1080i...NOT a friend of NFL!

[swampman]

I'm sure its been discussed before, but has anyone noticed how horrible the pixelation is on NBC Sunday night Football? I've noticed FOX and ESPN (not sure about CBS), broadcast in 720p and there is no pixelation. I did watch a game on CBS today, and if it is 1080i, I certainly didnt notice the artifacts that NBC has. Surely NBC is aware of how bad it is.

 

[JAG72]

NBC is terrible at broadcasting sports in HD. CBS is also 1080i and the picture looks great with them. I really wish NBC would get their act together.

 

[Smthkd]

NBC has had the worst HD signal than everyone during Football season. Absolutely no excuse for a company who support HD DVD format too! Horrible pixellation!!

 

[fxstsb]

how long has it been that the public has been waiting for HD? 720p is HD. To fix the problem we need 1080p. That will be another 5 yrd. It is all about bandwidth and equipment. 720 p is ok for movement but not detail. It is better than std broadcast.

 

[Friend]

I know all those arguments regarding 720P is best for sports and I do understand all those reasons and I agree also with all of them but frankly I have never seen as good of a game coverage as CBS which is 1080i.
Fox does not have pixalization problem but it look crap most of times on a football game eventhough it is 720p might be just me but not as good of a picture as CBS.

 

[vurbano]

I'll take CBS NFL in 1080i over ANYTHING else currently broadcast. Stop blaming 1080i when the culprit is NBC.

 

[digiblur]

The funny thing is the feeds at 30+ mbps look awesome... it's all down to bitrate.

 

[swampman]

Well on NBC when the image is still or very slow moving, it rivals anyone's picture. Absolutely beautiful! But come on NBC, it's football. Get in the game!

 

[Jimbo]

how long has it been that the public has been waiting for HD? 720p is HD. To fix the problem we need 1080p. That will be another 5 yrd. It is all about bandwidth and equipment. 720 p is ok for movement but not detail. It is better than std broadcast.

720p works GREAT for sports. I've been watching it for years.
1080i normally is shaky at best for sports.
Yes if the bandwidth was there along with the rest of the info it would all be good, but compression is required and the bit rates or the bandwidth suffers.

CBS College Football does a fabuluos job, better cameras , signal whatever, I wish they would all catch up.

Jimbo

 

[Jimbo]

I know all those arguments regarding 720P is best for sports and I do understand all those reasons and I agree also with all of them but frankly I have never seen as good of a game coverage as CBS which is 1080i.
Fox does not have pixalization problem but it look crap most of times on a football game eventhough it is 720p might be just me but not as good of a picture as CBS.

I'll take CBS NFL in 1080i over ANYTHING else currently broadcast. Stop blaming 1080i when the culprit is NBC.

I agree here, it's not just 1080i, Fox uses 720p and they are not always as good as it could be either, just look at the baseball coverage most of the time.

Jimbo

 

[Jimbo]

CBS Rocks

Well on NBC when the image is still or very slow moving, it rivals anyone's picture. Absolutely beautiful! But come on NBC, it's football. Get in the game!

Actually, I think CBS has the overall best picture , if your talking about normal TV shows as well.
Ever watch CSI Miami, that show is way up there on the HD meter.:up

I actually have no idea what type of bit rates and what not they are running, I don't know how to find that info, but it's got to be one of the best out there.

Jimbo

 

[vurbano]

I agree here, it's not just 1080i, Fox uses 720p and they are not always as good as it could be either, just look at teh baseball coverage most of the time.

Jimbo

Fox isnt great because they limit the bitrate to 15 mbps for video +1 mbps audio which allows affiliates to run a 3mbps sub channel. You will never distinguish a blade of grass on FOX like you can on some CBS affiliates.

 

[joedekock]

The issue is 1080i is simply an interlace HD resolution. 720p is progressive scan. Progressive scan takes away the "blurryness" or "funzzyness" that is around an image. This only happens in high resolutions when an object is in motion. This is why on NBC and CBS sports coverage, a still image is fine, like players in a huddle or on the sideline. But once there is fast action like a player jogging toward the sidelines, or running down field, the player or object the camera is following looks great, but everything else in the background that the camera is moving past gets pixelated.

This is why ESPN, ABC, and Fox broadcast in 720p. They realize that progressively scanned images at 720p offer the best picture with both slow and fast action.

Way down the road if broadcasters start offering 1080p resolution, then that will be the best resolution for both slow and fast images.

 

[vurbano]

The issue is 1080i is simply an interlace HD resolution. 720p is progressive scan. Progressive scan takes away the "blurryness" or "funzzyness" that is around an image. This only happens in high resolutions when an object is in motion. This is why on NBC and CBS sports coverage, a still image is fine, like players in a huddle or on the sideline. But once there is fast action like a player jogging toward the sidelines, or running down field, the player or object the camera is following looks great, but everything else in the background that the camera is moving past gets pixelated.

This is why ESPN, ABC, and Fox broadcast in 720p. They realize that progressively scanned images at 720p offer the best picture with both slow and fast action.

Way down the road if broadcasters start offering 1080p resolution, then that will be the best resolution for both slow and fast images.

The still image on 1080i is more than "fine" It is dramatically better than 720p.

 

[gadgtfreek]

I agree with Vurbano. CBSHD NFL OTA is awesome. NBC looks like crappola OTA and has for awhile, just like UHD breaks up.

Its not a 1080i thing, its an NBC sucks kinda thing.

 

[CPanther95]

Its not a 1080i thing, its an NBC sucks kinda thing.

Exactly. I'll take a full bitrate CBS NFL game over any 720p presentation. Much more detail.

 

[fxstsb]

Wouldn't it be great if everytime you view a channel you could go to a screen to see what bitrate the info is traveling.

 

[sdhoward]

Strange, NBC was the only network "this weekend anyway" that was problem free. CBS was almost unwatchable due to the frequent pixelation problems during the NFL game (off-air included!). Fox was just about as bad but more on the audio side.

 

[gadgtfreek]

Wouldn't it be great if everytime you view a channel you could go to a screen to see what bitrate the info is traveling.

I love that feature on my PS3 while watching movies

 

[n2077]

Hi, this is my first post, but I've been reading the forum for a couple of weeks. I had Direct tv installed last week with the hd choice extra package for my mitsubishi lcd 46 inch tv. I agree that the 720p does usually provide the smoothest picture- the Maryland-WVU game on Thursday looked great, as did the ND-UM game on ABC Saturday.

My main complaint has been with the 1080i NFL games. I agree with everyone else, that the NBC game looked terrible with all the pixelation, almost unwatchable. However, I also had problems with the CBS games. When the picture was still, such as a punter or kick returner waiting for the ball, or the teams lined up at the line of scrimmage, the picture was incredible. But when the action started, there was lots of pixelation and the picture quality seemed to really drop. It was like this for both the Colts and the Bears games, and was pretty distracting. Is this because I only get my HD locals through Direct TV?

As a side note- I have Comcast Sports net in HD through Direct Tv, and they broadcast in 1080i, and the picture for the White Sox game yesterday was awesome, no pixelation at all.