Since when is “download a 4GB high-def movie” a HD movie. All the movies that I’ve seen in the 4GB range are SD.

Good point about the file size.  4gb is likely representing a 720p resolution, MPeg4 (H.264) which would be about right.  1080i would definately be higher, and obviously 1080p would be huge.

You could roughly double the size if you were talking Mpeg2.

I wonder whether the servers feeding this high speed will keep up with the capacity being delivered to the customer.  Having bandwidth without “pumping” capacity won’t buy the consumer very much.  This is and end-to-end process, and I don’t see anyone offering buffering of bits in this scheme.  Lots of marketing BS is all that we have here.

4gb’s for a high def movie are about right. They all fit on to a 15gb disc for hd dvd. About 4gb’s are the movie with one audio track. You throw in multiple audio tracks and you can double that to 8 gb. Throw in all the other features, and you fill up that 15gb disc….

I have close to 50 SD movies on our server. They have all been stripped of everything except the movie and one sound track. Some of them have subtitles. None of them have been compressed durring the copy process.The range of file sizes are 3.3GB to about 6.8 GB.

Most SD movies are manufactured using dual layer (~8GB) disks.

What’s the point when Comcast is going to come after you for using too much bandwidth in your unlimited bandwidth plan if you actually utilize those speeds?

I’m guessing/hoping that if you’re willing to shell out $150 a month for service, you’ll get first priority.

It is impossible for a home computer to download @50Mbps. You will max out somewhere between 10-12Mbps if you are lucky…..

Ed, could you elaborate please. are you saying that pcs have a limit of 10-12 Mbps, or that the pipe to the home is limited?

My standard Comcast service is hitting 12-15 mbps these days, so I am not ready for the 50 mbps thing yet, at least not at $150. But the high speed brings up the other stuff too. 

Those speeds should be no problem for a modern computer with SATA drives.  12 mbps is only 1.5 MB/s which is nothing in the grand scheme of computers, and 50 mbps is only 6 MB/s which is also poking along when you think of hard disk speeds of 100 MB/s

Ed,
You are clueless.  Any PC could handle 50Mbps easily.

I had 20Mpbs for a couple of glorious months in Chicago before I moved (RCN).  It was sweet… can’t imagine the pure goodness of 50.

As the CONSUMER, we paid for these high speeds in the first place, now the CONSUMER is being shafted. One day America, you will all wake up and see how badly you have been screwed. The I hope you will punish the MAN!