BillRoland
Premium
join:2001-01-21
Ocala, FL
clubs:
 ·Cox HSI
|  [Satellite] Question for Satellite Users
Let me set this up a bit.
I'm currently involved in a thread in the Cox forum about poor HD picture quality delivered by Cox. My two biggest issues are macroblocking during motion scenes, and a general lack of definition in the picture, sort of like what you get when you overcompress a JPEG image. Since this phenomena has been reported by both me and another fellow in another city (but in the same market), and I have also seen it at my parents house, and we're using three different types of HDTV's (me with CRT, the other two Plasma and LCD), and given the RF according to the boxes are well within spec, I believe it is due to overcompression by Cox.
Now the question: several users insist that its not the fault of Cox, but its the broadcasters fault. They claim that if Cox is delivering a channel that is experiencing macroblocking and poor definition, its simply because they got it that way and they are just passing it along, untouched. I don't believe that at all, so my question to you good folks who use DirecTV or DISH is, do your HD channels, especially History, SciFi, ESPN/ESPN2, ABC, CBS, NBC, USA experience these same symptoms? If your channels do not exhibit these same problems, then clearly the broadcasters are not at fault. Thanks in advance for reading and posting.
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Beyond AM. Beyond FM. XM |
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westdc
join:2009-01-25
Amissville, VA
| the cable company's, Satellite company's All rebroadcast programing. How they rebroadcast it is based on there equipment that is inplace in any part of the usa. They will reassemble the content as needed to get it down there pipe to customers.
If overcompression exsits, it may be because of lack of bandwitdth in your local area. They may have more bandwidth in another part of the town and the pictire will not reqiure overcompression.
SO yes it depends on lots of factors. |
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obeythelaw
Premium
join:2003-04-16
Bayonne, NJ
 ·DIRECTV
| reply to BillRoland
i was with cablevision and recently switched to directv. the clarity in both standard and high def is very noticeable and i'm really loving the picture quality with directv. i do not see any macroblocking at all.
it is true that each provider will ultimately rebroadcast it. however, what each provider normally doesn't do is if the picture isn't broadcast in 1081i then they don't (can't?) rebroadcast in that format. this is why you sometimes see or hear people claim that some channels will be showing high def content but it will be referred to as "stretchovision" because that's how the network is sending it to the provider. if your dish is properly installed i think you would definitely see the difference with directv. |
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BillRoland
Premium
join:2001-01-21
Ocala, FL
clubs:
·Cox HSI
| reply to BillRoland
Thanks for the comments thus far, very informative and pretty much in line with what I expected. If anybody has additional comments, please keep them coming. Thanks.
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"Don't steal. The government hates competition."
Beyond AM. Beyond FM. XM |
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comp
Premium
join:2001-08-16
Concord, NC
clubs: | reply to obeythelaw
While Direct TV may have some of best HD, they are well known for having horrible SD picture quality |
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obeythelaw
Premium
join:2003-04-16
Bayonne, NJ
·DIRECTV
| said by comp  :While Direct TV may have some of best HD, they are well known for having horrible SD picture quality huh? from what source? i've never heard anyone complain about their sd quality. |
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comp
Premium
join:2001-08-16
Concord, NC
clubs: | read this forum and search for sd quality dbstalk.com |
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sonofjay
Mission Accomplished - Bush May 1, 2003
Premium,MVM
join:2001-05-14
North Attleboro, MA
 ·Vonage
·Earthlink Cable Mo..
| The 120 or so SD national channels do not get get many complaints, or more so than any other provider or the broadcaster itself. DirecTV's SD locals have in the past and in some places still do get complaints about over compression and quality.
But then again who watches SD anymore anyway? 
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Mission Accomplished |
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acid343211
Hallo lisa Aus Amerika
Premium
join:2001-08-31
Byron, GA
| reply to obeythelaw
said by obeythelaw :said by comp :While Direct TV may have some of best HD, they are well known for having horrible SD picture quality huh? from what source? i've never heard anyone complain about their sd quality. I get Excellent picture Quality i have a 40 inch Lcd.
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Visit-
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Van
Premium
join:2009-07-08
Washington, DC | reply to obeythelaw
I can attest to it.
I am very happy with DirecTV but their SD is terrible quality wise |
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Airborne29th
join:2008-10-20
Staunton, VA
 ·Alltel Axess
| The SD quality all depends on the tv setup, Your trying to show SD picture which is not native to any 720p or 1080p/i resolution size, so it will be stretched and slightly pixelated depending on how your TV accepts the signal. That is why they are saying it looks horrible. I have SD on a 42in and HD and the SD doesnt look bad, but the HD is great! |
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Gib4500
join:2003-12-08
Sardis, OH
 ·AT&T Midwest
·Windjammer Cable
·RoadRunner Cable
| reply to BillRoland
I get excellent picture quality for hd channels on directv. I have not noticed any macroblocking on any of the hd channels i get on directv. I watch on a 46 inch samsung lcd. I'm watching the monday night football game on espn hd and the picture is vibrant and the colors pop. |
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Hayward
K A R - 1 2 0 C
Premium
join:2000-07-13
Key West, FL
4 edits | reply to Airborne29th
said by Airborne29th :The SD quality all depends on the tv setup, Your trying to show SD picture which is not native to any 720p or 1080p/i resolution size, so it will be stretched and slightly pixelated Or you have a station that doesn't give a crap.
