Often, before the hour on the news channel, there's an on-screen
countdown. (With two digits after the colon; used to be a frame count,
but now a fake [because it can't be] centiseconds.)
But what's it counting down to? Even allowing for differing processing
delays in different receivers, it's to a point about five seconds after
the hour (I don't think the processing delay is that much). So why
bother with it? Combined with the age of some of the clips included
(they did eventually remove the clip of the space shuttle on a 747, but
only decades after its time!), it seems anachronistic at best,
misleading (in case anyone sets their clock from it) at worst.
No time reference on any of the digital broadcasting services can be
counted on anyway, unless you are extracting the time from the frame metadata. Have you checked the time differences between the pips on
Radio 4 FM and those on DAB or Freeview?
On 24/02/2026 19:30, John Williamson wrote:
No time reference on any of the digital broadcasting services can be counted on anyway, unless you are extracting the time from the frame metadata. Have you checked the time differences between the pips on
Radio 4 FM and those on DAB or Freeview?
I am always surprised at the time delay between terrestrial/satellite broadcast on the one hand and live video on the BBC News website on the
other hand. I can understand delays of a couple of seconds (eg between terrestrial and satellite) but BBC News video is sometimes delayed by a minute or more. That's a hell of a lot of buffering and
encoding/decoding delays.
NY <me@privacy.net> wrote:
On 24/02/2026 19:30, John Williamson wrote:
No time reference on any of the digital broadcasting services can be
counted on anyway, unless you are extracting the time from the frame
metadata. Have you checked the time differences between the pips on
Radio 4 FM and those on DAB or Freeview?
I am always surprised at the time delay between terrestrial/satellite
broadcast on the one hand and live video on the BBC News website on the
other hand. I can understand delays of a couple of seconds (eg between
terrestrial and satellite) but BBC News video is sometimes delayed by a
minute or more. That's a hell of a lot of buffering and
encoding/decoding delays.
Is it to prevent obscenities being broadcast live?
Often, before the hour on the news channel, there's an on-screen
countdown. (With two digits after the colon; used to be a frame count,
but now a fake [because it can't be] centiseconds.)
But what's it counting down to? Even allowing for differing processing
delays in different receivers, it's to a point about five seconds after
the hour (I don't think the processing delay is that much). So why
bother with it? Combined with the age of some of the clips included
(they did eventually remove the clip of the space shuttle on a 747, but
only decades after its time!), it seems anachronistic at best,
misleading (in case anyone sets their clock from it) at worst.
In other countries, they have advert breaks. In the UK, there are segments which cover for where the ads would be. Some of them are more obvious than others.
I have always assumed that was purely an artistic thing, not an accurate countdown.
No time reference on any of the digital broadcasting services can be
counted on anyway, unless you are extracting the time from the frame metadata. Have you checked the time differences between the pips on
Radio 4 FM and those on DAB or Freeview?
It's filler. Due to cutbacks, BBC News 24 was merged with BBC World News, which means that the same studio produces a feed for the UK and an international feed.
In other countries, they have advert breaks. In the UK, there are segments which cover for where the ads would be. Some of them are more obvious than others.
Theo
On 2026/2/24 19:30:22, John Williamson wrote:
No time reference on any of the digital broadcasting services can beI think I heard/read somewhere that they try to get the FM one
counted on anyway, unless you are extracting the time from the frame
metadata. Have you checked the time differences between the pips on
Radio 4 FM and those on DAB or Freeview?
reasonably accurate (within processing delays in the receiver).
On 2026/2/24 19:30:22, John Williamson wrote:
[]
I have always assumed that was purely an artistic thing, not an accurate
countdown.
Yes, it seems to be. Especially since they abandoned frame count for centiseconds.
I think I heard/read somewhere that they try to get the FM one
No time reference on any of the digital broadcasting services can be
counted on anyway, unless you are extracting the time from the frame
metadata. Have you checked the time differences between the pips on
Radio 4 FM and those on DAB or Freeview?
reasonably accurate (within processing delays in the receiver).
On 25/02/2026 12:31, J. P. Gilliver wrote:
On 2026/2/24 19:30:22, John Williamson wrote:
There is no delay in my receiver, it is 100% analogue. (Okay, a few microseconds plus a millisecond a foot from the speaker to my ears)No time reference on any of the digital broadcasting services can beI think I heard/read somewhere that they try to get the FM one
counted on anyway, unless you are extracting the time from the frame
metadata. Have you checked the time differences between the pips on
Radio 4 FM and those on DAB or Freeview?
reasonably accurate (within processing delays in the receiver).
