<![CDATA[Comcast Compressing HDTV Signals to Fit Three Shows into Two Shows' Bandwidth - Gizmodo Comments]]> <![CDATA[Comcast Compressing HDTV Signals to Fit Three Shows into Two Shows' Bandwidth - Gizmodo Comments]]> <![CDATA[Comcast Compressing HDTV Signals to Fit Three Shows into Two Shows' Bandwidth]]> @tekmiester:

on top of the ten others i can think off hand

why does comcast have to suck so much for real... i hate those guys... yet... im still paying them money!!! WHY GOD WHY!!!!!!!!

Mrbungleface

]]> <![CDATA[Comcast Compressing HDTV Signals to Fit Three Shows into Two Shows' Bandwidth]]> Well not "software" per se, but any good coaxial sniffer (hand held device) that can sniff DOCSIS 2.0 should work just fine for the bandwidth testing.

A google search on "sniffer docsis 2.0" will get you what you want.

Or you could go the much tougher route of copying off the two data streams and a great utility called "GSpot" ([www.headbands.com] )could tell you the bandwidth of the stream.

axiomatic

]]> <![CDATA[Comcast Compressing HDTV Signals to Fit Three Shows into Two Shows' Bandwidth]]> Oh... and given the size of the market, I think it'll be many years, if ever, before we see FIOS! But if they do, I'm in!

bmack500

]]> <![CDATA[Comcast Compressing HDTV Signals to Fit Three Shows into Two Shows' Bandwidth]]> I have Comcast (Elizabethtown, KY). My cable's like that. Sometimes when I'm watching Stargate Atlantis, Or many other hd shows, it's almost as if their is a strobe light flashing on the TV, since the frame rate is so crappy. No, it's not signal strength; I've got a booster and it's fine.
So We've pared our cable down to the minimum, and started a Netflix subscription.
Now we get most of what we want in Blu-Ray. Looks way better, of course, and they have a ton of the TV content also; so I really shouldn't miss much.
I'm sure the signal quality varies by how much they invest in the local infrastructure, so that's why some look good and some don't (as Bonner eluded to).

bmack500

]]> <![CDATA[Comcast Compressing HDTV Signals to Fit Three Shows into Two Shows' Bandwidth]]> I have to wonder how much a slam on COMCAST is a slam on the local COMCAST system? Since Comcast is rpetty much nationwide, I'm sure that their practices differ from one local cable system to another based a little on the capability of the underlying infrastructure.

I live in the Seattle area and dropped my comcast subscription a couple of years ago. I'm down to using just my HD Tivo and OTA reception on my primary TV, a Samsung T451 on my secondary TV, and an RCA DTA800 on my tertiary TV.

I love the quality I get on the first two, but the third is sort of what I paid for. ($14.31 at Wal*Mart after the government $40 coupon)

I'd like to know a quantitative test setup that I could take to a friends house and directly compare HD Quality of OTA and Comcast. Does anyone produce a set of software that might be able to do this?

William C Bonner

]]> <![CDATA[Comcast Compressing HDTV Signals to Fit Three Shows into Two Shows' Bandwidth]]> Damn, I always thought something was off whenever I was watching these channels. Damn you comcast! Between your shitty customer service, horrible internet software, and constant issues the day FIOS hits our area, I'm jumping ship.

GameBreaker

]]> <![CDATA[Comcast Compressing HDTV Signals to Fit Three Shows into Two Shows' Bandwidth]]> Wow. Thanks for the work behind this to those who did it.
I didn't think there would be much difference but I did recently notice things looked a lot worse on someone's Dish HD than I am used to.
You can pry my FIOS from my cold, dead hands.

jwardell

]]> <![CDATA[Comcast Compressing HDTV Signals to Fit Three Shows into Two Shows' Bandwidth]]> I'd like to know where the Comcast customers that get Food Network HD live - I still don't get it! I'm a Comcast customer - haven't noticed a difference in my quality yet, but most of my HD is ABC, NBC, Fox, CBS, and ESPN varieties.

bsbeamer

]]> <![CDATA[Comcast Compressing HDTV Signals to Fit Three Shows into Two Shows' Bandwidth]]> It's Craptastic! I love seeing their commercials where they are talking about having "more HD than anyone".

