# FOX's 720p v. CBS's 1080i -- Which is better?



## Lord Vader

I am aware of the technical differences between HD's "i" and "p" (interlaced and progressive) and the arguments that just because something is 1080 doesn't mean it's better than 720, but this year and last when watching football on both CBS and FOX, I've come to the conclusion that CBS's 1080i HD broadcasts are way better than FOX's 720p ones. 

To make sure it's not just my TV, I've checked it out on each of the HDTVs I own, from DLP LED to plasma, and on each one, the CBS 1080i broadcasts are just so much sharper, detailed, even brighter. I asked my old man and brother the same thing, and they all agree. It's not even close, IMHO. In fact, FOX's 720p broadcasts look borderline awful for an HD picture. The detail, sharpness, and crispness are just bad. I often think I'm watching an upconverted SD picture, if that.

Does FOX do something to their 720p broadcasts? I ask because I've seen ESPN's or some other sports broadcasts in 720p, and I could swear they're far better than FOX's. 

I'm thankful my Steelers are in the AFC, so this means most of the time when they're broadcast on Sundays, it's on CBS. Sucks that tomorrow they'll be on FOX. BTW, I can stomach the pregame show in 720p, because SD, HD, 720p, or 1080i, FOX's NFL guys are the best!

BTW, I'm not including NBC (Sunday Night Football) or ESPN (Monday Night Football) here because those are single events, even though I believe NBC's broadcast is nice!


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## davring

Our local FOX affiliate varies, good or bad it is the same OTA. Last years BCS games were quite good. I do agree that the CBS broadcasts a noticeably sharper with better color saturation.


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## Lord Vader

I've tried through OTA as well (I can get the FOX OTA but not the CBS one where I'm at), and have noticed no discernible difference between the FOX OTA or the DirecTV-delivered channel.


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## Movieman

By far CBS for me. And Vikings are playing on FOX this weekend.


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## Lord Vader

Which means I get to watch the STEELERS kick the crap out of Minnesota in FOX's downconverted HD.


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## Movieman

Lord Vader said:


> Which means I get to watch the STEELERS kick the crap out of Minnesota in FOX's downconverted HD.


Off topic but in your dreams buddy. :lol:


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## Lord Vader

Oh, puhleeze! Minnesota's a 1-man team. Take away Favre & that team is NOTHING. The mighty STEELERS, however, are a complete team, and, I might add, the defending Super Bowl champions.


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## Stewart Vernon

Actually... take away Favre and that team still has Adrian Petersen and still goes 10-6 and wins their division (like they did last year)... so I wouldn't call them a 1-man team.

Lately the Steelers have been playing like a 1-man team, though... because they haven't looked at all like the Superbowl team from last year even in games they won this year.

I don't have a rooting preference here, since neither are really "my" teams... so I think I'm being objective.


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## shedberg

I think it has more to do with the local uplinks because the CBS PQ is VERY bad compared to Fox here. It is too bad that CBS happens to carry my local team. The college game feeds are usually pretty good though so I am at a loss as to why the PQ is not consistent.


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## hdtvfan0001

I've always thought the CBS broadcasts were the better of the two - but not based on the 720p/1080i difference...I suspect it has to do with the whole differences in the FOX/CBS HD broadcast infrastructure....from the cameras to the control room....and beyond.

I've seen some 720p content that looked virtually identical to the eyes as other 1080i content.

There's alot that comes into play.


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## Lord Vader

I'm sure there is, which is why I narrowed this thread to just the CBS v. FOX NFL broadcasts.


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## Lord Vader

Stewart Vernon said:


> Actually... take away Favre and that team still has Adrian Petersen and still goes 10-6 and wins their division (like they did last year)... so I wouldn't call them a 1-man team.
> 
> Lately the Steelers have been playing like a 1-man team, though... because they haven't looked at all like the Superbowl team from last year even in games they won this year.
> 
> I don't have a rooting preference here, since neither are really "my" teams... so I think I'm being objective.


Without Favre there's no way the Vikings are close to their present 6-0 record.


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## hdtvfan0001

Lord Vader said:


> Without Favre there's no way the Vikings are close to their present 6-0 record.


The same claim could be made about the NFL officiating towards the Vikings this season....but that too has little to do with 720p/1080i. :lol:


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## Stewart Vernon

I forgot to be on topic earlier... my apologies to the thread-starter!

I voted CBS tops... Next is a tie between NBC and FOX for me. NBC is 1080i but my local NBC 1080i never looks as good as the CBS 1080i to me. Not sure why.

FOX always looks better than either ABC or ESPN to me. Sometimes ESPN looks better than others, and almost always beats ABC now that the local ABC has 2 720p + 1 SD multicast channels.

The weirder thing to me, though... I find the CBS NFL games to look superior to the CBS NCAA games on Saturday. It's not a wide margin mind you, but usually noticeably sharper for the NFL games on Sunday than the college games the day before.


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## Stewart Vernon

Lord Vader said:


> Without Favre there's no way the Vikings are close to their present 6-0 record.


By my count only 2 games are the result of Favre-magic... so take Favre out and maybe they lose those games and are 4-2 instead of 6-0... Minnesota really hasn't played a lot of top-tier teams at this point so I'm not sure how much is Favre and how much is the weak schedule. I would pick the Giants over the Vikings... and the Saints in a blowout over the Vikings right now... but I think Minnesota is probably as good as anyone else in the NFC with or without Favre.


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## Scott Kocourek

Milwaukee Fox channel 6 has been terrible to watch lately. (During football) They have been having quite a few audio drops, pixelation and for about 10 minutes today broadcast the game in 4:3 SD. Great quality.

Others on DBStalk have reported very good quality on ST but not here.


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## Hutchinshouse

FOX HD is weak. CBS HD rules!


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## JACKIEGAGA

CBS hands down


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## dshu82

Voted CBS, by a long shot. Fox has actually gotten worse this year?


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## Lord Vader

Is that even possible? 

BTW, I've noticed that the larger the TV, the worse FOX's "HD" PQ actually is. Now, one might say that is to be expected, but I say poppycock! My CBS HD broadcasts look just as sharp and good on my 67" TV as they do on my 42" and 32" ones. FOX, however, as bad as it looks on my smaller TVs looks worse on my big one. 

Whether that's due to the 720p (as opposed to 1080i) or FOX itself I don't know.


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## Stewart Vernon

A worse problem lately has been audio glitches on FOX. I know it isn't my local channel either because others are seeing it too (AVSForum discussions) and today while watching the RedZone channel I heard audio drops when they were patched into a FOX game.


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