HDTV QUALITY @ LAKESIDE

A couple years ago HDTV became more affordable @ Lakeside, since then purchased A 32 Samsung, Sony, and 42 LG. Bit the bullet installed Shaw Direct, 75 Eliptical dish, and 3 505 HD Receivers. Over the past 2 years, I noticed little things weren't as clear as NOB TV....like seeing the golf ball on the green during hd play. I thought it might be TV produced and sold here??? Anyway I took my Samsung HD to Phoenix last week to compare with HD in MX. No comparison.....HDTV outstanding NOB......

Maybe MexicoPete can explain the difference....or another better informed than I on the Hi tech reasons for quality difference NOB vs SOB.

[quote="Jim W"]A couple years ago HDTV became more affordable @ Lakeside, since then purchased A 32 Samsung, Sony, and 42 LG. Bit the bullet installed Shaw Direct, 75 Eliptical dish, and 3 505 HD Receivers. Over the past 2 years, I noticed little things weren't as clear as NOB TV....like seeing the golf ball on the green during hd play. I thought it might be TV produced and sold here??? Anyway I took my Samsung HD to Phoenix last week to compare with HD in MX. No comparison.....HDTV outstanding NOB......

Maybe MexicoPete can explain the difference....or another better informed than I on the Hi tech reasons for quality difference NOB vs SOB.[/quote]

Interesting observation, JW. We were staying with relatives in Paris in May and June and noticed that all of the channels we received in Paris, whether the broacasts originated in France or elsewhere around the world, were far clearer and sharper than the pictures we receive on the Shaw HDTV channels we watch at Lakeside and our equipment here at Lakeside is top-of-the-line. Until I observed the outstanding high definition of television in Paris, I thought the HDTV we were receiving in Mexico was outstanding but now I know the HDTV we are recceiving here at Lakeside does not hold a candle to the product broadcast in France. Now, you have observed the same phenomenon in the U.S. This difference in picture quality and clarity between France and here at Lakeside via a Canadian satellite provider is not my imagination and I don´t believe this is because of inferior service from Shaw. What gives?

Jim W wrote:A couple years ago HDTV became more affordable @ Lakeside, since then purchased A 32 Samsung, Sony, and 42 LG. Bit the bullet installed Shaw Direct, 75 Eliptical dish, and 3 505 HD Receivers. Over the past 2 years, I noticed little things weren't as clear as NOB TV....like seeing the golf ball on the green during hd play. I thought it might be TV produced and sold here??? Anyway I took my Samsung HD to Phoenix last week to compare with HD in MX. No comparison.....HDTV outstanding NOB......

Maybe MexicoPete can explain the difference....or another better informed than I on the Hi tech reasons for quality difference NOB vs SOB.

If you are comparing NOB broadcast HDTV to Shaw HDTV
you are correct. The broadcast (over the air) HDTV almost
always looks better. It costs money for bandwidth and all
the sat services use compression schemes that create
a picture not as good as a NOB broadcast HDTV. It is all
about money.

Z

To be fair Shaw only has two sats and is putting in a third
right now. They are probably tight for bandwidth until
they get the third bird going.

Yup, Zed nailed it. Compression. In Albuquerque, I used to receive the nets in HDTV OTA (over the air). Those signals were significantly better than the HDTV I got over cable TV.

Getting some great HDTV with Mac T.V. but..... video streaming is slow and the sound sucks, had to add extra speakers. Netflix is fabulous, other than the slow streaming.

E-raq wrote:Getting some great HDTV with Mac T.V. but..... video streaming is slow and the sound sucks, had to add extra speakers. Netflix is fabulous, other than the slow streaming.

Your signal is compressed also. I am not saying
compressed signals are bad just that NOB broadcast
over the air HDTV signals are better quality as a
rule. HDTV pictures take an enormous amount of
Data.
Z

Zedinmexico wrote:

Jim W wrote:A couple years ago HDTV became more affordable @ Lakeside, since then purchased A 32 Samsung, Sony, and 42 LG. Bit the bullet installed Shaw Direct, 75 Eliptical dish, and 3 505 HD Receivers. Over the past 2 years, I noticed little things weren't as clear as NOB TV....like seeing the golf ball on the green during hd play. I thought it might be TV produced and sold here??? Anyway I took my Samsung HD to Phoenix last week to compare with HD in MX. No comparison.....HDTV outstanding NOB......