Laughable.

citykids

]]> <![CDATA[Comcast Compressing HDTV Signals to Fit Three Shows into Two Shows' Bandwidth]]> there will never be any sort of class action suit or anything like that against Comcast until you can show that they advertized 16.7 million colors but gave you 200,000 less.

x23

]]> <![CDATA[Comcast Compressing HDTV Signals to Fit Three Shows into Two Shows' Bandwidth]]> I hope someone will put up a website devoted to exposing crooks like these who advertise HD and don't deliver what people should get.

Brau

]]> <![CDATA[Comcast Compressing HDTV Signals to Fit Three Shows into Two Shows' Bandwidth]]> I always thought that the drummer for the RHCP looks like Will Farrel.

Moordryd

]]> <![CDATA[Comcast Compressing HDTV Signals to Fit Three Shows into Two Shows' Bandwidth]]> @GoodBytes: Seriously, low-def HD?

solOptimus

]]> <![CDATA[Comcast Compressing HDTV Signals to Fit Three Shows into Two Shows' Bandwidth]]> lol, and I thought it was my TV signal!

Oz

]]> <![CDATA[Comcast Compressing HDTV Signals to Fit Three Shows into Two Shows' Bandwidth]]> Comcast...It's CRAPTASTIC.

nosauten

]]> <![CDATA[Comcast Compressing HDTV Signals to Fit Three Shows into Two Shows' Bandwidth]]> Oh my?! 3:1 compression?! How genius. Soooo Original. No one else does that.....

Actually most of the bigs do it this way. With the bandwidth crunch there really is no other way to deliver more and more HD channels to the consumer. And if your image is tiling, macroblocking, or pixelating...schedule a truck roll. Unless your cable system is streaming CBR, your image should not be doing that.

koryglenn

]]> <![CDATA[Comcast Compressing HDTV Signals to Fit Three Shows into Two Shows' Bandwidth]]> I've noticed this same pixelation/noise with TimeWarner when anything relatively significant happens on-screen. It's been practically constant during the NCAA tournament.

bangz

]]> <![CDATA[Comcast Compressing HDTV Signals to Fit Three Shows into Two Shows' Bandwidth]]> comcast is a bastard company, nough said. They are the Microsoft of the new century, unless Microsoft continues like they have, then they will be the lesser Microsoft of this century, with Microsoft being the greater Microsoft of this century. I need to stop smoking pot.

jkr

]]> <![CDATA[Comcast Compressing HDTV Signals to Fit Three Shows into Two Shows' Bandwidth]]> My Comcast doesn't look like that

ultrasonoro

]]> <![CDATA[Comcast Compressing HDTV Signals to Fit Three Shows into Two Shows' Bandwidth]]> Looks the same as Timewarner.

Kingteddybear

]]> <![CDATA[Comcast Compressing HDTV Signals to Fit Three Shows into Two Shows' Bandwidth]]> @DustyButt: Seems you and I have that same Commodore box going on I hate Comcast, but glad I get the hook up from a friend. He keep me happy now I just need to tell him this crap.

ThatsMrOffDutyNinja

]]> <![CDATA[Comcast Compressing HDTV Signals to Fit Three Shows into Two Shows' Bandwidth]]> I wonder how it it will take before the common person finds out the ugly truth. The common person might just thing there's something wrong with their TV or service; and call Comcast. It weird how DirecTV chose to say they have better HD picture quality when they actually weren't; but now that they are for real, they don't say anything. I don't think that Comcast will get away with this.

mkanet

]]> <![CDATA[Comcast Compressing HDTV Signals to Fit Three Shows into Two Shows' Bandwidth]]> Yes, I do have Comcast, yes my picture does look like that during fast motion scenes. Yes, I'm stuck on Comcast because FIOS isn't available yet.

Not just quality, but service delivery has been horribly unreliable recently as well. And it's not like I live in a crappy old house with 50 year old wiring, I live in a 3 year old Condo with (what I hope is less than 4 year old) wiring.

What I can say good about Comcast is that at least they're not charging for repair calls - which I'm sure Verizon will do or do eventually. And they are still a TON better than DirectTV / Dish Network.

