Missing the Masters

[tvropro]

We have a free HBO/Max preview weekend on DirecTv. After watching the poor SD picture quality for a while it's really a shame we can't get the G1 master feed's anymore, that picture was outstanding. I really don't know how these pizza provides get away with selling the picture quality they do? Are people blind or stupid. Now I know why people think HD lite is so good. Since thats the only way you can come close to what us c banders were use too. If they sent a good SD signal they wouldn't even need HD lite since it would be so close. These pizza providers should abandon all SD and only broadcast HD lite and sell it as widescreen SD.

 

[Asket]

Last time I saw Direct it was pretty tough. Guy went back to cable. H2H looks sort of washed out compared to Dish for the same service HGTV. Both pictures are quite acceptable
but different. Noticed on the New York feed on Dish AAD the pictures were unusually clear. Asked the TV for resolution info and it indicated 1080i. Next day it wasn't. Something is going on.
I usually use the zoom functions on the TV or receiver to eliminate some pop ups and logos so I probably don't see the best resolution but prefer to get rid of some of the screen clutter that the troglodytes
seem to love putting up.

 

[highskies]

These pizza providers should abandon all SD and only broadcast HD lite and sell it as widescreen SD.

Wouldn't that present a major problem tho? Doesn't Dish now offer free HD for life or something like that? I wonder how they would honor that if all the SD feeds went south?

 

[Asket]

Wouldn't that present a major problem tho? Doesn't Dish now offer free HD for life or something like that? I wonder how they would honor that if all the SD feeds went south?

Should not be a problem because then HD would be the new standard. Direct & Dish both plan on that the only problem is that many program sources are done in a very poor quality video so upconverting it still gives you a lousy picture. That shows regardless of the method of delivery.

 

[tvropro]

Most SD master sources I see look very good unless it's some back alley channel.. Transmitting it in HD lite would allow it to look much better. Lets face it, HD lite is a sucker come-on to overcome the piss poor SD they provide and a way to make additional revenue. Just like approx $70.00 a month for programming with high tier channels plus more for DVR fees. It's a rip off for what in reality the costs are. But hell it's the American way. Find something people want or need and a take em for all you can as long as you can get it. Look at gas and food prices lately. The only difference between that and tv is you can live without pay tv easier than gas & food.

 

[highskies]

Should not be a problem because then HD would be the new standard. Direct & Dish both plan on that the only problem is that many program sources are done in a very poor quality video so upconverting it still gives you a lousy picture. That shows regardless of the method of delivery.

I understand what you're saying, but perhaps my point was missed. Let's say you signed up with Dish and was promised HD free for life. IMO life is a long time..almost like forever or something. Now let's say all the SD signals are done away with and all that remains are HD channels. If HD was supposed to be free for life, then how can Dish technically make anybody pay for programming now, since HD is supposed to be free for life, and now it's the only thing remaining? It would seem to me that they could never do away with SD chs, because it the purchasing of these SD chs that allow them to offer HD free for life. I would think a lot of lawsuits could be filed if folks had to start paying for HD when it was supposed to be free for life.

 

[Anony55]

I see your point. But "Free HD for Life" just means "Free HD versions of channels that you're already paying for", that is, if there is an HD version of it. I doubt the pizza providers would have much trouble with making sure people understood, lol.

BTW, I paid $99 for my "Free HD for Life",

IMHO, HD-lite looks about like what a decent SD picture should look like. They just had to dumb us down for several years so that we would think HD-lite was a good thing.

I can remember SD analog sports feeds on the old SBS-6 that would lay HD-lite to shame. They just had to give us little time to forget what that looked like before delivering HD-lite. Years of 10 or more mpeg2 channels per TP has prepped us well for HD-lite.

Cheers

 

[tvropro]

IMHO, HD-lite looks about like what a decent SD picture should look like. They just had to dumb us down for several years so that we would think HD-lite was a good thing.

I've been saying this for years but the lite advocates say no I'm wrong, SD can never be as good as HD. Maybe these so called advocates should see some of the old analog SD we got.

By having a bud we can see what SD is suppose to look like, most never see that. NPS really tried to prep us for crap vision on Dishnet with there G3 travesty's.

 

[trinidex]

I've been saying this for years but the lite advocates say no I'm wrong, SD can never be as good as HD. Maybe these so called advocates should see some of the old analog SD we got.

By having a bud we can see what SD is suppose to look like, most never see that. NPS really tried to prep us for crap vision on Dishnet with there G3 travesty's.

This topic goes around and around and around....

Some points to consider:
1) Where do pizza get their sources? (BigDish)
2) Pizza SD and HD are compressed
3) Masters are uncompressed
4) YES! Americans have been conned by pizza, their SD quality is so poor, HD looks amazing compared to it and they sucker their customers in
5) Alternatives are difficult, for those who "must have" specific channels the only real alternative is cable, which IMO is swapping one evil for another

 

[highskies]

IMHO, HD-lite looks about like what a decent SD picture should look like.

