What's the deal with these new hd channels?

[Apologist]

Flipping through the guide yesterday I found Casino to be on Bravohd and wanted to check it out. To my surprise Casino wasn't even in hd and it was cut to s%*t. What a worthless channel. Do they show anything in hd? Some of the other channels are the same. Hallmark is another stinker. I do like MGM though. Why in the world are these channels even calling themselves HD?

 

[allargon]

I don't watch the Hallmark Movie (different from Hallmark) HD channel because I'm not that into "sanitized" family TV. However, Hallmark does show HD and they even put decorative borders up for 4:3 material a la ESPN (and Kung Fu :river ) to satisfy the anti-black bar crowd.

Bravo occasionally shows HD movies, but it's rare. Even people that don't like Tennis will agree that Tennis Channel HD shows plenty of HD content.

The ones that need to be ran out of town are Cartoon Network (stretch-o-vision) HD, TBS HD and World Fishing Network HD.

 

[Apologist]

I don't watch the Hallmark Movie (different from Hallmark) HD channel because I'm not that into "sanitized" family TV. However, Hallmark does show HD and they even put decorative borders up for 4:3 material a la ESPN (and Kung Fu :river ) to satisfy the anti-black bar crowd.

Bravo occasionally shows HD movies, but it's rare. Even people that don't like Tennis will agree that Tennis Channel HD shows plenty of HD content.

The ones that need to be ran out of town are Cartoon Network (stretch-o-vision) HD, TBS HD and World Fishing Network HD.

Thanks, those are pretty bad too. Really didn't need another ESPN channel as I get more than enough from 1&2. The Weather Channel though they invested in hd -how much can you watch that? My dvr is not getting a good workout as it should with 20 new channels.

 

[lern4483]

Thanks, those are pretty bad too. Really didn't need another ESPN channel as I get more than enough from 1&2. The Weather Channel though they invested in hd -how much can you watch that? My dvr is not getting a good workout as it should with 20 new channels.

Wait a second. You really dont need to record that much from our new channels. BravoHD
was ''repeating'' Casino one show after the other.

I like MGM. Smithsonian is good but content is very limited.

 

[Hemi 6.1]

was ''repeating'' Casino one show after the other.

I like MGM. Smithsonian is good but content is very limited.

But atleast Bravo isn't $20 extra

 

[trumanhorn]

I don't watch the Hallmark Movie (different from Hallmark) HD channel because I'm not that into "sanitized" family TV. However, Hallmark does show HD and they even put decorative borders up for 4:3 material a la ESPN (and Kung Fu :river ) to satisfy the anti-black bar crowd.

Bravo occasionally shows HD movies, but it's rare. Even people that don't like Tennis will agree that Tennis Channel HD shows plenty of HD content.

The ones that need to be ran out of town are Cartoon Network (stretch-o-vision) HD, TBS HD and World Fishing Network HD.

Last weekend, I watched "Beverly Hills Cop" in HD on Bravo, and when I was excited to see its sequel was on following it, I planned to watch it. I was disappointed to find, however, that it was in 4:3 SD. If they can take the time to clean up the first one, why not the second?

 

[Pepper]

It's pretty much a crap shoot these days what you're gonna find in HD or not, and more crap than shoot most of the time.

Ah yes, things continue to improve since the demise of The Channel Package That May Not Be Named (rhymes with ZOOM).

 

[Apologist]

It's pretty much a crap

I think your first statement hits it exactly.

 

[Apologist]

Last night on Bravohd was Training Day of course no hd. Wgn had Jurassic Park no hd. Disney had Stuart Little no hd. Really pathetic.

 

[mojosat]

The Weather Channel though they invested in hd -how much can you watch that? My dvr is not getting a good workout as it should with 20 new channels.

If your my parents or just over the age of 65 about 20 hours a day.

 

[vegassatellite]

The Weather Channel though they invested in hd -how much can you watch that?

I've been somewhat surprised by The Weather Channel. Seems they are adding some shows in to the mix that are relevant to the weather but don't necessarily function as reporting. I've watched a show on there a couple of times where they show past weather events and how they've changed things such as the Hurricane Andrew devastation, etc. Felt like I was watching History Channel for a bit there.