New technology is here, if it's better then people will switch. Being brand loyal in the game in technology is just stupid.

neosoul

]]> <![CDATA[Comcast Compressing HDTV Signals to Fit Three Shows into Two Shows' Bandwidth]]> so...all you that are bashing comcast right now...are you a comcast subscriber? And if so...does your picture look like that? No...i didnt think so. IF the picture actually looked like that...how many people would be buying hd boxes and dvr boxes for their homes. Lets use common sense. The bit rate may be compressed in transfer...but im assuming they are decompressed by the converter and displayed on the screen in its proper format.

youngjjohnson

]]> <![CDATA[Comcast Compressing HDTV Signals to Fit Three Shows into Two Shows' Bandwidth]]> Hah, good. I'm a loyal Directv user, but sometimes I think of jumping to cable because supposedly the video is better. This makes it easier for me to not think of such things.

bitgod

]]> <![CDATA[Comcast Compressing HDTV Signals to Fit Three Shows into Two Shows' Bandwidth]]> DOCSIS 3.0 won't resolve this unless you are watching an HDIP Stream.

It will be SDV that saves them.

DirectCableFios

]]> <![CDATA[Comcast Compressing HDTV Signals to Fit Three Shows into Two Shows' Bandwidth]]> I've been messing around with my cableing for the last couple of weeks thinking it was the issue! Gah FU comcrap!

nizzy1115

]]> <![CDATA[Comcast Compressing HDTV Signals to Fit Three Shows into Two Shows' Bandwidth]]> @MisterSleep: Never trust a skinny chef.

soggy_cheerio

]]> <![CDATA[Comcast Compressing HDTV Signals to Fit Three Shows into Two Shows' Bandwidth]]> Comcast: making you happy you stayed with analogue!

twilight-arc

]]> <![CDATA[Comcast Compressing HDTV Signals to Fit Three Shows into Two Shows' Bandwidth]]> @insomniac: Probably, but it most likely will convince people to stay with non-HD TVs with analogue signals. What's the point of spending the extra money just to be back in the same place you are, except being digital.

twilight-arc

]]> <![CDATA[Comcast Compressing HDTV Signals to Fit Three Shows into Two Shows' Bandwidth]]> More reason to believe physical HD media isn't going anywhere.

dangj307

]]> <![CDATA[Comcast Compressing HDTV Signals to Fit Three Shows into Two Shows' Bandwidth]]> hmm so comcast hd channels make HD obsolete?

insomniac

]]> <![CDATA[Comcast Compressing HDTV Signals to Fit Three Shows into Two Shows' Bandwidth]]> DOCSIS 3.0 will resolve some of this.

But until we get "a la carte" channels there will still be some compression due to the requirement that we get QVC and all the religious bullshit channels that come with MTV or some other channel you DON'T watch.

I want a la carte sooooo bad. I pretty much only watch HD channels. I could care less about the rest.

axiomatic

]]> <![CDATA[Comcast Compressing HDTV Signals to Fit Three Shows into Two Shows' Bandwidth]]> @maven2k: AT&T has their own cable that competes with Comcast.

And I just got those channels with Time Warner as well. I don't think they are that compressy, but honestly I don't know because i'm just happy to have new HD channels after nothing new being added in years, and haven't done a good comparison.

drewheyman

]]> <![CDATA[Comcast Compressing HDTV Signals to Fit Three Shows into Two Shows' Bandwidth]]> @ViewtifulJason: Do you have the Motorola box? I had that one and it rocked. The SA HD box that I have now has the WORST UI I have ever seen. It looks like it uses a Commodore 64 for it's CPU.

Seething...

DustyButt

]]> <![CDATA[Comcast Compressing HDTV Signals to Fit Three Shows into Two Shows' Bandwidth]]> Even downrezzed HD Lite is still technically HD. TV stations do the same thing when they rob bits for other subchannels. So that neato keeno weather map your local -DT station has on 5.2 or whatever the channel is causes the main channel to have worse quality. PBS is the worst offender. They have like FOUR disparate channels in addition to the main. They all end up looking like ass.

