# Bet on it: Super Bowl in HD will look like garbage



## Zaney (Dec 24, 2006)

The Super Bowl will look crappy on CBS as it did last year. I'm not sure why the network doesn't devote every single iota of bandwith to the telecast, or is this going to be D*TV lame MPEG-4 compression as the culprit? I guess we will all wait and see!


----------



## John W (Dec 20, 2005)

Zaney said:


> The Super Bowl will look crappy on CBS as it did last year. I'm not sure why the network doesn't devote every single iota of bandwith to the telecast, or is this going to be D*TV lame MPEG-4 compression as the culprit? I guess we will all wait and see!


CBS OTA HD is magnificent. It wasn't on CBS last year.


----------



## Earl Bonovich (Nov 15, 2005)

Even though I will be at the game..  "thus better PQ then MPEG-4

During the Colts/Patriots game last week... the MPEG-4 CBS in Chicago was outstanding.


----------



## paulman182 (Aug 4, 2006)

I am really looking forward to the game shot from CBS's 48 (!) HD cameras. My CBS games almost always look good from the NY HD local.

By the way, Earl, Go Bears!


----------



## magellanmtb (Nov 19, 2006)

If the game is anything like CbS coverage of last weeks buick invitational golf tournament it will be fantastic.


----------



## MartyS (Dec 29, 2006)

Earl Bonovich said:


> Even though I will be at the game..  "thus better PQ then MPEG-4


Better bring a Poncho, Earl...


----------



## hasan (Sep 22, 2006)

Zaney said:


> The Super Bowl will look crappy on CBS as it did last year. I'm not sure why the network doesn't devote every single iota of bandwith to the telecast, or is this going to be D*TV lame MPEG-4 compression as the culprit? I guess we will all wait and see!


If you have OTA, the game should look just fine. CBS has typically been VERY good in our area OTA-HD. You have my sympathy if it's a local problem.

I have no idea what your MPEG-4/HD-Locals might be like, as we don't have them yet. (nor do I care....OTA is FANTASTIC in our area, all 5 majors)


----------



## mtnagel (Sep 18, 2006)

I would agree that CBS HD looked awful when I first got HD 4 months ago (too much blocking with any action), but it's gotten much better now. I bet it depends on where you are.

It better look good; we have people coming over to watch it here because of HD.


----------



## KidRock9999 (Jan 14, 2007)

my cbs has fantastic HD PQ, all but them red speckles


----------



## hdtvfan0001 (Jul 28, 2004)

1080i and 47 HD cameras....the OP is mistaken.


----------



## bonscott87 (Jan 21, 2003)

It really depends on your local and what they do.

The coverage from CBS network is bar none the best.
But if your local CBS station, like mine, has subchannels that starve the HD feed then yes, it can look like crap...for you.

Last night CBS had the Superbowl I think our local actually shutdown the subchannel during the game. Hopefully they do the same this year, except now it's a CW subchannel. But seeing as nobody will be watching it during the game, maybe they'll shut it down anyway.


----------



## Cobra (Aug 9, 2006)

I receive cbs ota, only way to go, and the pq and sound is awesome, thank god for antennas


----------



## rbean (Jan 12, 2007)

This is a test post, excuse the interruption


----------



## waynebtx (Dec 24, 2006)

MY local only broadcast in 480i :-( and says will not go to 1080 until this summer. Dont get the locals in HD from D* yet in the Corpus market.


----------



## JACKIEGAGA (Dec 11, 2006)

CBS NYC is one of the best


----------



## Tom Robertson (Nov 15, 2005)

Earl Bonovich said:


> Even though I will be at the game..  "thus better PQ then MPEG-4
> 
> During the Colts/Patriots game last week... the MPEG-4 CBS in Chicago was outstanding.


But Earl, when Urlacher makes that interception that has to be reviewed, what button will you push to back it up...? 

During the Colts/Pats game, now two weeks past, MPEG4 SLC as on par with MPEG2 DNS, but not as good as OTA. (Was hoping D* had pulled their magic on the MPEG4 transcoding here too, but not yet, alas.)

Cheers, have lots of fun,
Tom


----------



## drm0414 (Apr 28, 2006)

I'm taking my HR20 to a frends home this afternoon to connect to a DLP projector he's borrowed. His H20 will be connected to his 50' whatever HDTV on the opposite side of a huge rec room. WIll the circuits and drive of my HR-20 cause delat with reference to the H-20? Thanks.


