Just wondering if anyone else in Tallahassee (or anywhere in this area) is having HD problems with Comcast. Most of the channels come in crystal-clear but for some reason the NBA finals look like CRAP on ABC HD. Maybe it's just ABC because the Indy 500 looked terrible on that channel too.

I'm thinking about switching to satellite and was just looking for some opinions from others in this region.

 

Cox is my provider...(Pensacola)

I'm not very up to speed on HD. We don't have any special HD package. Some stuff is HD and some is not.

While there is a fairly large difference in the quality of some programming, it is rare to get what I would call crap. Maybe my eyes are getting too old to tell the difference...

 

You sound like the Comcast guy who came out today.

Me: It looks like junk when I watch bball on ABC-HD.
Him: Uhh, you should call ABC and talk to somebody. Maybe they could help you.

 

dan- You might be better off getting an HD antenna (amplified). If your box has an HD input, it should work. I got mine for $50 @ RadioShack. I need another $20 booster, but then it should come in crystal (my signal is CLEAR, but freezes like a weak digital signal). Comcast is an analog service. The box is a digitizer, which converts analog to digital. The antenna would do basically the same thing.

John

 

Uhhhh Dan,

I think the cable guy was right. Just 'cause a show is broadcast in HD, that doesn't define it thoroughly. What kind of set do you have? Maybe ABC is broadcasting in 720p and your set doesn't decode 720p well. in addition, particularly at sporting events, not ALL the cameras are necessarily HD!! Don't blame it all on the cable guy.

I have Dish here and decode into a 50" Panasonic 720p DLP projector. I get my locals ( P'cola and Mobile) through my antenna and my HD is awesome on all channels.

Finally, I'm using a regular TV antenna installed by my satellite company for my locals. Don't let anyone sell you a bill of goods.

Gerry

 

Gerry-

I do not think the resolution of the broadcast is the issue. If his TV is set to 480, or any other setting than the broadcast, no picture would show up at all.... Just a digital mess on the screen. All of our locals are in 720, as is standard Comcast HD. So if 1 channel works, they should all work.

I think Dan is more talking about common "pixelation" that makes the filled in areas look grainy (lines are still sharp, though), and this I believe is a signal strength issue (not sure and a signal meter would be needed, my HD box has one built-in that shows the signal % strength).

John

 

I'm aware that the set has to be capable of the same or higher resolution than the transmitted picture. I was in electronics for 34 years prior to my retirement.

There's a great deal more to sending an HD picture over the airwaves than simply selecting 720p, 720i, 1080p, 1080i or other resolution. All our locals here transmit in HD, yet PBS generally has the best picture.

Pixelation is a periodic abberation which the cable guy would have recognized quickly. Why doesn't someone go over to Dan's house and take a look at what he's experiencing? How does the HD signal on ABC compare to the other feeds at your house? I don't recall it being all that great here, but I seldom watch ABC except for Boston Legal.

Gerry

 

Don't rule out Comcast. The easiest troubleshooting method would be to go over to someone else who has the same cable service with an HD TV and HD service and check the quality. Also check with someone who is getting the ABC feed OTA. Some cable companies pull in their local HD feeds via OTA (over the air) antenna and then have to re-encode/modulate the signal to send over thier system. It could be this process that is killing the picture. So if the local ABC station is having issues than everyone will have issues. Check with someone who gets ABC via OTA and see if they are having issues. If you go to satellite they may not carry your locals in HD and you will need to pull them in using an atenna. I do this and love it. during Katrina I had TV no matter what thanks to my $30 Ratshack antenna!

Now there is the issue of compression. If the HD signal is compressed then you will see pixelation during fast moving scenes or sports. Sports are very hard to compress and usually has lots of pixelation. This is why ESPNHD and ESPN2HD put in their contracts that there signal must maintain a certain bandwidth at all times. Google HD Lite and waste an afternoon.

So is your quality issue pixelation of the picture or is it color quality issues?

 

Gerry-

ABC is a weaker signal than the others that are broadcast off-air here, but he is not getting his off-air, he is getting his via cable..... hmmmm.....

As far as the resolution setting goes, I do not think that is the problem, as he is getting the other channels just fine (all broadcast in 720 here). Also, I think it has to be set to EXACTLY the broadcast resolution (I had a few issues with that when I got my plasma last year, it came set to 480 and did not work, I set it to 1080, no dice, but 720 and BINGO!). Not sure if its a Philips thing....

I agree that an antenna will probably be the best thing. If mounted properly, signal should never be a problem, and the antennas are getting smaller too, so they dont look too weird in an apartment complex.

Dan- If you are still having the problem, give me a ring and I can stop by and see if anything jumps out at me.... I figured you would have called or emailed had something been really wrong....

John

 

Our set is adjustable as to the signal type. It can be set to two or three pass thru modes, or the set will do its best to convert to 1080i. There are about five different options if I remember correctly...