Path: utzoo!telecom-request Date: Thu, 25 Apr 91 17:12:55 GMT From: Johnny Zweig Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom Subject: Re: Help Needed Understanding ISDN Reply-To: zweig@cs.uiuc.edu Message-ID: Organization: University of Illinois, Dept. of Comp. Sci., Urbana, IL Sender: Telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Approved: Telecom@eecs.nwu.edu X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 11, Issue 307, Message 7 of 12 Lines: 25 share!bcousert%zardoz.uucp@ics.uci.edu (William Robert Kent Cousert) writes: > Could someone briefly describe in laymen's terms what ISDN is? Also, > is ISDN fast enough for real-time video? The wires going to your house can carry digital signals at about 150,000 bits per second without much problem. So if you digitize your voice (at 64,000 bits per second) you can have two voice channels on one pair of ordinary copper wires, with room to spare. "But how are we ever going to convince people to toss out their $20 analog phones and buy $300 digital phones?" the question arises. "Aha! If we make it an Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN), we can let people do all kinds of crazy stuff besides just talking, like faxing, email, running home security, and so forth ... That's the ticket!" So there you are. And no, the basic rate ISDN service (the one that does not require coax or optical fiber into your house) is not fast enough for anything but the high-compression/slow-scan type video. I wouldn't want to watch "Monsieur Hire" over the phone just yet. Johnny ISDN