I worked for a German cable company (using the EuroDOCSIS standard) and recall that multiple channels were able to use the same frequency. Based on modulation they would seperate the TV-signals from one another. Even multiple HD-signals were able to sit on one frequency (usually 4) without much problem.

My video started buffering and I had to rewind to make sure it wasn't a joke -_- Can't trust Linus's editors

Actually mine does when there is wind and rain

For the same reason that your electricity doesn't buffer.

Some actual pro-cable arguments: -dedicated channels for specific genres and topics -all programming is synchronized across time zones (great for live events) -no risk of signal interference -high speed internet is not required -no depletion of bandwidth -live events can be broadcast in HD at 60fps without any buffering -most subscriptions include DVR service and on-demand/streaming access through the cable box And for for premium channels: -ad-free -uncensored -price model is based on individual channels instead of packages which can lead to lower subscription fees in some cases -allows for pay-per-view access And now some anti-streaming arguments: -most high-quality content is fragmented across different platforms which all require different payment plans, even if the content itself is from the same studio, creator, or TV series -available content is often inconsistent due to changes in licensing rights -there is virtually no quality control -any free services have ads (which are often very haphazardly placed throughout the show or movie) -high speed internet is required -buffering can be a problem -signal interference can be a problem -access to live events costs extra -higher quality picture and faster frame rates eat up TONS of bandwidth and may not even be possible depending on where you live

I've noticed that amazon tv has this initial low res when you start a new stream, then it gets better in about 15 seconds. I suspect they hide buffering by running at low res for awhile

Cable TV... Shows a picture of Sky TV.

quick note that 1:05 the UK Sky Satellite guide is shown behind Linus. its NOT cable

Digital TV channels on coax does not have one frequency per channel, they are divided in transport streams of 8MHz wide with usually QAM256modulation wich is about 50Mbit wich supports about ~5 digital channels. The reason analog dissapeared is mainly because it uses up too much room on the cable and nobody ever uses it. (This is purely based on my experience as field tech. Netherlands) Also, we have 500mbit on coax wich uses 20 channels, and next year DOCSIS 3.1 is enabled wich uses frequencies of up to 1200Mhz.

Correction: digital channels typically have between 2 and 20 channels, depending on SD or HD. Each channel can support approximately 38 Mbps, divided up among all stations.

Better Question: Why Doesn't Satellite TV Buffer?

i love both of ur channels. keep up the great work!

HAHAHA! At 21 seconds in, my video stopped, and started to buffer. I though it was your video/editing... As rare as it is to be buffering these days (for me), the timing was impeccable! :)

I love it when questions I never thought of gets answered

3:55 thats a soyuz, not a satellite..... right?

This is just such a great video. This is one of those questions you ask yourself and you think nobody else would be asking themselves this question... And then you find a video like this which is a great explanation and also notice there are tons of comments!

Says everyone sees the same stream, shows TVs watching the same channel seeing something else than the other. Great job Linus

My cable box includes netflix. I was guessing it was using internet for netflix until i unplugged my modem and it still worked. So, does this mean that the "coaxial" cable is delivering the internet that netflix in the cable box uses?

The video buffered as I watched, thought it was part of the video! Great video, interesting stuff.

Great explanation Linus (and team)! Thanks!

True, both signals are digital, but one is packed switched (IP as in Internet Protocol) whereas all the little packets of data are broken up and reassembled at the destination, and the other is circuit switched, meaning it is essentially a continuous stream of data on its own dedicated circuit. Also, packet switched is susceptible to net-splits, so even if the end user has piles of bandwidth, the re-syncing that has to happen once the network path is switched from one major path to another, can also result in momentary disruption. Dedicated circuit switched streams are just that, a circuit dedicated to that stream, so users don't have net-split issues. I know some of my terminology is somewhat confusing, packet switched, and circuit switched come from the old days of telephone.

great info, thanks!

had this question on my head for years , never searched for an answer ,thanks Linus

Hey, Linus I love your channel. It’s one of my favorite

Video unwatchable keeps buffering

Hi Linus. The fact that only a single channel is on a frequency, isn't quiet right. Digital compressions allows 7-8 SD/ 2-3 HD channels in a single QAM. You're thinking about the old analog signal - and that's years back now... Another fact is that nowaways you can even esperate the downstreams and upstreams on COAX Internet (before and after the tv-frequencies), allowing us to handle even more seed on a single cable. Here in Denmark, YouSee are currencly upgrading the main-network, allowing us to reach speeds up to more than 1000Mbps on COAX :-) TL;DR - Analog tv = 1 frequency | Digital tv - Multiple channels

i had this question for years thanks for the video

Woah, linus is back!