----------



## Tom Robertson (Nov 15, 2005)

drm0414 said:


> I'm taking my HR20 to a frends home this afternoon to connect to a DLP projector he's borrowed. His H20 will be connected to his 50' whatever HDTV on the opposite side of a huge rec room. WIll the circuits and drive of my HR-20 cause delat with reference to the H-20? Thanks.


i've found that three HR20s (and for that matter a couple of HR10s) can vary in their delay--but as much as about a play, btw. Sometimes FF to live will catch up, sometimes not. I think channel changes work better, but I haven't tested that as throughly.

Cheers,
Tom


----------



## FastEddie (Sep 18, 2006)

We don't have CBS (KOIN 6) in Portland, OR yet. They have been saying a couple of weeks for months now. So for me it's OTA and we'll see what that looks like.


----------



## dallascontractor (Jan 9, 2007)

CBS 11-1 OTA is great here in Dallas, TX so OTA it will be:righton:


----------



## bonscott87 (Jan 21, 2003)

drm0414 said:


> I'm taking my HR20 to a frends home this afternoon to connect to a DLP projector he's borrowed. His H20 will be connected to his 50' whatever HDTV on the opposite side of a huge rec room. WIll the circuits and drive of my HR-20 cause delat with reference to the H-20? Thanks.


Yes, there will be a slight delay with the HR20 because it's a DVR. The data stream has to be recorded to the hard drive, buffered and then played back. Could be anywhere from 3-7 second delay over a non DVR receiver.
Of course the H20 is a 2-4 second delay over what it would be OTA.


----------



## n3ntj (Dec 18, 2006)

As mentioned above, last week's Buick Invitational on CBS was very awesome in HD. I expect that the Super Bowl today on CBS HD will look just as good!

Does look like CBS and/or D* will be pissing off some customers/viewers today regarding CBS HD.


----------



## Coffey77 (Nov 12, 2006)

I"ve been watching it/listening to it for a bit this moring and there are already quite a few audio drops and choppy play. Luckily/Unlucky we won't be watching in HD as the party we've set up has that ComBlast/no HD. :raspberry


----------



## Spanky_Partain (Dec 7, 2006)

Is Super Bowl the name or is it Bears for the next release?
Is there a release tonight and since Earl seems to be out, I did not get an email?


----------



## fer312t (Jan 29, 2007)

Anyone watching the CBS pre-game show - here in boston (WBZ) the picture look pretty dismal - pixelated/grainy and blurry. 

Im not sure if it the programming or whether it's the recently installed 5 lmb dish that is causing my poor picture....


----------



## DishDog (Nov 10, 2006)

fer312t said:


> Anyone watching the CBS pre-game show - here in boston (WBZ) the picture look pretty dismal - pixelated/grainy and blurry.
> 
> Im not sure if it the programming or whether it's the recently installed 5 lmb dish that is causing my poor picture....


Welcome aboard!
Here's some things to check:
Signal Strength
Loose Connectors
Try removing your BBC's.


----------



## richlife (Dec 4, 2006)

fer312t said:


> Anyone watching the CBS pre-game show - here in boston (WBZ) the picture look pretty dismal - pixelated/grainy and blurry.
> 
> Im not sure if it the programming or whether it's the recently installed 5 lmb dish that is causing my poor picture....


I'm watching the pre=game live (while recording) OTA and the PQ looks real good to me. Background isn't always crisp, but it's apparently raining on and off.


----------



## flipper2006 (Oct 2, 2006)

richlife said:


> I'm watching the pre=game live (while recording) OTA and the PQ looks real good to me. Background isn't always crisp, but it's apparently raining on and off.


Its been dreary the past 12 hours here. But as for the background, CBS HD has a weird issue with focus from long range (when zooming in) or an object is (like a ticker). This started opening week of 2005 season, before that it was better.


----------



## MarkGSportsNut (Nov 30, 2006)

fer312t said:


> Anyone watching the CBS pre-game show - here in boston (WBZ) the picture look pretty dismal - pixelated/grainy and blurry.
> 
> Im not sure if it the programming or whether it's the recently installed 5 lmb dish that is causing my poor picture....


I'm watching the Pre-game on WBZ (CBS) Ch4 and it is horrible on D*. I'm watching it now via OTA (not connected to my HR20) and it looks awesome. I was watching ESPN (Ch73) and NFL Network (Ch 95) earlier and they both looked great.

I'll add the locals on D* have looked like crap the last few weeks. I'm not sure what is going on. They looked fine in December.


