MPEG4 HD Channels - now lower quality?

[Ronnie-]

Sorry, dont believe it its D's fault and never will.


Something is defective. Im not saying you are a liar, but I just dont think we know the whole story. Ive yet to see ONE person claim Cable looks better than D*. The fact your claiming Dish looks better, which hasnt in awhile, makes me wonder.

I agree, if he just said cable, I would consider it as a possibility. Cable varies so much from region to region. Even then, I would doubt that it blows the doors off of either. But putting dish up above at this point makes me wonder the set up and conditions. Something seems off somewhere (not saying it is the poster)

 

[FlyingJ]

I agree, if he just said cable, I would consider it as a possibility. Cable varies so much from region to region. Even then, I would doubt that it blows the doors off of either. But putting dish up above at this point makes me wonder the set up and conditions. Something seems off somewhere (not saying it is the poster)

I will. Either he is going by the past...like last year for instance, or something ain't right.

 

[agregjones]

OP, how sure of your dish alignment are you?

 

[dirtydog]

No way cable or dish is better cable is terrible and so are the dvrs the give you.

 

[Jimbo]

No way cable or dish is better cable is terrible and so are the dvrs the give you.

This is very subjective to who's cable you have and where you are, the local cable here is actually pretty good.

Jimbo

 

[aztracker]

When I lived in Houston 6 months ago and had Comcast, the HD quality was decent.

Here in Phoenix, I get some clear QUAM channels that pass through my Cox connection that I use only for internet. Most of those channels are our local affiliates and the quality is really really really bad. So much so that I feel for the Cox subscribers who don't know any better and think this is what HD is all about.

 

[guffy1]

I just came back to D* about 6 weeks ago, been pretty impressed with the MPEG-4 channels for the most part. When I do see see pixelation/motion artifacting I pretty much chalk it up to bad source material. MPEG-2 channels are hideous though! lol

Anyways, just a few days ago I decided to take advantage of the HDExtra promotion and signed up for that. I see massive pixelation/artifacting on Smithsonian HD everytime I watch something on there. Im talking really bad, like worse than the MPEG-2 channels bad. Is Smithsonian known to have these issues with others? Do they send out bad source material?

 

[Jimbo]

I just came back to D* about 6 weeks ago, been pretty impressed with the MPEG-4 channels for the most part. When I do see see pixelation/motion artifacting I pretty much chalk it up to bad source material. MPEG-2 channels are hideous though! lol

Anyways, just a few days ago I decided to take advantage of the HDExtra promotion and signed up for that. I see massive pixelation/artifacting on Smithsonian HD everytime I watch something on there. Im talking really bad, like worse than the MPEG-2 channels bad. Is Smithsonian known to have these issues with others? Do they send out bad source material?

I only had Smithsonian when it first came out, the channel was very good then, but thats been awhile.
Can you check your signal strength on that channel ?

Jimbo

 

[guffy1]

I only had Smithsonian when it first came out, they channel was very good then, but thats been awhile.
Can you check your signal strength on that channel ?

Jimbo

I dont know how to tell what transponder/satt that channel is on. Let me know and I will check. Tx

 

[Jimbo]

I dont know how to tell what transponder/satt that channel is on. Let me know and I will check. Tx

I will look for it, the info is here on the site somewhere !

Jimbo

 

[Jimbo]

Guffy,
I think it was one of the first mpeg4 channels, before it was relegated to the Extra package.
If thats the case it would be on the 103 sat.

You'll have to check it under normal conditions and also when you start to have trouble with it.

If you just check it when it's working fine, it will probably be fine.
See what your SS is currently first.

Jimbo

 

[guffy1]

Guffy,
I think it was one of the first mpeg4 channels, before it was relegated to the Extra package.
If thats the case it would be on the 103 sat.

You'll have to check it under normal conditions and also when you start to have trouble with it.

If you just check it when it's working fine, it will probably be fine.
See what your SS is currently first.
Jimbo

Yeah I looked over at Lyngsat and it is on 103, but I dont know what transponder, so I really cant check it.

I did go and check all transponders on 103, but when I go to the signal test screen it shows 103(s), and 103(c). Im not sure what this means but on 103(s) Im showing 4 active transonders with signals of 80,83, 32, 63. Im assuming these are probably 4 spotbeams though.

On 103(c) Im showing 16 active transonders ranging from 75 to 90, with an average of about 83 or so.

If someone knows of a list that shows what channels are on what transponders could you please link me to it? Tx

Also, Jimbo, I always see mass artifacting on Smithsonian when I watch it. I was under the impression that signal strenght did not cause artifacting and did not affect picture quality.

 

[Jimbo]

Yeah I looked over at Lyngsat and it is on 103, but I dont know what transponder, so I really cant check it.

I did go and check all transponders on 103, but when I go to the signal test screen it shows 103(s), and 103(c). Im not sure what this means but on 103(s) Im showing 4 active transonders with signals of 80,83, 32, 63. Im assuming these are probably 4 spotbeams though.

On 103(c) Im showing 16 active transonders ranging from 75 to 90, with an average of about 83 or so.

If someone knows of a list that shows what channels are on what transponders could you please link me to it? Tx

Also, Jimbo, I always see mass artifacting on Smithsonian when I watch it. I was under the impression that signal strenght did not cause artifacting and did not affect picture quality.

Guffy,
The C and S stand for Conus and Spot Beam as you suspected.
Smithsonian will be on the C , the signals you have on the s are for your locals, maybe not yours but those in the area, I'm not sure if you are getting your locals from D* or not.
The locals are normally on Spotbeam transponders .

Unfortunetly, the listing I have showing transponers and channels, does not have Smithsonian listed on it, I know, it's quite old now.
Someone here will be able to tell us what transponder it's on

Jimbo

 

[guffy1]

Guffy,
The C and S stand for Conus and Spot Beam as you suspected.
Smithsonian will be on the C , the signals you have on the s are for your locals, maybe not yours but those in the area, I'm not sure if you are getting your locals from D* or not.
The locals are normally on Spotbeam transponders .

Unfortunetly, the listing I have showing transponers and channels, does not have Smithsonian listed on it, I know, it's quite old now.
Someone here will be able to tell us what transponder it's on

Jimbo

Well, I would say that all the transponders on 103(c) are at an acceptable level, the lowest being 79. What Im seeing doesent look like signal issues to me at all.

 

[Madtown HD Junkie]

This is very subjective to who's cable you have and where you are, the local cable here is actually pretty good.

Jimbo

Charter is horrible in Madison.

 

[Brewer4]

Didn't really read thread. I dont get much chance to watch HD but I haven't noticed any degradation in quality.

 

[Jimbo]

Well, I would say that all the transponders on 103(c) are at an acceptable level, the lowest being 79. What Im seeing doesent look like signal issues to me at all.

79 looks to be ok, at least for normal weather.