How does the streaming/onDemand video download work with regards to stream quality

David Taylor

SatelliteGuys Pro
Original poster
Jan 5, 2005
303
8
So recently I've started watching the Sopranos. I use my 622 to watch the episodes. I go to HBO>>The Sopranos and then start downloading all the individual episodes for a particular season and watch them all before going back to download the next season. Basically, I do this because (1) it is easier to do this and then hit DVR>>4>>5 to get to my downloaded episodes rather than have to hunt through all of the HBO shows and episodes and (2) it downloads it (in some form) ahead of time so I never run into buffering.

My question is this: even though I've downloaded the episode ahead of time, oftentimes the first few seconds or minutes (sometimes more) are in SD and the Stream Quality is 1 bar. After watching for a bit it will go up a bar or two and the picture quality will improve. However, I know that the entire episode is downloaded in SD because I can fast forward through an entire episode that has been downloaded. I guess I don't understand why it downloads in SD but then as I watch it changes to HD. Is it streaming it at that point? If so, what was the point of downloading the SD version? I'm just really confused about how this works. If anyone has any insight as to what is really going on, I'd appreciate it. Thanks!

Also, for Hopper owners: is the UI any better for these onDemand shows than on the old DVRs? The 622 UI is incredibly clunky/slow for doing this. It works, but compared to HBOGO on my AppleTV (in the other room), it is not even in the same ballpark.
 
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