Why does FOX HD look the best out off all the hd channels

[RobertsD]

As with others in this thread, with my locals, NBC looks the worst. FOX, CW, ABC and CBS all look great. NBC is not terrible, but you can definantly tell it doesn't look as good as the others.

Keep in mind, this is all OTA for me.

 

[ncted]

Read the stream
Last I heard MPEG4 was still under test
We don't use Turbo 8PSK much and that equipment is in the truck that is headed to the next MNF location.

How does one read a stream off a DISH transponder? If mpeg4 was still under test, how is it recordings off the satellite take up significantly less space than ones for the same broadcast OTA while looking as good or better? (how DO they do that anyway?) I thought Charlie said all the HD channels were mpeg4 now, even if a few obviously are not? Certainly all the HD locals are supposed to be.

My E* HD locals look excellent compared to OTA. In some cases, LIL NBC looks better than OTA NBC, like they are doing something to clean up the image. CBS, FOX, and ABC all look top notch though over both.

Ted

 

[digiblur]

Read the stream
Last I heard MPEG4 was still under test
We don't use Turbo 8PSK much and that equipment is in the truck that is headed to the next MNF location.

They use Turbo 8PSK a lot actually....for all HD. And all the HD is true MPEG4, there's no ViP MPEG2 left.

 

[yardline]

I also agree that the NBC and CBS fast panning shots looks pixilated, but on football, when the camera is focused on the presnap, they look better and sharper than FOX does. This is all based on OTA viewed through my 622.

 

[allargon]

I also agree that the NBC and CBS fast panning shots looks pixilated, but on football, when the camera is focused on the presnap, they look better and sharper than FOX does. This is all based on OTA viewed through my 622.

Could it be that the progressive nature of the 720p looks better than the interlaced 1080i NBC/CBS since your display doesn't have to deinterlace the 720p first.

I get ghosting and pixelation over OTA 1080i (my local ABC affiliate does 1080i not 720p) on my cheap LCD, but none of that on my 1080p display.

National broadcasts from CBS to me look the best. NBC sports look the worst. Both are 1080i.

Honestly, I think it's all (except NBC sports) relative to your local affiliate.

 

[Drone35]

Fox HD is 720p and CBS is 1080i this is why Fox looks better with motion shots! Don't know what NBC is but seems their not wanting to spend the money on quality HD equipment! Come on NBC open up those pockets!

 

[Muckrak3r]

The Fedex cup really was a horrific joke. I estimate the SD/HD camera ratio was 50/50. That's just wrong. Almost all the shots behind a guy teeing off were SD and they really looked bad. And that's too bad, b/c if they had been HD it really would have looked great. However, on the HD shots (I have a 1080i CRT) I couldn't believe how great and detailed everything looked. The greens were so detailed, I could see every blade of grass, and ball/spike marks. It was amazing.

I am not quite interested in getting an OTA antenna just to see if the PQ is better or not. I really doubt I will be able to notice an improvement since nearly all the HD channels I get look really really great.

 

[tigershere]

I sure need to 'move' as my locals are the worst channels I have, PQ is the chit and SD

 

[DefDude]

The Fedex cup really was a horrific joke. I estimate the SD/HD camera ratio was 50/50. That's just wrong. Almost all the shots behind a guy teeing off were SD and they really looked bad. And that's too bad, b/c if they had been HD it really would have looked great. However, on the HD shots (I have a 1080i CRT) I couldn't believe how great and detailed everything looked. The greens were so detailed, I could see every blade of grass, and ball/spike marks. It was amazing.

I am not quite interested in getting an OTA antenna just to see if the PQ is better or not. I really doubt I will be able to notice an improvement since nearly all the HD channels I get look really really great.

I agree that the detail is fantastic 'I also have all sony crt's 2 xbr34's and 2 hs36 550's" but I watched the replay last night of the final round on UNIHD and could not find a single shot that did not have a least a halo around everybody's white shirt even the close-up interveiws had it even though everthing else was crystal clear so something besides the camera's are out of whack maybe has something to do with their system not being able to handle a large volume of info such as the wide shots in both golf and football when everthing is moving. we could start calling it "NBCHD LITE" because it is not 1080. you don't see any of that crap on NFLHD unless it's a rebroadcast of nbc. I have ota because I want the 3rd tuner but I think there will not be a significant difference but I have no way to compare since my locals are not HD, but before the mpeg 4 I could see a crisper pic on my locals as compared to some voom stuff, I'll see if we ever get local hd in my area.

 

[HD921]

Bush, Demanded that FOX have the best picture.

 

[ncted]

The reasons to use OTA:

1. No HD LIL over the dish.
2. Use the 3rd tuner on your 622/722.
3. Fail-safe in case of rain-fade.

2 and 3 apply in my case.

