OT: HD on Fox vs CBS

[sarge]

It is possibly just my cable subscriber, but anyone else think the HD broadcast on FOX smokes the HD Broadcast on CBS?

On the Pats Jets game, it looked good, but seemed to get sort of blurry and out of focus when the players started moving around.

On Fox, it looks crystal clear, all the time. Anyone else notice this.

 

[PSU]

It is possibly just my cable subscriber, but anyone else think the HD broadcast on FOX smokes the HD Broadcast on CBS?

On the Pats Jets game, it looked good, but seemed to get sort of blurry and out of focus when the players started moving around.

On Fox, it looks crystal clear, all the time. Anyone else notice this.

No question FOX has the best HD.....

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

CBS has the better 1080i spacs vs Fox 720i but there's something bogus about CBS's equipment. In technical terms, it sucks.

 

[BradyisGod]

I dunno, I don't think the Fox broadcast is handling the bright whites very well.

 

[khayos]

I have a 62" screen and mine played like it was on play-pause-play-pause during times in the game. I was trying to figure out whether it was CBS, Comcast, my cable box or my TV. No pixelation, just got kind of jumpy.

 

[Canada's #1 Pats Fan]

Fox has far superior HD broadcast, but I find CBS HD inside domes is pretty comparable. Most dome games on HD are fantastic.

 

[F0nSY]

I haven't got HDTV

 

[LloydBraun]

It's a CBS issue, they pause, freeze a bit.

I noticed it during college hoops as well.

Drives me crazy, u think they would fix it.

 

[PromisedLand]

Technically HD is based on MPEG technology. Instead of sending each frame as a full frame, which would take too much bandwidth, most frames only send the changes from frame to frame. When the scene is changing too fast there can be too much change info for the image processing to keep up so you get pixelation or image stutter. Or it make be deliberate to limit bandwidth somewhere along the signal path.

In any case, you are right, Fox is the best. CBS is inferior and I can't understand why not all their broadcasts are even HD, in a day when more than 50% of households have HD. But NBC is even worse, IMO.

 

[bobgeorge]

CBS has the edge IMHO because not all Fox stations broadcast in HD, including the one here in Bakersfield. It's getting to be a pain to watch the baseball playoffs, and now the BCS games in standard definition. The Fox station here operates as a "sublet", with its studios and offices as part of the CBS station here. The CBS station broadcasts in HD, but can't seem to get around to making the Fox station HD because they don't want to be bothered with it right now.

Like right now, I have to watch the NFC game in standard def. My antenna cannot pick up the Fox station in Tulare, too far away.

When I have seen Fox on NFL Sunday Ticket, I don't notice that much of a difference. I do commend Fox for broadcasting more games in HD than CBS does, but Fox needs to get on the stick and require all its stations to carry broadcasting in HD.

Off the subject, Bakersfield is a city where DirecTV does not carry the HD on their satellite, you have to pick them up over the air. I missed part of today's Patriots game because of over the air problems with my antenna. DirecTV is supposed to launch some new birds this spring, when they do I do hope this city gets its HD content on the satellite.

Bob G

 

[PromisedLand]

No cable? ...

 

[NYPatsFan]

CBS broadcasts in 1080i. Fox broadcasts in 720p. If you are watching a sporting event, 720p is superior because it displays 60 fps (frames per second) vs. 30 fps for 1080i. 720p sacrifices some lines of resolution for a better frame rate which means that action (like a football game) looks clearer and more natural. One way to notice this effect is too watch text that that is displayed on screen. The CBS broadcast flickers around the text where the Fox broadcast doesn't.

If you are watching a movie or a TV show, 1080i is a better format because it contains more lines of resolution. Refresh rates are not as critical when watching a movie.

 

[PromisedLand]

CBS broadcasts in 1080i. Fox broadcasts in 720p. If you are watching a sporting event, 720p is superior because it displays 60 fps (frames per second) vs. 30 fps for 1080i. 720p sacrifices some lines of resolution for a better frame rate which means that action (like a football game) looks clearer and more natural. One way to notice this effect is too watch text that that is displayed on screen. The CBS broadcast flickers around the text where the Fox broadcast doesn't.

If you are watching a movie or a TV show, 1080i is a better format because it contains more lines of resolution. Refresh rates are not as critical when watching a movie.

I'm looking forward to 1080p broadcasts starting in 2009 when analog TV finally dies and frees up scads of bandwidth.

 

[njpatsfan]

Off the subject, Bakersfield is a city where DirecTV does not carry the HD on their satellite, you have to pick them up over the air. I missed part of today's Patriots game because of over the air problems with my antenna. DirecTV is supposed to launch some new birds this spring, when they do I do hope this city gets its HD content on the satellite.

Bob G

Don't you have the national feeds in HD as part of the HD package ? (Channels 80/82/86/88) ? Or are they blacked out ?

R

 

[njpatsfan]

CBS broadcasts in 1080i. Fox broadcasts in 720p. If you are watching a sporting event, 720p is superior because it displays 60 fps (frames per second) vs. 30 fps for 1080i. 720p sacrifices some lines of resolution for a better frame rate which means that action (like a football game) looks clearer and more natural. One way to notice this effect is too watch text that that is displayed on screen. The CBS broadcast flickers around the text where the Fox broadcast doesn't.

If you are watching a movie or a TV show, 1080i is a better format because it contains more lines of resolution. Refresh rates are not as critical when watching a movie.

True.

Also, because HD is such a bandwidth hog on the backhaul networks, oftimes the national network or the local affiliate will transcode to/from a lossier codec to save $.

R