I used to go to Sears a few years back looking for a new tv. They usually had pizza sourced Discovery HD playing on most sets. I honestly didn't notice a thing wrong with the pic. I didn't notice it looking much different than the master feed I had on C-Band via the HD200. Can't speak for other HD chs tho. I still won't have pizza again tho.

I can remember SD analog sports feeds on the old SBS-6 that would lay HD-lite to shame.

I remember those as well, even tho I'm not a sports fan. They were killer just like you said.

 

[tdti1]

Actually the distro feeds are compressed as is any digital feed up on sat.

This topic goes around and around and around....

Some points to consider:
1) Where do pizza get their sources? (BigDish)
2) Pizza SD and HD are compressed
3) Masters are uncompressed
4) YES! Americans have been conned by pizza, their SD quality is so poor, HD looks amazing compared to it and they sucker their customers in
5) Alternatives are difficult, for those who "must have" specific channels the only real alternative is cable, which IMO is swapping one evil for another

 

[Anony55]

Pizza doesn't under perform because of the small dish size (picQ-wise). It under performs because of $$$, and that's why it will always be that way. The temptation to squeeeeze more & more channels onto a single TP is too great to financially ignore.

If I had my way, each TP would have half as many channels... and look more than twice as good. All you have to do is decide which channels are no longer needed, and then do away with them.

And with only 14 million different opinions (each voting with their wallets), I'm sure it would be easy to determine which channels to dump. <--- Sarcasm intended.

I just can't see the pizza guys ever doing it any different. Even if someone invented mpeg-8, and it took up one fifth the space at the same quality... they'd just put 50 to 60 channels per TP. But hey, that ole single LNB dish might still have some life in 'er.

Cheers

 

[tvropro]

Actually the distro feeds are compressed as is any digital feed up on sat.

The distro's may be compressed but not the point pizza does, they know where to stop. DC-2 also uses full resolution 640x 480 not 480x480. Pizza don't use full resolution anyplace. Wonder why H2H looks better than pizza SD. Maybe because of the 640x480 resolution and the amount of channels in a mux less than pizza.

Dish Network totally destroys SD with 14+ channels per mux and downrezes. Now they do the same with HD lite pushing I believe 8 channels in a mux. Where will it all stop? It wont till HD lite looks like SD does

 

[NotTy]

No use dwelling on what once was but to push forward with what is. I had a BUD for 19 years & never had cable or pizza since my first subscription to BUD. But those days are over & are never coming back.I still haven't fallen victim to pizza or cable but I also don't have any local stations either. OTA doesn't work very good where I'm at either. Especially since they improved the signal by converting analog to digital. ( Went from 9 locals to 1 ) Too many mountains. So what do I do? I miss USA, Spike, TBS & HBO. H2H ain't going to carry those. Should I hold out & pray they will? What's the point. On a long stretch of sandy beach, BUD users are just a 1/8 cup of that sand. The BUD system was the best, & if the DCII was still up & running, it still would be. But it never was very family friendly. The pizza dish has a lot more to offer families, like simplicity, multiroom layout & easy to use PVR systems. I mean, your 5 year old KID could care less about picture quality & the wife will be happy if you just tell her it's HD. Let's face it, raising a family with a BUD was a lot more difficult than with a simple pizza. Just my thoughts. I don't plan on getting a pizza dish any time soon, or cable for that matter, but come on dudes, OMG, get on with life. Stop being so bitter. Holy Cow. BUD IS DEAD!!! DEAD DEAD DEAD! Oh wait......maybe not quite. I was thinking of making a remote controlled UFO out of my BUD. With flashing lights & all.

 

[tvropro]

My Bud is not dead, it is alive and well. It's a satellite hobbyists dream Pizza is nothing but cable on a stick what can you get for free on a pizza dish?

 

[tdti1]

NotTy 4dtv is pretty much dead, low pic quality and high prices, basically a big pizza dish but if you are not a big HD fan and want certain channels only then it's not bad, dead no, limited very (missing the channels you mentioned plus many others). I do have a sub on my 4d, it compliments my Netflix and dvb well.

Now if you like HD or SD for that matter, and you have a c/ku-band dish, I hope you have a dvb receiver, so much is up there it's unreal. Enjoy it while you can if you are not already doing so, C-band is kicking it big time on dvb.

