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New Paramount+ Service Will be $5 a Month With Ads

Andrew Orr ·

Paramount+ is a rebranded and expanded version of CBS All Access. In a virtual investor event on Thursday executives revealed pricing. It launches March 4.

And they said that Paramount+ will cost $4.99 per month with ads in the U. S. (less than the $5.99 charged for CBS All Access), or $9.99 without ads and with additional sports, news and live TV content. There are also plans to bundle this with the company’s premium subscriptions, such as Showtime.

Podcast

TMO Contributor Kelly Guimont (#14) - BGM Interview

John Martellaro · · Add Comment

Kelly Guimont is a long-time podcaster, Contributor for The Mac Observer, the host of the Mac Observer’s Daily Observations podcast, and a tech support guru. In her 14th appearance, Kelly and I chat about our favorite streaming TV shows and movies of late.

As is our custom, we alternate. I open with a very positive review of the 2020 series The Right Stuff (Disney+). Kelly was up next with Penny Dreadful (Showtime). John then raves about the movie and then series Mystery Road. (Amazon). Kelly chimes in next with extreme praise for The Mandalorian S2/E1 (Disney+) and, later, an update on Lovecraft Country (HBO Max). John delves into the fabulous The Hundred-Foot Journey (Amazon) and scifi/romance Tuck Everlasting (Disney+). And there’s more! Join us as we explore together what’s great about these shows.

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H.266 Video Codec Uses Half the Data to Stream 4K

Andrew Orr ·

The H.266 video codec was recently revealed, and it was designed for 4K and 8K video streaming. It can steam at these resolutions using half the data as previous codecs.

Fraunhofer said that if a 90-minute, H.265/HEVC-encoded movie is about 10GB, it would only be 5GB for the same quality when encoded with the new codec. “Because H.266/VVC was developed with ultra-high-resolution video content in mind, the new standard is particularly beneficial when streaming 4K or 8K videos on a flat screen TV,” Fraunhofer said. At the same time, it will support all formats from 480p on up.