Buford T. Justice

]]> <![CDATA[Comcast Compressing HDTV Signals to Fit Three Shows into Two Shows' Bandwidth]]> I haven't seen any problems with my Comcast HD box yet. Nothing on the massively blocky side like that comparison shot yet.

ViewtifulJason

]]> <![CDATA[Comcast Compressing HDTV Signals to Fit Three Shows into Two Shows' Bandwidth]]> As far as I understand it, and I very well may not, "HD" defines the resolution of the picture, not the bitrate at which that picture is brought to your TV. The issue is that Comcast is restricting the bitrate so much that they must compress the 720 or 1080 lines of resolution to the point where it just looks crappy.

So, technically, they are sending you an HD picture. If the FCC were to do anything it would be to define a minimum allowable bitrate (for a given compression standard) for HDTV transmissions.

tubby17

]]> <![CDATA[Comcast Compressing HDTV Signals to Fit Three Shows into Two Shows' Bandwidth]]> Wow... I JUST got off the phone with Comcast, after signing up for a package deal ($60 for cable and internet) but also adding HD for $7 more and $20 installation. Then I go here and read this. Awesome . . .

HibikiRush

]]> <![CDATA[Comcast Compressing HDTV Signals to Fit Three Shows into Two Shows' Bandwidth]]> Standard definition channels coming from Comcast and into my HDTV look like absolute garbage -- I've seen streaming WWW videos that come in clearer. HBO looks okay in high def and so do the national networks. But it's pretty sad that as an HD subscriber I get far better results by plugging in my antenna for watching LOST. As a side note it's almost worth it just to have MHD and Sci Fi HD. But it's still pretty annoying. Who do we write to about this?

panfriedcharlie

]]> <![CDATA[Comcast Compressing HDTV Signals to Fit Three Shows into Two Shows' Bandwidth]]> @MisterSleep: Have you ever seen her beak in HD? I'm with frigg.

SchruteBuck

]]> <![CDATA[Comcast Compressing HDTV Signals to Fit Three Shows into Two Shows' Bandwidth]]> Degrade peer 2 peer access. Degraded HDTV quality. Still raising prices. Comca$t is bulletproof.

heroineworshipper

]]> <![CDATA[Comcast Compressing HDTV Signals to Fit Three Shows into Two Shows' Bandwidth]]> @shrike3815: Umm, 1080p isn't in the HDTV spec. It's 1080i or 720p, and it depends on the channel, not the provider.

However, even if it was 1080p, Comcast could (and would) still compress it into pixelated garbage - it would just be a lot of pixels of garbage.

Kordos

]]> <![CDATA[Comcast Compressing HDTV Signals to Fit Three Shows into Two Shows' Bandwidth]]> Isn't there some standards group that decides who can use the HDTV branding and who cannot?? Bozos who try to push substandard service levels and still claim it to be something like HDTV when it is obviously not should not be allowed to use the brand HDTV.

Maybe the government arm that regulates cable companies needs to step in here, and pronto!

FritzLaurel

]]> <![CDATA[Comcast Compressing HDTV Signals to Fit Three Shows into Two Shows' Bandwidth]]> If I am paying extra for the HD channels from Comcast I had better be getting the Full 1080p from the service, else I will be one of the complaints to the FCC.

shrike3815

]]> <![CDATA[Comcast Compressing HDTV Signals to Fit Three Shows into Two Shows' Bandwidth]]> @frigg: yes, but doesn't Giada De Laurentiis make up for everything?

MisterSleep

]]> <![CDATA[Comcast Compressing HDTV Signals to Fit Three Shows into Two Shows' Bandwidth]]> @SchruteBuck: "Food Network HD?"

Iron chef Masaharu Morimoto here.

