Networks vs Voom

[dude2]

On my 51 inch set the voom channels , especially equater are way sharper than the networks.
I find the networks to be sd dvd quality at best.
Do any of the rest of you find this.
Also I have noticed that the bigger the screen the worse a sd picture looks. I imagine magnifying the picture that big is just like enlargeing a photo too large.
I find myself watching mostly hd and staying away from sd as it just looks too ugly.

 

[riffjim4069]

The VOOM channels are only 1280x1080i at present (aka VOOM-Lite, HD-Lite), while my area broadcasters are 1920x1080i or 1280x720p (HD). Given similar source material, the network HD broadcast are superior in picture quality to VOOM. I receive network broadcasters from Washington DC, Richmond and Charlottesville VA, and Baltimore VA...and it is true in each DMA.

 

[jerryez]

I have a 65 inch Toshiba and the SD picture is very acceptable. Maybe you need to look at fine tuning your TV set. It makes a lot of improvement. The only SD that I find unwatchable is football.

 

[bhelms]

I find the voom channels very acceptable, but my "benchmark" is the single HD channel that I can currently receive OTA (PBS) that I assume is 1920 x 1080i. Maybe dude2 is referring to HD LiLs. Since I don't get them yet I can't compare but a lot of folks have complained that HD LiLs aren't up to standard yet. As far as SD, that's a mixed bag for me. Some are better than others in terms of "blockiness", etc. When I tune a poor SD channel that I really "have" to watch, then I watch it in 4x3 since stretched or zoomed only magnifies the problem. Most I find watchable, but like dude2 - I find reasons to watch HD vs. SD as often as possible...!

 

[Jeff_R]

On my 51 inch set the voom channels , especially equater are way sharper than the networks.
I find the networks to be sd dvd quality at best.
Do any of the rest of you find this.

What you might be seeing is the difference between film and video for HD content. The networks run mostly film-based content, converted to HD. Because it's film, you will still see some film grain, and a lot of times the picture will look a little "softer" due to that.

HD Video, OTOH, appears much sharper because there is no film. Nature shows, concerts, live programming, is usually shot with video, so it might appear clearer.

Note, however, the film is actually capable of much higher resolution than HD video is.