What is LiL?

[hammondc]

Ok, so I have been on Cable for about a year now (after leaving Dish) I am thinking of coming back on board when the Charlotte HD Locals go live. I am seeing new terms now on here and some things that concern me.

1. What is LiL?

2. I keep hearing that a lot of the HD channels are very compressed and look really bad. True or Fals?

 

[NightRyder]

Ok, so I have been on Cable for about a year now (after leaving Dish) I am thinking of coming back on board when the Charlotte HD Locals go live. I am seeing new terms now on here and some things that concern me.

1. What is LiL?

2. I keep hearing that a lot of the HD channels are very compressed and look really bad. True or Fals?

1. LIL = Local into Local - DMA correct Local Newtwork Channels as opposed to Distant Network Stations.

2. Can't speak for other areas, but the Portland Oregon HD-Locals look fine, the SD versions are another matter....


NightRyder

 

[bhelms]

2. There's still only a 6MHz bandwidth in the b'cast channels and that translates to about 19.4 Mbits/sec. which is enough for a full resolution HD channel with a little bit to spare. It all comes down to what the b'caster wants to give you. If he prioritizes the HD program at the sacrifice of the other SD channels (if any), then you can still receive an excellent HD picture quality.

Right now I only get one set of digital channels OTA (PBS). In our case, the b'caster gives high priority to the HD program (Ch 15.1) and it looks excellent. The SD subchannels (15.2, .3, .4) all look very poor, pixelated, low detail, etc.

In some markets the SD subchannels get more BW allocation to look better, but if there's an HD subchannel, then it will suffer...

 

[ibleedblue]

2. I keep hearing that a lot of the HD channels are very compressed and look really bad. True or Fals?

Are you the kind of person that must find flaws and faults in everything? If so then yeah some channels will probably disappoint you. For me (with a 50" Samsung DLP that I calibrated with Avia) I think they all look somewhere between very good and great! Some are better than others, but even the 'bad' HD channels are many times better than the best SD channel E* broadcasts. Maybe I'm not picky enough, I don't know. I had E* a few years back and canceled because the picture looked like crap compared to cable and D* on my 52" RPTV, so I've called them out before. But on the HD stuff, man I just can't see it. My TV isn't the latest and greatest and projects at 720p, so maybe that's my 'problem'.

 

[hammondc]

Ibleedblue-

I am not one of those 'fault finders'. lol. My Grand Wega is 720p also, so I am in the boat with you there. I guess some of the complaints I am hearing are from the really picky folks. I just saw a thread on here to day talking about watching Jaws on HD NET or HBAHD and that the picture was really bad.


Nightryder-
Still not clear on the locals. All of mine come out of Charlotte. I am only 15 miles from charlotte so are they LiL or distants? I suppose I don't under stand what you mean by DMA correct.

Thanks a bunch guys!

 

[ibleedblue]

I could be wrong, but I doubt Jaws was filmed in HD and has to go through some kind of conversion process. I totally have no idea though and am just guessing. I watched The Muppets Take Manhattan on one of the HD movie channels a few weeks ago. That movie wasn't as crisp and clear as the new stuff that is shown on Disovery HD or HDNET, but I attributed that to the moving being recorded when I was 8 and not because of the broadcast by E*.

 

[bhelms]

Are we talking about locals received from E* or over-the-air with an antenna? LiL pertains to local channels carried by E* (local channels beamed into the same area, or local-into-local). DMA = Designated Market Area, used by the DBS services to determine which local channels you should receive via sat. If you're only 15 miles from Charlotte you are probably (not necessarily) in that DMA. E* carries 10 SD channels from the Charlotte DMA on the E*10 sat. in the 110 slot (8650 to 8661 in the EPG, if you subscribe to them). If you're only 15 miles away then you can probably receive some of these same channels and possibly more with a decent OTA antenna but remember that the ViP211 only has a tuner for the digital channels. All of these are considered "locals". E* provides at least some SD LiL channels to subs in about about 95% of the DMAs.

Distant Network Stations (DNS) pertain to the 5 network channels (ABC, NBC, CBS, PBS, FOX) from 4 large metro markets: NY, Chicago, Denver, and LA when ordered by subs not located in those markets. These channels can be ordered (but the future status with E* is uncertain) by folks in "white" areas, those areas that don't get LiL channels and cannot receive an adequate OTA signal by antenna. The rules are complex and apparently changing. Don't worry about DNSs. You probably won't qualify for them anyway...

 

[grygrx]

There needs to be a jargon and accronym referrence for newbies and other "low volume" readers. I'm usually only here when I have a question about something and the amount of time I spend trying to figure out what the hell is being said takes a lot of time.