Is E* squeezing the bandwidth of the HD channels??

[rgerst]

I have been a dish customer for more than 8 years and I have had the HD pack for the past two years. I know that the HD picture quality was far superior when E* first started broadcasting the HD channels and that the quality has diminished as they have added more channels. However, I was impressed with the picture quality of the mpeg4 channels.

That being said, I have noticed that a lot of the Voom channels as well as HD Theater and HDNet have started to suffer from a lot of motion macro blocking, black swirl and general diminished picture quality. I do not see the same problems with HBO HD or my OTA channels. I am pointed at 129.

Is E* squeezing the bandwidth to make room for the rumored new HD channels?

 

[Jerryinvirginia]

Have noticed some stutter on Equator and the usual up-conversion on Animal Planet, Discovery. Otherwise, looking at 61.5 using a 24" dish, haven't noticed any general softening.

 

[Poke]

Hmm I have not had any issues like that.. I think once more things are moved over to MPEG4 things will be better.

 

[rgerst]

Perhaps I am seeing theses issues because I upgraded my HDTV. I just bought a 50" Panasonic 720P Plasma. It replaced a 42" 720P Panasonic plasma. I am sitting 10-12 feet from the new HDTV.

I am perplexed because I do not see the same issues with HDDVD's, OTA channels or the premium HD movie channels.

 

[Jerryinvirginia]

Viewing a Sony '07- 52XBR-4 at 9' with VIP722 set on 1080i with either component or HDMI don't notice anything that would point to up-link changes. 'Course, I'm not viewing the HD services 24-7. I do notice SD problems, but they are typical. Not all flat screens, LCD or Plasma are created equal. Being where you are, the signal level should be better than adverage using the 1000.2 dish. Can't say much for the 1000. Good for a bird bath....

 

[digiblur]

Perhaps I am seeing theses issues because I upgraded my HDTV. I just bought a 50" Panasonic 720P Plasma. It replaced a 42" 720P Panasonic plasma. I am sitting 10-12 feet from the new HDTV.

I am perplexed because I do not see the same issues with HDDVD's, OTA channels or the premium HD movie channels.

They haven't changed anything in a while. Actually HBO HD is getting the same treatment as HDNET and HDNet Movies on 110. They are still in MPEG2 mode.

 

[DISH_NC]

I am curious to see what will happen to the LiL HD quality when they start carrying them in MPEG4 since they will have to transcode the local carrier's MPEG2 feed into MPEG4 for transmission over Satellite.

If anything, we will see more delay between the OTA local and MPEG4 version....

 

[RockinHARD26]

I found, that with one of the previous 622 updates, dish alters the correct screen size. Under the "normal" screen size setting, about a inch or so of the picture is shaved off from all sides. With Dish doing that, it seems that you are zoomed into the picture and able to see more of the details rather then just the entire picture. When I push menu or DVR on the remote, it shows the correct picture size along with the items. While a few months ago, Dish did not shave off the border area when you view the picture.

 

[osu1991]

I am curious to see what will happen to the LiL HD quality when they start carrying them in MPEG4 since they will have to transcode the local carrier's MPEG2 feed into MPEG4 for transmission over Satellite.

If anything, we will see more delay between the OTA local and MPEG4 version....

The Hd locals are already in mpeg 4.

 

[digiblur]

HD LiLs were some of the first MPEG4 HD on the system.

 

[Jerryinvirginia]

I found, that with one of the previous 622 updates, dish alters the correct screen size. Under the "normal" screen size setting, about a inch or so of the picture is shaved off from all sides. With Dish doing that, it seems that you are zoomed into the picture and able to see more of the details rather then just the entire picture. When I push menu or DVR on the remote, it shows the correct picture size along with the items. While a few months ago, Dish did not shave off the border area when you view the picture.

A great deal of the example that you mention is a result of up-conversion. Try bringing up the info for the program that you are viewing and in a lot of cases the date of production is several years old. I guess that we will be looking at this type of HD for some time to come?

 

[kevink]

I know I was disappointed in the quality a year ago when I first upgraded to HD service. I finally dimmed my TV screen (a LCD 46"), and the perceived picture quality improved. Maybe brightness levels differ between the old and new TVs.

 

[ehren]

HDNET is just friggin HORRIBLE. Try watching an NHL game, it's as bad as it gets, we're talkin old Directv HD-Lite quality if not worse. Someone needs to beat these so called "monitoring picture quality control bozos" upside the head!

 

[whatchel1]

The size increase

Perhaps I am seeing theses issues because I upgraded my HDTV. I just bought a 50" Panasonic 720P Plasma. It replaced a 42" 720P Panasonic plasma. I am sitting 10-12 feet from the new HDTV.

I am perplexed because I do not see the same issues with HDDVD's, OTA channels or the premium HD movie channels.

What you are seeing is probably due to the size increase you have gone to. that 8" diag is showing around 20% larger pict. When going to that size and larger it would be best to go w/ a higher resolution picture display.

 

[MikeD-C05]

Dishquality@echostar.com for all picture/audio complaints.

 

[TazmanianD]

Dishquality@echostar.com for all picture/audio complaints.

Is that the best place to post comments? Others have mentioned quality@dishnetwork.com, but I guess that's not a valid address anymore. I just sent an email through their online customer support site and I got a reply telling me if I have a problem with picture quality to call the 1-800 number. I suspect the email didn't make it beyond the CSRs and I'd like to make another stab at it. If enough people complain, Dish may at least think about increasing the bitrates. If nobody does, then they'll think what they're doing is fine.

I think that FIOS may be available in my area in the not too distant future and I would seriously consider switching to get a better HD picture. I want to mention that in my email so maybe they'll do something about it before I have to decide. I'd encourage the rest of you to voice your concerns too.

And I know that they can do better. I've got some high quality, high bitrate recordings (the Blue Man Group concert) that clocked in at 13Mbps (you can figure this out if you hook up an external hard drive) and it looks great. Then comes along BSG at a miserable 4Mbps. That sucks as does a lot of other "HD" programming.

 

[MikeD-C05]

Look they are putting about 7 hd channels on one transponder using the mpeg 4 compression. THis is making the hd channels a bit softer than before. When comparing both sat services on the comparable hd channels that they both have in common, DIRECTV looks a bit sharper than DISH. DISH is putting more hd channels on one transponder than DIRECTV is and it shows. THis is due to bandwith crunch. THe problem I see is even when they launch the eastern arc , they probably won't return the picture quality, because they see that we are already used to it now. WHy change when you can fit more hd channels in the same amount of bandwith as before?

 

[tempVAdish]

I noticed on Sunday while watching Deadliest Catch on Discovery HD that it looks as though the compression has changed. I noticed what appeared to be "jpeg" artifact on the non moving Dhd logo. Has anyone w/ the right equipment noticed any bitrate changes recently?

 

[Hemi 6.1]

I've noticed its gone downhill as well. The HD PQ is very soft, Microblocking seems more noticeable. Constant little dropouts every 20-30 minutes. Whats going on ?

 

[DallasBill]

I noticed on Sunday while watching Deadliest Catch on Discovery HD that it looks as though the compression has changed. I noticed what appeared to be "jpeg" artifact on the non moving Dhd logo. Has anyone w/ the right equipment noticed any bitrate changes recently?

x2 absolutely,my wife thinks I'm taking it abit too seriously,well heck yeah!:up