True HD shows vs bad upconverts/stretch jobs..

[nathan118]

Last new question for today, I promise! I'm on a 722.

I'm watching John and Kate Plus 8 on TLC HD, and the framerate is driving me nuts. Horizontal pans are choppy. When I pause it and hit forward so it does a 1/15th advance, it will appear progressive, but every now and then there will be interlacing artifacts. Then it switches to a commercial, and it's super smooth (like a Friday the 13th preview). Are the production values on some of these shows just really poor? Does anyone else see what I'm seeing?

This brings me to my second question. As I set up my favorites list, I'm starting to realize I can't just pick all the HD versions, because some of the stations screw with aspect ratios. I was watching something on the food network which wasn't filmed in HD, but on the HD channel they had done a crappy partial zoom. Instead of showing it 4:3, they had stretched, but the crappy kind where it stretches the sides more than the center, and it's like watching something through a funhouse mirror. Has anyone come up with a list of sorts for what HD channels don't screw things up? Like I noticed Bravo HD was showing Housewives of Orange County in 4:3, and it looked better than the standard version...no zooming or headache inducing stretching. If BravoHD doesn't screw with things, then I'll just remove the SD version from my favorites. Make sense?

Thanks again!

 

[nathan118]

I'm looking at 17 Kids and Counting now, and it's just like John and Kate +8.

If I pause, and then use the skip fwd button to step through a horizontal pan, I get a repeated frame every 4 frames. So it would be like this:

ABCDDABCDDABCDD

So every fourth frame I would hit skip fwd, and the frame wouldn't even change. I've tried 720p and 1080i out, and it doesn't matter. Just want to make sure this is TLC's fault and not a problem with my install or box.

 

[KAB]

No problem with your receiver. Another example of a fake HD channel...like A&E and History.

 

[transformers27]

The repeated frame is normal for non-live shows. Live events should have all new frames--no repeated frames. VHS tape does the same thing, but I think it repeats every 5th frame instead every 4th frame for non-live shows.

 

[nathan118]

The repeated frame is normal for non-live shows. Live events should have all new frames--no repeated frames. VHS tape does the same thing, but I think it repeats every 5th frame instead every 4th frame for non-live shows.

I don't think it's normal. HGTV HD looks good even though most of their stuff isn't shot in HD. The framerate is smooth and consistent though, and there are no repeated frames. Several things I've watched on both TLC and Discovery suffer from a terrible framerate. It reminds me of the 24p mode on many consumer HD cams where it's wrapped in 60i. The horizontal pans are nausea inducing.

A little blur from being shot in SD is better than an unwatchable framerate. I know I'm more picky about this than most people, but I just want to make sure there is nothing wrong with my install and 722.