Local PBS since digital now crops the SD feed vs leterboxing... so now for instance when suprered on screen logo NOVA is now OVA..... NOw is now OW, and a network PBS logo is is now the BS network.... and any right or left title supper is cut too, especially agrivating when date oriented.
They have chosen to do this it is not a necessity.... consequenttly until they stop doing it I have stopped supporting them. And on the HD feed to be aure their ghosted channel logo is visible in the SD feed it is nearly again annoyingly nearly in the center of the HD feed.
As to who whatches SD any more many do.... sooner or later HD will stop being surcharged.... just to cut the bandwidth redundancy and waste. And I run mt SD DISH reciver through an upconverting DVD recorder that actually makes it looke much better.... no not HD but significantly better than straight SD.
And of course with both sat companies SD has always been digital anyways, though in the end maybe converted back to analog. My case I go from sat receiver S-Vid out to DVD recoreder upconverted 1080i HDMI to HD TV.... really looks quite nice looking considering.
It now just gettting to the point HD is prevalent enough I have considered the receiver upgrade cost and added monthly fee... but those days are numbered.... just as telco no one pays for touch tone dialing anymore, because it cost too much for those that said pulse dial was just fine, and the telco's to maintain a large facility to accompdate... not paying an extra $5/mo for TT. Puklse dial is still possible but as TT is standard there is littler reason to have much capacity for it... but old phones people just haven't replace... vs the MILLIONS that said heck no we aren't paying to TT.
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»haywardm.com (Hayward's Key West)
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BlakePaulson
join:2008-08-06
Alexandria, MN
·AT&T Wireless Broa..
·Charter Pipeline
| reply to BillRoland
I love my DirecTV HD... not only do I not see any of the compression that I used to have with charter (which looked horrible) I also have much better DVR's than those POS Moto/SA units.
Compared to my cable you could not pay me to switch back to cable from DirecTV... |
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PCInTech
In another place and time.
Premium
join:2004-06-07
Massena, NY
clubs: | While I keep TW Cable for basic local channels, you couldn't pay me enough to get anything higher than that. Dish has an astounding selection and quality for what I want. |
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GhostDoggy
join:2005-05-11
Duluth, GA
| reply to obeythelaw
said by obeythelaw :said by comp :While Direct TV may have some of best HD, they are well known for having horrible SD picture quality huh? from what source? i've never heard anyone complain about their sd quality. Well, let me help you with that. The SD over the older MPEG-2 system was terrible. It didn't start out that way, but got worse over time. D* was notorious for over-compressing the signals for SD channels.
Now, this may have changed for the MPEG-4 delivery system, but that doesn't change the fact that the corporate decisions based on past examples should be null & void. |
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comp
Premium
join:2001-08-16
Concord, NC
clubs: | Majority of the SD channels are still MPEG-2 |
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Steve Mehs
Go Sabres
join:2005-07-16
| reply to sonofjay
said by sonofjay :But then again who watches SD anymore anyway? If I still had DirecTV, I'd still be watching plenty of SD.
College Football on Saturdays on ESPN U in HD on DirecTV? Nope
Andrew Zimmern on Travel Channel in HD on DirecTV? Sorry
George Carlin stand ups on HBO Comedy? Hold on wait a minute DirecTV doesn't even have this in SD.
Hardball on MSNBC in HD on DirecTV? Not Here
Mad Men on AMC in HD on DirecTV? Don't Think So
Music Videos in HD are nice, Palladia HD is a cool channel, but what about Fuse on DirecTV? Yeah Right
What about more of the more intriguing programming from Discovery Networks? ID HD on DirecTV? You kiddin' me? This channel just launched.
I'm a movie watcher, DirecTV lacks quite a bit of movie channels in standard def, plus about 15-20 in HD.
If I was unfortunate to be so foolish to believe DirecTV actually cared about HD, I'd still have their lackluster service and have an absolutely pathetic HD line up that is a pure disgrace to the advancement of digital entertainment technology.
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Don't Blame Me, I Voted For McCain
Welcome to The SSA, The Socialist States of Amerika, Lead By Your Dictator, Hussein Obama
Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, Mao Zedong, Fidel Castro, Saddam Hussein, B. Hussein Obama
Obama = Terrorist |
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sonofjay
Mission Accomplished - Bush May 1, 2003
Premium,MVM
join:2001-05-14
North Attleboro, MA
·Vonage
·Earthlink Cable Mo..
| said by Steve Mehs :I'd still have their lackluster service and have an absolutely pathetic HD line up that is a pure disgrace to the advancement of digital entertainment technology. Well that's a first. I have yet to see someone, anyone else, call DirecTV's HD line-up pathetic and pure disgrace.
You've got me interested now. Please post and share who your television provider is as I would be interested in comparing it to DirecTV's and others.
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Mission Accomplished |
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comp
Premium
join:2001-08-16
Concord, NC
clubs:
·RoadRunner Cable
| said by sonofjay :said by Steve Mehs :I'd still have their lackluster service and have an absolutely pathetic HD line up that is a pure disgrace to the advancement of digital entertainment technology. Well that's a first. I have yet to see someone, anyone else, call DirecTV's HD line-up pathetic and pure disgrace. You've got me interested now. Please post and share who your television provider is as I would be interested in comparing it to DirecTV's and others. What did you expect? He has the fox news channel for a avator. nuff said |
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