I wouldn't even care about them shaving the resolution down a little if by doing so they could deliver enough bits that I didn't see artifacting all the time. Otherwise, why bother?
+1
Personally, I think too much is often made of the the whole "HD-Lite" thing when, IMHO, the bit-starving is what's really compromising the HD PQ on DISH. Like Jim said, I'd gladly shave off a *bit* of horizontal resolution [assuming it's down-rezzed fairly transparently], if we could have cleaner, more artifact-free pictures. Though, truth be told, I'd be lying if I said I wouldn't appreciate the best of both worlds.
In my fantasy world, we'd have only 4-5 HD channels per transponder delivering roughly 7 to 12mbps of the variable MPEG-4 bitrate, instead of the 7-8 channels that we now have crammed up there (and even 9 HD channels in the case of one of the Eastern Arc transponders on 61.5!). A man can dream...can't he...lol?
MGM HD on the Eastern Arc -- which just [probably not] coincidentally happens to be on the aforementioned 9-channel transponder -- is looking particularly rough for wear as of late. Really noticeable macro-motion artifacts during fast movement or medium to fast camera pans, as well as a softness/murkiness to color gradients and a blotchiness to some dark scenes. I'd be afraid to see how *much* they're actually starving that one in terms of bitrate, and frankly, it's unacceptable to me in that it's a premium channel. I've seen the same channel on my buddy's DirecTV setup, and it's no contest, so the problem doesn't lie with MGM themselves. Any reason why DISH can't stick it on one of the EA transponders that still currently houses 7 HD channels? Does that make too much sense, or am I dreaming again?
Oh well, at least it's not juddering horribly like it briefly was a couple of months ago. They did manage to finally get that part right. ; )
BTW...Happy New Year to everyone!
- LR