----------



## fpd917 (Aug 16, 2006)

Zaney said:


> The Super Bowl will look crappy on CBS as it did last year. I'm not sure why the network doesn't devote every single iota of bandwith to the telecast, or is this going to be D*TV lame MPEG-4 compression as the culprit? I guess we will all wait and see!


Get over it!


----------



## Zaney (Dec 24, 2006)

Asking a football fanatic to get over a bad Super Bowl HD broadcast is like asking a squirrel to get over a nut, ain't gonna happen.

Pre-game (non-OTA) here in Los Angeles looks suspect, and I have a Samsung 52" 1080p LCD so it's not the TV, I think the rain is making it look pixelated. I'm hoping the actual game broadcast improves.


----------



## carlsbad_bolt_fan (May 18, 2004)

MarkGSportsNut said:


> I'm watching the Pre-game on WBZ (CBS) Ch4 and it is horrible on D*. I'm watching it now via OTA (not connected to my HR20) and it looks awesome. I was watching ESPN (Ch73) and NFL Network (Ch 95) earlier and they both looked great.
> 
> I'll add the locals on D* have looked like crap the last few weeks. I'm not sure what is going on. They looked fine in December.


Had the same problem yesterday here in the San Diego area. Not to scare you or anything, but I found that my multiswitch was going bad. All my other HD channels looked great. But my local HD's looked like...well...the word rhymes with "it", IYKWIM. 

Bypassed my multiswitch and everything cleared up.


----------



## MarkGSportsNut (Nov 30, 2006)

How does a 6X8 non-powered multi-switch go bad? How do you by-pass 4-wires from the 5LNB disk to two wires that goto the HR20?


----------



## Doug Brott (Jul 12, 2006)

drm0414 said:


> I'm taking my HR20 to a frends home this afternoon to connect to a DLP projector he's borrowed. His H20 will be connected to his 50' whatever HDTV on the opposite side of a huge rec room. WIll the circuits and drive of my HR-20 cause delat with reference to the H-20? Thanks.


Probably too late now, but I'm doing something similar, but I have two TVs connected to the same HR20. My second set is about a 50' run from the HR20 in the next room. I used three Coax Cables and simply connected to the Component output of the HR20 (need Coax to RCA connectors on each end of each cable). It seems to be working fine.

I decided to run the Audio to my Amplifier rather than connect the Audio to the second TV because I ran out of my spare coax  .

It seems to be working quite well and will give me higher viewing capacity.


----------



## oldschoolecw (Jan 25, 2007)

It’s happening again local HD channels are grainy through D* in Boston area. 

But OTA coming in great except for signal loss every few minutes. I wish I new what they were doing different on the weekends over there at D* with picture quality so poor in HD through D*.

Go BEARS
Only for a day will I be a Bears fan.


----------



## gsand (Oct 11, 2006)

Zaney said:


> The Super Bowl will look crappy on CBS as it did last year. I'm not sure why the network doesn't devote every single iota of bandwith to the telecast, or is this going to be D*TV lame MPEG-4 compression as the culprit? I guess we will all wait and see!


CBS had the Superbowl last year?? WHO KNEW! I must have watched the wrong game last year.


----------



## hdtvfan0001 (Jul 28, 2004)

gsand said:


> CBS had the Superbowl last year?? WHO KNEW! I must have watched the wrong game last year.


Ain't it the truth...if that guy's gonna whine, he needs to get his facts straight.


----------



## Zaney (Dec 24, 2006)

LOL I wasn't suggesting it was on CBS last year, just that it will look as bad, I knew when I worded that at the time some of you would rake me over the coals for it.


----------



## Spanky_Partain (Dec 7, 2006)

My local OTA HD and the D* provided HD CBS both have good PQ. However, the delay is about 6 seconds behind on the D* supply side.

I guess FEMA got their act together, it doesn't appear that bus loads of people are coming in the stadium due to the tornadoes.

I think everyone should count their blessings and give a moment for those in need today. Those are the people who really need help!

EDIT: Thank You!


----------



## carlsbad_bolt_fan (May 18, 2004)

MarkGSportsNut said:


> How does a 6X8 non-powered multi-switch go bad? How do you by-pass 4-wires from the 5LNB disk to two wires that goto the HR20?


Don't know how it went bad, but it did. My house was pre-wired, so all my cabling meets in one place. I just took two of the cables that came in from the dish and connected them (using barrel connectors) to the cables that run to my family room. Warning: your other rooms that feed off the multiswitch won't get anything if you do this.

Worked great since yesterday afternoon. I've got D* coming out tomorrow AM to replace the multiswitch.