That's why they're canceling "Emeril Live." Apparently, the FCC deemed any images of Emeril Lagasse broadcast in HD as obscene and indecent. And frankly, who can argue with that? Now if only there was some kind of noise gate we could apply to Rachael Ray's voice... One more 'EVOO' and I'm gonna use my sushi knife on my wrist.

frigg

]]> <![CDATA[Comcast Compressing HDTV Signals to Fit Three Shows into Two Shows' Bandwidth]]> This explains a lot. AT&T is offering Comcast cable in my neighborhood and it was going to be cheaper than the Time Warner that I already had with more HD channels. But then I heard from some people that already had it and said the picture quality was terrible so I'm glad I didn't switch.

maven2k

]]> <![CDATA[Comcast Compressing HDTV Signals to Fit Three Shows into Two Shows' Bandwidth]]> Wow, that's pretty terrible.
I have Cox HD here in Arizona, and must say the HD channels are pretty glorious. w00t.

xerograde

]]> <![CDATA[Comcast Compressing HDTV Signals to Fit Three Shows into Two Shows' Bandwidth]]> Unfortunately for me, I live in a city where Comcast broadcast sports reign supreme (Philadelphia). Supposedly, Comcast and Verizon had signed a deal that FiOS would receive all of Comcast's sports channels if they didn't bring FiOS into the city itself. Therefore, no FiOS for me. :(

t7bros

]]> <![CDATA[Comcast Compressing HDTV Signals to Fit Three Shows into Two Shows' Bandwidth]]> Seriously, tho'.

I moved to Northern VA from Baltimore last November and had to wait 3 months to re-subscribe to Comcast because they only offered deals to new customers. After a 90 day break in service you qualify as a new customer.

The first two things I noticed when I turned on my TV was that:

a) The Scientific Atlanta HD box is PURE GARBAGE
and
b) Tons of artifacts during fast screen motion, especially on water surface shots in HD.

I actually blamed it on my TV... Now I know... Those Schiesty bastards!

The sand in the KY is that I have NO CHOICE if I want to have any variety. The place where I live is on the NOVA historic register so I can't have a dish, and FIOS isn't in the area yet.

F*** CONCAST!

DustyButt

]]> <![CDATA[Comcast Compressing HDTV Signals to Fit Three Shows into Two Shows' Bandwidth]]> @TVGenius: It must be nice to live in an area where you can get a decent signal. There are areas of the country where, due to geographical features, OTA is not viable. If I could get OTA, I would. For now if I want to get HD broadcasts, I must pay a cable provider.

tubby17

]]> <![CDATA[Comcast Compressing HDTV Signals to Fit Three Shows into Two Shows' Bandwidth]]> I'm curious too as to where TWC fits on this spectrum. I have to assume, given that they broadcast a roughly equivalent amount of analog channels that they are facing the same problems, and may have implemented the same solution. Since I just signed up for Fios Data at my new apartment I'd like to see if there's a New York comparison out there for TWC vs. Fios.

frieze

]]> <![CDATA[Comcast Compressing HDTV Signals to Fit Three Shows into Two Shows' Bandwidth]]> And its only going to get worse as they try to shove all those channels through. Thank you OTA!

phryed

]]> <![CDATA[Comcast Compressing HDTV Signals to Fit Three Shows into Two Shows' Bandwidth]]> Even viewing on a 720p set you can see vast differences in the quality between "HD" stations at Comcast's current rates of compression. Some 1080i broadcasts look amazing, others already suffer from compression artifacts.

It's good to finally see some discussion on bitrates. There should be certainly some baseline bitrate standard for a cable company to be allowed to call a broadcast "HD". I'll certainly be calling Comcast to complain.

nocar

]]> <![CDATA[Comcast Compressing HDTV Signals to Fit Three Shows into Two Shows' Bandwidth]]> I don't see any real reason to pay for HD if they're going to compress it that badly. OTA's the only way to get HD...

TVGenius

]]> <![CDATA[Comcast Compressing HDTV Signals to Fit Three Shows into Two Shows' Bandwidth]]> Gotta Love Comcast's 8bit HDTV broadcasting.

Joseph

]]> <![CDATA[Comcast Compressing HDTV Signals to Fit Three Shows into Two Shows' Bandwidth]]> This whole story is an April Fools Joke! Comcast wouldn't do that to people. My service is great.

***DUSTYBUTT NEATLY FOLDS CHECK FROM
COMCAST AND TUCKS IT INTO HIS POCKET***

DustyButt

]]> <![CDATA[Comcast Compressing HDTV Signals to Fit Three Shows into Two Shows' Bandwidth]]> Perhaps this explains all the signal problems I keep having too.

ianmac47

]]> <![CDATA[Comcast Compressing HDTV Signals to Fit Three Shows into Two Shows' Bandwidth]]> Fuck. That's all I can say.

