More Crappy DTV SD Football

[Piratefan98]

Last night's game (CIN/BAL) on SD Channel 212 was just another in a series of substandard quality SD football transmissions on Directv.

I was switching back and forth between 2 sources (DTV watching the Ravens game on 212), and Cable TV (watching the college game on ESPN). Picture quality wasn't even close. Cable picture quality just crushes DTV's SD football both on NFL network and on Sunday Ticket. Strange thing is .... the commercials on NFL Network looked okay, and channel 100/preview channel looks pretty good too. But those football games .... blech!

I imagine the HD version of the game looks good, but Directv themselves tout "DVD Quality Picture" on SD. That's laughable. I sure hope the addition of satellites in 2007 opens up some bandwidth, because these overly-compressed broadcasts border on nauseating.

Jeff

 

[efbrune]

The NFL game last Thursday, November 23rd on Ch#212 was the same low quality as you described. Apparently D* and the NFL Network has no intention of delivering a quality product.

I canceled my D* service because neither D* nor the NFL Network will acknowledge the problem of extremely poor picture quality of the live NFL Network SD broadcasts.

 

[pro96]

Last night's game (CIN/BAL) on SD Channel 212 was just another in a series of substandard quality SD football transmissions on Directv.

I was switching back and forth between 2 sources (DTV watching the Ravens game on 212), and Cable TV (watching the college game on ESPN). Picture quality wasn't even close. Cable picture quality just crushes DTV's SD football both on NFL network and on Sunday Ticket. Strange thing is .... the commercials on NFL Network looked okay, and channel 100/preview channel looks pretty good too. But those football games .... blech!

I imagine the HD version of the game looks good, but Directv themselves tout "DVD Quality Picture" on SD. That's laughable. I sure hope the addition of satellites in 2007 opens up some bandwidth, because these overly-compressed broadcasts border on nauseating.

Jeff

The game looked AWESOME on channel 95 in HD.

 

[wolfman]

The game looked AWESOME on channel 95 in HD.

Yes it did !!

 

[efbrune]

FYI:

When talking about the live broadcasts of the NFL Network games, the HD feed and the SD feed are totally separate and different! Therefore the HD picture could have excellent picture quality while the SD picture could be much different. Which is exactly the case with the live NFL Network games.

 

[charper1]

Last night's game (CIN/BAL) on SD Channel 212 was just another in a series of substandard quality SD football transmissions on Directv.

I was switching back and forth between 2 sources (DTV watching the Ravens game on 212), and Cable TV (watching the college game on ESPN). Picture quality wasn't even close. Cable picture quality just crushes DTV's SD football both on NFL network and on Sunday Ticket. Strange thing is .... the commercials on NFL Network looked okay, and channel 100/preview channel looks pretty good too. But those football games .... blech!

I imagine the HD version of the game looks good, but Directv themselves tout "DVD Quality Picture" on SD. That's laughable. I sure hope the addition of satellites in 2007 opens up some bandwidth, because these overly-compressed broadcasts border on nauseating.

Jeff

I am very interested in your viewing hardware and environment. Can you please list your display setup, environment and even the viewing distance. I was away from the house and watched the game on a buddy's 36" SD CRT display at around 12'-14' and I did not notice any of these issues; and my eyes are normally used to the HD of my H/T .

 

[rmmrph]

I am very interested in your viewing hardware and environment. Can you please list your display setup, environment and even the viewing distance. I was away from the house and watched the game on a buddy's 36" SD CRT display at around 12'-14' and I did not notice any of these issues; and my eyes are normally used to the HD of my H/T .

Just a guess, but I'd say they were probably watching on a 50-60" TV from 10 feet or so. I can attest to this because I have a 55" RPTV that I sit 10 feet from and I can say it is pretty painful to watch, especially when compared directly to the HD source.

Ryan

 

[efbrune]

I am very interested in your viewing hardware and environment. Can you please list your display setup, environment and even the viewing distance. I was away from the house and watched the game on a buddy's 36" SD CRT display at around 12'-14' and I did not notice any of these issues; and my eyes are normally used to the HD of my H/T .

My setup is as follows:

Phillips DSX5250 - SD Satellite Receiver
Samsung TX-P3075 30" HDTV
RCA GLR2648 26" SDTV

The Samsung HDTV is connected via the composite Audio/Video cables.
The RCA SDTV is connected via the RF cable.

With the HDTV I tried viewing the game in the 16:9 screen ratio and the 4:3 screen ratio. In either mode the picture was very soft and fuzzy, except during commercials. Viewing distance was 10 feet.

With the SDTV the picture was also very soft and fuzzy, except during commercials. Viewing distance was 7 feet.

Viewing the live broadcast from the NFL Network on either TV produced an unacceptable picture. I remember on the wide angle shots the red color of the KC uniforms was over powering the other colors. I could not read the numbers on the back of the uniforms. The green grass of the field was just blotches of green. There was no detail in the picture at all.

 

[charper1]

Well these are just observations since I can't see your display quality in real life, BUT RF (aka coax/RG6) is a huge no-no for PQ and I would think 7' and 10' are too close to a display even that small. Also watching a SD program on a HD display can exacerbate a PQ issue.

