# How is the quality of MPEG4 for you?



## cybrsurfer (Sep 17, 2006)

I'm trying to find out if how Dish network is doing with MPEG4, I know certain markets have it for locals, and based on Lyngsat.com, some of the national HD is MPEG4. Please reply with your experiences...

Thanks


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## Tom-Tx (May 23, 2005)

Has E* actually started using MPEG4 or are they still just tagging the new channels as MPEG4?


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## James Long (Apr 17, 2003)

The latest channels are MPEG4.


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## Mike D-CO5 (Mar 12, 2003)

Depends on whether you are talking about the mpeg4 hd locals or the national channels in mpeg 4 like Starz. I have some problems with the Abc hd station from Dish in Houston , but mostly they are okay. The green pixelation thing comes and goes. As far as national channels I don't see any problems with them but some rave about how bad Starz hd is . But as always your mileage will vary depending on your perception and your hd locals.


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## boylehome (Jul 16, 2004)

I understand that STZHD is MPEG-4. When E* first started using MPEG-4, the video had problems. The current quality of STZHD is very good. At times I have seen artifacts in the video, mostly spots or lines of pixelation/distortion. Sometime in the future, I think E* intends to add more compression to the MPEG-4 signal, narrowing the current bandwidth perhaps up to an additional 30%. Once they get the channel fully compressed will picture quality degrade?


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## caam1 (Dec 7, 2004)

In the DFW area there were a lot of problems when they first put up the MPEG 4 locals. Now most of the problems have been resolved, and the sat locals look almost as good as the OTA signals.


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## dude2 (May 28, 2006)

I emailed [email protected] and asked if they were using mpeg4 on any of their channels and this is the answer I got. We are using it on some channels but that is all I am free to discuss at this time.
He made it sound like some big secret. Maybe it is.
A comment from another site like this said that mpeg 4 is not working, so not sure how to intrepret his answer. Dave.


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## grooves12 (Oct 27, 2005)

Mpeg4 IS up and running StarzHD, HGTV HD, Food HD, NFL Network HD, and all HD locals with the exception of LA and NY are currently in Mpeg4.

There was initially some major quality problems with the Mpeg4 channels... but they seem to have worked most of those problems out. If you look at the thread regarding the SF Bay HD locals, you will see those problems detailed. But, Dish Network was very responsive to them and kept in communication with a few of us on the forums, and the problems got worked out. I still think the Mpeg2 channels are of slightly better quality, but the difference is negligible. When it comes to the locals HS quality, a lot of it has to do with getting a poor feed from the local affiliate. I know with the channels in the Bay the ones that had problems didn't even look that great OTA.


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## whatchel1 (Jan 11, 2006)

The other site that you are reading tends to get their panties in a bunch more than this one. I read & post on both. I have more fun on the other cuz it is kinda like Jerry Springer of the sat thread world. This site is more laid back due to better mods.


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## James Long (Apr 17, 2003)

That being said, let's talk DBS instead of comparing DBS sites.


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## Ron Barry (Dec 10, 2002)

I have the LA Dish locals, OTA locals, and like mentioned above the MPEG4 channels. I do find it hard to tell the difference on my 60" Sony RP LCD at my 11' viewing. 

One thing you will find is the PQ not only is a factor of the type of technology, resolution, and bitrate, but also comes from the transfer process and you will find a wide range of PQ sources being shown. I personally think this is more of a factor in content delivery than the differences between MPEG4 and MPEG2. 

Having said that I do feel that I see more pixellization on my Dish HD locals. Not sure what is up with that.


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## ibglowin (Sep 10, 2002)

I have been recording alot of my locals in HD over the past few weeks (all MPEG4). They are doing much better than at first. I might experience one bad breakup in an hour show lasting only a few seconds. It takes less HD space to record witch is good for sure. On the other hand the VOOM stuff coming in on 129 is looking good as well. My signal strengths are in the mid to upper 80's on these guys so no breakups whatsoever. The locals are really low, sometimes in the mid 50's and thats with a seperate Dish 500 for 129 alone!


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## Presence (Mar 14, 2004)

The only real issue true MPEG-4 causes is when it comes time to use the DVR. Jumping back and forth, etc, is not nearly as fluid compared to the MPEG-2 channels.


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## dude2 (May 28, 2006)

Home and garden used to be the best channel for good pq but not anymore on my tv. It looks like good dvd now. Hope that is not the furture pq of all mpeg4 as to me it sucks.


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## lakebum431 (Jun 30, 2005)

The only local MPEG 4 HD channel that I have had any trouble with is the Atlanta NBC. In the beginning it hat major pixilation and green splotching, but I haven't really seen any of that lately. Looks almost as good as OTA (not perfect, but still good).