Ted

 

[allargon]

The reasons to use OTA:

1. No HD LIL over the dish.
2. Use the 3rd tuner on your 622/722.
3. Fail-safe in case of rain-fade.

2 and 3 apply in my case.

Ted

4. OTA full resolution looks better than HD-lite resolution (bit rate is higher, too)

 

[ncted]

4. OTA full resolution looks better than HD-lite resolution (bit rate is higher, too)

Obviously true in some cases. I personally cannot tell the difference on my 46" 1080p Sammy LCD. How does one compare MPEG2 to MPEG4 bit rates? Is it 2:1?

Ted

 

[Tvlman]

(Fox Looking Good Original Post)

First of all, "DO YOU WORK FOR FOX??" You have to be kidding. Fox HD looks the worst of all the NFL games I see every Sunday. NBC and CBS are the best. I'll give you an example. Look at the players in the foreground and then look at the background. There is no detail in the Fox 720p transmission. It blurs out. But every detail in the CBS and NBC broadcast is perfectly clear; the blades of grass, the crowd, officials on the sideline, etc. I am viewing on a new Samsung DLP 56 inch RP and for my money there is no comparison. Fox looks like stretch SD compared to ESPN and the others.

Now movies and TV shows may be another matter. Don't watch TV shows much. As a matter of fact ABC & CBS seem to have the best quality on the filmed TV shows I have seen.

 

[Tyralak]

Bush, Demanded that FOX have the best picture.

How's that tin foil hat working out for ya?

 

[Tyralak]

My local channel FOX53-HD to me has the best HD picture quality from any of the HD channels dish network has.. I dont have a OTA antenna so i cant compare with OTA stuff, but from all the channels, to me, the picture is the best HD ive seen through dish network..

I just find it strange that a local channel looks better then every other hd channel...

I could have sworn I heard something about some FOX affiliates not allowing Dish to carry HD feeds of their stations if Dish insisted on compressing the hell out of it down to HD Lite. Which is why Sacramento doesn't have FOX 40 in HD, but Bay Area FOX 2 is in HD. And FOX Bay Area (Ch 2), BTW looks IDENTICAL to my OTA FOX ch 2. The same can't be said for the other HD locals.

 

[charlesrshell]

The reasons to use OTA:

1. No HD LIL over the dish.
2. Use the 3rd tuner on your 622/722.
3. Fail-safe in case of rain-fade.

2 and 3 apply in my case.

Ted

I agree. I also have basic cable as a backup on an A/B switch if the OTA fails too during a thunderstorm.

 

[goaliebob99]

I could have sworn I heard something about some FOX affiliates not allowing Dish to carry HD feeds of their stations if Dish insisted on compressing the hell out of it down to HD Lite. Which is why Sacramento doesn't have FOX 40 in HD, but Bay Area FOX 2 is in HD. And FOX Bay Area (Ch 2), BTW looks IDENTICAL to my OTA FOX ch 2. The same can't be said for the other HD locals.

No It wasnt about the compresssion as with MPEG 4, The quality of the program isnt being sacraficed. What the negotations was really about was carrage rights. Those fox stations wanted to be payed for carrage of their hd channel where as other stations provided carrage of that channel as apart of there SD channel carrage.

 

[allargon]

(Fox Looking Good Original Post)

First of all, "DO YOU WORK FOR FOX??" You have to be kidding. Fox HD looks the worst of all the NFL games I see every Sunday. NBC and CBS are the best. I'll give you an example. Look at the players in the foreground and then look at the background. There is no detail in the Fox 720p transmission. It blurs out. But every detail in the CBS and NBC broadcast is perfectly clear; the blades of grass, the crowd, officials on the sideline, etc. I am viewing on a new Samsung DLP 56 inch RP and for my money there is no comparison. Fox looks like stretch SD compared to ESPN and the others.

Now movies and TV shows may be another matter. Don't watch TV shows much. As a matter of fact ABC & CBS seem to have the best quality on the filmed TV shows I have seen.

With all due respect, you must have the best NBC (or the worst Fox) affiliate in the country. Everyone (pundits, enthusiasts, joe6pack, ethan merlot, me) except you complains about NBC's broadcasts. It's the national feed they're complaining about, too. NBC's crappy bitrate games look worse than HD-lite ones on the NFL network--seriously. I have friends who don't even qualify to be n00bs w/ cheap LCD sets on cable and OTA that notice. Not all games are in HD (which might have been the issue w/ your Fox affiliate), but NBC's HD games are definitely the worst. (not just MHO)

 

[ncted]

My NBC affiliate is definitely the worst...at everything. I thought they might get better when NBC sold them to MediaGeneral, but alas, no change. I think I read somewhere that they were a distant 4th in the Raleigh DMA.

Ted