Is Comcast really providing high-def tv?

[andy_horton]

With old lines and outdated boxes, is it true HD? In my area, my cable is all digital. No analog. I know the signal is compressed, and my antenna provides a clearer picture and better sound on the locals. I must admit the HD channels look quite good. They are crisp and sharp looking. Just curious.

 

[teachsac]

Yes. In my area pq beats both dish and direct. Locals look just as good as OTA.

S~

 

[teachsac]

Too bad the X1 hardware is a joke.

 

[riffjim4069]

It depends on your area and the capabilities of the cable plant/headend. If you'll recall, Comcast acquired Adelphia and a large number of Mom & Pop cable companies. However, from what's I've seen...they've spent a lot of money over the past 5-10 years upgrading their infrastructures. Years ago, Comcast service was unreliable in my area (frequent Internet and high-band channel outages due to weather changes, etc.) This is largely been resolved. However, years ago their HD looked pristine because there were only two HD channels per QAM256 frequency (although very few HD channels at the time). They later installed Cherry Picker variable bit-rate encoders and jammed 3-HD feeds per QAM...and it looked okay. I don't know what they're using, but it look pretty good...but certainly not as good as FiOS or OTA. Again, your mileage may vary.

 

[raoul5788]

My Mom lives in Ft Lauderdale with Comcast. Her hd is very good, on a par with Directv.

 

[andy_horton]

Thank you all for the input. My HD looks really good, like I said. I agree it is on par with directv in my area and it surpasses dish as I have had cable, dish and directv. Very few outages or problems. When it goes out it does tend to stay out for awhile but that is few and far in between. I had X1 for about a month and while it is getting better, there are still a lot of bugs and even reps I have talked with at Comcast admit it was rushed. Great concept, however. It is very interactive. If you can stand the bugs, go for X1. If not, just keep what you have with Comcast. I have thought about cord cutting, but can't bring myself to do it. I find myself watching a lot of local programming but also a lot of national cable programming, too. I must admit I am a cable junkie.

 

[dishfan82]

I'm thinking about getting x1, is it good for the most part?


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[andy_horton]

I'm thinking about getting x1, is it good for the most part?

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It is pretty good. It is becoming more interactive over time. Much improved over the standard boxes. Still a little buggy. If you are recording something around 2am it reboot everyday. No way to change the time for that except to stay up and tell the box when it asks you don't want to reboot right then which defeats the purpose of DVRing in the first place unless you are a night owl. Pretty good overall