Why do HDTVs always come out far before 720ps?

i have always been a fan of the hdtv rips, especially since they are the
standard and they come out fast, but since discovering the core avc x264 decoder
and getting a 720p projector, i have been trying to get the 720p releases
whenever possible. unfortunately, i am also one of those people who likes to
watch shows the same night so i often have to compromise one desire for the other.

anyway, i wanted to ask if anyone knows why it always takes far longer for the
720p releases to come out than the hdtv releases. (not just from this site, but
from every site i have been to in general, but i thought i would ask it here
since this site has one of the most active forums.) is there some sort of
technical reason that this is happening, or are the 720 and hrhd releases sort
of on the back burner for the scene groups?

maybe cos the 720's take longer to encode?

are you kidding me? first off file size is 350 megs vs 1.1 gigs
which take more time to upload.

second is encoding speed. x264 is a lot slower than xvid but much better
at compression (40% better average at same quality level) now throw
in the fact that 720p rez is so much higher. 1280 x 720 vs 624 x 352.
that is a lot more pixels to encode.

third it takes longer to spread because file size and demand. the demand is
not even close to being there as it is for hdtv encodes because of file size.
(that is changing though as dl speeds are getting much better and the fact
that 720p is so much better quality wise people are willing to dl the
larger files)

etc...

the demand is there. but its not realy from public tv torrent sites, you have to
go usenet/newsgroups or private sites to fill it as the file size requires a
longer seeding time. yes eztv had some but just
like the hr hdtv 16/9 vs hdtv vs dsr 4/3 option.
people want it fast and not to wait for the best quality.
eztv have untill lately released each quality level but have now stopped that.
one example is the 4400, its now showing in the uk as 16/9 720p hdtv
presentation but 2 weeks later. so eztv aren't going to upload the caps but they
are done.
there are loads of 720p tv caps that never make it on to the public torrent
sites.

720 rips often do come out close to the same time on the scene, but for public
torrents there is not such a huge push to get them out as fast and bigger files
take longer to get out as mentioned.

if you really want 720 rips for almost every show and fast you have to get
newsgroups. just you have to pay and it is more complicated to use but well
worth it and also much faster downloads.

normally the higher the resolution, the longer the encoding time
and x264 definitely takes longer to encode them xvid

720p x264's do not pre at the same time on the scene as 350mb xvid
even during the spring when things were busy it was something like this for
popular stuff
xvid's often 12-25 (at best, can obviously be much more)
720p's often 80-180min (depends on segmented (frowned upon) encode or not)
1100mb != 1.1gb. 1100mb / 1024 = 1.07gb

no it is not. not even close. it is right now about 20 to 1.

no one should be segmenting the 2nd pass of x264.
if they do (it is easy to spot if you take the time to look)
they will be propered.

btw - ctu releases just 60 minutes after air. which is awesome

yeah, but unfortunately i can't get an invite to anywhere that has consistent
ctu releases, and i don't know about an public sites that do...so i guess i'm
still stuck watching 350 mb, which don't look super great blown up to 100
inches, or waiting a day or two hoping a 720p leaks out to us unwashed masses.

i know segmented 720p's are banned but that doesn't mean they havn't been done
in the past
ex. pre'ing a 720p in 60 min when normally even ctu takes 2+ hours

on hit and run public trackers yes its 20-1 but its that way because of time it
takes to download of public sites, thats why so many h.264 files don't get
seeded on public trackers and why you have to go to private sites to get h264.

clearly the demand isn't here. whether there is demand elsewhere is beside the
point. this is the tracker that should be discussed here.

i don't find that downloading a 720p from eztv takes much longer (if at all)
than a 350mb release. the demand isn't here because it isn't what the vast
majority of visitors want at this time. maybe in a year from now that will
change - as long as the way isps operate their limits.


even one of the most popular shows hosted on eztv, heroes, has an almost 40:1
ratio of completed downloads from standard hdtv-xvid and the 720p version.