ESPN Sucks...

[osu1991]

I have yet to see a game on NBC that looked good. ND or NFL it looks terrible whether I use OTA or the DISH feed. ESPN looks good most of the time but I have seen a few clunkers. NBC is not too bad if I am using the 37in lcd in my office, but on the 65in screen it is terrible.

 

[Jimbo]

I think NBC footbal(Sunday Night and ND Games) along with NFL are the subpar. I have seen a few games look poor on ESPN, usually ESPN U or ESPN2. To me CBS has them all beat. The NFL games and SEC game of the week are the best.


So as someone said maybe they have a second tier equipment being used.

CBS has been top notch since the beginning. :up

 

[ripnbigc]

I agree with all here, except the NBC comment regarding the NFL. My PQ with NBC's NFL coverage has been superb, both OTA and satellite. Maybe there is an an issue with your affiliate??

I can't speak to the ND coverage though. The only ND game I've watched in the last few years was the loss to UConn last year...

I agree, my NBC NFL always has the best picture by far.

 

[Jimbo]

Of course you also have to take into account HOW people are getting thier signal for said channel.

IF your getting CBS for example, are you getting it thru D*, a cable company, (Fios and U Verse goes under cable in this case) or OTA.
All will get you a different picture.

Each will be compressed and sent out from the original.

 

[gadgtfreek]

NBC OTA, vs CBS OTA, in 3 markets, has always left NBC looking like they need to improve.

 

[Jimbo]

NBC OTA, vs CBS OTA, in 3 markets, has always left NBC looking like they need to improve.

Sounds about right .... same here.

 

[Islandguy43]

I would say my best pq is coming from cbs, which is putting out 1080i for me atleast. ESPN is 720p and I will have to double check nbc this weekend. I know the ND pq has been ok but nothing great.

 

[Jimbo]

I would say my best pq is coming from cbs, which is putting out 1080i for me atleast. ESPN is 720p and I will have to double check nbc this weekend. I know the ND pq has been ok but nothing great.

CBS has always been 1080i and ESPN has always been 720p, which has little to do with how each looks.

Thats a whole other discussion.

It's been a long time since I looked into it, ABC is 720p, I think Fox is as well, I think NBC is 1081i, though my mind is foggy about it.

 

[Mr Tony]

correct Jimbo

ABC, ESPN & Fox/FSN are 720p
CBS & NBC are 1080i

 

[Jimbo]

correct Jimbo

ABC, ESPN & Fox/FSN are 720p
CBS & NBC are 1080i

Wow, thats pretty good from memory .....
What were we talking about ?

 

[gadgtfreek]

Well, watched two games on the FSS RSN tonight. Freaking blows ESPN away. They really need to work on their game.

 

[Jimbo]

Well, watched two games on the FSS RSN tonight. Freaking blows ESPN away. They really need to work on their game.

Wonder who's cameras they use ?

 

[gadgtfreek]

Good question. The FSS games were real nice. I wonder if it's better cameras or less compression?

 

[Jimbo]

Good question. The FSS games were real nice. I wonder if it's better cameras or less compression?

I'm leaning to the Camera thing, as I have all along ...
If you think about it, ESPN is covering a ton of locations at once, they can't possibly OWN all of them, they more than likely rent them weekly.
Thus having different grades of quality from week to week and event to event.

Now the Pro's could be a different scenario I would think, seeing they HAVE money, you would think that baseball and football may have it set up that the NFL and MLB have thier own cameras, but thats something that may STILL be out of the hands of the Top people and more probably a local issue as well.

For example, if you watch the Reds at home, (mind you its a different network), does it look as good as when they are on the road ? I wonder if they take all thier cameras on the road or if they use what the home team supplies ?

This is an interesting question at least I think so, wonder if theres anyone that knows the answers.

I know the YES network looks the best among MLB, but then they can afford the BEST as well.
I would imagine that the YES network looks as good on the road as they do at home , right ?

Could THEY bring all their own stuff and others not ?

I just don't know ....

Not sure which way it goes with these questions or where to actually look for the answers.

 

[gadgtfreek]

Could be. Only reason I brought up compression, is on the bad feeds, the grass (artifacting) looks just like my local CBS, which has subchannels and is just plain bad. Also, I've yet to see a good game on ESPNU. Granted I only watch maybe one per weekend, but everyone almost looks like upconverted SD, I mean bad.

 

[stogie5150]

As a FTA guy, let me pass something on to you guys. Your problems are NOT coming from the stadiums. Your problems are coming from AFTER they get to network control and have bugs and all the other stuff added and re-uplinked to the Sats that the providers get the channels from.

Now that most of our football feeds are encrypted, I can pass on that in the past, at least to my eyes and my 58" Panny Plasma, that they are ALL were very close in PQ. NBC and CBS are just a SLIGHT bit better than FOX/ESPN, but it isn't much. Only very occasionally have I noticed a bum shot from a particular camera. I have Shaw Direct and if I switched between the FTA feed and the Shaw feed, Shaw was like looking through a screen door. And I think its pretty common knowledge that NBC's processing at various points in the broadcasting chain,frankly, suck. My OTA SNF from New Orleans looks TERRIBLE, the grass is just a blob. The first gen backhaul does NOT have the same problem.

 

[gadgtfreek]

ESPN looks pretty good tonight, but ESPNU doesnt. Seeing the commercials on U, and how it generally looks, Im starting to question whether it is actually HD at all.

 

[vurbano]

PQ on ESPNU tonight is an embarrassment IMO. ESPN must really cutting the bandwidth on some of their channels.

 

[gadgtfreek]

To be honest, every game Ive seen on U this year has looked like this, or worse. This is why I wonder how "HD" it actually is.

 

[Jimbo]

ESPNU, if you recall was always very poor, in relationship to the rest of the ESPN's, that was hopefully going to change when they moved it to the ESPN section of the guide and went HD.

I'm guessing that if you could look at ESPN as a whole to see what amount of signal they are pushing to each station, you would find U is WAY down compared to the rest, but you would think they would at least push it up when games are being shown.