 

[richyrich]

If tv is dead

No use dwelling on what once was but to push forward with what is. I had a BUD for 19 years & never had cable or pizza since my first subscription to BUD. But those days are over & are never coming back.I still haven't fallen victim to pizza or cable but I also don't have any local stations either. OTA doesn't work very good where I'm at either. Especially since they improved the signal by converting analog to digital. ( Went from 9 locals to 1 ) Too many mountains. So what do I do? I miss USA, Spike, TBS & HBO. H2H ain't going to carry those. Should I hold out & pray they will? What's the point. On a long stretch of sandy beach, BUD users are just a 1/8 cup of that sand. The BUD system was the best, & if the DCII was still up & running, it still would be. But it never was very family friendly. The pizza dish has a lot more to offer families, like simplicity, multiroom layout & easy to use PVR systems. I mean, your 5 year old KID could care less about picture quality & the wife will be happy if you just tell her it's HD. Let's face it, raising a family with a BUD was a lot more difficult than with a simple pizza. Just my thoughts. I don't plan on getting a pizza dish any time soon, or cable for that matter, but come on dudes, OMG, get on with life. Stop being so bitter. Holy Cow. BUD IS DEAD!!! DEAD DEAD DEAD! Oh wait......maybe not quite. I was thinking of making a remote controlled UFO out of my BUD. With flashing lights & all.

What about my new invention; "3billionx4billion" pixel picture? It's better than all program delivery companies, and none can carry such is "my loaded gun"?

What is DVD quality today, only found on a DVD? Demand for products are driven by promises and delivery substances, like all the dish and directv patent infringements, lies, cheapppppppppppppness, and when we tape them; they'll be out of business in 10 to 20 years; gone with such is your kind of "wind" just like Dorothy and her dog.

Who is going to deliver true 4D from a 4D TV? C Band, because; nobody has a "missing link" to another's future "highest quality" option for the consumer; then the Consumer demands bigger dishes, just like directv and dish have done. The future is bigger, better, more inovative designs for the consumer. Taking from somebodies credit rating to allow tv reception is not what is going to happen, it is what they have done by low down dirty shamefullness, lying about picture quality. The only way to make a higher quality picture is to dump them "all" pizza dishes, and delve in "Science". That way the general of public will be by consumer demanding better, not less than...Bigger is better, why do you think all program providers have bigger ideal's? More money is better?! Thinking bigger is better, because in a better system, more that is true will prevail, sometimes later than sooner.

More is better today, it is where the consumer has gone; online with high-speed. Look at Netflicker; they have "absolute power" by selection of download size (quality), and that train is moving fast towards "better"; because everybody knows, a dvd has the highest quality rating on the planet..........just like cable has the "better" speed. now move to the country (farther you go, more wild it is), pizza has taken over cable there.....

But why? Download speeds!

Who has the highest bandwidth live tv "delivery system"? Your local channels!!! Their pictures do not suffer from anything but a camera's "influentials"; and such is a camera is their scene. Not to mention, program quality, advertising breadth and cost, where big is the biggest, most, and writing does not turn coffee into toast.......

May the force be with you, it really does matter which you choose, and what you do; because one is dark, another is true live bandwidth; live feeds everywhere, but not a drop to drink...

 

[truckracer]

i use a winegard 9095 P for local channels! pic quality is fabulous! not to mention cable and pizza do not carry all the locals here! there are 20 channels.

 

[NotTy]

I've seen the picture quality on Direct and it sucks. It doesn't look too bad on a crt, but the bigger the tv, the more you see flaws. I have looked into pizza & both companies want a huge deposit ( bad credit ) my ss number, and a two year contract at like 49 bucks the first year, I think 62 the second year then like 74 the third year. That price didn't include all the little hidden fees & all the little taxes either. I was paying like 29 bucks with 4Dtv prior to 2011. 29 bucks, plain & simple. Plus, I could easily let my subscription slide a few months if work was slow with no consequences. Pizza will punish you if you don't have a subscription. Plus, I could call SRL & order a 6 month subscription with no money down, & at times, even told them I will not be able to send them a check for about 3 weeks & they said that was OK....Pizza would never do that...... not in a million years.......Hooray to SRL & SkyVision. Plus, everyone I know that has pizza has had some kind of problem with their set ups. With 4Dtv, I haven't had a single problem in years until Jan 4th, 2011. I do still use my BUD with the OpenBox & the 922 as the dish mover. Rain fade is persistent here in western Washington & happens several times a day, as reported by my neighbors. I've never experienced rain fade. So perhaps I should retract what I said about the BUD is dead & say instead that the true 4Dtv is dead. It's like 1Dtv now.
And I also almost had 2 new subscribers to H2H using the 410 & a fixed 6 footer, but the lack of local channels & the hard to find 410's killed the deal.
Instead of dreaming about what once was, dream instead about what it could be. Dream of a receiver that not only receives H2H but also receives FTA & all the formats available, OTA, & the ability to move the dish. And because these receivers get so hot, have a fragrance slot for the wife to place fragrance packets into, & night light for the kids, & even an emergency light built in in case of power failure. Maybe an am/fm radio.

 

[gardo403]

And because these receivers get so hot, have a fragrance slot for the wife to place fragrance packets into,[/I] & night light for the kids, & even an emergency light built in in case of power failure. Maybe an am/fm radio.

Ha ah ha ,,, thats funny!!! My wife would love that!!!!!