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## dude2 (May 28, 2006)

Hope fully someone will come out with a real eye catcher of full resolution HD that makes dish, direct and cable look like crap and force them to compete or fall by the wayside. 
Many times I think I switched to hd too soon. I could still be watching sd on my old 36 inch rca and not know the difference. Oh well, such is progress,.


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## Larry Caldwell (Apr 4, 2005)

dude2 said:


> Hope fully someone will come out with a real eye catcher of full resolution HD that makes dish, direct and cable look like crap and force them to compete or fall by the wayside.
> Many times I think I switched to hd too soon. I could still be watching sd on my old 36 inch rca and not know the difference. Oh well, such is progress,.


You need to review your setup. Something is wrong with it. At my house, HD is knock-your-socks-off gorgeous. As an early adopter, I paid big bucks for HD, but the last two years have been great.


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## William (Oct 28, 2006)

dude2 said:


> Hope fully someone will come out with a real eye catcher of full resolution HD that makes dish, direct and cable look like crap and force them to compete or fall by the wayside.
> Many times I think I switched to hd too soon. I could still be watching sd on my old 36 inch rca and not know the difference. Oh well, such is progress,.


Actually HD-DVD or BD will do this but it won't force them into higher bit rates.


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## wje (Mar 8, 2006)

Larry Caldwell said:


> You need to review your setup. Something is wrong with it. At my house, HD is knock-your-socks-off gorgeous. As an early adopter, I paid big bucks for HD, but the last two years have been great.


I agree! I have people come over and, when they see some of the really nice stuff on Equator, just stop in their tracks. It is really stunning. There's definitely something wrong with your setup. (or your eyes!


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## ChrisR (Sep 23, 2006)

dude2 said:


> Hope fully someone will come out with a real eye catcher of full resolution HD that makes dish, direct and cable look like crap and force them to compete or fall by the wayside.
> Many times I think I switched to hd too soon. I could still be watching sd on my old 36 inch rca and not know the difference. Oh well, such is progress,.


C-Band (aka "Big Dish") has been doing this for several years with first generation MPEG 2 HD. You can still get east and west feeds of HBO & Starz HD, as well as Discovery HD and PBS HD, and the west feed of Showtime HD. The picture quality on these channels via big dish is stunning and does blow Dish & Direc out of the water...sadly, from a technical standpoint, big dish is on it's way out. I am keeping mine strictly for the movie channels in HD, even tho there's no DVR capability.


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## whatchel1 (Jan 11, 2006)

ChrisR said:


> C-Band (aka "Big Dish") has been doing this for several years with first generation MPEG 2 HD. You can still get east and west feeds of HBO & Starz HD, as well as Discovery HD and PBS HD, and the west feed of Showtime HD. The picture quality on these channels via big dish is stunning and does blow Dish & Direc out of the water...sadly, from a technical standpoint, big dish is on it's way out. I am keeping mine strictly for the movie channels in HD, even tho there's no DVR capability.


There are stand alone HD DVR's. Not talking about TIVO series 3. I found a small RCA HD DVR on ebay the other day. Would guess that the 9 hr record could be expanded by changing out the HDD from 80g to a larger 1.


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## JM Anthony (Nov 16, 2003)

PQ wise, I'm a happy camper. I can't discern a difference and I've got a 61" display.

John


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## cornflakes (Sep 30, 2005)

Now that I have Dish, I can respond and say that MPEG4 quality's great! I've only had it for one day, but I watched some shows on Rave, Equator, and Food Network HD and they all look beautiful and sharp. However, in cases where there's really fast screen movements (such as a very fast pan of the camera), I do notice a bit of pixellation but it's not terrible or anything I would make a big fuss about. All in all I'm extremely pleased with the HD quality so far.


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## trafter (Dec 11, 2003)

I still have some sound issues with my mpeg4 locals here in Detroit. There is like a Max Headroom like effect that happens occasionally - other than that and the slightly slower channel changes, I'm fairly happy.


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## kb7oeb (Jun 16, 2004)

ChrisR said:


> C-Band (aka "Big Dish") has been doing this for several years with first generation MPEG 2 HD. You can still get east and west feeds of HBO & Starz HD, as well as Discovery HD and PBS HD, and the west feed of Showtime HD. The picture quality on these channels via big dish is stunning and does blow Dish & Direc out of the water...sadly, from a technical standpoint, big dish is on it's way out. I am keeping mine strictly for the movie channels in HD, even tho there's no DVR capability.


I've heard that these channels are squeezed even on c-band. I know its the source and the best you can get but I've read they still cram too much onto a single transponder.


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## JAB (Nov 10, 2006)

I just hope that the PQ stays this good. I was a dishnetwork subscriber in their first year of service and the signal degraded with time. The demand for more and more channels won over great picture quality. I really hope that does not happen again because I am loving it right now!

Jab


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