----------



## mirwin101 (Oct 9, 2006)

Zaney said:


> The Super Bowl will look crappy on CBS as it did last year. I'm not sure why the network doesn't devote every single iota of bandwith to the telecast, or is this going to be D*TV lame MPEG-4 compression as the culprit? I guess we will all wait and see!


It might look bad if you are a Bears fan! GO COLTS!! GO PEYTON!!


----------



## cbaker (Dec 20, 2006)

I am watching the pre-game right now on D*TV (Sat, not OTA, in HD) and it looks GREAT. Better than any show I have seen in HD on my HR20 other than Sat Night Live and Tonight Show both on NBC. Usually CBS looks like *%$#, but it looks good right now.

I hope it holds for the game!

Not as good as it sounds like Earl and others have it though....


----------



## houskamp (Sep 14, 2006)

Anybody spot Earl yet?


----------



## Janney66 (Jun 13, 2006)

fer312t said:


> Anyone watching the CBS pre-game show - here in boston (WBZ) the picture look pretty dismal - pixelated/grainy and blurry.
> 
> Im not sure if it the programming or whether it's the recently installed 5 lmb dish that is causing my poor picture....


The Boston locals from D* have been awful the past couple weeks. OTA looks great. I don't know what is going on, but I assure you it's not your TV or box, since it seems like a lot of people are having this problem in the area.


----------



## Spanky_Partain (Dec 7, 2006)

houskamp said:


> Anybody spot Earl yet?


Got a picture of him or does he always have that growly hairy face? :lol:


----------



## Zaney (Dec 24, 2006)

Well I stand corrected, feed looks great, neighbors even better (OTA). Bears suck. Cheers.


----------



## jarredduq (Nov 17, 2006)

Looking good on both OTA & MPEG4 here in Sacramento, CA!


----------



## Sah (Jul 17, 2006)

DishDog said:


> Welcome aboard!
> Here's some things to check:
> Signal Strength
> Loose Connectors
> Try removing your BBC's.


It's kind of you to offer advice, but none of those will help. MPEG4 HD locals in our area have been horrible for over a week now. We hooked up an OTA antenna to watch the Superbowl, and the PQ is fantastic. Wish D* would get their act together on the MPEG4's in our area!!


----------



## naijai (Aug 19, 2006)

Ok anyone having constant audio drop out im watching the game OTA and audio keep going out


----------



## JokerStick (Oct 22, 2006)

Both WUSA 9-1 OTA and WJZ-13 MPEG-4 excellent. Any degredation in PQ is obviously due to the weather, as is the main culprit in the fumble-fest we're seeing in this game.


----------



## naijai (Aug 19, 2006)

picture is awesome and it has stopped may have been a local issue


----------



## jaywdetroit (Sep 21, 2006)

naijai said:


> picture is awesome and it has stopped may have been a local issue


Picture was fabulous in Detroit.


----------



## harsh (Jun 15, 2003)

Other than the fact that there was an obvious lack of rain protection for the camera lenses, the OTA picture was good. Someone in the engineering department at CBS needs an intensive course in tropical weather camera outfitting.


----------



## bidger (Nov 19, 2005)

Yeah harsh, fogged up lenses with rain droplets all over them...pretty messy.


----------



## NYHeel (Aug 21, 2006)

I thought the picture was very average at best. Even without the rain issues, the picture just seemed to lack the usual sharpness and clarity. I've always found the HD on Fox to be much better than on CBS for football.


----------



## jahgreen (Dec 15, 2006)

NYHeel said:


> I thought the picture was very average at best. Even without the rain issues, the picture just seemed to lack the usual sharpness and clarity. I've always found the HD on Fox to be much better than on CBS for football.


I'm only watching HD OTA right now, waiting for the HR20 to be fixed. My experience is that CBS and NBC are head and shoulders better than the 720p networks. Fox and ABC are awful by comparison, at least in San Francisco.


----------



## macEarl (Jan 2, 2007)

jahgreen said:


> I'm only watching HD OTA right now, waiting for the HR20 to be fixed. My experience is that CBS and NBC are head and shoulders better than the 720p networks. Fox and ABC are awful by comparison, at least in San Francisco.


Must be local affiliates then - games on HD OTA CBS mean muted colors and lower detail (Albuquerque) compared to others.


----------



## PeeWee10 (Dec 13, 2006)

Atlanta 46 (MPEG4) looked great. No audio dropouts, but had 3 momentary hangs, accompanied by the now-familar harsh bleat through the TV speakers. Fortunately, 2 happened between plays, and the third happened during the Sheryl Crow commercial. Recorded it, and it looks great on playback


----------



## EMoMoney (Dec 19, 2005)

John W said:


> CBS OTA HD is magnificent. It wasn't on CBS last year.


