Voom Adds More! (WealthTVHD, Fine Living, DIY,..)

[shanewalker]

All this talk of compression and what Voom does to the signals, could someone explain, caveats that it was some slam by an E* CSR to try and keep me from cancelling my 'plan B' install, what it means when "Voom upconverts their HD"?

I've had Voom for just three days now, and I do have to say that the quality from SD to HD per channel seems to be all over the map at this point. HDNews looks awesome, so do most of the HD Originals (even "Thunderbirds"), but even premiums like StarzHD and HBOHD had compression/transition artifacting and a somewhat 'soft' quality. What's the story?

 

[David Dietzel]

Scott:

When you settle down from your company's move and have some free time, would you please look over this thread carefully as I suspect you'll find many posts that clearly identify a solid candidate for the THREE DAY VACATION prize package. Please consider presenting the award as soon as possible. Thank-you.

 

[David Dietzel]

Great news!

The four new channels are a terrific addition to the VOOM lineup and let me say to all who work at VOOM and read this forum: THANK-YOU! YOU'RE EFFORTS ARE APPRECIATED!

And, I must say, although I wish the channels were part of the basic packag I'll get over it. VOOM is trying to beef up the attractiveness of VaVaVOOM and I really don't blame them. The pricing on VaVaVOOM is very fair for its content. As soon as the VOOM DVR is out, I'll cancel Charter (they have a HD-DVR) and upgrade to VaVaVOOM.

Regarding overall VOOM PQ, the new encoders really screwed it up initially. Today is the first day I've had a chance to sit down and watch VOOM in about a week (I've been working alot) and I can unequivocally state that the PQ has improved significantly since the encoders were first activated. Is the PQ as good as it was before the new encoders? In general, not quite, but it's still as good or better than Dish and Charter. I'm sure the VOOM engineers will continue to work toward making the PQ the best it can be. Sci-Fi, CNN, CNBC, SPIKE, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC, FX and many other SD channels now look pretty good.

 

[dlm10541]

Thank you for a sane post.

I too believe the PQis at least close to being back to prior levels. I am curious does anyone know if Voom tweeks the PQ as prime time gets close. I have noticed this for years on cable where the quality is much better at night than in the afternoon

 

[DarrellP]

I have all the services and can compare them side by side.

Tim, if this is true, how can you even begin to think Voom is better than Dish? For an easy comparison check out Smart Travels on HDNET then look at it on Equator, there is no comparison, Dish has the "through the window, 3D effect) and Voom is skeeter/pixelationville. Case closed.

 

[vurbano]

Tim, if this is true, how can you even begin to think Voom is better than Dish? For an easy comparison check out Smart Travels on HDNET then look at it on Equator, there is no comparison, Dish has the "through the window, 3D effect) and Voom is skeeter/pixelationville. Case closed.

Thankyou Darrell for a sane post finally.........

Im interested to know this too. The channels on Voom ESPNHD, SHOHD, HBOHD, DISCHD TNTHD that coexist on both systems are better on Voom? This is the first time I have ever heard this. Dish transmits these at 19 mbps dont they?

 

[shanewalker]

Please don't misinterpret my inquiry on PQ as trolling, I'm really, really excited about my new Voom service. I've already marked out the movies I'm looking forward to watching and was just remarking on both what my eyes were telling me and what I've read scattered amongst various threads here and over at AVS. I know Voom engineers are working hard and there's alot going on and pressure on top of it, so take it only as inquiry. I hope things do get locked down/nailed PQ-wise, but regardless, it is quite thrilling to watch them keep adding channels (my wife was very pleased to hear BBCAmerica was added--but it's PQ wasn't all that good, the impetus for my post)! The new encoders and the implied preparation for switching satellites/compression schemes will take some working on...and I appreciate the hard work and commitment folks are putting in. I'm hoping to be in this with you all for the long haul .

 

[Ronald_Jeremy]

Well I watched a little bit of WealthHD during lunch and I must say the PQ was impeccable. Until something started moving and then the quality went down the tubes. It sucked monkey balls.

The show I watched was Wealth Aviation. The camera would be showing a plane in the hangar and the PQ was excellent. The chick that hosts the show is hot!!! Then it would do a quick pan to another plane and the PQ would go to near SD quality. Same when they would box a picture with a lot of graphics moving around it. This doesn't happen on other stations to me so I must assume that it is feed.

Hope it improves. It looks like there is some good content on the channel.

 

[Walter L.]

Great news!

Regarding overall VOOM PQ, the new encoders really screwed it up initially. Today is the first day I've had a chance to sit down and watch VOOM in about a week (I've been working alot) and I can unequivocally state that the PQ has improved significantly since the encoders were first activated. Is the PQ as good as it was before the new encoders? In general, not quite, but it's still as good or better than Dish and Charter. I'm sure the VOOM engineers will continue to work toward making the PQ the best it can be. Sci-Fi, CNN, CNBC, SPIKE, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC, FX and many other SD channels now look pretty good.

David:
I agree with you in that PQ today is better than day-1, when the new harmonic encoders were installed. However, I don't think that they're yet to the level it was before the new encoders. They still have a long way to go. According to Scott, Harmonic engineers are still on-site working with VOOM on the encoder tweaking.
How many of the old-timers remember the PQ crisis we had about 1-year ago? At that time, it took about 1 month but it was finally fixed. I don't see why the outcome would be different this time, especially with all the bitching that we do in this forum. I just hope they can fix it faster this time.