Maybe MexicoPete can explain the difference....or another better informed than I on the Hi tech reasons for quality difference NOB vs SOB.

If you are comparing NOB broadcast HDTV to Shaw HDTV
you are correct. The broadcast (over the air) HDTV almost
always looks better. It costs money for bandwidth and all
the sat services use compression schemes that create
a picture not as good as a NOB broadcast HDTV. It is all
about money.

Z

To be fair Shaw only has two sats and is putting in a third
right now. They are probably tight for bandwidth until
they get the third bird going.

Shaw puts out as good a signal as they need....

It's just that Canadians are easy to please.... eh!!

Zedinmexico wrote:

Jim W wrote:A couple years ago HDTV became more affordable @ Lakeside, since then purchased A 32 Samsung, Sony, and 42 LG. Bit the bullet installed Shaw Direct, 75 Eliptical dish, and 3 505 HD Receivers. Over the past 2 years, I noticed little things weren't as clear as NOB TV....like seeing the golf ball on the green during hd play. I thought it might be TV produced and sold here??? Anyway I took my Samsung HD to Phoenix last week to compare with HD in MX. No comparison.....HDTV outstanding NOB......

Maybe MexicoPete can explain the difference....or another better informed than I on the Hi tech reasons for quality difference NOB vs SOB.

If you are comparing NOB broadcast HDTV to Shaw HDTV
you are correct. The broadcast (over the air) HDTV almost
always looks better. It costs money for bandwidth and all
the sat services use compression schemes that create
a picture not as good as a NOB broadcast HDTV. It is all
about money.

Z

To be fair Shaw only has two sats and is putting in a third
right now. They are probably tight for bandwidth until
they get the third bird going.

Would HD quality on DISH Network be lessened here compared to NOB, similarly to Shaw Direct?

Zedinmexico wrote:

E-raq wrote:Getting some great HDTV with Mac T.V. but..... video streaming is slow and the sound sucks, had to add extra speakers. Netflix is fabulous, other than the slow streaming.

Your signal is compressed also. I am not saying
compressed signals are bad just that NOB broadcast
over the air HDTV signals are better quality as a
rule. HDTV pictures take an enormous amount of
Data.
Z

Thanks Zed, let's put it this way, it's good enough for me, and the ultra HDTV gives me a headache. Just saying.

Mainecoons wrote:Yup, Zed nailed it. Compression. In Albuquerque, I used to receive the nets in HDTV OTA (over the air). Those signals were significantly better than the HDTV I got over cable TV.

Blu-ray @ 1080P HTMI is the test for the best on a TV

I recently bit the bullet and replaced the coat hanger for a pair of store bought "rabbit ears"...huge difference!!

viajero wrote:I recently bit the bullet and replaced the coat hanger for a pair of store bought "rabbit ears"...huge difference!!

Chris, You are toooo freaking funny.......did you put tinfoil on the coathanger....LMAO AMIGO

hound dog wrote:[quote="Jim W"]A couple years ago HDTV became more affordable @ Lakeside, since then purchased A 32 Samsung, Sony, and 42 LG. Bit the bullet installed Shaw Direct, 75 Eliptical dish, and 3 505 HD Receivers. Over the past 2 years, I noticed little things weren't as clear as NOB TV....like seeing the golf ball on the green during hd play. I thought it might be TV produced and sold here??? Anyway I took my Samsung HD to Phoenix last week to compare with HD in MX. No comparison.....HDTV outstanding NOB......

Maybe MexicoPete can explain the difference....or another better informed than I on the Hi tech reasons for quality difference NOB vs SOB.