Correct, last year it was on ABC. MPEG4 in Baltimore looked pretty good as did the NY feed (80)


----------



## mocciat (Oct 17, 2006)

CBS out of Sacramento MPEG4 looks great and the same network over OTA looks marginaly better but both have outstanding quality.

KOVR has had problems in the past via D* uplink so I installed a Channel Master 4228 in the attic yesterday just in vase and it looks awesome.


----------



## DishDog (Nov 10, 2006)

Very good PQ in San Diego on KFMB HD-SAT. Sound was in sync too.


----------



## bobojay (Jan 26, 2004)

Good pic, good sound here in KC through the Mpeg-4 CBS affiliate feed. One problem though. Had water spots on my screen most of the game...


----------



## pappys (Jul 27, 2006)

Ya, I thought the feed was excellent from Chicago. I had no problems at all with the video. I had a 2 audio drops (only 1 during the game) and a quick channel change and back, and it was fixed. It was a great game, since I am a Steeler fan. Baseball is right around the corner!



cbaker said:


> I am watching the pre-game right now on D*TV (Sat, not OTA, in HD) and it looks GREAT. Better than any show I have seen in HD on my HR20 other than Sat Night Live and Tonight Show both on NBC. Usually CBS looks like *%$#, but it looks good right now.
> 
> I hope it holds for the game!
> 
> Not as good as it sounds like Earl and others have it though....


----------



## Zaney (Dec 24, 2006)

The only thing that looked bad was a Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson commercial where they sped up the footage between about 10 shots to create fast motion, nothing but pixelation, I hate when they do that :grin:


----------



## fpd917 (Aug 16, 2006)

great p.q. with CBS in Nashville


----------



## dugmar (Dec 30, 2006)

Boston feed was incredibly bad. Pixelated boxes on the field, especially when panning left to right, this was the entire time. Went to neighor's house to watch his cable TV feed and it was 1000 times better.


----------



## atljoe (Jan 31, 2007)

PQ was ok minus rain / fog
Audio was fair at best, very weak surround sound, audio feed was mostly on anouncers not enough on action or spectators. FOX has best NFL sound.


----------



## Steady Teddy (Jan 23, 2007)

I have no idea what 'Zaney' is talking about. I'm able to get both OTA and MPEG4 of CBS and my eyeballs couldn't tell a difference in PQ.


----------



## chef8181 (Jan 25, 2007)

Watched CBS feed on Cox for Norfolk, VA at a friends Super Bowl party and it looked incredible. Everybody was commenting on the beautiful picture.


----------



## mtnagel (Sep 18, 2006)

jahgreen said:


> I'm only watching HD OTA right now, waiting for the HR20 to be fixed. My experience is that CBS and NBC are head and shoulders better than the 720p networks. Fox and ABC are awful by comparison, at least in San Francisco.


Funny, because it's the exact opposite here. Football on Fox is amazing and Lost was literally jaw-dropping on ABC. Must be a local issue and does the fact that my tv's native rez is 720p matter?


----------



## HolmesCo (Dec 4, 2006)

chef8181 said:


> Watched CBS feed on Cox for Norfolk, VA at a friends Super Bowl party and it looked incredible. Everybody was commenting on the beautiful picture.


I am in your area, well actually Sacramento locals, and totally opposite to your experience, Channel 13-cbs is the worst, though luckily it was flawless all thru the superbowl. Fox 40 is always awesome. Basically I think all the locals have problems themselves which may or may not be related to the HR20. I have had times when 13HD was dropping audio, dropping video, then swith to 13-1 OTA and its ok, but yet thats going thru the hr20 also,so not sure I understand. But bottom line to me, is somebody has to do something regardinglocals, whether its the locals themselves or D* or both.


----------



## n3ntj (Dec 18, 2006)

Super Bowl was awesome in HD via KWY-DT (Phily). Can't get our local CBS Station OTA (WHP) due to the low power output (1.5 kW) and the HR20. Like others said, the only minor issue was rain drops on lenses.

Nice job, CBS HD.


----------



## MarkGSportsNut (Nov 30, 2006)

I thought in December that the CBS broadcasts looked the best for the NFL. Fox and NBC didn't look that great. All the Boston locals have looked like crap the whole month of January. OTA looked very good I thought other then the mist on the lenses and fog.


