HDNet Movies vs. Voom's Cinema Channels

[Conjuror]

Well, I was watching HDNet last night (after a while) which reminded me how good HD picture can be. Since I had nothing better to do, I decided to compare picture from a single movie on HDNet Movie channel with all movies which played at the same time on Voom's cinema channels. Of course, comparison is subjective because different source material was on every channel but in general it is still OK. I used just my eyes as "a tool" but trust me, they are (still ) in a very good shape.

Let's begin:
I rated each movie on a scale 1-10 where 10 is the best. Since I think HDNet Movies is one of the best HD channels available (regarding PQ), I gave pure 10 to "A Big Hand for the Little Lady" movie which was on HDNet list night.

Voom Channel Movie Year Grade
121 Monster "Bug" 1975 6
110 Divine "A Taste of Honney" 1961 2
109 Gunslingers "Hour of the Gun" 1967 6
108 Epics "All Quiet on the Western Front" 1979 6
107 Classics "The Spirrit of ST. Louis" 1957 9
106 HDCinema6 "Two Deaths" 1995 4
105 HDCinema5 "Breach of Contract" 1982 8
104 HDCinema4 "Club Fed" 1991 6
103 HDCinema3 "The Terminator" 1984 7
102 HD World Cin "The New Land" 1972 3
101HDCinema1 "A Little Princes" 1995 10

That's it. In my opinion, just one movie on Voom (A Little Princes) was match to HDNet at that time (12-12:30 last night). In fact, some movies looked so grainy and blurry that, in my opinion, even most OTA SD channels transmmited digitally look better.
The sad part is that HDNet's movie, which I used as a base for pure 10, was taped in 1966!!!

 

[FrankJo]

I disagree.

Most movies on Voom look pretty damn good. I can tell that they use less compression on their movie transmissions than on their HD exclusives. (especially Equator HD)

I rarely, if ever see artifacts on their movie channels. One of the issues they have is that the quality of films that they are showing are not usually very good. The print is everything. If they get a good print, then the transfer will be great in HD (The Terminator).

Actually, there are time when the PQ is good enough that the actual grain from the original film stock is visible, especially on older black and white films. If you can see film grain, that's apretty darn good picture. Don't confuse this film grain with artifacts, though it may at times look somewhat similar.

Now, whether the movies are worth watching is a whole other issue.

I have never seen HDnet, but I can say that from what I see on Vooms' movie channels, thaey seem to focused on getting very good PQ for them. (At least as good as possible)

 

[jnardone]

Dude:
How can you disagree with a comparison when you haven't even seen what he compared VOOM to?

I think the point of his message is that VOOM PQ varies. HDNET movies may also vary but since they only show one movie at a time it is hard to compare.

 

[Conjuror]

Actually, there are time when the PQ is good enough that the actual grain from the original film stock is visible, especially on older black and white films. If you can see film grain, that's apretty darn good picture. Don't confuse this film grain with artifacts, though it may at times look somewhat similar.

What I see is definitelly not the original film grain. Look on the ratings, man. I wouldn't certainly grade them so low if their PQ is the best possible. You can call it artifacts, I can call it grainy picture, don't know, but I do know that the "thing" is some kind of picture noise and it should not be there.

I have never seen HDnet, but I can say that from what I see on Vooms' movie channels, thaey seem to focused on getting very good PQ for them. (At least as good as possible)

Then you don't know how good real HD picture is. Look closer on my first post. I rated "The Terminator" 7, which you mentioned as a "perfect" HD movie. How can a 1966 movie have better PQ than 1984 (The Terminator)?? You are correct that "The Terminator" is one of the best looking movies on Voom but it is not even close to the 1966 movie "A Big Hand for the Little Lady" on HDNet.
You should really watch HDNet Movies and keep switching back and forth to any cinema channel on Voom to see the difference. It is huge.

 

[Conjuror]

By the way, whoever moved this topic to programming forum, please put it back where it was. This topic is not related to programming in any way. It is PQ issue more than anything else.

 

[DarrellP]

I agree with Conjuror, if you have not seen HDNET Movies, you have nothing to compare to. I see very little artifacting on Voom Cinema movies, but that is not the issue, the issue is the lack of bandwidth they are giving each channel, resulting in a softer, more grain ridden picture. Grain itself is not the problem, the lack of bandwidth is what causes the mosquito noise and it is very evident in fine detail on every single Voom channel, but I never see it on HDNET or HDNET movies, they just look a whole lot "cleaner".

Take a sheet of Saran Wrap and place it over what you think is a pristine HD channel, then remove it, that is the difference between viewing HDNET & Voom.

HDNET just aired McKenna's Gold, a 60's era Western and the PQ was nothing short of stunning. I felt as though I was sitting in the theater watching this movie on it's first showing. That's what Home Theater is all about and Voom is not there yet.