Stanley Cup broadcast by NBC excellent picture

dweber

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Jul 29, 2005
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The Stanley Cup broadcast by NBC had an excellent picture. The broadcast was only 1080i but the picture from my Hopper3 to my 65” Sony was very impressive. Some people complain about Dish’s picture quality but the picture was sharp with no artifacts.


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Yeah it did look good. I think the networks use different "better" equipment for prime time sporting events.
 
It’s multi-faceted: if the uplink is good (NBC uses all high bitrate DVB-S2 satellite feeds) AND Dish or your local affiliate rebroadcast that feed at high(er) bitrates, then the outcome is generally better.

Since I’ve gotten into FTA satellite Ku reception, I watch a lot of NBC feeds and yes, the quality is fantastic. It’s really remarkable to watch programming from its original source and compare how much better it can be before it gets recompressed by Dish.
 
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Yeah it did look good. I think the networks use different "better" equipment for prime time sporting events.
Compared to what?

From the network to the affiliate to Dish/OTA to you isn't going to change much. The affiliates might have some stat muxing going on, so there might be some extra bandwidth allotted because of the fast pace, but I don't see that changing much.
 
From the network to the affiliate to Dish/OTA to you isn't going to change much.

It can change a lot. The typical downlink for an NBC feed is 20+ Mbps. My local NBC compresses that to 10.79 Mbps. That's nearly half the original quality. Then, dish takes that feed and further compresses it. Maybe the "average" viewer can't tell the difference, but I bet most of us could.
 
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It can change a lot. The typical downlink for an NBC feed is 20+ Mbps. My local NBC compresses that to 10.79 Mbps. That's nearly half the original quality. Then, dish takes that feed and further compresses it. Maybe the "average" viewer can't tell the difference, but I bet most of us could.
The same is done here. But they're (the local) is compressing it to fit in their sub channels. If you add to the NBC, you have to degrade the subs. So yes, you might (using your numbers) see an increase to 11-12 Mbps, but I wouldn't expect much more than that (because you then bit starve the subs). Maybe Dish upped their bandwidth?

I always watch my locals via OTA (through my Dish receiver), and usually via DVR, so I can't compare it. I even cancelled my locals from Dish to save $$, so I can't compare between the Dish version and the OTA version.
 
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The same is done here. But they're (the local) is compressing it to fit in their sub channels. If you add to the NBC, you have to degrade the subs

That's why I prefer my local CBS (KCTV) picture quality OTA; they are obsessive about high bandwidth and only allow one subchannel (Comet). For awhile, their sister station KSMO had no subchannels and broadcasted at 19 Mbps. A beautiful picture, indeed. Best in the metro.

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That's why I prefer my local CBS (KCTV) picture quality OTA; they are obsessive about high bandwidth and only allow one subchannel (Comet). For awhile, their sister station KSMO had no subchannels and broadcasted at 19 Mbps. A beautiful picture, indeed. Best in the metro.

View attachment 133289

In Columbus, Ohio WCMH (NBC affiliate) has 3 subchannels, METV, ION TV, and Laff TV. I have not seen any difference between the Dish satellite NBC and the OTA NBC. I don’t know how much WCMH degrades their NBC feed to make room for their three subchannels.

I agree that NBC must use high quality recording equipment because the Stanley Cup broadcast was excellent.


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In Columbus, Ohio WCMH (NBC affiliate) has 3 subchannels, METV, ION TV, and Laff TV. I have not seen any difference between the Dish satellite NBC and the OTA NBC. I don’t know how much WCMH degrades their NBC feed to make room for their three subchannels.

I agree that NBC must use high quality recording equipment because the Stanley Cup broadcast was excellent.


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My parents live near Columbus. I was there a couple months ago and took readings, but I've since misplaced them :(
 
Here in Chicago, the quality of the NBC broadcast had decreased considerably since the fall. Right now on the NBC frequency they have two different 1080i channels (NBC on 5-1 and Telemundo on 44-1), plus there are two SD subchannels, Cozi and something else I can't remember. But when there are the swiping images that go from side to side it gets pixelated. I noticed it on both the Stanley Cup Final last night as well as the French Open over the weekend. It definitely wasn't like that for Sunday Night Football earlier in the year. Not sure when it changed, but even the Superbowl here in Chicago looked worst than earlier in the football season.
 
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In Columbus, Ohio WCMH (NBC affiliate) has 3 subchannels, METV, ION TV, and Laff TV. I have not seen any difference between the Dish satellite NBC and the OTA NBC. I don’t know how much WCMH degrades their NBC feed to make room for their three subchannels.

I agree that NBC must use high quality recording equipment because the Stanley Cup broadcast was excellent.


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Just curious... are any of those in HD?

"Beauty is also in the eye of the beholder" also. I really notice the compression on our NBC when there's a lot of detail/small motion... picture the confetti raining down on the Super Bowl champions, or the sparks put out during certain acts for America's Got Talent. Our NBC has NBC at 1080i, MeTV at 720p, and Bounce at 480.
 
In Columbus, Ohio WCMH (NBC affiliate) has 3 subchannels, METV, ION TV, and Laff TV. I have not seen any difference between the Dish satellite NBC and the OTA NBC. I don’t know how much WCMH degrades their NBC feed to make room for their three subchannels.

I agree that NBC must use high quality recording equipment because the Stanley Cup broadcast was excellent.


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You're in Columbus Area? I'm coming there to work next week for 3 weeks. Why the HELL is that area Western Arc? Ugh!!
 
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You're in Columbus Area? I'm coming there to work next week for 3 weeks. Why the HELL is that area Western Arc? Ugh!!
I have been wondering that for years. Meanwhile, nearby Zanesville, which actually gets most of its local channels from Columbus, is already on Eastern Arc. So, since most of the Columbus channels are on Eastern Arc as part of the Zanesville local package, it would just be a matter of authorizing those same feeds for Columbus subscribers and adding the remaining Columbus channels to Eastern Arc.
 
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Just curious... are any of those in HD?

"Beauty is also in the eye of the beholder" also. I really notice the compression on our NBC when there's a lot of detail/small motion... picture the confetti raining down on the Super Bowl champions, or the sparks put out during certain acts for America's Got Talent. Our NBC has NBC at 1080i, MeTV at 720p, and Bounce at 480.

The NBC feed for WCMH 4.1 is 1080i. The 3 subchannels (METV 4.2, ION 4.3, and Laff 4.4) are all 480i. The subchannels are poor quality but the main NBC feed looks good.


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