diy network "HD" squish-o-vision

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Dee_Ann

Dee_Ann

Angry consumer!
Original poster
May 23, 2009
3,420
289
Texas
I've discovered Holmes on Homes.. :heart

Is there any reason why they are squishing the video? It looks HORRIBLE. It looks like they are taking a 480i and squishing it down to fit an HD screen.
Why would they do that? This is a great show and they are pretty much ruining it.. :(

Why not just display it as 4:3 with the sides blacked out? Or even better, why not show the HD version of this great show?? :eek:

Is it anything to do with the fact that this is a Canadian show? <sarcasm> Is this so we will have a distorted view of those darn, pesky Canadians? </sarcasm> :rolleyes:



Oh, and another thing. It seems like EVERYTHING runs 30 seconds to one minute, OR MORE, past the hour or half hour.
Storage Wars is a prime example. I :heart Storage Wars too!

EVERY recording is truncated. :mad:

The problem is, not all channels do this! And most channels have various start and stop times, that are outside the bounds of top of the hour, bottom of the hour.. :mad:
I see an option that lets you start/stop the record time outside the scheduled time. Say something is listed on A&E as playing from 8pm to 8:30pm but in reality it will start at 8:01pm and run to 8:31pm.
In theory I can adjust the timer to compensate for this. (I have not tried this option yet). Ok, fine. BUT, suppose there is something that comes on Discovery channel at 8:30pm and I want to record it as well.
If I want to get ALL of the 1st recording I have to lose the 1st minute of the second show. Or to get the whole show of the 8:30 program I have to lose the last minute of the 1st one. :mad:

This really burns my backside! :mad: :censored: :rant:

I don't guess there's anything Dish can do about this, I assume this is some BS the networks are pulling to make it impossible to record shows on competing networks? :confused: Yes? No?
I can only think of one possible solution to this, to have a dual tuner DVR so that you can record two channels at the same time, right?

Ok, end of rant..

Oh, and I tried to adjust the screen using the format button during Holmes on Homes and it either squishes it even worse or just hides the sides of the screen behind grey bars, it doesn't unsquish it at all.

Thanks.. :)
 
Sounds like you think your watching an HD channel when your watching a SD channel?.Make sure when you setup your timers or you choose a channel to watch,over to the left where the channel number is in the guide there should be a transparent "HD" behind the channel numbers.Good Luck!.:)
 
It's got to be something on your end. We have been watching HOH and HI for years and have seen no problems.
Check your TV's settings. Could be Zoom, Picture, etc on the remote. Use the format button on your Dish remote (*) to cycle through aspect ratios.
Check Menu 6 7 to see what your HDTV setup. Make sure it's set for 1080i and 16x9
Under Preferences - Guide Format make sure that HD only is selected on the bottom right. That only effects channels that are inboth SD and HD
 
Holmes on Holmes is a great show for sure! Dish does have DIY in HD. I'm not surprised if DIY HD is stretching shows... Tons of other HD channels do it too... I would much rather black bars or top and bottom cut off...
 
Dee_Ann said:
I've discovered Holmes on Homes.. :heart

Is there any reason why they are squishing the video? It looks HORRIBLE. It looks like they are taking a 480i and squishing it down to fit an HD screen.
Why would they do that? This is a great show and they are pretty much ruining it.. :(

Why not just display it as 4:3 with the sides blacked out? Or even better, why not show the HD version of this great show?? :eek:

Is it anything to do with the fact that this is a Canadian show? <sarcasm> Is this so we will have a distorted view of those darn, pesky Canadians? </sarcasm> :rolleyes:



Oh, and another thing. It seems like EVERYTHING runs 30 seconds to one minute, OR MORE, past the hour or half hour.
Storage Wars is a prime example. I :heart Storage Wars too!

EVERY recording is truncated. :mad:

The problem is, not all channels do this! And most channels have various start and stop times, that are outside the bounds of top of the hour, bottom of the hour.. :mad:
I see an option that lets you start/stop the record time outside the scheduled time. Say something is listed on A&E as playing from 8pm to 8:30pm but in reality it will start at 8:01pm and run to 8:31pm.
In theory I can adjust the timer to compensate for this. (I have not tried this option yet). Ok, fine. BUT, suppose there is something that comes on Discovery channel at 8:30pm and I want to record it as well.
If I want to get ALL of the 1st recording I have to lose the 1st minute of the second show. Or to get the whole show of the 8:30 program I have to lose the last minute of the 1st one. :mad:

This really burns my backside! :mad: :censored: :rant:

I don't guess there's anything Dish can do about this, I assume this is some BS the networks are pulling to make it impossible to record shows on competing networks? :confused: Yes? No?
I can only think of one possible solution to this, to have a dual tuner DVR so that you can record two channels at the same time, right?

Ok, end of rant..

Oh, and I tried to adjust the screen using the format button during Holmes on Homes and it either squishes it even worse or just hides the sides of the screen behind grey bars, it doesn't unsquish it at all.

Thanks.. :)
Click to expand...

Thanks for your post, Dee Ann. Let's tackle both issues, one at-a-time.

