I don’t quite understand the difference in the technology. An example I’m thinking of is that if you’re streaming a TV program online that has a ton of simultaneous viewership (say, the Super Bowl), you’re liable to run into bandwidth issues—buffering, freezes, pixelated video, etcetera, as the servers are taxed with keeping up with the demand of all the viewers.
The same thing doesn’t happen with cable tv, even though it is also a digital signal coming over a wire. No matter how many people are watching, the cable tv provider is able to put out perfect quality video to everyone with no buffer time.
What is the difference in the tech that allows cable tv to do this but not online streaming video?
In: Technology
Cable throughput is fixed.
Say you always know the resolution and frame rate of a video stream, that’s what cable is. There is no need for elasticity.
An internet stream is variable, you can change resolution and sometimes the framerate. If a ton of people suddenly request the stream it causes strain on the providing servers, whereas a cable “broadcast” is always pushing the same signal.
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