Interesting observation, JW. We were staying with relatives in Paris in May and June and noticed that all of the channels we received in Paris, whether the broacasts originated in France or elsewhere around the world, were far clearer and sharper than the pictures we receive on the Shaw HDTV channels we watch at Lakeside and our equipment here at Lakeside is top-of-the-line. Until I observed the outstanding high definition of television in Paris, I thought the HDTV we were receiving in Mexico was outstanding but now I know the HDTV we are recceiving here at Lakeside does not hold a candle to the product broadcast in France. Now, you have observed the same phenomenon in the U.S. This difference in picture quality and clarity between France and here at Lakeside via a Canadian satellite provider is not my imagination and I don´t believe this is because of inferior service from Shaw. What gives?
[/quote]


Dawg, What bothers me is the quality is inferior, this coupled by my comparison of standard & HD.....I find no measurable difference @ Lakeside. I am not blaming Shaw. I estimate that for 3 hd tv's, 3 hd receivers, the 75 Elipitical dish.....I pissed away ....at least 30,000 pesos......plus/minus.....a total waste of money......From my prospective/experience.....forget HD in Mexico, until someone demonstrates the difference, and you find performance acceptable.

Jim W wrote:

viajero wrote:I recently bit the bullet and replaced the coat hanger for a pair of store bought "rabbit ears"...huge difference!!

Chris, You are toooo freaking funny.......did you put tinfoil on the coathanger....LMAO AMIGO

I would have except that I used it all up to cover my sombrero,priorities you know...

I too have Shaw. The difference between HD and SD on my two Sonys is very noticeable. The only time I notice any degradation is when watching a live event from Europe. the EC uses a different format and it has to be converted for NA TV and some resolution is lost.

I've got a question for Pete but maybe someone else knows.
We have the new(er) HD (HDDSR600) receiver with Shaw and I'm not noticing any problems with HD.
I'm wondering if it's your Shaw receiver that's the problem? The 505 is pretty old technology.
And, I remember Pete saying something about a 630 and that only the 600's and up will be able to receive some of the stations when the new satellite hits the sky. I probably don't remember the exact details correctly but hope that either Pete or Helperguy will clarify.

I don't think the age of the receiver is an issue ferret. I Just noticed quality, hauled TV up to compare, using direct tv hd......no comparison....No one is so blind that refuses to see....AKA David....we used same installer....he is happy....OK for him......me HD quality in Mexico is substandard

Oh, I'm blaming Jim Shaw, that freakin jerk. Re the third satellite, he probably decided he had to do something with his accumulated gazillions, cause he refuses to return any of it to shareholders in the form of increased dividends. Maybe he finally tired of the incessant customer complaints, I doubt it. More likely, he finally decided he had to be competitive, what with Bell and Telus starting to gnaw away at his numbers. Dissatisfied with Shaw - COMPLAIN. COMPLAIN. COMPLAIN. I'm online with Shaw cable right now, busy time of the day, and it's slower. Meanwhile, JimBobs bill sits on my desk. I pay by slow mail, and date the cheque for the "due by date". Me slow too.

Jim W wrote:A couple years ago HDTV became more affordable @ Lakeside, since then purchased A 32 Samsung, Sony, and 42 LG. Bit the bullet installed Shaw Direct, 75 Eliptical dish, and 3 505 HD Receivers. Over the past 2 years, I noticed little things weren't as clear as NOB TV....like seeing the golf ball on the green during hd play. I thought it might be TV produced and sold here??? Anyway I took my Samsung HD to Phoenix last week to compare with HD in MX. No comparison.....HDTV outstanding NOB......

Maybe MexicoPete can explain the difference....or another better informed than I on the Hi tech reasons for quality difference NOB vs SOB.

Are you talking about the HD channels or the Standard Def channels? HiDef TV amplifies the lack of clarity broadcast on an SD channel. On Shaw, Channels 258 (or so) to 298 are HiDef; everything else is SD. SD looks pretty bad on an HD TV. In particular, channels like CNN: their video clips look like bad Internet downloads. Other countries have different standards, and many more HD channels that Shaw or Bell or pretty much anyone, in particular France: when the standards for worldwide use were being discussed some years ago, France's technology was favoured by the purists, but as usual they lost out to the "masses" who would rather fight tooth and nail for something that belonged to them than taking anything from the French.