Video Format Issue:
1) There is a Format Button (the "*" key) on your Dish remote, which can alter how you see the picture. Pressing it will toggle through several selections to help you get the proper display.

2) Be sure to check the aspect ratio of the TV and the receiver and make sure they match. many newer TVs auto adjust to pick up the correct aspect ratio. Some need to have the setting input when the TV is setup. You will use the TV remote control or panel settings to enter the TV setup menus for this. On the Dish receiver Menu-6-8 on the Dish remote will get you there for most receivers (I am giving an example for the VIP 722k) Menu + 6 is the sequence to get to the Setup Menu. From there look for HDTV setup if selection 8 is unavailable. Make sure that the middle selector wheel on the screen is set to the same resolution (480p, 720p, or 1080), and the aspect ratio matches, too (4:3, 16:9,etc). Select "done" and then "cancel" twice to exit the screens.

3) Your guide may be set to only show SD channels. Press the Guide button on the right of the Dish remote, and make sure you are at your desired setting: SD only, HD only, SD&HD

Guide and DVR recording not synchronized:
There can be a few things that can cause this, but one of the most common is that the EPG (Electronic Programming Guide) stored in your receiver has become corrupted. Occasionally, a broadcaster might alter broadcast times (e/g When the President pre-empts a network). More often the daily update of the guide was either interrupted, or didn't properly complete. If you press Menu 6-1-1 (Check switch Test), run the test, but DON'T save the results, and exit the menus, by selecting done or cancel to exit the menus completely, this will cause the guide to reload, and should have things back on track. Alternately, if you press the DVR/Receiver power button (the big red button at the top of the Dish remote), and then unplug the receiver for 3 minutes, it should also reload the Guide and update it, restoring the schedule.

If you should need additional assistance, just let us know. We will be happy to help you.:popcorn
 
History and A&E are getting really bad about running a couple of minutes over the guide times. If you have something back to back, then try to record one of the shows on the late repeat.

The Scripps Networks (food, hgtv,diy etc) are also known for zooming content that they don't have HD originals of.

Sent from my HTC Flyer
 
osu1991 said:
History and A&E are getting really bad about running a couple of minutes over the guide times. If you have something back to back, then try to record one of the shows on the late repeat.
Click to expand...

exactly. And with the 211k only having one tuner you will get a hard cut at the program shut off time (8:00, 8:30)
Easiest way to solve it....have the timer start 2 minutes early and run 2 minutes late. Make sure to sort the timers by priority so the ones that are "1 time only" are 1st and shows on A&E, History etc that are replayed numerous times are after that. Doing the 2 minutes early forces the 211k to not record back to back shows and to find another showing
 
You can also make the 2 minutes early/2 minutes late setting the default so you don't have to remember to set it each time you create a timer.
 
Hi guys,

Good suggestions and info, thank you.. :)

I did double check the video format settings and I have them ~always~ set on all channels to normal for both SD and HD channels. There is nothing more annoying than a distorted image.
I dabble in photography, I have a very expensive professional level camera (Canon 5D Mark II) and a large bag of very expensive lenses so I'm very, very attuned to image quality. I'm also extremely, annoyingly critical of image / video quality.
Noise is one thing I can slightly tolerate but compression artifacts grate on my nerves.. :rant:

I have gone through and hidden all SD channels when there is an HD option for a channel. IE DIY. There is an SD and an HD channel but in my guide, only the HD channels show up.
When I was watching the show previously I did take note that the large HD watermark was showing in the info banner.

I also set my timers to "Prefer HD" or something like that, I assume what that means is it will always attempt to record a show in HD and will only fall back to SD if the HD channel isn't working for some reason. Right?

What I will do tomorrow is when HOH comes on, I'll switch over to the SD DIY channel and see if the image is squished & stretched there too. I'm betting it will not be.
I am certain they are stretching an SD source to make it fill the HD screen because it's cheaper to them to do it that way. They don't have to pay HOH for the HD source this way. Cheapskates.
That does NOT pass as HD. BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZT~!

If the show looks normal on the SD channel and has black bars on the side, I'll just watch it there instead from now on. Another thing happens when you stretch the image, you introduce noise to the image. Instead of a 1x1 pixel you'll get a 2x1 pixel.
That's not how the image was originally recorded and is not how it was intended to be displayed. It looks like dinosaur poo.. Please, STOP THAT!!


Timers. It is indeed the networks running their programs past the hour and half hour mark, intentionally. The History Channel does it for one, starting at 10pm they run whatever is on until 11:01pm and the rest of the night everything is offset by one minute. Start and stop, 11:01 to 00:01, 00:01 to 01:01, 01:01 to 02:01. Then at 2:59 they start running infomercials and truncate whatever started at 2:01 by TWO MINUTES!

