as possible.

Until then, bear with us if things don’t always go to plan. We are trying our best.