Comcast degrades HD signals

[jansan]

Comcast, Direct, and Dish over saving bandwidth

Comcast, others degrade HD video quality to pack in more channels : Christopher Null : Yahoo! Tech

 

[Meathead]

Yep, I've noticed the drop in quality on some of my Comcast HD channels. Apparently they're not doing the same extra compression on HD locals though because those look as good as they always have.

While I appreciate that they are trying to beef up their HD channel numbers, I have to say that it's put me on the fence with the change in video quality.

 

[Joe K]

I have a roof antenna and Comcast HD. The OTA pictures are slightly superior to cable, but overall I have been satisfied with the Comcast HD picture. My only problem is with the instability and irregularity of OnDemand. Sometimes it will come in, sometimes not. If I unplug the box and replug it, OnDemand will come on, but all the regular program guide information is gone, until the system has time to reload it. Not very convenient or user friendly!

 

[jayn_j]

I've been living with the new HD channels for a few weeks now.

I really notice the compression lately, but only on some channels. As most of us know, the compression can be seen in two ways. The first is a loss of resolution. I am seeing that across the board as a noticable softening of detail. Leno and Letterman are noticasbly softer lately where they used to be almost painfully sharp.

The bigger problem for me is loss of motion bandwidth. Stuff is reasonably sharp when standing still, but goes soft when moving. This bandwidth seems to be applied unevenly across the channels. The sports channels are pretty good, as is broadcast. Some of the lifestyle stations are horrible. I have noticed on Food Network that even when the chef reaches across the table to pick up some item, it is accompianied by a full second of macro blocking. Sorry, but macroblocking is never acceptable, and it is happening so regularly on Food, HGTV, and others that this is a concious decision and not a transient or something that was overlooked.

This could be the killer issue for me unless they get a handle on it soon.

 

[Smith P.]

Comcast, Direct, and Dish over saving bandwidth

Comcast, others degrade HD video quality to pack in more channels : Christopher Null : Yahoo! Tech

Well, old news - check past threads dedicated to HD-Lite.

 

[jayn_j]

Well, old news - check past threads dedicated to HD-Lite.

Not Jansan's fault. I revived an old thread rather than spin a new one to comment on how Comcast was dealing with the new and improved HD offerings. Frankly, if I had spun off a new thread, somebody would have pointed me back to this one and complained that I didn't bother to read the forum first. Everybody is SO touchy these days