Technical question: Is BEV 1080i or 720p?

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Hey guys, a bit of a technical question and I don't know how many of you can answer this BUT, do any of you know whether Movie Central HD on Bell is 10880i or 720p?

I am interested in picking up a 169time or NextCom mod'd stb but am really enjoying MCHD on Shaw in 1080i and have heard "rumors" that MCHD is only 720p on Bell.

Thanks in advance for anyone who can help!
 
It's been discussed, but it's been a while. This is because the original 480i signal has been upconverted by the affiliate to 720P or 1080i and the black bars are also part of the image. What you are seeing is simply a "less clear" HD signal, that requires the same bitrate as "true HD".
 
Those numbers are simply a flag in the bit stream that refer to the encoding rate of the original material. Upconverted SD material is typically reported as 16mb/s and HD at 65 mb/s but they often vary. That bears little resemblance to the bit rate that is actually broadcast since the material is processed by the original broadcaster (not EV) to fit into a standard digital broadcast stream.

If anyone can provide proof that EV is reducing the bit rate of HD broadcasts, it needs to be reported to the CTRC. This is against CRTC guidelines and could be corrected with a complaint. If the broadcaster is reducing the bit rate or EV is simply compressing the signal, little can be done.
 
Question. Has anyone ever received an accurate response from a BEV CSR? ;) This question is rhetorical.
 
This has been discussed several times on this forum, however, Bell is unwilling to provide a definitive answer, or they have given different answers to different people, so no-one can be sure.

See the Digital Home FAQ on "HDTV Formats".

http://digitalhomecanada.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=30

I don't believe there would be a major difference since I've seen the difference between identical programming on PBS Spokane and Detroit (a while ago when both were still available on Rogers). Detroit was 720P, Spokane was 1080i)
 
the new HDNet channel is broadcast 24/7 in 1080i (according to the press release).
 
I can't provide the bandwidth information unfortunately. Here are the confirmed screen resolutions for most of the channel lineup.

Name | Channel | Audio | Resolution
VuFHD: 156, AC-3(1), 1280x720p
VuFH1: 157,
NHLH1: 424, AC-3(1), Varies
NHLH2: 425, AC-3(1), Varies
NFLH1: 465,
NFLH2: 466,
NFLH3: 467,
NFLH4: 468,
NFLH5: 469,
CBSHE1: 471, AC-3(1), 1920x1080i
CBSHW1: 472, AC-3(1), 1920x1080i
FOXHE1: 473, AC-3(1), 1280x720p
FOXHW1: 474,
CTVHE: 800,
GLBHE: 801, AC-3(1), 1280x720p
CBCHE: 802, AC-3(1), 1280x720p
CTYHE: 803,
CTVHW: 806, No info, 1280x720p
TRESR: 809, AC-3(1), 1280x720p
OASIS: 810, AC-3(1), 1280x720p
RUSH: 811, No info, 1280x720p
EQATR: 812, No info, 1280x720p
A&EHD: 813, No info, 1280x720p
HDNET: 814, AC-3(1), 1920x1080i
NBCHE: 815, AC-3, 1920x1080i
ABCHE: 816, AC-3(1), 1280x720p
CBSHE: 817, AC-3(1), 1920x1080i
FOXHE: 818, AC-3(1), 1280x720p
PBSHE: 819, AC-3(1), 1920x1080i
NBCHW: 820, AC-3, 1920x1080i
ABCHW: 821, AC-3(1), 1280x720p
CBSHW: 822, AC-3(1), 1920x1080i
FOXHW: 823,
PBSHW: 824, AC-3(1), 1920x1080i
WGNHD: 825, AC-3(1), 1920x1080i
VUHD: 829, AC-3(1), 1280x720p
VuHD1: 830, AC-3(1), 1280x720p
VuHD2: 831, AC-3(1), 1280x720p
VuHD3: 832, AC-3, 1280x720p
VuHD4: 833, AC-3, 1280x720p
MPXHD: 839,
M-HD: 840, No info, 1280x720p
MCHD1: 841, No info, 1280x720p
MCHD2: 842,
LFSHD: 848, DATA
RAPHD: 849, AC-3(1), 1280x720p
TSNHD: 850,
SN-HD: 851, No info, 1280x720p
DISHD: 853, No info, 1280x720p
SRCHE: 860, AC-3, 1920x1080i
NHLH1*: 866, AC-3(1), Varies
NHLH2*: 867, AC-3(1), Varies
NFLH1*: 870, DATA
NFLH2*: 871, DATA
NFLH3*: 872, DATA
NFLH4*: 873, DATA
NFLH5*: 874, DATA
CBSHE2: 876, AC-3(1), 1920x1080i
CBSHW2: 877, AC-3(1), 1920x1080i
FOXHE2: 878, AC-3(1), 1280x720p
FOXHW2: 879,
BTVHD: 897, AC-3(1), No stream yet
 
And in fairness to the CSR's, they are simply relaying information given to them.

Their ignorance is a function of the training they receive from Bev. We should be chastising management for the lousy job they do training their frontline personnel and NOT the CSR.
 
Is this "bitrate" the signal that comes down from the satellite into my 9200? What is the bitrate for an SD channel?
 
Thanks for the reply, too bad no one knows!

It does matter to me somewhat since it is a lot harder to manipulate progressive video since it's 60fps. Plus (without getting into the 1080i vs. 720p debate) I tend to think 1080i looks a bit sharper on my 1080i TV.

Thanks man, I will continue to dig!
 
Can you share how you established that? What movie was in 1080/60i?
The press release was actually very vague about it: it never explicitely stated the BEV does 1080i, only that HDNet does.
Out of 15+ hours of recorded HDNet footage from BEV I've seen, not a single program was in 1080i after the early testing phase.

Diogen.
 
So, what's been determined here? Is BEV 720p? Or 720p and 1080i? I know people who say their tv is reporting 1080i on some channels. Is that just because their STB is set to output 1080i (so, 720p gets converted to 1080i in the STB)?

I checked the FAQ for HDTV Formats. The old Powerpoint presentation seems to be gone.
 
Good luck with your search! I asked Bell directly, and the reply from Bell CSR's via email was that Bell broadcasts the originating native format. However, many members here have posted that Bell does 720p to save bandwidth..so who knows for sure.
 
I would guess that the bitrate for an HD channel is around 15 Mbps, while an SD channel is roughly 3 Mbps. Some channels may have more compression than others. For example, premium channels usually have less compression.

You can usually see the 'ratio' if you record a 2 hour SD programme, vs a 2 hour HD programme and see how much of the HDD is "freed up" as you erase each.
 
Wouldn't be the first time. "Techs" often don't know everything about the systems so why would product managers and CSRs?
 
Except that all the transponders above that appear to total more than 30Mbps include remapped channels, they're not all distinct channels. For example, on transponder 3 above, all 3 channels listed are the same channel. CBS on 817 is simply being remapped to 471 and 876 for the NFL HD games. They are not separate feeds. Same thing on all the other transponders that appear to have more than 2 HD channels - they actually don't.
 
The PP presentation may be gone, but the information is still correct. BEV seem to be using both formats and even changing formats on some channels once in a while. People who have HTPCs have confirmed the formats of some of the channels in some other threads, however, these people have also indicated that the format is "a moving target".

see the following as an example:

http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=54954
 
We DO know for sure that Bell broadcasts MC-HD and TMN-HD in 720p. It has been verified by many people using capturing systems or stream analysys on a PC.
 
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