HDTV "connected via A/V cables" ?? Does this mean composite cables? I am thinking there may be some small setup issues that can be tweaked in this setup.

 

[kdarcangelis870]

Last night's game (CIN/BAL) on SD Channel 212 was just another in a series of substandard quality SD football transmissions on Directv.

I was switching back and forth between 2 sources (DTV watching the Ravens game on 212), and Cable TV (watching the college game on ESPN). Picture quality wasn't even close. Cable picture quality just crushes DTV's SD football both on NFL network and on Sunday Ticket. Strange thing is .... the commercials on NFL Network looked okay, and channel 100/preview channel looks pretty good too. But those football games .... blech!

I imagine the HD version of the game looks good, but Directv themselves tout "DVD Quality Picture" on SD. That's laughable. I sure hope the addition of satellites in 2007 opens up some bandwidth, because these overly-compressed broadcasts border on nauseating.

Jeff

I don't know what size tv you have, but I have a 36" XBR Wega and football games on D* look like crap especially when the camera is pointed at the line of players. The players look like they are composed of 6 or 8 squares of digital mush and the football looks like 1 blob of digital mush, and this is when they are standing still. Any movement of the players turns into a mush of Total Crap!!!!!, and I am watching it from 10ft away. I have comcast limited cable and the picture is much better as in "wholler" compared to D*. I can deal with the few sparklies that come from cable tv than with the macroblocking of D*. I cannot believe how I was suckered into my 2 year contract expecting better picture than cable. Now I have not seen many games on NFL Network, but I know the ones on ESPN and ESPN2 look pretty bad compared to my old analog cable feeds.

 

[efbrune]

Well these are just observations since I can't see your display quality in real life, BUT RF (aka coax/RG6) is a huge no-no for PQ and I would think 7' and 10' are too close to a display even that small. Also watching a SD program on a HD display can exacerbate a PQ issue.

HDTV "connected via A/V cables" ?? Does this mean composite cables? I am thinking there may be some small setup issues that can be tweaked in this setup.

No it does not mean composite cables. The satellite receiver does not have composite outputs, only A/V ouputs.

With all due respect, how can the setup be tweaked when there is no other way to connect the TV to the satellite receiver? Also, if I set more than 10 feet from the screen I can not see the football! I think your suggestion is unreasonable! All other programming looks good and has good picture quality with the current setup. How do you explain that?

 

[charper1]

A/V is not a connection type.

You can have any of these below as possible connections depending on your make and model of receiver; RF (coax) should never be used unless its all you have on your TV, in which case PQ isn't a real issue. Upgrade to a display with higher quality cconnections if PQ is an issue. I have not seen a sat receiver that doesn't have composite outputs. Also, don't expect great PQ results using a SD sat receiver on a HD display.

HDMI
DVI
Component
S-video
Composite
RF (coax)

 

[efbrune]

A/V is not a connection type.

You can have any of these below as possible connections depending on your make and model of receiver; RF (coax) should never be used unless its all you have on your TV, in which case PQ isn't a real issue. Upgrade to a display will higher qualityonnections if PQ is an issue. I have not seen a sat receiver that doesn't have composite outputs.

HDMI
DVI
Component
S-video
Composite
RF (coax)

I'm sorry but you are mistaken. My satellite receiver has A/V outputs on it. I will spell it out for you. There are three female phono jacks on the back of my receiver. One is yellow, one is white and one is red. The yellow jack is the video and the white and red are the audio.

 

[efbrune]

RF (coax) should never be used unless its all you have on your TV, in which case PQ isn't a real issue.

That is an ignorant statement! Just think what your are saying.

 

[charper1]

Happy to inform you that is the composite connection. And this is a composite cable.

That is an ignorant statement! Just think what your are saying.

EDIT: Dude, I am trying to help you and you really need to lose your attitude; I am beginning to think you have no idea what you are talking about. That coax is the worse possible connection you can use regarding picture quality compared to s-video, component, etc. Live with what you got I am done trying to nicely help with your asinine wisecracks.

 

[efbrune]

Happy to inform you that is the composite connection. And this is a composite cable.

Then my HDTV is connected via the composite cable.

A composite cable and a A/V cable is commonly used as an interchangeable term.

Sorry, I confused composite with component. I apologize and ask for your forgiveness!

Will you please forgive me!!! Please! Please! please!

 

[efbrune]

Dear Charper1,

Actually I'm not looking for or wanting your help. I'm simply stating a fact that the picture quality of the NFL Network live SD broadcast is extremely poor. And, it is not a watchable program.

You may want to disagree, but that does not change the facts.

 

[pro96]

Did I mention that the NFL games looked AWESOME on channel 95?

How did it look that good? Using HDMI of course from HR20 to Plasma, nuff said.

 

[efbrune]

Did I mention that the NFL games looked AWESOME on channel 95?

How did it look that good? Using HDMI of course from HR20 to Plasma, nuff said.

I for one believe you!

 

[jaylvee]

The fact still remains that SD quality sucks on ST. I have the HR20 and Sony 55 XSRD connected via HDMI connections and the wide shots are terrible. Unfortunately, I have not had Comcast cable for a while so I have nothing to compare to.