----------



## upnorth (Jun 21, 2006)

Zaney said:


> The Super Bowl will look crappy on CBS as it did last year. I'm not sure why the network doesn't devote every single iota of bandwith to the telecast, or is this going to be D*TV lame MPEG-4 compression as the culprit? I guess we will all wait and see!


Nice attitude let's be negative before the fact. My CBS MPEG-4 feed was great just as it has been since day one.
But that varies across the country there are some areas where they are having problems.


----------



## n3ntj (Dec 18, 2006)

n3ntj said:


> As mentioned above, last week's Buick Invitational on CBS was very awesome in HD. I expect that the Super Bowl today on CBS HD will look just as good!
> 
> Does look like CBS and/or D* will be pissing off some customers/viewers today regarding CBS HD.


BTW.. I watched NBC's FBR golf tourney Sundayand the tower cameras are HD and the handheld cameras are definitely in SD. Looked terrible. Time for NBC to switch their handheld cameras to HD.


----------



## paulman182 (Aug 4, 2006)

The CBS local from NY looked great in MPEG2 on my system.


----------



## Revenoor (Dec 14, 2006)

We have been comparing picture quality at work this morning. All comments were negative regarding PQ. It didn't matter who the carrier was (D, E, Comcast or OTA), the CBS HD cameras, audio and production just plain sucked. The comment was anyone that bought an HDTV for this just got screwed.


----------



## islesfan (Oct 18, 2006)

I have to say that the game looked great vis signal, but with all the rain and fog on the lenses, it looked blurry from most cameras. Not D*'s fault there. If they insist on playing the Super Bowl in warm areas, at least pick a place where it doesn't rain every day! I would prefer to see the game in NE or Chicago! Gimme snow!


----------



## jahgreen (Dec 15, 2006)

mtnagel said:


> Funny, because it's the exact opposite here. Football on Fox is amazing and Lost was literally jaw-dropping on ABC. Must be a local issue and does the fact that my tv's native rez is 720p matter?


Mine TV is 720p also, but there's no question that the 1080i channels look better. Maybe I need to inquire at the SF area HD thread over at avs forum.


----------



## jheda (Sep 19, 2006)

islesfan said:


> I have to say that the game looked great vis signal, but with all the rain and fog on the lenses, it looked blurry from most cameras. Not D*'s fault there. If they insist on playing the Super Bowl in warm areas, at least pick a place where it doesn't rain every day! I would prefer to see the game in NE or Chicago! Gimme snow!


Dude, yesterday was the first all day rain since october....and nobody was complaining friday and saturday in southbeach....which is why its here again in 3 years...........

I agree the game looked great !!!!


----------



## terryfoster (Nov 15, 2006)

Revenoor said:


> We have been comparing picture quality at work this morning. All comments were negative regarding PQ. It didn't matter who the carrier was (D, E, Comcast or OTA), the CBS HD cameras, audio and production just plain sucked. The comment was anyone that bought an HDTV for this just got screwed.


Funny, but you all probably have one thing in common, your affiliate.

My local affiliate looked as good as can be expected when broadcasting a CW subchannel, but overall I would say it looked very nice.


----------



## Mr.72 (Feb 2, 2007)

I watched the SB in Austin with OTA antenna. The picture was fab. The audio was a major problem. DD was not working right. The center channel was only working for the commentators, not for other things like the ref's mic etc. audio completely gone for some commercials with DD (notably Budweiser commericals). Switch to PCM/stereo audio (DPL) and everything was working but of course it didn't sound as good.

I stll think HDTV is not ready for primetime.


----------



## jheda (Sep 19, 2006)

Mr.72 said:


> I watched the SB in Austin with OTA antenna. The picture was fab. The audio was a major problem. DD was not working right. The center channel was only working for the commentators, not for other things like the ref's mic etc. audio completely gone for some commercials with DD (notably Budweiser commericals). Switch to PCM/stereo audio (DPL) and everything was working but of course it didn't sound as good.
> 
> I stll think HDTV is not ready for primetime.


I have posted this issue a number of times and it has been written off to my reiciever settings (yamaha 750 via component) My center speaker like yours is out in the same exact circumstances. At my party yesterday i played the game in 7 ch stero to avoid the issues.....


----------



## terryfoster (Nov 15, 2006)

Suffice it to say that most of these posts can tell us that CBS gives too much control over the end product to their affiliates. Color levels, DD5.1 encoding, and bitrate are just some examples of things a CBS affiliate has control over on the HD stream.

The networks could learn from Fox and their "splicer" system. The affiliate has little to no control over Fox's HD product which results in uniform distribution.