 

[vurbano]

David:
I agree with you in that PQ today is better than day-1, when the new harmonic encoders were installed. However, I don't think that they're yet to the level it was before the new encoders. According to Scott, Harmonic engineers are still on-site working with VOOM on the encoder tweaking.
How many of the old-timers remember the PQ crisis we had about 1-year ago? At that time it took about 1 month but it was fixed. I don't see why the outcome would it be different this time.

I remember the fiasco a year ago, in February or March after they added Bravohd or tnthd I think. Sean Mota even threatened to quit. Picture quality for Voom was at its best just before that happened. I dont think weve approached it since. But, nevertheless DiscoveryHD looked great to me last night during the Mantis show. Better than it has in a long time.

 

[Walter L.]

I remember the fiasco a year ago, in February or March after they added Bravohd or tnthd I think. Sean Mota even threatened to quit. DiscoveryHD look great to me last night during the Mantis show. Better than it has in a long time.

vurbano: I'm also seen those sporadic times when PQ looks better than ever before. During the weekend I watched "The Canadian Rivers" on DiscoveryHD and PQ was razor-sharp.
Those sporadic incidents is what tells me that they must be on the right track.

 

[vurbano]

vurbano: I'm also seen those sporadic times when PQ looks better than ever before. During the weekend I watched "The Canadian Rivers" on DiscoveryHD and PQ was razor-sharp.
Those sporadic incidents is what tells me that they must be on the right track.

I dont think the track exists on Rainbow1 but it does on 2

 

[timfouts]

Tim, if this is true, how can you even begin to think Voom is better than Dish? For an easy comparison check out Smart Travels on HDNET then look at it on Equator, there is no comparison, Dish has the "through the window, 3D effect) and Voom is skeeter/pixelationville. Case closed.

Hold it! Comparing a program is not the same. The same program on 2 analog ota's do not even look the same. It all depends on how the engineers set it up. Compare channels.

HDnet is the exception. It is not on Voom and it cannot be compared. I agree with you that HDnet looks phenomenal and there is no comparison. That's why I subscribe to the hd package just so I can watch that one channel. What I am comparing and looking at is one channel, the same channel, Discovery HD on C-band, Voom, Directv and Dish. This is all based on before the new encoders. C-band is the king. It has to be, it's the original transmission. With my 20/15 eyes the order is this way: Voom, followed by Directv and Dish tied. I showed it all to my tv repair guy. I didn't tell him what was what. He said the same thing. I have some friends over in the 4DTV forum. They have said the same thing.

I am not defending Voom because I am also disgusted with the current PQ. I am not optimistic that the PQ will get back to what it was before, I hope I'm wrong.

Do you think comparing the same channel is a more equitable comparison?

 

[Sean Mota]

Guys,

I do not have a problem if you want to discuss the Picture Quality of Wealth TV HD or any channel that was launched today. It is another thing to start this argument about other channels in the same thread. Please Please keep out of this thread and start your own thread if you want to discuss PQ comparison(s) and whatever other PQ issues unrelated to these new channels. Others would like to see the good information and not go through pages of arguments related to other channels.

Please do like I did and start your own thread about PQ that is not related to these channels. Thank you and we'll appreciate the efforts. If this continue, we will start deleting non-related posts without warning. We are all very busy and do not have time to go through numerous posts trying to clean the mess. I hope you all undertand. Thanks again.

 

[lurch4711]

In reference to the consideration of DIY as a "premium channel":

It is with Dish Network - it is only in the top package there.

According to the Dish website, it is in their "Top 180" pack, not their "America's Everything Pack," the latter of which would be the same as the VaVaVoom package. So not their top package. Their top package only adds on the commercial-free premium channels (HBO, etc). You can still get channels such as DIY, History International, Discovery Kids, Fox Movie Channel, Discovery Home, Science, Discovery Times at their 47.99 tier. And the point is, for potential new customers (which Voom will need), these channels may be important to them. I really doubt many people outside of Voom marketing view these as exactly the same as HBO, etc, so will be a near-impossible sale. This is why other companies don't place them in the highest priced package which typically include adding just the premium movie channels (the way VaVaVoom was until very recently). Unless new customers are attracted to the Voom HD originals, even creating a new tier with an additional charge on top of the current base price (of $49.90) for channels that are widely available from the competition for less than Voom's base price may not be wise for expansion. Although to the best of my knowledge, Voom has not stated they are planning to create another tier (despite logic dictating they probably should).

 

[GreatMac]

Tim, if this is true, how can you even begin to think Voom is better than Dish? For an easy comparison check out Smart Travels on HDNET then look at it on Equator, there is no comparison, Dish has the "through the window, 3D effect) and Voom is skeeter/pixelationville. Case closed.

Yep, this 9ft. thing must be pretty murky if you think Dish is better. There is a reason why I left Dish after 7 years: Voom has better PQ. And better exclusive programming.

Now case is closed

 

[deeann]

Just testing the lag time on posts showing to this thread- will delete.

 

[DarrellP]

No comment or Sean will delete us, now go watch some TV for crying out loud.

 

[vurbano]

Well Tim and company, you need to go debunk BFG then http://www.satelliteguys.us/showthread.php?p=410864#post410864

All of these different opinions are driving me up the wall.

 

[vinnyv07]

I just came home from my many hours at work and found out about the new ch's. Im happy but a little disappointed that they are in Va VA VOOM . But I'll live without the ch's because Im paying for Directv and cant afford to upgrade. Im considering getting rid of Directv all together but I really want April to come and go on a positive note for VOOM. We will see soon enough...but things look great right now. On with the DVR!!! My one question is how in DIY a upgrade ch? Strange.....I can see WealthHD being an upgrade ch but DIY?