# DOD picture quality poll



## west5648 (Oct 13, 2007)

I had this idea to start this thread after some ridiculous stuff that was being said on another thread. So how is DOD video quality compared to sat quality?


----------



## tonyd79 (Jul 24, 2006)

It seems about equal to me but I do see more dropouts than I see on satellite data.

I sure hope those voting are comparing apples to apples. I have seen one post in another thread already comparing the SD quality of VOD to the HD quality of satellite broadcast.


----------



## Michael D'Angelo (Oct 21, 2006)

I don't see any difference between SD via SAT vs. SD via DoD.

The only problem I did have was the audio on DoD was very low but it has been much better over the last few weeks.


----------



## jtn (Oct 18, 2007)

VOD quality on DirecTV is equal to quality of other companies, not worse I cannot tell the difference between downloading via satellite versus online Internet. So I am shocked that some feel it is bad. Facts are everyone has varying quality Internet which is not the fault of DirecTV.


----------



## PoitNarf (Aug 19, 2006)

jtn said:


> Facts are everyone has varying quality Internet which is not the fault of DirecTV.


For the very VERY last time, the quality of the video has absolutely no bearing on download speed. I could download a VOD title on a 300 baud modem and it will still look the same even though it would probably take weeks to finish.

Please keep this thread on topic unlike some others as of late...

:backtotop


----------



## jtn (Oct 18, 2007)

PoitNarf said:


> For the very VERY last time, the quality of the video has absolutely no bearing on download speed. I could download a VOD title on a 300 baud modem and it will still look the same even though it would probably take weeks to finish.
> 
> Please keep this thread on topic unlike some others as of late...
> 
> :backtotop


I'm not sure that is accurate, but that is what you believe and I disagree. I have not disagreed with you in the past, I don't think, however technology has to be ready for the devices it's connected to. No DirecTV equipment will connect to a 300 baud device if there is even such a device available today, there have been in the past for faxing etc, about 20 years ago.


----------



## davring (Jan 13, 2007)

jtn said:


> I'm not sure that is accurate, but that is what you believe and I disagree. I have not disagreed with you in the past, I don't think, however technology has to be ready for the devices it's connected to. No DirecTV equipment will connect to a 300 baud device if there is even such a device available today, there have been in the past for faxing etc, about 20 years ago.


Connection speed will have absolutely NO bearing on quality.


----------



## gulfwarvet (Mar 7, 2007)

when D* first released VOD, i would have said it was worse. now after so many fixes and even tweaks we don't even know about. i now say it is *Equal* if not a little better than Sat-SD. so as time goes by i can see it getting even better than it is now.


----------



## Stuart Sweet (Jun 19, 2006)

I think there are a lot of bitstarved SD channels out there, and On Demand looks about the same as they do.


----------



## gulfwarvet (Mar 7, 2007)

jtn said:


> I'm not sure that is accurate, but that is what you believe and I disagree. I have not disagreed with you in the past, I don't think, however technology has to be ready for the devices it's connected to. No DirecTV equipment will connect to a 300 baud device if there is even such a device available today, there have been in the past for faxing etc, about 20 years ago.


As PoitNarf stated and from i what i have followed on him, He knows his stuff. connection speed has nothing to do with it.


----------



## PoitNarf (Aug 19, 2006)

gulfwarvet said:


> As PoitNarf stated and from i what i have followed on him, He knows his stuff.


Thanks


----------



## Sharkie_Fan (Sep 26, 2006)

Stuart Sweet said:


> I think there are a lot of bitstarved SD channels out there, and On Demand looks about the same as they do.


I would agree with that assessment.... and it's one of the reasons - now that I have HD - that I don't watch Sd programming. I don't think I have a single SD series link in my list... In the last year, I guess I've become somewhat of an HD snob! 

The offerings on VOD just don't do it for me at this point... And I realize it's just a beta and things are going to get added/fixed as we go, so I'm not completely down on VOD... yet! If we could get SD stuff on VOD that was compressed to a lesser degree, even if it means larger files with longer download times, I could watch some SD stuff on occasion when there's nothing on...


----------



## code4code5 (Aug 29, 2006)

Everything that I've downloaded from Starz On Demand has suffered from extremely poor PQ. We downloaded Open Season for our daughter and I was dissappointed with the results.

That being said, I've downloaded shows from CMT, The Science Channel, The Discovery Channel, and several others that look fantastic by SD standards. I think that if there is a fault, it lies with certain providers and not D* on the whole.


----------



## davring (Jan 13, 2007)

I have been under the impression that VOD content comes directly from the provider, TNT, TBS, Starz, etc. and not D*. Anyone know if this is accurate?


----------



## Earl Bonovich (Nov 15, 2005)

davring said:


> I have been under the impression that VOD content comes directly from the provider, TNT, TBS, Starz, etc. and not D*. Anyone know if this is accurate?


Yes and No.

The Content does come from the provider.
But your access to it, is to DirecTV controlled systems... and it is stored on that system.

