Why doesn't E* up the resolution on ScFi to 720x480?

[Paradox-SJ]

Why doesn't E* up the resolution on ScFi to 720x480 to better compete with D*?

With ScFi being the most wanted HD channel, I was thinking...

If they WON'T give us ScFi-HD can they at least up the resolution on what they are giving us so it is watchable on a HD dispaly?

I dont think that is asking to much...do you?

What prevents them from upping the res to its maximum?

E*...toss us a frikin bone why-dont-cha....

And at the very least....do it for Razor on the 24th

 

[ltownsend]

That would be AWWWW-SOME!!!

 

[yardline]

If they scale it up it just wastes bandwidth. Your Dish receiver or your TV can do the same job.

 

[Jim S.]

You can't scale up information that isn't there in the first place. I don't know whether it's because so many of their programs have dark backgrounds or what, but Sci-Fi is the crappiest-looking channel I ever watch on Dish, other than my locals.

 

[Paradox-SJ]

If they scale it up it just wastes bandwidth. Your Dish receiver or your TV can do the same job.

Wrong! Upscaled crap is still crap.

In the old days SD material looked just about as good as DVD back before they dwn resze'd bit starved and over compressed.

All 3 are being done to all channels so they can fit more in the system. Maximizing the available bandwith...

 

[jerryez]

What has happemed to the HD King, have they died.

 

[Tom Bombadil]

I've been saying this for at least 5 years now, in various forums. Have probably posted it in Sat Guys at least 10 times.

It would been a nice counterstrike to not having Sci-Fi HD.

But the downside for E* is that it would have demonstrated how badly they were mangling all of the other SD channels.

 

[Jhon69]

What has happemed to the HD King, have they died.

Yep!.D* buried him.

 

[Paradox-SJ]

anyone know the email address for the E* engineering department....

maybe we can 'bribe' someone to do it

 

[WhitePolarBear]

Wrong! Upscaled crap is still crap.

In the old days SD material looked just about as good as DVD back before they dwn resze'd bit starved and over compressed.

All 3 are being done to all channels so they can fit more in the system. Maximizing the available bandwith...

How many channels do we actually watch? Honestly. I'd rather to have the best PQ available (less comprression) for my favorite programs. I don't they claim they offer 250 + channels to suit everone's needs. But please keep the high compression to the shopping network channels only.

BTW, what's the boardcast format (resolution for Dish's SD)? I thought it is 720X480 like DVD but you guys make me question it now.

 

[TheKrell]

Not even close! SD is 544 X 480i.

 

[digiblur]

At least it isn't 480x480 like DirecTV

 

[WhitePolarBear]

Not even close! SD is 544 X 480i.

Strange. If they are true 4:3 ratio, it should be 640X480, shouldn't it?

That also means when for the broadcast with 16:9 ratio (like some shows on USA, NBC, etc.), we are getting 640*360 or 544*306.

 

[Tom Bombadil]

Not even close! SD is 544 X 480i.

And on top of the lowered resolution, it is significantly compressed vs what you normally get from a DVD.

Watch a Stargate SG-1 episode on DVD (but not from their Season 1 or 2 DVDs) vs on E*'s Sci-Fi and you will see a huge difference in picture quality, especially if you are using a larger TV.

 

[Smith P.]

Watching Stargate Atlantis I feel I'm living in a future - I have same Dell notebook what that ppl using !
Man, they don't masking the Dell logo under LCD sometimes.

 

[TheKrell]

If they are true 4:3 ratio, it should be 640X480, shouldn't it?

Assuming square pixels, which they are not.

 

[M Sparks]

Yes, 720 x 480 is only really used in DV or DVD. It uses one of two pixel aspect ratios...0.9 and 1.2. The first will give you pretty close to 4:3 and the second is close to 16:9. (It's exactly 4:3 and 16:9 at 486 lines.)

 

[Paradox-SJ]

Yes, 720 x 480 is only really used in DV or DVD. It uses one of two pixel aspect ratios...0.9 and 1.2. The first will give you pretty close to 4:3 and the second is close to 16:9. (It's exactly 4:3 and 16:9 at 486 lines.)

So what is the best SD resolution they could send?

 

[Smith P.]

They can send 702x480 as it was before on PPV. But they don't want to give up any of 4500 channels to honor your request.

 

[Foxbat]

They can send 702x480 as it was before on PPV. But they don't want to give up any of 4500 channels to honor your request.

But how bad would the hit be if they added the "ED" versions in MPEG4?