Near Future of BEV Picture Quality?

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viper37

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First time poster, altough semi-lurker ;)

I don't have my HD TV yet, but I need to remove my antenna from the roof so we can repair it very soon. Since I basically have to uninstall the thing, I figure I might as well upgrade now rather than put back to old antenna and change it in two months.

I've read in this forum, and elsewhere that BEV's quality sucks. Honestly, I can't really tell... I've seen BEV HD on a 720p set (42PX80) and it looks nice, except sometimes, for no apparent reason (calm wheater) it will lose its signal. However, I must admit that some channels seems to look better than other (SRC and Super Ecran namely).

I've seen Illico HD, and maybe it was because of the TV (Sharp Aquos 32"), but I didn't find it that great. I've seen CBC HD, mostly, and a bit of RDS.

I thought BEV would be better with the new NIMIQ up in the air, but apparently, it's been delayed. :(

Channel wise, I like the idea of picking my own 30 channels with Videotron. And I get to have RDI HD, and MuchLoud wich I can't with BEV. As for the other channels, it seems mostly the same. Most of the channels I watch are the english ones, Canada&US networks; aside from SRC and RDI, I don't watch much stuff in French. I usually avoid RDS and prefer TSN, but that's not always possible. I don't intend to subscribe to either The Movie Channel or Super Ecran, nor do I want to order Vu movies or whatever Illico has to offer.

I'm currently a BEV subscriber and I own the PVR (6100 I believe). I like the interface a lot, especially the last upgrade that make it a little more Tivo-like. I also like the Canadian channel pack, from coast to coast so I can watch a show on multiple time zone, it has been really practical for the numerous time I had a problem (forgot to record, machine crashed, show moved/delayed, etc, etc,).

I really like Bell ExpressVu, but I'm always back at the same problem: quality. How bad is it? I plan on buying a 46PZ800 (plasma, THX), would I notice the bad quality of the overly compressed channels? Would 720p vs 1080i make a world of difference?

How likely is the possibility of BEV correcting its quality problems and adding new channels in the near future? Should I take my chances with BEV or switch to Videotron? Wich one is more likely to improve on its service in the next year?
 
6100 is a HD non PVR receiver...
PVR receiver is 5100-5900-9200-9242...



To upgrade it all you have to do is add the second LNBF



That shoudn't be the case...maybe it just need realignement



I have 2 Sharp Aquos (one 52", one 32") with Express Vu and picture quality is excellent!!!

Since you don't have HD that makes you eligible for the NIMIQ 2 free upgrade...
HD machine will be installed free of charge

You can also threathen to leave EV and they will most probably give you 1 year of rental free of charge
 
5100, you're right, my bad. I've owned it since 1998, I only changed the antenna in 2004 when I moved. :)


I need to change the antenna, that's what they told me at BEV customer support. The upgrade is actually free, so that's not a problem.


I don't know, it was at my father's place, for the HD receiver, brand new install. Just when I was reassuring my father over its fears that it would stop working the moment there was rain... The image became bad, the signal started degrading, then we lost it for about 5 minutes.


so, you don't see what the others are calling "compression artifacts" due to over-compressed channels?
 
My dish was installed in 2002... When I upgraded to HD they only added the second LNBF to the existing dish, moved it a bit to get the skew angle and that was it... Lots of agents technically don't have any idea how the installation is done on the outside part



I must admit that I do not watch the HD channels a lot. I'm French and mostly watch French TV (even if i'm a bilingual) and not too many show are played in HD
 
I've been subscribed to both and mainly this is what I've found:

Bell
-----
- Much better guide/menu system
- Image quality isn't great (CompressVu), but it's also not great with Videotron
- Costs 40% more than Videotron to get channels that you want (because they are stuck in different themes). You do end up with more channels, but the others ones, you never watch anyhow.
- More HD channels.

Videotron
----------
- Crappy 4:3 guide/menu system
- Image quality isn't great, but it's also not great with Bell.
- Much cheaper than Bell
- More French HD channels
- VOD (99% french stuff only)

So basically, they are both pretty much the same... it all comes down to price and channels that you want. Videotron doesn't have Super Channel at the moment, so if you absolutely want those, then chose Bell. If Videotron has all the channels you want, it'll be cheaper to get them than Bell. Etc.
 
@Ex Agent EV:
The first antenna I had would have been ok for the upgrade, this one not. I apparently need an antenna that can receive a signal from two satellites and this one cannot.

And I'm French too, but I rarely watch the French tv shows, except for the news and some documentaries on RDI. I can't say for sure how much of the content I'll watch is going to be HD, but I expect that 90% of my viewing will be HD when fall comes.


@FrankM
Hmm, does Bell still have more HD channels? From what I've seen, the "more HD channels" they offer are the same, but at different time zones (ex: NBC East, NBC West, etc). Do you know exactly wich channels they have that Videotron and others don't?

Super Channel seems like Super
 
I find both bad for HD, Videotron looks like crap and so does Bell, you should look at the websites and see what packages will suit you and pricing and go from there.
 
When you all say both look like crap, compared to what? Do y'all whom have tried both Videotron and Bell been with anyone else to compare?

I honestly not trying to sound like you guys do not know what you are talking about. I'm actually a Bell customer near the end of my contract planing on buying an HD TV sometime this Fall and considering Videotron (I live in Gatineau, Qc).

djino
"Need an honest answer, thanks"
 
Sorry I'm spoiled I only watch distribution feeds on c/ku band, I guess for a consumer level system they are not bad, I am very picky with my image and sound quality, this is why I don't use any cable or mini dish provider.

If you have OTA that would be best to get networks, Videotron has VOD that is a plus, it really comes down to what you want to watch and who offers it, I am pretty sure Bell has more HD channels, Star choice is another one to look at, read some reviews take a look at there websites and also try to take advantage of any new sub promotions.
 
From my experience Shaw has better HD picture quality than Bell, but has less HD channels. Others on this forum have said that Starchoice gives better HD picture than Bell as it is compressed less. One channel which looks less sharp on Bell compared to Shaw are the CBSHDW & CBSHDE feeds of David Letterman. I don't know why it is so noticeable on those channels, because the other HD channels don't show as much of a difference. All providers compress the signal, so there will always be marcroblocking with fast motion/flashing lights or rain/snow falling.
 
MPIX HD, SuperChannel HD are two examples of HD channels Bell has that Videotron does not.

As for the "compare image to what" question... well I can even compare Bell to itself!!

I had Bell for about 5 years and when they had less channels at some point their HD image quality was MUUUUCH better than what it currently is. So basically, the image they offer now CAN be a *lot* better, but they are just jamming a ton of channels into their bandwidth and their quality has gone down dramatically.

So if I look at Videotron and Bell now compared that what I saw a few years back with Bell, they are both very crappy.
 
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