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HD enthusiasts crying foul over cable TV's crunched signals
Associated Press ^ | April 21, 2008 | CHRIS WILLIAMS,

Posted on 04/21/2008 8:09:46 PM PDT by george76

As cable TV companies pack ever more HD channels into limited bandwidth, some owners of pricey plasma, projector and LCD TVs are complaining that they're not getting the high-def quality they paid for. They blame the increased signal compression being used to squeeze three digital HD signals into the bandwidth of one analog station.

The problem is viewers want more HD channels at a time when many cable and satellite providers are at the limits of their capacity...

"They have to figure out a way to deliver more HD content through their distribution networks," ...

Compressing the signal is cheaper than costly infrastructure upgrades to increase capacity. Satellite TV providers ... also have the option of launching satellites to boost the number of HD channels on their systems.

While information is nearly always lost when signals are compressed and then uncompressed, the process can theoretically be made unnoticeable to eyes and ears — and Comcast says it should be.

But some viewers say they can see it. Willcox said complaints about compression have been showing up on Web forums, including the AV Science Forum

Philadelphia-based Comcast wouldn't identify specific signals that are 3-to-1 compressed...

And there are other reasons a high-definition picture can appear subpar...

(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...


TOPICS: Miscellaneous
KEYWORDS: comcast; hd; signalcompression
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1 posted on 04/21/2008 8:09:48 PM PDT by george76
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To: Las Vegas Dave; SunkenCiv

2 posted on 04/21/2008 8:10:35 PM PDT by george76 (Ward Churchill : Fake Indian, Fake Scholarship, and Fake Art)
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To: george76

I’ve noticed that DVD manufacturing quality is often a little iffy. Haven’t tried BluRay yet. What mystifies me is how anyone in the video industry can express surprise and indignation over piracy.


3 posted on 04/21/2008 8:14:21 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/_____________________Profile updated Saturday, March 29, 2008)
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To: george76

Well, at least the cable companies are getting top dollar for ripping people off, and sticking it to the old folks, too...


4 posted on 04/21/2008 8:14:30 PM PDT by an amused spectator (Spitzer would have used the Mann Act against an enemy in a New York minute.)
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To: george76
As cable TV companies pack ever more HD channels into limited bandwidth

Time to get more bandwidth, then. Fiber, anyone?
5 posted on 04/21/2008 8:16:20 PM PDT by Terpfen (Romney's loss in Florida is STILL a catastrophe. Hello, McCandidate!)
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To: SunkenCiv
You can get a terabyte drive for $200.

1000 Gb / 4 Gb = 250

:-)

6 posted on 04/21/2008 8:17:19 PM PDT by an amused spectator (Spitzer would have used the Mann Act against an enemy in a New York minute.)
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To: george76

I had HD cable on in my house for 5 minutes before I called the cable company to come get their crap and credit my account.


7 posted on 04/21/2008 8:20:15 PM PDT by Psycho_Bunny
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To: Psycho_Bunny

Sure you even got to tune into the HD channels in that amount of time? For my cable, the HD channels sure aren’t any Blu-ray, but they’re insanely better than SD junk.


8 posted on 04/21/2008 8:30:34 PM PDT by MartinStyles
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To: george76
Philadelphia-based Comcast wouldn't identify specific signals that are 3-to-1 compressed...

Bring me the spectrum analyzer.

9 posted on 04/21/2008 8:32:26 PM PDT by HAL9000 ("No one made you run for president, girl"- Bill Clinton)
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To: george76

Cable gets away with it because the satellite companies do it too, and on some HD channels, do it to an even greater level. There are a number of HD channels on satellite that look no better than a full-quality standard definition digital cable channel.


10 posted on 04/21/2008 8:33:17 PM PDT by July 4th
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To: an amused spectator

Clueless much?


11 posted on 04/21/2008 8:36:49 PM PDT by BreezyDog
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To: July 4th

Oftentimes because channels like TNT HD do stupid stuff like take standard def shows and stretch them to fill the screen, and that’s it. Looks like total crap.

Cable is going to be moving to something called Switched Digital Video late 08 and 09.. This will basically make all channels on demand. It will increase the channels and quality a lot.

The downside is that my Tivo S3 will need an adapter to work with that, and who knows when or if that’ll be done. Supposedly they are working on it.


12 posted on 04/21/2008 8:36:55 PM PDT by MartinStyles
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To: MartinStyles

bleh. TV is so 2002, dvd box sets and high spped internt is king.


13 posted on 04/21/2008 8:42:03 PM PDT by utherdoul
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To: utherdoul

And DVD is so 1996.. Gimme Blu-ray only now.


14 posted on 04/21/2008 8:43:04 PM PDT by MartinStyles
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To: utherdoul

high speed internet*. I really need to get a new keyboard.


15 posted on 04/21/2008 8:43:46 PM PDT by utherdoul
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To: george76

I can see it, it's right there, no, there, now there
16 posted on 04/21/2008 8:45:49 PM PDT by MaxMax (It's not the politics I despise, It's the politicians for being so stupid..)
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To: July 4th

It is considered HD if it pushing more than 11 Meg....45 being the top end. That would be Mbps. Certain channels have contracts that specify no less than X amount of bandwidth given any broadcast. Namely Discovery HD which mandates X amount in order to fulfill contractural obligations signed by Comcast and the content provider. All in order to keep the picture stunning.


17 posted on 04/21/2008 8:47:49 PM PDT by BreezyDog
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To: george76
HD enthusiasts crying foul over cable TV's crunched signals

A Difference of Day and Night, if you take a Sony XBR4 LCD connected to a Blueray Player,......
compared to HD TV.
You guess who is the looser.
18 posted on 04/21/2008 8:48:52 PM PDT by modican
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To: MartinStyles
I saw the HD and it was....HD.

My cable company set up their boxes so that every time you change the channel, the bottom left-quarter of the screen was filled with a static ad for BoFlex or Citro-Kleen or some other BS....These ads stayed on the screen for 5 seconds.

My opinion was that if they were charging me a premium to watch their little flip-ads, they were probably going to rip me off through compression.

Told them I'd file an AG complaint if they charged me for any of it. They didn't.

19 posted on 04/21/2008 8:52:11 PM PDT by Psycho_Bunny
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To: george76
Philadelphia-based Comcast wouldn't identify specific signals that are 3-to-1 compressed...not surprising - Comcast is worse than useless - they recently reassigned the analogue signals in our area to new channels and in the process dropped four channels from the lineup - their fees have doubled in four years and they keep reducing the number of channels provided - time to go fulltime satellite......
20 posted on 04/21/2008 8:57:43 PM PDT by Intolerant in NJ
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