----------



## bsmithFX4 (Dec 7, 2006)

I had a lot of audio drop-outs too, but I didn't notice any major issues during the game itself - it was just during the commercials. (Watched KCBS 2 over the sat, not OTA.) PQ seemed pretty decent at the beginning of the game before the lenses got all wet and fogged up - got a lot of comments on the great picture.


----------



## tabraha (Jan 23, 2007)

Local CBS in Columbia SC ramped up their bandwidth and shut down a subchannel so us OTA people got a great seat for the super bowl. Nice and dry too. Kudos to WLTX for not dumping a great feed in the garbage can but rather making the necessary adjustments to pass it along. Hardly any audio drop outs on our end. Alot of folks at the SB party at my house experienced HD for their first time and were awed.


----------



## Blitz68 (Apr 19, 2006)

Zaney said:


> The Super Bowl will look crappy on CBS as it did last year. I'm not sure why the network doesn't devote every single iota of bandwith to the telecast, or is this going to be D*TV lame MPEG-4 compression as the culprit? I guess we will all wait and see!


CBS is the best for video and sound during NFL games. And the Super Bowl was on ABC last year (720p).

CBS's only problem is they only broadcast 3 games a week in HD


----------



## carlsbad_bolt_fan (May 18, 2004)

My HD CBS Local sucks. Around 12pm the audio became distorted. Sounded really tinny and messed up. Found out through hdtvforsandiego.com that it was county wide. Cable, E*, D* & OTA had problems. They finally fixed around 1pm or so.

But it's not the only time our CBS local has f'ed up an HD sporting event. On the previous weekend, we had a PGA event at Torrey Pines. NO HD for the entire weekend. Not that I care about golf, but it just shows that not everyone gets it right.


----------



## Mr.72 (Feb 2, 2007)

I think the sound problems I was seeing with center channel in DD were audio-mix related (like, the live mixer at the source) since I could hear them take down the commentator channel and just did not bring up the other channel. I don't know a lot about broadcast audio but it kind of made me think maybe they had a bus assignment error. Can't see how a local affiliate could have screwed up the audio in this way.


----------



## dsm (Jul 11, 2004)

Boston OTA seemed OK, but the quality was spoiled by the poor water/humidity management on the camera. Maybe a smaller screen would have hid some of the water mess, but on my 113" screen it was distracting (1080p Mitsu HC5000 front projector).

-steve


----------



## Rambler (Nov 9, 2006)

Zaney said:


> The Super Bowl will look crappy on CBS as it did last year. I'm not sure why the network doesn't devote every single iota of bandwith to the telecast, or is this going to be D*TV lame MPEG-4 compression as the culprit? I guess we will all wait and see!


My local OTA CBS HD looked pretty dang good, despite all the rain!


----------



## erichb64 (Jan 2, 2007)

Was not lucky enough to be at the game (my condolences Earl). But CBS Philadelphia affiliate was outstanding in HD (except when CBS forgot to wipe the rain from the camera lens).


36 years and finally redemption !! Go Colts


----------



## chrisexv6 (Sep 14, 2002)

OTA CBS out of NY looked nice, as it usually does.

MPEG4 CBS out of Hartford (WFSB) looked pretty decent, a little artifacting going on but only visible when (literally) 3" from the screen.

I didnt try surround on either setup, had people over the house that didnt want blaring noise.

Also commented to my dad "they spend all this money on HD cameras and they cant keep the darn lenses clear....I feel sorry for those who ran out to buy HD TVs just to see this Super Bowl.......you cant see the blades of grass like normal  "

I would have preferred the game be played in Indy or Chicago......snow doesnt soak the lens as much, and I think snow would look pretty cool in HD.

-Chris


----------



## jgrade (Oct 1, 2006)

Besdies having to watch Rex completely screw the pooch, CBS chicago was outstanding with only 1 audio drop in the beginning. Watched the Bears loose in 71 inches of 1080i goodness.


----------



## JamesTPDI (Jan 4, 2007)

Superbowl, Boston WBZ, on the HR-20, picture was garbage, blotchy, pixelated. somewhat better at the end but certanly not worth the HD investment.

James


----------



## Zaney (Dec 24, 2006)

James, was that not because of the rain? That seemed to cause a lot of nasty pixelation.



JamesTPDI said:


> Superbowl, Boston WBZ, on the HR-20, picture was garbage, blotchy, pixelated. somewhat better at the end but certanly not worth the HD investment.
> 
> James


----------



## MarkGSportsNut (Nov 30, 2006)

no, it has been that way for weeks with all of the Boston locals on D*. OTA was excellent.