So the source: Yes from the providers...
But from a technological point of view: You are getting it from DirecTV


----------



## davring (Jan 13, 2007)

Thanks Earl, I was just curious.


----------



## rkreitl (Aug 24, 2007)

I voted worse. In SD DOD I've seen much more pizilation than I've ever noticed in SD SAT programming.


----------



## Wisegoat (Aug 17, 2006)

Looks just fine to me. On both a 57" HD and a 36" SD tv. Looks just as good, if not a tad better, than normal channels. I think that Hot Pursuit looked better on DOD than live from CourtTV.


----------



## EFGFE36TWGOU4 (Nov 4, 2006)

I voted not as good as standard programming, but I think it does depend on the channel. Starz on demand seems much worse compared to the SD equivalent. Sprout shows like Barney / Thomas look like good quality SD (as good as the regular station.) But to me, having Starz on Demand in high quality is more important than Sprout. Hence I am not satisfied with the quality. Bring on the HD please. I can't wait for HD though. (Until quality comes up, DoD is just a toy for me) Its potential is MUCH more than a toy. (Think a convergence of internet and TV) With all of the wonderful HD stations available from DTV, its hard to stomach SD these days (and low low quality SD seen on Starz on Demand) 

I believe Video on Demand is going to become and important part of television viewing. They need huge libraries though, once the libraries become huge, it will probably be hard for us to remember what it was like before VOD. (by huge I mean millions, not thousands) Blu-Ray , DVD, HD-DVD, I think some day they will not be important, people will be able to purchase digital rights to new movies and store the movie remotely on some mega servers and wont have the need to own a disc. That day is not here yet, but it would make since (in my humble opinion) that is where things are going. Or maybe people subscribe to Starz, HBO , etc. and have access to their huge libraries so long as they keep the subscription active. But Libraries need to be huge and quality needs to be high, once this occurs, the first provider to offer this will rake in the dough with people coming over to that ship.

Go DirecTV! Make it happen!


----------



## 1948GG (Aug 4, 2007)

Does anyone even know if the DOD programming is Mpeg2 or Mpeg4 encoded? 

From the Standard Def programing I've sampled (on, I might add, except for the HR20-700 w/ eSATA HD array, on broadcast grade monitor(s), not the 'typical' poor consumer displays, to wit most if not all 'flat' panel types), the picture quality appears no different than 'live'. 

Now, if their were some HD material, one might start to see something, but until it's available, who knows. I'll assume that the system has built-in error-correction (to find and correct bit transmissions through the internet link), and that it should be VERY robust. Some folks who have reported dropouts and other 'neat' things happening may have poor connections, or the 'robustness' of the error-correction may not be up to snuff; after all, just like satellite transmission, the more correction built-into the system takes more bandwidth out of the whole.

OR, there is maybe a problem with the HR20 in doing what it needs to do. But one would have to have a good knowledge of the system as a whole to come up with some parameters, and if fact, answer the first question I posed at the top. 

Then again, if DirecTV is 'assuming' it's getting good material from the suppliers (the STARZ comment in particular), it may not (be getting well encoded material).


----------



## tonyd79 (Jul 24, 2006)

Late last night, I watched the 1994 Penn State/Illinois game dowloaded from BTN. It looked great, especially for SD recorded 13 years ago to the day and a game played on a misty, rainy evening. In fact, it looked better than the bit I watched on the HD 220 a week earlier.


----------



## cartrivision (Jul 25, 2007)

The little bit of it that I've watched has varied from slightly worse to substantially worse than typical D* SD channels. Some of it was so "soft" the credits were almost unreadable and had a look like they were out of focus. This is on a 40" LCD HD TV, on a 50" SD TV, the differences aren't quite as obvious.


----------



## 1948GG (Aug 4, 2007)

Although I had d/l'ed some TCM movies that looked very good, I went back and got some other items (video's mostly) and found that both the picture and sound quality were very variable, to the point that some of them were obviously encoded bad, with some of them unwatchable to the point where the DVR 'gave up' playing them back.

So, I think that whatever quality control exists, it's a bit lax. If they're counting on the suppliers to provide good services, I think they're more than a bit mis-informed.


----------



## gfrang (Aug 30, 2007)

some of what i been viewing looks like very old content that is why it looks not as good as sd but i have no complant


----------



## cypher (Nov 25, 2007)

I haven't noticed any difference in quality of picture in SD programs, as HD is unavailable still. I am willing to bet that it will be equal with HD program when they do become available.


----------



## CliffV (Jan 24, 2006)

I only tried one show (since the selection on DOD is still pretty weak). But the show I watched was very much over-compressed. Plus it was a 4:3 show stretched to 16:9.

The picture quality was so bad that my wife mentioned it to me. She very seldom notices that type of thing.

The show I watched was "Playing by Heart" on STARZ.

I'll be watching here for the good word before I bother downloading anything else.


----------