NachoBoy

]]> <![CDATA[Comcast Compressing HDTV Signals to Fit Three Shows into Two Shows' Bandwidth]]> So which service has the best HD quality???

Also, where does Time Warner Cable fit into this equation for us Los Angeles and Southern California people?

Time Warner bought out Comcast, FYI so we are actually ex-Comcast here

Pay_Me_Or_Pay_Me_No_Attention

]]> <![CDATA[Comcast Compressing HDTV Signals to Fit Three Shows into Two Shows' Bandwidth]]> Three words: Class action suit!
If the company advertises High Definition (despite tiny print disclaimers), and fails to deliver High Definition, one sues for breach of contract and false advertising.


Skeptical_Geezer

]]> <![CDATA[Comcast Compressing HDTV Signals to Fit Three Shows into Two Shows' Bandwidth]]> Cable has been lower image quality than OTA for quite some time. I remember watching shows and seeing very noticeable MPEG artifacts over analog SD cable.

The transition to HD has only made the low quality product that they offer even worse. I can't believe how much people pay for such crap quality.

The reason to get cable is the quantity not the quality of content.

Techguy1138

]]> <![CDATA[Comcast Compressing HDTV Signals to Fit Three Shows into Two Shows' Bandwidth]]> How can we be certain the lower bits-per-second is coming from using more aggressive compression on the stream, or is it from downrezzing 1920x1080 to 1440x1080 ("HD Lite")? This is what I would like to know. DishNetwork and DirectTV do a little of both: take 1920 down to 1440 (or 1280)... and use more aggressive (read: more blocky with action) compression.

scarbrtj

]]> <![CDATA[Comcast Compressing HDTV Signals to Fit Three Shows into Two Shows' Bandwidth]]> That's Comcastic!
(sorry could not resist)
I've done everyting I could do to avoid Comcast for the past several years (only one landlord would not allow me to install Sat.) originally for the Comcastic customer service. It's nice to see that their service delivery is now on par w/ their customer service.
can anyone explain why Comcast is more than happy to deliver a box, but when I cancel service, I have to drive to the worst part of town to return the box? Even though they have trucks going past my block every day?




rexplex

]]> <![CDATA[Comcast Compressing HDTV Signals to Fit Three Shows into Two Shows' Bandwidth]]> Man, we have FIOS, but not the TV service due to super lame city franchise BS.

I have Comcast and can say those bitrates are spot-on as far as the CC portion of the chart goes.

olafson

]]> <![CDATA[Comcast Compressing HDTV Signals to Fit Three Shows into Two Shows' Bandwidth]]> Am I missing something?
Isn't the idea of HD be better image quality? If I get a picture worst than regular TV signal via analogue TV, what is the point? It's far cheaper, SURE you don' have the 300 channels, however do you really need all of these?

The only advantage I see, id that your channels are in wide screen for your wide screen TV, so you don't see people fatter, and squished vertically than what they really are.

CRT's for the WIN!

GoodBytes

]]> <![CDATA[Comcast Compressing HDTV Signals to Fit Three Shows into Two Shows' Bandwidth]]> Whether you agree with more government interference or not, it does seem as though a company should not be able to call highly compressed HD video as high definition. When you compare over the air HD & Blu-ray level quality to what these compressed examples are like, there really is no comparison. Heck, I would rather watch a DVD of a movie than the 'HD download' version of it that the various folks put out, because in my experience the quality is much better.

That said, I do think this stuff is so confusing to the average person that there is not much that can be done. We will have everything labeled as 'HD', and people will not know whether it is 'good HD', 'bad HD' or 'ugly HD' until they use it.

Monty

]]> <![CDATA[Comcast Compressing HDTV Signals to Fit Three Shows into Two Shows' Bandwidth]]> I wonder what kind of deal HBO and Skinemax have worked out to prevent this. I don't doubt they saw this one coming. HBO, the greatest thing on television.