----------



## kevintoner (Oct 15, 2006)

I live in Indianapolis and had a few issues with the SuperBowl broadcast:

1. On my HR20 the CBS HD MPEG4 channel had no broadcast. Instead D* put up a sign explaining that they did not have the rights to broadcast the high definition feed of the game in my area. The broadcast was available in SD on the local channels I pay D* for.

2. I was very motivated to watch the game in HD, so I hooked up my HR10 Tivo to watch the OTA broadcast on my local CBS station. There were many audio dropouts during the commercials. Usually they took out the center channel dialogue for the first commercial and then popped back for the second and third commercials in each break. I checked with another D* HR10 Tivo owner today and he had the same performance on the OTA broadcast.

The OTA HD picture quality was great.


----------



## dbaile (Jan 22, 2007)

Janney66 said:


> The Boston locals from D* have been awful the past couple weeks. OTA looks great. I don't know what is going on, but I assure you it's not your TV or box, since it seems like a lot of people are having this problem in the area.


Yeah, the D* local channel was unwatchable with all the shimmering and out of focus shots. I kept switching to the OTA broadcast to show my wife the difference. But then realized the FREE OTA channel was far superior to the one I'm paying for. What the heck does that mean?


----------



## Zaney (Dec 24, 2006)

It means watch your OTA? 

I will be curious to see what we are all discussing for next year's Super Bowl, the HR20, D*TV and MPEG-4 compression etc.


----------



## hasan (Sep 22, 2006)

dbaile said:


> Yeah, the D* local channel was unwatchable with all the shimmering and out of focus shots. I kept switching to the OTA broadcast to show my wife the difference. But then realized the FREE OTA channel was far superior to the one I'm paying for. What the heck does that mean?


It means what many of us have been saying (and why we were harping on getting OTA turned on in the HR20 as early as possible): OTA is the GOLD standard of PQ, and is likely to remain so for quite some time.

There are a few people who are having good results with MPEG-4/HD-Locals as provided by D*, (Earl is one of them, and I trust his judgment), but most people can see the improved PQ of OTA vs. MPEG-4....it's not the technology per se, it's the implementation of MPEG-4 starting at the encoding side and ending at how the HR20 responds to MPEG-4 (including some very suspect error trapping).

It IS possible to cause problems to the HR20 OTA as well, if there are problems with the PSIP info....the HR20 gets confused, doesn't error trap properly and you can end up with a black screen, but not being locked up...just a black screen no matter what one does. This is VERY rare for me...it has happened exactly ONE time, when I was doing so heavy testing of OTA on particularly weak (and one station with bad PSIP info).

Overall I have had very few, and only minor problems with the HR20 since putting it on line over 4 months ago.

In summary, if the database is right for your area, and you receive a given channel OTA on the HR20, your picture is HIGHLY likely to be better OTA than via D*. Your recordings will take more space OTA (perhaps 40% more?).


----------



## HockeyKat (Jul 5, 2006)

WJZ out of Baltimore looked great sunday night, both the OTA and the MPEG4 verisons. We just had the stupid water and fog on the camera lenses to contend with.


Now about the outcome of that game.... :eek2:


----------



## Lord Vader (Sep 20, 2004)

jaywdetroit said:


> Picture was fabulous in Detroit.


"Fabulous"? Did you just say "fabulous"??? Now that's as gay as the pregame Cirque du Soleil thing! 

On another note, watched the game on the CBS national HD feed and it was outstanding (save for the outcome, of course).


----------



## LameLefty (Sep 29, 2006)

Picture quality on the Nashville MPEG4 CBS local was great - it let you see all the fog and water drops all over the camera lenses perfectly. :lol: And the outcome was perfect!


----------



## Blitz68 (Apr 19, 2006)

kevintoner said:


> I live in Indianapolis and had a few issues with the SuperBowl broadcast:
> 
> 1. On my HR20 the CBS HD MPEG4 channel had no broadcast. Instead D* put up a sign explaining that they did not have the rights to broadcast the high definition feed of the game in my area. The broadcast was available in SD on the local channels I pay D* for.
> 
> ...


Why did you not have this hooked up to the HR20-700?


----------



## GlennDio (Jan 19, 2007)

HockeyKat said:


> WJZ out of Baltimore looked great sunday night, both the OTA and the MPEG4 verisons. We just had the stupid water and fog on the camera lenses to contend with.
> 
> :


Tampa CBS Channel 10 was great on both the OTA and the MPEG-4 version as well


----------