 

[airphotos]

I've been somewhat surprised by The Weather Channel. Seems they are adding some shows in to the mix that are relevant to the weather but don't necessarily function as reporting. I've watched a show on there a couple of times where they show past weather events and how they've changed things such as the Hurricane Andrew devastation, etc. Felt like I was watching History Channel for a bit there.

I think the TWC HAD to branch out and create individual programming. They are competing head-to-head with internet sources now (wUnderground, Accuweather) and realize they are selling a "slow" product. People are more likely to watch when there is hurricane coverage or another enormous disaster like the floods and tornadoes in Iowa and Nebraska. But, that happens very infrequently...Also, who wants to wade through 5 minute long commercials every 2 minutes on there? It's ridiculous.

 

[riverdog]

I'm actually loving the travel channel. Not sure how much of it is modified SD but I never ever watched the channel until they came out with an HD version. I pretty much leave my guide on HD ONLY all the time........

 

[8bitbytes]

But atleast Bravo isn't $20 extra

For HD Only customers, it's all the same price. Besides, even Dish knows they couldn't charge extra for Bravo HD.

 

[mixjock]

I don't watch the Hallmark Movie (different from Hallmark) HD channel because I'm not that into "sanitized" family TV. However, Hallmark does show HD and they even put decorative borders up for 4:3 material a la ESPN (and Kung Fu :river ) to satisfy the anti-black bar crowd.

Bravo occasionally shows HD movies, but it's rare. Even people that don't like Tennis will agree that Tennis Channel HD shows plenty of HD content.

The ones that need to be ran out of town are Cartoon Network (stretch-o-vision) HD, TBS HD and World Fishing Network HD.

TBS HD does show MLB games in HD including the playoffs.

 

[M Sparks]

I'm actually loving the travel channel. Not sure how much of it is modified SD but I never ever watched the channel until they came out with an HD version. I pretty much leave my guide on HD ONLY all the time........

On Travel Channel (and all the other Discovery Channels), you can tell if it's upconverted by looking at the left and right edges. They all do a partial zoom on SD material which leaves very thin black bars on the sides.

This SHOULD tick me off since they are chopping off part of the picture, but they do such a good job. The upconversion is VERY sharp and crisp, and I usually can't tell anything's been lost unless a lower graphic gets cut off a bit.

Travel Channel DOES have a decent amount of actual HD programming as well.

(Yes, I know Discovery doesn't own Travel Channel any more, but they are still involved in the operations, and they are clearly using the same upconversion method.)

 

[DishSubLA]

MGM HD has some pretty poor quality transfers of its films, and in HD one can see every defect; that was very surprising. Meanwhile HDNet Movies has far superior transfer quality and often in the film's original aspect ratio.

 

[psychicmind]

MGM HD has some pretty poor quality transfers of its films, and in HD one can see every defect; that was very surprising. Meanwhile HDNet Movies has far superior transfer quality and often in the film's original aspect ratio.

I've complained about MGM before.

I like the channel, but their HD conversion is lacking greatly and they do not even bother converting to 5.1 DD.

I think the studio either bought cheap HD conversion machines and are converting unclean prints in their vault in-house or they are paying a third party for the cheapest conversions ever.

$0 was invested in Dolby Digital technology. Original 5.1 MGM films are sadly broadcast in 2.0 ProLogic on MGM HD (at best).

Some of the moves playing on MGM were shown on "the now gone HD channels". Those were clearly different transfers. PQ was much crisper at 1080i and even mono tracks were converted to a superior 5.1 DD re-mix.

I don't believe MGM HD should be in the highest HD tier without DD (and at least clean transfer techniques).

Highest tier HD should be top quality, commercial free, 1080i, 5.1 DD. In other words, it should be superior HD content, superior PQ, and superior sound for our superior TVs and superior receivers for the MOST EXPENSIVE BILLS OF THE HIGHEST PAYING CUSTOMERS.

 

[Sammy033]

I will second that.

 

[jerryez]

I remember in 2001 when I bought my 65 inch HDTV, the only HD was the PBS 4 hour loop that they replayed over and over. AND now everyone complains about the lack of HD or real HD. How many of you even had HDTVs back then. If you did you would appreciate the abundant supply of HD that there is now, even if it is mostly reruns.