Darrone

]]> <![CDATA[Comcast Compressing HDTV Signals to Fit Three Shows into Two Shows' Bandwidth]]> I have comcast...and my picture does not look like that. I think that this is very misleading. Who knows where these screen shots came from. My regular tv without HD doesnt even look like that. I wouldnt be suprised if these shots were actually posted by Verizon FIOS

youngjjohnson

]]> <![CDATA[Comcast Compressing HDTV Signals to Fit Three Shows into Two Shows' Bandwidth]]> Food Network HD?

SchruteBuck

]]> <![CDATA[Comcast Compressing HDTV Signals to Fit Three Shows into Two Shows' Bandwidth]]> COMCAST - Nobody will ever nnotice.

kp

KernelPanic

]]> <![CDATA[Comcast Compressing HDTV Signals to Fit Three Shows into Two Shows' Bandwidth]]> I did not expect that such a move would be allowable. The original resistance from cable providers vs the FCC's decree to go HDTV was regarding the bandwidth. They could fit something like eight standard def channels in the bandwidth used for a single HDTV broadcast. The FCC - for once - put their figurative foot down and made it mandatory.

I suppose that in light of the slack given to dish-based cable providers, this might be overlooked for a few years. That is, unless enough Comcast users complain about the poor picture quality and threaten to defect. Money talks, after all.

Way

]]> <![CDATA[Comcast Compressing HDTV Signals to Fit Three Shows into Two Shows' Bandwidth]]> No surprise. Pretty soon we arent even gonna know what a true high def video, or even audio, signal looks/sounds like. Its kind of like the frog in hot water theory.

It all started with audio. MP3 completely murders an audio stream and we accept it. MPEG video does the same exact thing. And again, its accepted. Compressed High Def looks great on still or slow moving images, but let a fast moving scene such as explosions or waves pop up. It looks like the TV is barfing.

I realize that compression is necessary to facilitate the 46,315 channels we crave, but come on. There HAS to be a happy medium.

Dook_In_The_Urinal

]]> <![CDATA[Comcast Compressing HDTV Signals to Fit Three Shows into Two Shows' Bandwidth]]> All the more reason for Verizon to HURRY UP AND PUT FIOS IN MY NEIGHBORHOOD.
I am trying to give you lots of money, guys, what's the problem?!

Hiphopopotamus

]]> <![CDATA[Comcast Compressing HDTV Signals to Fit Three Shows into Two Shows' Bandwidth]]> I've noticed this for a while. Maybe they've started by doing it in our area (North Bay Area).

One more reason for me to switch to FIOS as soon as I can get it.

It really is disappointing to buy an HDTV only to have the incoming signal look like crap.

JReed

]]> <![CDATA[Comcast Compressing HDTV Signals to Fit Three Shows into Two Shows' Bandwidth]]> I have used Comcast for the last few years in the Washington, DC area, and recently switched to FIOS. Not only did FIOS deliver better SD and HD images, but there was a significant difference in the overall quality of the service. With Comcast, the images tend to stutter approximately once per minute, and the sound will frequently cut out for as long at ten seconds.

I'm very happy with my choice to change providers, despite the fact that Verizon provides zero customer support on weekends or non-work hours.

JesseX

]]> <![CDATA[Comcast Compressing HDTV Signals to Fit Three Shows into Two Shows' Bandwidth]]> @James: I live in an Insight area that was just migrated to Comcast. April 30th is when Comcast fully takes over.

FuzzysFriedChicken

]]> <![CDATA[Comcast Compressing HDTV Signals to Fit Three Shows into Two Shows' Bandwidth]]> That chart is Awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!

fastm3driver

]]> <![CDATA[Comcast Compressing HDTV Signals to Fit Three Shows into Two Shows' Bandwidth]]> One more reason not to like Comcast...

tekmiester

]]> <![CDATA[Comcast Compressing HDTV Signals to Fit Three Shows into Two Shows' Bandwidth]]> I was watching HD on DirecTV this weekend for the first time. I was pretty disappointed with the quality in action scenes and in other fast moving objects. I have cable and have been quite satisfied (Insight). It's not flawless, but is light years ahead of those Comcast samples.

James

]]> <![CDATA[Comcast Compressing HDTV Signals to Fit Three Shows into Two Shows' Bandwidth]]> Hurray for FiOS being available in my area within the next month!

I will gladly take fewer high quality channels over more crappy looking channels.

rbf2000

]]>