Absolutely. I do switch it for the stations that have the "anomalies". It's amazing how much you miss when not in full dot-by-dot HD size. It also gives the perfect Aspect Ratio of your source.
Out of curiousity, is it only possible to get that full edge to edge (or dot-by-dot) viewing on a 1080p? It looks great on my 1080p Panasonic Plasma, but I haven't seen a view that full on either of my 720p LCDs or on my old 720p DLP.
The term (
dot by dot) is an industry standard as it refers to the exact representation of dots contained in a
1080p screen. It's a video format that has a resolution of
1920 x 1080 pixels. The
p indicates
progressive scanning, which describes how each picture frame is
written in one single scan.
This is different from the
interlaced signal received from
Dish at
1080i. The
i indicates
interlaced scanning. Again, this is represented by
1920 x 1080 pixels, but is based on the principle that the screen
shows every odd line at one scan of the screen and then
all the even lines in a second scan.
There is basically little difference between
progressive and
interlaced formats (
but hardcore enthusiast will say otherwise and they're right).
(
p ) =
presented all at once (1/60 of a second, hence 60 Hz)
(
i ) =
half is presented in the first pass (1/30 of a second), the other
half is presented in the second pass (1/30 of a second)
. They alternate back and forth equalling 60 Hz. Another analogy, 1920 x 540 followed by 1920 x 540 = 1920 x 1080 = 60 Hz.
Does your set have dot by dot mode? It's more than likely based on what your manufacturer determines how you'll view the data presented on the screen. Chances are, if you have a 1080p set, you do. If your set is 1080i, you'll have to look for it as you may or may not have the feature. I have a friend who has a rear projection interlaced HD set and he has no such option.
In the case of
720p, you're actually
down converting from a 1080i signal, but presenting the interlaced signal as a progressive one, so you're also
up converting the interlaced picture into a
progressive picture. So, dot by dot isn't a reality for 720p, unless the signal is presented in 720p, which FOX Sports was presenting. So,
your set may have dot by dot, but it will be relevant only to a 720p signal.
As I mentioned in the original post, there is no reason these anomalies are present as all HD content is contained in the data stream. HBO is working with their vendors to remove such anomalies.
Those of you sighting CC (Closed Captioning) are close in your assumption, yet those would be located at the top of the screen, not the bottom (as mentioned by
hammerdown), and would only be evident in programming that is
analog in nature.
BTW: If you happen to see such anomalies on any
HBO HD network, please let me know and I'll bring it to the direct attention of the engineering staff at HBO.