A very interesting article by bfdtv on the AVS Forum revealed the effects of a HDTV provider choosing to sacrifice quality for quantity. Comcast is degrading HD video on some of its systems to make room for more HD channels in response to increased competition from DirecTV and Verizon FiOS.
By early April, most Comcast systems will recompress and degrade their HD, much like DirecTV and Dish Network do on their MPEG-2 channels. Comcast has allocated a maximum of two HD channels per 38.8Mbps QAM and has now changed, attempting to squeeze three channels instead.
Bfdtv compared the quality of the same programs on Comcast and Verizon FiOS, recording the same program from the same channel, at the same time. A test the user ran last year had shown no difference between the two providers, but things are a lot different now.
The difference in average bitrate (determined by size of recording) ranges from 0.7% for HBO HD, right up to 38.8% for Discovery HD Theater.
How did other channels compare and what exactly does the difference "look like"? Check out the thread to see.
See: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1008271
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Bfdtv compared the quality of the same programs on Comcast and Verizon FiOS, recording the same program from the same channel, at the same time. A test the user ran last year had shown no difference between the two providers, but things are a lot different now.
The difference in average bitrate (determined by size of recording) ranges from 0.7% for HBO HD, right up to 38.8% for Discovery HD Theater.
How did other channels compare and what exactly does the difference "look like"? Check out the thread to see.
See: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1008271
Get regular news updates from AfterDawn.com by subscribing to our RSS feeds using the Subscribe button below. If you have been living in a cave for a few years now and don't know how to use RSS feeds, then Click Here to read a Guide on how to use RSS (and other) feeds.
