Satellite HD Resolutions

[gadgtfreek]

I have seen in a few posts where people say native passthru wont work as well as expected due to off the wall resolutions. What I gather from this is the hd resolutions sent down are some version of 1080i.

My question is:

On channels like NatGeo or ESPN that are native 720p, is E* still sending down some version of 1080i or are those coming as 720p?

 

[Hall]

I believe that 720p broadcasts are left untouched, at least on the resolution (bandwidth is a different matter). So, ESPN, FOX, and others are 1280x720p. Channels that are 1080i, which normally equates to 1920x1080i, are in some cases down-res'd. According to this page, http://www.satelliteguys.us/bfg/dish-hd.htm, VOOM channels are 1280x1080i, ala DirecTV HD numbers, MPEG4-HD channels (Food HD, HGTV-HD) are 1440x1080i, and finally, channels like Discovery HD Theatre, the premium HD channels, HDNet, and others are 1920x1080i.

 

[teachsac]

I believe that 720p broadcasts are left untouched, at least on the resolution (bandwidth is a different matter). So, ESPN, FOX, and others are 1280x720p. Channels that are 1080i, which normally equates to 1920x1080i, are in some cases down-res'd. According to this page, http://www.satelliteguys.us/bfg/dish-hd.htm, VOOM channels are 1280x1080i, ala DirecTV HD numbers, MPEG4-HD channels (Food HD, HGTV-HD) are 1440x1080i, and finally, channels like Discovery HD Theatre, the premium HD channels, HDNet, and others are 1920x1080i.

I thought HDNET and HDNET Movies went down to 1440x1080 a while back.

S~

 

[Smith P.]

Sorry, we cant accept your thought as a fact of resolution values;
you should provide results of measues or a link to credible source.

 

[gadgtfreek]

Sorry, we cant accept your thought as a fact of resolution values;
you should provide results of measues or a link to credible source.

:yikes

Thanks guys for the input. Thanks Hall for the link. Im still at a loss then why some think changing the box resolution to 720p on 720p channels is a waste. Reason I asked the question is I thought maybe E* was making the 720p channels 1080i or something.

I guess my feeling is my tv is native 720p, why have the box upconvert 720p to 1080i then have the tv take it back down to 720p, but thats another argument for another day.

I do notice that NatGeoHD looks sharper and less fuzzy with the 622 set to 720p as opposed to 1080i.

 

[KimmiKat]

I noticed the difference in Discovery HD when I switched to Dish. Before I fired Direct, I even did an experiment where I ran a cable from a neighbours house to the room where the TV was at and did a 3 way comparison. Dish and Comcast had a lot better resolution on Discovery HD where Direct had the true HD-Lite.

I believe that 720p broadcasts are left untouched, at least on the resolution (bandwidth is a different matter). So, ESPN, FOX, and others are 1280x720p. Channels that are 1080i, which normally equates to 1920x1080i, are in some cases down-res'd. According to this page, http://www.satelliteguys.us/bfg/dish-hd.htm, VOOM channels are 1280x1080i, ala DirecTV HD numbers, MPEG4-HD channels (Food HD, HGTV-HD) are 1440x1080i, and finally, channels like Discovery HD Theatre, the premium HD channels, HDNet, and others are 1920x1080i.

 

[gadgtfreek]

I noticed the difference in Discovery HD when I switched to Dish. Before I fired Direct, I even did an experiment where I ran a cable from a neighbours house to the room where the TV was at and did a 3 way comparison. Dish and Comcast had a lot better resolution on Discovery HD where Direct had the true HD-Lite.

While watching Plan Earth on D* the pixelation was horrible at times, I made the decision to netflix it for my blu ray player. I watched an episode the other day on E* and there was not any pixelation. I cannot say if this is means anything, just know there was no pixelation on E*, but there could have not been any pixelation on D* at the same time.

 

[teachsac]

Sorry, we cant accept your thought as a fact of resolution values;
you should provide results of measues or a link to credible source.

http://www.satelliteguys.us/showthread.php?t=73555&highlight=HDNET

That was my question. I don't recall reading anything that it was ever restored to its original glory. Who can test the resolution and bitrate.

S~

 

[Smith P.]

OK then, the bit rate measure is not a problem, but resolution; we need a help from HDTVFanAtic.