RIP Techquickie Intro

but how does this work with fiber optic cable?

Always had this question, great explanation!!!

great video. good information, i am a cable technician, and this is nearly spot on. All of the information is broad, albeit this is tech quickie. the signals that are particularly different is that your internet (cable modem) runs on DOCSIS. which can be a mixture of set downstream channels, and usually, 4 upstream channels. Usually, cable companies only cover docsis 3.0 and 3.1. 3.1 is just more channels to bond to so it is faster. Your cable box, like Linus said, is covered by a bunch of separate downstream signals usually referred to as the DS spectrum, and contains hundreds of frequencies that are always live. good video Linus

Satellite: *There's an eclipse anyone got some double a's* ?? Oh Linus you are funny man

Sky (the image used to show cable TV at 1:05) is a satellite based TV service in the UK. Not cable.

Excellent video! I will add that a piece of software is used on a server called a "Play Through Scheduler" which maps out what shows play at what specific times.

Finally answered. Had this question in mind for years.

Well I am going to watch this video... ...just as soon as it stops buffering

In the UK; Cable TV, with 330 Mbps internet, a phone line, and a mobile (handset included) contract with unlimited everything costs just £56 a month. Which is pretty amazing. I feel sad for the people in the Americas

Fun fact: Both satellite and cable television buffers, but only by about less than a second, in order to assemble a few video and audio frames, and for forward error correction. That's part of why changing channels isn't instantaneous.

This was a great quickie!

2:27 when Linus transforms to Seinfeld

I have wondered this for years!

This is a question I never thought but is really interesting. Great job

Love your content. Just a little detail you might want to make a note of. BSkyB (Sky) is a satellite broadcasting company

Error @ 1:04 - The TV Guide in the background is the UK Sky TV Guide. Sky is a Satellite TV provider, not cable.

i just got the notification for this video after i finished watching it lol

2:18 - Actually each frequency can carry more than one (set top box) channel. They're not dedicated for each channel, unless you use that amount of data, of course. If isn't HD channel it's possible to put something like 8 channels on the same freq. Dedicated frequencies for each channel, like you said, is for analog TV (one freq for image, another for color and another for audio)

Additionally, TV signal tends to just jump to the next image as its a "dumb" signal. The TV (traditionally) can't tell the input to wait until the buffer fills before continuing which is where you get choppy signals from during a storm. The pausing, fast forwarding, and rewinding is through a cache on board your cable box and not through interaction with the input.

Let's Get TVQuickie

Next time on Techquickie: "Why doesn't TeamSpeak buffer?"

forgot to like video, came back, liked it, thank you Linus!

I was searching for same couple of months ago.but couldn't find any satisfactory answer. Thanks for uploading this.

I'm the only one within my group of friends who still watches cable TV.

As someone who works in operations for a major ISP in Canada, I give this explanation an 8/10. It won't get you a job, but it's comprehensive yet simple enough for most people to understand.

I've ofteb wondered about this. Thanks for the explanation

Oh tech quickie finally got Linus tech tips in their videos, well done

I never asked myself this question, but I still watch the video 😂

Is the only reason I've never had this thought because I'm old enough to remember rabbit ears lol?

I was questioning this myself throughout the week but always forgot to search. Lucky me, Linus to the rescue hahahaha thanks!

An answer to a question I've never thought of asking. THANKS TECHQUICKIE!

This is a little like asking why radios don't buffer

This video has a lot of misinformation but overall his point is fairly accurate. As others have stated digital channels in fact have much more than a single channel per frequency. The number will vary by definition if the channel, encoding type, as well as bitrate configuration. Those configurations directly translate to picture quality, given the same source content. When Linus said there is no server waiting to send you a channel, well, yes there can be. That’s called Switched Digital Video and many MSO’s use this technology to cram low viewed content in much greater numbers per frequency. However once that channel request comes in, it’s still sent out in a similar QAM modulation method as standard linear broadcasts so there is no buffering. OnDemand can be a grey area as many operate somewhat similar to how I just described Switched Digital Video but with the addition of content servers, however some MSO’s utilize IP OnDemand, I suspect that these IP streams are heavily costed on the network to reduce the chances of buffering, and honestly just originating from their own network and content servers greatly reduced the chances, but I don’t have experiencing managing an IP VOD system. Source, I’ve managed these systems for about 15 years.