I read somewhere that they run shows offset that way on purpose to keep you on their network, so you don't change channels and catch the start of another show in the same time slot. Something to do with ratings. A really low, low, snaky sleazy way to falsely inflate ratings. :mad:

This slimy trickery of theirs makes recording things quite difficult. Very often I may want to record a show on one channel that is SUPPOSED to run from 8pm to 9pm then change channels to something else and record a different show from 9pm to 10pm. But since I have to run over and record to 9:01pm it ruins the second recording on the other channel!! :mad:

I'll have to give Iceberg's suggestion a try, set the timers to record over the allotted time by 2 minutes thus forcing it to find other times for back to back shows. Like Storage Wars, they run two shows back to back but I think they play them a second time later that night. If I set to record episode 1 at 8pm to 8:32pm then it can not record the one that is scheduled to air at 8:30 and it will have to seek out the replay of episode 2 later in the evening, like 1am or whatever and it can record that one for 32 minutes as well.

I really could choke those people that don't run shows on proper times. I have an atomic clock on my desk and I'm really annoyed if any of my clocks on anything I own is off by even one second. I have my PC's set to get their time from NTP servers every four hours (to be nice) but I'm looking at purchasing an atomic clock that hooks into your LAN and provides time to everything connected to it.

As for the guide data, well it got a chance to re-download everything earlier today when I disconnected the tuner and took it outside. When I reconnected it in the house and it recognized the USB disk it took 10 minutes to download a new guide, it told me so, that was all I could watch for 10 minutes was that info screen.. :rolleyes:

I guess without dual tuners there is no easy way to get around the problem, I guess all I can do is adapt to it. I really, really hate that nonsense. Maybe if they would produce some quality shows they wouldn't have to play games to falsify ratings... :mad:
 
Dee Ann-

I also occasionally watch HOH and have never noticed stretching. I also notice image distortion easily as it's a part of my job. Have you checked the settings on your TV?

As far as the "time slip", this is nothing new. In fact, years ago, TBS(?) had their entire day off by 5 minutes. Their shows ran 2:05-3:05, 3:05-3:35, 3:35-4:05, etc. And if you think recording stuff on a DVR is hard, try doing the "time-slip" on a VCR. While it's not exactly done for ratings, it IS done (IMO) to keep people on their channel. After all, who's going to intentionally lose the last couple minutes of a show?

Also, if you don't like the quality of the shows, why are you so worried about whether you miss the first/last two minutes?
 
Dee-Ann - you are way off on this cheap business. First, Dish sends whatever is being sent from the provider on a given channel. I watch most (not all) HOH, I have not seen what you are saying, nor has anyone said they have. That said, it's not impossible for the provider to have made a mistake on an episode, we have seen that before from time to time, or it's an old episode that isn't HD, or some setting on your end.
 
I believe that many of the Holmes on Homes shows being shown currently on DIY are pre-2007. They are shown in upconverted SD and do look bad.
 
How is your receiver hooked up to the TV?

Can you take a pic of your TV settings screen, also a picture of what the stretch o vision looks like so we can better help. :)
 
Tampa8 said:
Dee-Ann - you are way off on this cheap business. First, Dish sends whatever is being sent from the provider on a given channel. I watch most (not all) HOH, I have not seen what you are saying, nor has anyone said they have. That said, it's not impossible for the provider to have made a mistake on an episode, we have seen that before from time to time, or it's an old episode that isn't HD, or some setting on your end.
Click to expand...



Saw it last night episode was a 2005 episode,picture was 16:9 but was stretched or zoomed,looked bad there's nothing that can be done for that commericals were better you could see the difference.

Recommend setting your DISH receiver HD setting to 720p,helps some when watching stretched or zoomed HD programming and SD programming,leave format setting Normal for best picture,TV screen setting Normal on HDTV.

Life is too short to worry about the little things.....Good Luck!.:)


HDTV hookup:HDMI.
 
Timers. It is indeed the networks running their programs past the hour and half hour mark, intentionally. The History Channel does it for one, starting at 10pm they run whatever is on until 11:01pm and the rest of the night everything is offset by one minute. Start and stop, 11:01 to 00:01, 00:01 to 01:01, 01:01 to 02:01. Then at 2:59 they start running infomercials and truncate whatever started at 2:01 by TWO MINUTES!
Click to expand...
The :01 thing doesnt usually start until at the earliest 10PM Central and alot of stations do it.
Also the Dish guide info isn't correct when you get to the later times. They dont put the :01 time...they use just :00 or :30. Both providers get their guide info from Tribune Corporation but somehow Directv gets it right :)01, :31) and Dish doesn't.

I read somewhere that they run shows offset that way on purpose to keep you on their network, so you don't change channels and catch the start of another show in the same time slot. Something to do with ratings. A really low, low, snaky sleazy way to falsely inflate ratings.
Click to expand...
well DUH! Networks have done it for years with popular shows. They get done at :02, :03 etc.
 
Iceberg, does Direct have the same lag? On stations that don't run commercials at the top and bottom of the hours, I've noticed a few seconds of lag. I've compared them to cable (I have the super basic) and cable doesn't have the lag. Wonder if the lag is due to up/down link and signal processing.
 
I dont have cable so I dont know. But when I had both D* and E* Direct was a second or two quicker. It depends on the station, compression rate, etc

cable wouldnt have the lag as they dont have to beam it back up a second time. Also adding to a lag is DVR's as they buffer a little bit first
 
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