In due time, however, all the channels will be HiDef, and at that point the UltraHD will be coming out, so we will all have to upgrade our TVs again.

A final note: you will discover that some SD channels use more compression than others, providing a degraded picture. The Movie channels, above 600, often have a clarity that belies the fact that they are only SD. One should also keep in mind that TV shows taped with HiDef cameras are remarkably sharper than TV shows on film, an in particular filmed movies.

johninajijic wrote:

Zedinmexico wrote:

Jim W wrote:A couple years ago HDTV became more affordable @ Lakeside, since then purchased A 32 Samsung, Sony, and 42 LG. Bit the bullet installed Shaw Direct, 75 Eliptical dish, and 3 505 HD Receivers. Over the past 2 years, I noticed little things weren't as clear as NOB TV....like seeing the golf ball on the green during hd play. I thought it might be TV produced and sold here??? Anyway I took my Samsung HD to Phoenix last week to compare with HD in MX. No comparison.....HDTV outstanding NOB......

Maybe MexicoPete can explain the difference....or another better informed than I on the Hi tech reasons for quality difference NOB vs SOB.

If you are comparing NOB broadcast HDTV to Shaw HDTV
you are correct. The broadcast (over the air) HDTV almost
always looks better. It costs money for bandwidth and all
the sat services use compression schemes that create
a picture not as good as a NOB broadcast HDTV. It is all
about money.

Z

To be fair Shaw only has two sats and is putting in a third
right now. They are probably tight for bandwidth until
they get the third bird going.

Would HD quality on DISH Network be lessened here compared to NOB, similarly to Shaw Direct?

Yes Dish, DSS, and Shaw all degrade there HDTV signals to save space. Why some types
are better than other types of systems only has to do with choices. Broadcast channels
have so much bandwidth thus the better picture. Now Shaw for example compresses more
so they can get more channels in the same amount of bandwidth. This applies to any of
the Sat providers. I remember when they got 4 channels onto the space that use to take
up two channels in Analog. We drank a nice bottle of Champagne. That was quite a while
ago. Today I think they can get 8 signals onto what was 2 analog channels on the old
C band dishes maybe more.

Z

Jim W wrote:I don't think the age of the receiver is an issue ferret. I Just noticed quality, hauled TV up to compare, using direct tv hd......no comparison....No one is so blind that refuses to see....AKA David....we used same installer....he is happy....OK for him......me HD quality in Mexico is substandard

You're saying DirectTV HD is noticeably better than Shaw HD?

My HD quality is the same be I in Vancouver, Seattle, or Ajijic. When I receive it via Shaw Direct.

I have noticed though, that the HD feed of CNN on channel 777 of digital Telecable is better than the HD feed from Shaw Direct. It was well explained above why the HD signals are degraded so you can get more channels in the same bandwidth.

Is the picture quality on DirecTV better than on Shaw? It depends upon how much bandwidth they sacrifie when compressing and passing on the signals to the user. I will know the answer to that within the month as I'm converting from cable to DirecTV at my condo in Seattle next week.

Because I have to pay for TV whether I'm there or not, now that I can choose DirecTV, I will do so and bring a receiver back with me when I next return to the lake. (I'm still down here right now)

Sky hd is very clear

HelperGuy wrote:

Jim W wrote:I don't think the age of the receiver is an issue ferret. I Just noticed quality, hauled TV up to compare, using direct tv hd......no comparison....No one is so blind that refuses to see....AKA David....we used same installer....he is happy....OK for him......me HD quality in Mexico is substandard

You're saying DirectTV HD is noticeably better than Shaw HD?

HelperGuy, I am saying that HD NOB is noticeably better. I am assuming that had I used a Shaw receiver NOB would yield similar results. It's too bad we can't do a side by side comparison........I think it is all about signal strength. In Mexico I am getting around 75, and here in Arizona I am getting 96-100. If stronger signal is possible @ Lakeside......I am sure HD experience would improve.

I've never heard of this possibility... I will check with the guys on digitalhome.ca who are experts on this kind of thing. I do know that an improved signal strength here doesn't bring an improved HD picture. Once your signal is locked in, that's pretty much it in terms of "image quality".