Very good video and very good explanation :)

Great video

2:27 Uh why is Linus impersonating Jerry Seinfeld?

You used an image of the Sky guide and the clues kinda in the name, SKY isn't a cable provider it's satellite TV :P

In some countries you might get a "buffer free" TV-Internet stream as it is transmitted as a broadcast (its expensive). All unicast traffic might get a buffer problem but that is why multicast exists. You might get a sat to Multicast converter (example: eyetv netstream sat). If you are watching TV over cable with you PC you might able to play with the buffer setting (I had put it to 500ms and add some cache). All DVB recivers use a buffer. It's a hugh pain if you try to aim your dish or set up your cable box (if you had to adjust the gain of your cable box). With IPv6 you might get a better multicast performance (as your internet provider and/or router isn't going to filter all multicasts out)

Those captions for the couple on the sofa. Savage.

Haha you almost made me believe - oh no the video is actually buffering :/

WHO still has cable?

god i love techquickie

There ARE times when either Cable or Satellite signal doesn't keep up. Haven't you've ever seen TV channels that just "freeze" for a few seconds, then "jump" to the current signal? You're right it doesn't buffer--it just skips to the current signal and you miss out what was broadcasted during that frozen moment of your TV signal.

why did you use a british sky box for your picture at 1:05

If it's all the same digital data. Why can I leave 5 TV's on 24/7 and never hit a data cap? Have they just sold me an internet package , just like TV but said you can only watch 2 hrs a night? Can't get Netflix even though I have a 175/175 service because I'd go over this draconian cap in 4 days. ISP data caps are a scam. At least the tiny caps they have now are a scam. $120/month for this.

Video on Cable TV, at 1:07, uses Sky (a SATELLITE service in the UK) - Well done on the research everyone at LMG!

Thanks!

Not correct. I have up to 30 TV Channels at 1 frequency

Hold on guys, I'm evolving.

Always good content! Love from India!

I see taren is putting his new after effects skills into effect

unwatchable, video started buffering and killed my internet

Not first

Funny how my video buffered all the time when I used this to test out my internet connection for 4k. I couldn't find out what buffers were real or the show.

Love the sky epg shown

Cable TV is a luxury item for convenient entertainment. It is not something that people need. My argument is that people can stop bitching and moaning about the costs of cable or the "monopoly" that Charter and Comcast supposedly have (even though Dish Network and DirecTV are direct competitors with each). Charter and Comcast lose money on their cable services due to broadcasting fees, updating/maintaining equipment, etc. Stop bitching when they charge you $200/month for TV. That's retail price. Your $40 introductory rate is only to encourage you to sign up. They can't hold that rate without going bankrupt. Spectrum internet and voice on the other hand are almost pure profit.

A like if you don't have a cable TV!

It's not quite true that each cable channel has its own frequency, usually 4-6 channels will share 1 single frequency, this is called a multiplex and will transmit data streams in Variable Bitrate, so if one channel is just broadcasting a static image, that requires less data so the other channels on the same multiplex can use and bump up there data from another channel.

I never thought of it before.

21st like

Good question... lol

Might also help to note that Cable TV generally uses UDP, so there effectively isn't any Buffering. KZfaq uses the TCP Protocol so it needs to buffer to avoid packet loss. Although if it was a live stream, this uses UDP any any data lost during transmission is dropped and forgot about. The same way Skype or Discord transmit data.

0:58 should be "as you flip though an array of HD channels, you have a sudden thought ... THERE'S NOTHING GOOD ON!"

What is encryption and how does it work like if you agree

how does techquickie work eh? like and replay if you agree

Nice video bro

Great Video Linus! I would subscribe to all your' channels @LinusMediaGroup etc., though, I might become distracted from my homework. Keep up the good work!

Very clear and concise video! However, how does cable allow you to restart programs or watch them at a later date?

That intro made me try to scroll the video back 😂

What about on demand from the cable box?

@Techquickie @ 04:16 when you started telling about the sponsor, there is a background noise, mostly like a PC Case fan.