Just got some time to do another side by side MPEG4 HD PQ comparison between E* and D*. I have done two previously so I will not waste time to describe the equipment used in my tests:
http://www.satelliteguys.us/dish-ne.../144153-my-second-impression-e-hd-v-d-hd.html
This time I have good news and bad news for E* HD subs. E*'s MPEG4 HDs are now clearly downrezzed. I know there were claims that the downrezz of E* MPEG4 HD had been going on for some time, but I did not notice any resolution difference between E* and D* until now. In the two previous tests I could not see resolution difference even in very close inspections.
On the flip side, the over-compression related motion artifacts and dark background depth issue are now much less visible, to the extent that sometimes they can even be a little less than D*'s. Not that D* looked bad on the motion related issues.
Now with less resolution, motion artifacts can be less visible as a result. But that is not the ideal treatment to people with 1080p large screen panels. For those with 720p panels, the end result could be an improvement, because the downrezz will be almost non-detectable.
I said "almost" because when I closely inspected (looking from less than two feet away) one MPEG4 720p native channel (The History Channel HD), the E* resolution seemed even minutely less than the same channel on D*.
The bad news is this time the downrezz is not limited to just the standard national HDs, but to all premium movie HDs.
Since I do watch movies sitting about 7' from the TV to get the theater effect, the lowered resolution, while still not visible to untold eyes, is now noticeable to me since I already know it is there. In that context I am disappointed because I have just added the $29.99 E* HD pack a week ago with three months of free HBO/SHO and $0.01/year Cinemax.
As bad as it may sound, keep in mind that my tests had always been done sitting 5' from the 50" 1080p plasma panel. My causal viewing from this penal is about 12', at that distance I still cannot detect any real difference between E* and D*.
I am not entirely surprised though, because we knew E* had little bandwith left to add more new HDs. If the latest downrezz is an indication they are trying to squeeze out more room to add more new HDs, I have no problem with that, because we need E* to continue to put pressure on D*.
I hope though in the future when E* finally has more BW to spare, they will bring back the native HD resolutions, which was exactly what D* had done.