How Lame Is My Internet; Should I Upgrade? ~ Ting Is Coming & Xfinity Is Here 18Jul26

My: Current Situation... My current connectivity is $40/mo forever on bonded twisted pairs from Century Link. Ting will offer me fiber @ 2 Gbps symmetric when CSU completes the fiber through the neighborhood (probably $70/mo); Xfinity offers COAX ATM now (the current deal is $45/mo stable for 5 years, mo-to-mo, @ 300Mbps);  500Mbps for $55/mo or 1Gbps for $75/mo are also available. To actually have infrastructure competition is great. Speedtest results show the current ADSL is providing ~35Mbps and decent 8msec pings wired and little degradation from my WiFi network design (a separate AP and subnet with the ISP-connected modem's WiFi off... this is the home net design one wants for various reasons).

Everyone: How Much Is Needed?... We have two UHD (4K) HDR TVs and many PCs and handhelds connected to the Internet @ Blodgett. There are also plenty of IoT and security devices connected too. However, only one TV is ever connected at a time really, and then only modest requirements for WiFi-connected handhelds and IoT will be running simultaneously. I have worked on huge networks for stadiums of fans and to say Blodgett needs are modest is certain. Still, what are the recommendations, and what is the math to deliver a smidge more than a 4K/HDR12 (12 bit color depth for Dolby Vision)? Well, recommendations from streamers for 4K/HDR12 is a minimum of 25Mbps, with more comfort at 50Mbps. YouTube stuff is compressed almost always and YT uses effective and efficient encoding via OLEC ~ but this comes from them and many others. I don't know exactly how they got there but I am good to go with Century Link. Am I?

Geeks: The Real Math... Various things are going on in the casting studios & servers, and on the wires and routers in-between them, and with you and your own gear. But, what's the pure calculation of required network bandwidth to deliver an unadulterated/unbuffered 4K/UHD stream carrying HDR12 content to you?  D = (V + V_blank) × (H + H_blank) × F × Cd x (1 + 2 x c) where:

• D = Data rate in bits per second (bps)
• V = Vertical pixel count; for 4K 2160
• H = Horizontal pixel count; for 4K 3840
• V_blank = Vertical blanking interval (additional vertical pixels); spec 560
• H_blank = Horizontal blanking interval (additional horizontal pixels); spec 90 
• F = Refresh frequency in Hertz (Hz); assume 60 (this will double in the future)
• Cd = Color depth in bits per pixel; assume 12 (for Dolby Vision, HDR12, others are HDR10 at 10)
• c =  1 for 4:4:4 chroma subsampling, .5 for 4:2:2 subsampling, and .25 for 4:2:0 subsampling; assume 1 (from the 50s)

For 4K/HDR12: VxH is 2160 x 3840 and Cd = 12. Most current content refreshes at 60Hz but gamers and sports fans know we'll get to 120Hz or even 144Hz (see my monitor refresh specs); let's assume 60. D = (2160+560) x (3840 + 90) x 60 x 12 x 3 = 23.1Gbps!  But also transmission is more than bit rate because HDMI uses 10bits for 8 bits inbound and therefore on the HDMI cable transmission needed is 1.25 more! So, really, 23.1 x 1.25 ~ 28.9Gbps. Wow, that is just one ultra-high-end unadulterated stream inbound to your decoder. Use the 23Gbps as a benchmark for max needed from your ISP for one "pure" 4K/HDR/Dolby Vision movie steam. Less is likely OK but we're not close.

My: Path Is Clear... I am on the fringe of tapout with degradation for my expectations & screens. I need to upgrade to Comcast/Xfinity in the short term and consider Ting for the realm.