picture quality

  • Thread starter Thread starter new-oakviller
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You could give Star Choice a try. Then if the PQ is still sub par with your local cable then at least you know.
 
Don't get me wrong, I can tolerate the business model of freeing up bandwidth for extra channels> But it either works or it doesn't. There should be no in between.

As for my source equipment, it works flawlessy, the only explanation I can think of is the broadcaster utilizing overly compressed or poorer quality content that Bell passes onto us. Therefore the change occurs when a specific program is broadcast on the same channel.
 
Based on the bitrates discussed in the following thread, I would think that the PQ would be comparable. I suggest you ask the question there, since some of those people may have moved from Satellite to IPTV.

http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=114549
 
During the recent Bell TV presentation at the CRTC hearings the company indicated it had no immediate plans to change to MPEG 4 for several years despite the availability of new receivers. One of the reasons given was the cost of replacing older receivers to its subscribers and they were awaiting the changes coming in 2011 when the pick and pay process will be introduced in the industry.
 
Leno and Letterman in HD would not be subbed with A-Channel as there is no A-Channel HD on Bell. They are the regular NBC and CBS feed, to which both NBC and CBS have looked quite soft lately. If you want a good comparison of how different the PQ is, WWE in HD is a good pick. The shows on thescore are way softer then the ppv's. At least Bell gives a little higher bitrate for the ppv's seeing as how you have to pay an extra $50 to get them. If they had the same horrible quality, I would never get one, and I only get 4 a year.

I have watched shows in HD on Bell in the last week and switched to the SD channel and other then the HD channel being more colorful, there was hardly any difference in pq. That's just sad really.
 
There are a huge number of issues that play into the comparison. It would be difficult to do a direct comparison without knowing:

1. What were the settings of the BTV STB? 1080i, 720P, 480P? (yes, lots of people I've done optimizations for have the STB in the default 480P)
2. What were the settings of the Videotron STB - 1080i, 720P, passthrough?
3. What was the make/model of the STB for V/BTV?
4. What type of connection was used? HDMI, CV, other?
5. Was the input for the TV properly optimized?
6. What was the make/model of the TV.
7. Etc. Etc.


See the following post, useful for those new to the forum:

http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=57741
 
I think by the time they add channels that will make the PQ look as bad as it does right now after 8PSK switch, Nimiq 5 should be in the air and fuctionial
 
I definitly noticed the Fox East/Global HD signals last week on the Simpsons. The opening of the Simpsons started early on Fox East, so I saw the Fox HD feed, which had noise on some of those background lines/flicker in them, then the Global HD feed kicked in after and I saw the opening again, none of the issues that were easily noticable on the Fox feed. I didn't even try this week, watched Global HD and the quality did look really good.

I find the quality on TSNHD to be good, but there are those little compression/macroblocking on any type of movement, and the noise on the scorebar is really annoying, and before I hear maybe it's the tv, the same football game replayed on TSN2HD looks way better, no noise and better picture. Maybe it's the fact of having a Pioneer 60" Kuro that is showing all the detail of the image, including the bad detail. The NFL games on Sunday afternoon looked bad on all channles. I remember the day of 1080i CBS NFL games, truly amazing quality, not anymore.
 
If bell HD TV gets any softer they will melt. The SD picture from the free preview of 630 Movie time is better than the HD. :(
If it does not get better by April 1 it is not wort the discount to stick with them.
At one time Bell was better, not now. Rogers is way better HD, anyone that seen both lately can attest to that.
 
I've also been put off by the PQ of CBC HD for hockey. The Leafs/Sens game last weekend looked like SD just as it did the Saturday before. The Habs/Bruins game last night was more of the same. I'd be interested to see if the FTA guys are getting the same crappy feed.

On the other hand the TSN broadcasts I've seen so far are much better.
 
so i finally had some time tonight to look around and really check things out...

im in a condo with a shared dish, so the tech installed some sort of signal booster box, and for some reason ran a vhf out of it to the coax antenna in on my tv...i removed that, still crap. i then removed the signal booster box and got nothing strong enough to pull in...reset the receiver and tried using component out as opposed to hdmi...still crap...tried replacing the wack hdmi-dvi-dvi-hdmi cable the installer left...still crap

all told id say that bell tv is just feces and i guess im cancelling monday...i guess the true test will be in 30 mins when i check leno and letterman but im not holding my breath.
 
I do know that anything can be remastered into high def, you are right on that. Even the Wizard of Oz is on BluRay, something I've considered buying. However, I am going based on Turners reputation with their HD services. TBSHD and TNTHD are mostly just SD programs stretched, so why would TCM be any different. Even if there is an HD copy available, Turner would probably just air a stretched version and try to pass it off as HD.
 
It seems that Bell is always of poorer quality. I saw on Marketplace a while back that when 5 high-speed internet companys were tested by all downloading a large file starting at the same time, Bell was dead last by about double the time of the next slowest. Now Bell's HD picture quality seems to be poorer than the other providers. Is it just that Bell wants the customer's money and doesn't care about the quality of the product or are they technologically inferior?
 
is your sat signal split with the rest of the condo residents? it could be the signal is split so much that the quality has been lost
 
I really do not understand this at all. I have 4 HD TV's and this would not be true on any of them, even a little 19" TV. I will say that the picture quality on some of the networks is not up to standards, but most of the channels have very good quality (TSN, Discovery, Oasis, HDNet, etc.). The picture quality of channel 630 is very good for SD, but nowhere near the PQ of the HD channels.

Am I missing something here?
 
Any movie shot on 35mm film can be transferred to HD. Infact, you can argue that 35mm is vastly superior to HD, closer to 4k. Obviously you have to consider colour space and resolution, but don't think for a minute you can't get a classic in what we would consider true HD.

I agree with you on the point of AMCHD, they often take a 480p 4:3 image and stretch it, it's unwatchable. Bell has contacted AMC about this but they won't listen. BDUs do monitor their channels HD content. Channels are required to meet contractual obligations regarding HD content.
 
Looking at Bell online(bundles, TV) and they only state they have the most HD not the best. They only claim their HD is better than regular cable. For once I agree, but not about the most HD part. Although last night Pearl Harbour was the best I've seen that channel. Came back to earth today by trying to watch a game .
 
markb, you may be right but I'd be interested in hearing from anyone out there who has seen TCM HD. Their classic movie service doesn't operate like other parts of the Turner. When I had their SD service with Rogers I was extremely impressed with the care and respect (no cuts, correct aspect ratios, good sound, SD PQ) they showed their films. In contrast AMC did just about everything wrong including interrupting movies for very dumb self-promotion features. However to some extent we're both speculating. Hopefully someone can tell us the actual situation with TCM HD today.
 
I think the only thing missing is the comparison to Rogers. I'm getting Compression artifacts on more and more Bell HD Channels to the point that it will be hard to stay with Bell if its not fixed in April, even at a discount. When I first came to Expressvu there was no comparison it was way better than Rogers. This most HD war is killing them.
 
I guess that is what confuses me ... I don't experience this at all. Very strange. I am not doubting what you are saying, but I don't know why some experience it and some don't.
 
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