Artifacting

[psychotrope]

I just recently got a better (sharper) TV and also glasses. Since then I've noticed digital artifacting. I'm using the DishPro 301 receiver and the DishPVR, and I saw the same artifacting on both during Harry Potter ---- lot's of dark backgrounds = more artifacting.

Is it normal to see a certain amount of digital artifacting if you're looking for it? It seemed pretty obvious at times, during low-contrast dark scenes. Are certain channels/programs worse than others, or is it just the limitations of non-HD digital satellite?

 

[JohnL]

I just recently got a better (sharper) TV and also glasses. Since then I've noticed digital artifacting. I'm using the DishPro 301 receiver and the DishPVR, and I saw the same artifacting on both during Harry Potter ---- lot's of dark backgrounds = more artifacting.

Is it normal to see a certain amount of digital artifacting if you're looking for it? It seemed pretty obvious at times, during low-contrast dark scenes. Are certain channels/programs worse than others, or is it just the limitations of non-HD digital satellite?

Psycho,

Yes some channels are worse than others, generally the best PQ is on PPV channels, Next Premiums, next Highly rated channels, then low rated channels, and Locals.

DBS PQ could be stellar and it has been in the past. The problem is the carriage of thousands of Network affiliate channels of almost exactly the same network programing for each and every market. This plain and simply sucks up vast quantities of bandwidth that requires more and more compression resulting in more and more digital artifacts.

John

 

[korsjs]

what size tv do you have now? the larger the tv, the more likely you are to see blemishes.

welcome to the site.

 

[psychotrope]

Thanks for the input. that's helpful

My TV is a flat-screen (not LCD) 27" Sharp. But if I was looking for the artifacting, I could see it on my 17" Orion too. (I keep two tVs side-by-side to simulate picture-in-picture.)

Channel was ABC Family.

 

[PILMAN]

I don't notice any of that on my 26" phillips tv in the room but on my 42" plasma I notice a LOT of artifacts, the only things that have the least artifacts are the larger networks and PPV's. As for HDTV channels I have noticed no compression artifacts at all.

 

[Mike_H]

This artifacting in dark scenes is a function of the MPEG2 compression used with the video streams and less than "high" bitrates. The compression has difficulty trying to render smooth transitions in the shades of black and tends to require higher bitrates since it makes up so much of a scene and it's shadows can fluctuate.

How I've been able to see if it's a real bandwidth issue is if I also notice the lack of detail and blooming in the faces of the people in a scene. When it gets that bad, I fire off an email to dish quality folks and report it.

 

[sternpry]

Yup, definite artifacting present in dark areas on the lessor channels. Best to run these channels through your Svideo conneciton. Not as present in HD through DVI to HDMI cable and premium movie channels in SD. Dish needs to eliminate those horrible shopping channels and provide more HD content since many folks are now upgrading their TV units.
By the way, this forum is just super and has really helped me understand the glitches with the 921 and other esoteric satellite reception issues. Apparently I was lucky enough to get a decent unit and the 213 SF ugrade has eliminated any "jerkies" on my set. Thanks for all the great content!

 

[sternpry]

Whoops, correction to my last post above - SW version 212 instead of 213. Got ahead of myself expecting new software each month to correct 921 issues