picture quality

08-02-2010, 07:58 AM

so i finally had some time tonight to look around and really check things out...

im in a condo with a shared dish, so the tech installed some sort of signal booster box, and for some reason ran a vhf out of it to the coax antenna in on my tv...i removed that, still crap. i then removed the signal booster box and got nothing strong enough to pull in...reset the receiver and tried using component out as opposed to hdmi...still crap...tried replacing the wack hdmi-dvi-dvi-hdmi cable the installer left...still crap

all told id say that bell tv is just feces and i guess im cancelling monday...i guess the true test will be in 30 mins when i check leno and letterman but im not holding my breath.

**MarkB** · 08-02-2010, 08:17 AM

I do know that anything can be remastered into high def, you are right on that. Even the Wizard of Oz is on BluRay, something I've considered buying. However, I am going based on Turners reputation with their HD services. TBSHD and TNTHD are mostly just SD programs stretched, so why would TCM be any different. Even if there is an HD copy available, Turner would probably just air a stretched version and try to pass it off as HD.

08-02-2010, 11:56 AM

It seems that Bell is always of poorer quality. I saw on Marketplace a while back that when 5 high-speed internet companys were tested by all downloading a large file starting at the same time, Bell was dead last by about double the time of the next slowest. Now Bell's HD picture quality seems to be poorer than the other providers. Is it just that Bell wants the customer's money and doesn't care about the quality of the product or are they technologically inferior?

08-02-2010, 12:06 PM

is your sat signal split with the rest of the condo residents? it could be the signal is split so much that the quality has been lost

08-02-2010, 03:31 PM

I really do not understand this at all. I have 4 HD TV's and this would not be true on any of them, even a little 19" TV. I will say that the picture quality on some of the networks is not up to standards, but most of the channels have very good quality (TSN, Discovery, Oasis, HDNet, etc.). The picture quality of channel 630 is very good for SD, but nowhere near the PQ of the HD channels.

Am I missing something here?

**RobertF** · 08-02-2010, 04:41 PM

Any movie shot on 35mm film can be transferred to HD. Infact, you can argue that 35mm is vastly superior to HD, closer to 4k. Obviously you have to consider colour space and resolution, but don't think for a minute you can't get a classic in what we would consider true HD.

I agree with you on the point of AMCHD, they often take a 480p 4:3 image and stretch it, it's unwatchable. Bell has contacted AMC about this but they won't listen. BDUs do monitor their channels HD content. Channels are required to meet contractual obligations regarding HD content.

08-02-2010, 08:26 PM

Looking at Bell online(bundles, TV) and they only state they have the most HD not the best. They only claim their HD is better than regular cable. For once I agree, but not about the most HD part. Although last night Pearl Harbour was the best I've seen that channel. Came back to earth today by trying to watch a game .

08-02-2010, 09:30 PM

markb, you may be right but I'd be interested in hearing from anyone out there who has seen TCM HD. Their classic movie service doesn't operate like other parts of the Turner. When I had their SD service with Rogers I was extremely impressed with the care and respect (no cuts, correct aspect ratios, good sound, SD PQ) they showed their films. In contrast AMC did just about everything wrong including interrupting movies for very dumb self-promotion features. However to some extent we're both speculating. Hopefully someone can tell us the actual situation with TCM HD today.

08-02-2010, 10:51 PM

I think the only thing missing is the comparison to Rogers. I'm getting Compression artifacts on more and more Bell HD Channels to the point that it will be hard to stay with Bell if its not fixed in April, even at a discount. When I first came to Expressvu there was no comparison it was way better than Rogers. This most HD war is killing them.

08-02-2010, 11:07 PM

I guess that is what confuses me ... I don't experience this at all. Very strange. I am not doubting what you are saying, but I don't know why some experience it and some don't.