Native resolution of incoming signal and bitrate

[goaliebob99]

Is there some sort of plugin that will display the bitrate of a incoming signal, and the resolution of it? I'm wanting the resolution part more than the bitrate but both would be very nice. I have the resolution of my AZbox set to 1080P but it would be nice to know if a recived signal is in HD, even when its broadcasted as 16:9, but shows 4:3 W/ BLACK BARS on the side.

It's hard to tell if you dont see the extra stuff on the side, or even if its 4:3 in anamorphic without having something to tell you what your reciving.

 

[jsattv]

K9SAT not sure if this is what your looking for, but there are some HDNet Channels on 99.0W (1, 7, &11) on C Band, and on 125.0W on KU Band that when they are not showing TV Programming - they broadcast a Screen showing something like 720P or 720i showing what resolution they are broadcasting at, there's also an annoying high pitch squealing sound accompaning that screen. Also I find that it's usually pretty easy to tell when your seeing HD just from the superior quality, detail, and clarity compared to the non HD channels.

Also I have noticed with AZbox tuned to HD channels the resolution & clarity is even more detailed and clear than on my Bell 9200 Subscription Receiver. But with AZbox the HDMI Cable works, while with my 5 year old Bell 9200 Rx only Component Video cables will work.

 

[Cham]

The test card display doesn't really mean much, the signal could be down converted or modified, or the wrong test card pattern. I would like to see resolution and bit rates as well on the AzBox. Many of the PCI/USB cards have this info available via their software, and some work on Linux as well I believe, so it should be possible.

Don't think Bell or the other providers can provide anything higher than 720i but maybe I am wrong. I have a 9241 from Bell and it is disappointing to watch after watching some of the FTA HD channels on the AzBox.
-C.

 

[mr3p]

A plug-in which displays on screen the properties of the feed/channel you are watching would be cool but I haven't heard of it if it exists for factory firmware.

 

[jsattv]

Cham, not sure I would agree that the Bell 9200 HD Channels are disappointing, the Sports Channels for Hockey, Football, & Curling, are okay, and when HDnet was available it was great especially for the Sunday Night Concerts. Oasis and Treasure HD are pretty clear as well. The differences from the 2 Boxes are not much but the AZbox is a bit clearer, it wins especially on PBS HD reception, which can be compared from the feeds on 125.0W. The type of HDTV we have likely also comes into play especially if it has THX, but this is for another discussion Forum.

 

[hd fan]

Bell TV re-format everything to 720p these days but thecnically they could broadcast in native format either 720p or 1080i depending on the channel. They choose to do so to save bandwith and like any pay tv provider they are bitrate hungry. Or are we the consumers, TV channels quantity hungry? so forces them to squeeze them with the resulting degraded picture quality. Bell TV BTW does an excellent job in my opinion but they have no other choice , TP bandwith is limited and the channel count seems unlimited for the consumer , we want more , and yes we get more but with less quality. Even OTA digital HD channels look better than Bell TV despite their limited 6 Mhz bandwith (19.42 Mbps bitrate I think).

It is not fair to compare what we get FTA via Satellite specially speciall event feeds to what the average consumer gets via pay tv providers. There is no way they can match that, even their TP on their birds are only 27 Mhz while it is typical that a C/Ku bird has 36 Mhz transponders.

 

[Cham]

Suppose disappointing is the wrong term... As HDfan indicates there is a bandwidth shortage making it difficult to compare. The DBS providers do a great job of providing volume, but at the expense of some quality. 10 years ago I would have been amazed at the picture quality from channels like Oasis and the Discovery HD(s). After watching FTA HD I am somewhat used to the high resolution. If the Bell service wasn't so expensive I would not really give quality much thought. I pay for a few extra channels but 80% of the standard channels I never watch which doesn't help. I can't get good signals from some of the local stations so the subscription is almost necessary. Maybe when they switch to digital...

 

[jsattv]

Suppose disappointing is the wrong term... As HDfan indicates there is a bandwidth shortage making it difficult to compare. The DBS providers do a great job of providing volume, but at the expense of some quality. 10 years ago I would have been amazed at the picture quality from channels like Oasis and the Discovery HD(s). After watching FTA HD I am somewhat used to the high resolution. If the Bell service wasn't so expensive I would not really give quality much thought. I pay for a few extra channels but 80% of the standard channels I never watch which doesn't help. I can't get good signals from some of the local stations so the subscription is almost necessary. Maybe when they switch to digital...

Global TV now has Digital HD available for Off The Air viewing in Manitoba, and its a strong signal. All that is needed is to connect a TV Antenna to your 8VSB coax input on your Bell Receiver, Scan it in, and you can view it in crystal clear HD. It comes in as Channel 009-01 and 009-02.