The delay between the studio and the transmitters should be predictable,
as they have complete control over the processing.
The only easily available, accurate time reference nowadays is a GPS receiver, and a good one will even allow for the speed of light delay
from the satellites.
It is better than having to watch adverts, usually the same advertsAnything, apart from root canal dental work or (for women) childbirth,
repeated endlessly.
On 25/02/2026 16:07, John Williamson wrote:
The only easily available, accurate time reference nowadays is a GPS
receiver, and a good one will even allow for the speed of light delay
from the satellites.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5dwUWtyRP4c is a demo of the speed of
sound in air versus the live broadcast (on FM, not DAB!) - done by Vikki
Pipe of All The Stations fame.
The only easily available, accurate time reference nowadays is a GPS receiver, and a good one will even allow for the speed of light delay
from the satellites.
The only easily available, accurate time reference nowadays is a GPS
receiver, and a good one will even allow for the speed of light delay
from the satellites.
Doesn't DCF77 add a correction factor when the standby transmitter site
is in use?
I like correct time but some people seem to be a bit paranoid about
needing far great accuracy than they are actually going to notice.
I have a DCF77 and a MSF alarm clock, most of the time I tend to use
them if I want to set / check my watch because they have decent sized displays and they show seconds, the MSF also displays how long since the
last update.
Before I retired I occasionally checked against our rack mounted GPS receivers but that was just for my own amusement.
On 26/02/2026 00:04, NY wrote:I'm not bothered about that sort of accuracy - I just like to know,
On 25/02/2026 16:07, John Williamson wrote:
The only easily available, accurate time reference nowadays is a GPS
receiver, and a good one will even allow for the speed of light delay
from the satellites.
I have done that experiment myself....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5dwUWtyRP4c is a demo of the speed of
sound in air versus the live broadcast (on FM, not DAB!) - done by Vikki
Pipe of All The Stations fame.
On 2026/2/26 8:38:31, John Williamson wrote:
On 26/02/2026 00:04, NY wrote:I'm not bothered about that sort of accuracy - I just like to know,
On 25/02/2026 16:07, John Williamson wrote:
The only easily available, accurate time reference nowadays is a GPS
receiver, and a good one will even allow for the speed of light delay
from the satellites.
within about half a second or so, how fast or slow my watch (or anything
else I have that shows seconds) is. The FM serves for me.
:-) [It is quite hard to hear, but yes, just.]I have done that experiment myself....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5dwUWtyRP4c is a demo of the speed of
sound in air versus the live broadcast (on FM, not DAB!) - done by Vikki >>> Pipe of All The Stations fame.
the future English were
still in Germany and the Scottish were still in Ireland.
- Michael Cullen, Skye, in RT 2014/12/6-12
This is nonsense. The populations of England and Scotland were
not displaced by people from Germany or Ireland.
In article <10npd9r$1k02g$2@dont-email.me>,I'm sure Michael Cullen (I've completely forgotten who he is or was) exaggerated for mainly comic, or possibly as JMB99 suggests political,
J. P. Gilliver <G6JPG@255soft.uk> wrote:
the future English were
still in Germany and the Scottish were still in Ireland.
- Michael Cullen, Skye, in RT 2014/12/6-12
This is nonsense. The populations of England and Scotland were
not displaced by people from Germany or Ireland.
-- Richard
I'm sure Michael Cullen (I've completely forgotten who he is or was) exaggerated for mainly comic, or possibly as JMB99 suggests political, effect. Though he doesn't say displaced, he says (or implies) invaded.
(It is true that Hadrian's Wall is entirely within what is_now_ England
- which, on the_east_ side, extends a lot further north than a lot of
people realise; the border is nearer north-south than east-west.)
(*) My A Level physics teacher was called J R Hartley.
No time reference on any of the digital broadcasting services can be
counted on anyway, unless you are extracting the time from the frame metadata.
Apparently there is a whodunnit where someone hears Big Ben chiming a different time from reality because they are hearing n chimes through
the radio and a final one again through the air, because the time delay
is exactly one "bong". I'm not sure what the clock's "inter-bong"
interval is to be able to calculate the corresponding distance from Big Ben.
In article <10npd9r$1k02g$2@dont-email.me>,how about he Angles and Saxons (and Norsemen (or Normans). The Scotti
J. P. Gilliver <G6JPG@255soft.uk> wrote:
the future English were
still in Germany and the Scottish were still in Ireland.
- Michael Cullen, Skye, in RT 2014/12/6-12
This is nonsense. The populations of England and Scotland were
not displaced by people from Germany or Ireland.
-- Richard
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