Not all HD is created equal

I find that the HD broadcasts on Dish via my 622 vary much. Some of the stuff on equater is really awsome and some so so.
Of the networks I find American Idol to have the sharpest picture of all.
Some of the regular shows do not look much better than good SD.
Our local NBC news channel just went live HD and with a great news pq also everything else they broadcast in sd is much better than it used to be.
The fact that American Idol is live as are the newscasts, I would guess the other shows were not intended for HD and are just upconverted.
Hopefully we will see a change when the new seasons starts in the fall.
On a site off of the HD blog I read a news article that says that HD is selling way faster than expected with good lcd 31 inch sets under 1000 bucks, most people are opting for hd.
I also find at walmart the most sets are now all HD with only the 100 bucks or less sets in sd.
Should help get more good stations to go HD. Law of supply and demand should pressure more hd stations.

Should help get more good stations to go HD. Law of supply and demand should pressure more hd stations.


Don't hold your breath.

Until the General Public actually WANTS their HD display to render the given material its just due, providers (broadcasters) will deliver MORE channels of compressed content.

Doug k

...Some of the regular shows do not look much better than good SD.Our local NBC news channel just went live HD and with a great news pq also everything else they broadcast in sd is much better than it used to be..It may be bad netiquette to dredge up old retired threads - but here's one with almost the same title as yours - you may be interested in -- it beat the subject severely from about every angle - but the problem still lives -Local HDTV Info & Reception > Local HDTV Info and Reception> Are all OTA HDTV signals created equally? (http://www.highdefforum.com/showthread.php?t=11432)

I find that the HD broadcasts on Dish via my 622 vary much. Some of the stuff on equater is really awsome and some so so.
Of the networks I find American Idol to have the sharpest picture of all.
Some of the regular shows do not look much better than good SD.
Our local NBC news channel just went live HD and with a great news pq also everything else they broadcast in sd is much better than it used to be.
The fact that American Idol is live as are the newscasts, I would guess the other shows were not intended for HD and are just upconverted.
Hopefully we will see a change when the new seasons starts in the fall.
On a site off of the HD blog I read a news article that says that HD is selling way faster than expected with good lcd 31 inch sets under 1000 bucks, most people are opting for hd.
I also find at walmart the most sets are now all HD with only the 100 bucks or less sets in sd.
Should help get more good stations to go HD. Law of supply and demand should pressure more hd stations.
Agreed, I personally find live events (sports, Idol, Grammys, Oscar) to have the best PQ. If a show was filmed in HD (CSI, Lost, 24, House, Bones, etc) they look awesome. I also find that OTA HD is absolutely pristine. CSI IMO is the best looking TV show on the air. CSI:Miami is particularly awesome looking with all the ocean shots and the deep blues it has.

Of all the Networks (ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, PBS, WB) I grade themin PQ in this order:

1. CBS
2. FOX
3. ABC
4. WB
5. PBS
6. NBC

For some readon NBC has the least sharp looking PQ of them all. Maybe it is the local KSDK-DT affiliate. I really hope they get their act together for Sunday night football. I watch Las Vegas and it looks nowhere near as good as CBS. Thankfully my favorite shows (CSI, 24, Lost) reside on CBS, FOX and ABC.

I rememeber the Torino olympics did not look that good. I expect alot more from NBC.

There are a lot of older shows that were made with video tape and so the just try to upconvert them. As you can see it does not improve PQ that much. If it was not filmed in HD, it wont look HD.

Agreed, I personally find live events (sports, Idol, Grammys, Oscar) to have the best PQ. If a show was filmed in HD (CSI, Lost, 24, House, Bones, etc) they look awesome. I also find that OTA HD is absolutely pristine. CSI IMO is the best looking TV show on the air. CSI:Miami is particularly awesome looking with all the ocean shots and the deep blues it has.

Of all the Networks (ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, PBS, WB) I grade themin PQ in this order:

1. CBS
2. FOX
3. ABC
4. WB
5. PBS
6. NBC

For some readon NBC has the least sharp looking PQ of them all. Maybe it is the local KSDK-DT affiliate. I really hope they get their act together for Sunday night football. I watch Las Vegas and it looks nowhere near as good as CBS. Thankfully my favorite shows (CSI, 24, Lost) reside on CBS, FOX and ABC.

I rememeber the Torino olympics did not look that good. I expect alot more from NBC.

There are a lot of older shows that were made with video tape and so the just try to upconvert them. As you can see it does not improve PQ that much. If it was not filmed in HD, it wont look HD.

which is really sad imho....isnt nbc the only network that actually broadcast in 1080i??? i know it is not that huge of a difference over 720p, but you would think it could at least count for something......

but i agree though, watching hockey on sat afternoons is a little distracting as their hd broadcast isnt too exciting and i hope they change something before football starts...

which is really sad imho....isnt nbc the only network that actually broadcast in 1080i??? i know it is not that huge of a difference over 720p, but you would think it could at least count for something......

but i agree though, watching hockey on sat afternoons is a little distracting as their hd broadcast isnt too exciting and i hope they change something before football starts...
From what I have read the following networks broadcast the following resolutions:

CBS, NBC, WB, PBS, UPN - 1080i
ABC, FOX - 720p

Since my HDTV is an LCoS it converts everything to 720p. We currently dont have UPN HD here in St. Louis.

Now that you mention it, the Hurricanes / Devils game did not look that good. It is better than SD by every stretch, but not near as good FOX or CBS in the sports department. The local WB affiliate WB11 broadcasts the Cardinals games sometimes in 1080i and they look spectacular. I just wish DISH would give me FSNHD as my Cardinals play on there most of the time. Somehow DirecTV has FSNHD so I think DISH should have it.

Here is some info:

http://www.hdtvsolutions.com/hdtv_programming.htm

CBS has the most prime time HD.

I don't lurk in the satellite forum that often, but after an outrageous cable experience today, I'm testing some new waters.

Anywho, I tend to agree with the above assessment of the networks. It's not your local affiliates in St. Louis, as I think the order stchman posted them in is equivalent to what I see with the NYC locals. WNBC (4), our local station, is the worst quality IMO. I watched Law and Order last night and it looked closer to 480p than 1080i. Compare that to the shows I watch on Monday and Tuesday, (24 on FOX and NCIS, CSI: Miami and The Unit on CBS) and the difference is astounding. I've seen a couple episodes of American Idol here and there during the season and that broadcast looks stunning.

Could multicasting be part of the problem for NBC? I know that the NYC NBC station multicasts both a local weather channel (NBC Weather Plus) and a local NYC documentary/public interest channel (WNBC 4.4). I know the Philly affiliate does the same. Could this steal bandwidth from the HD channel? ABC does the exact same thing in NYC, with a local weather channel and the ABC News channel. However, I don't regularly watch any shows on ABC so I can't really comment on them. Of course, ABC broadcasts in 720p while NBC is in 1080i.

I don't lurk in the satellite forum that often, but after an outrageous cable experience today, I'm testing some new waters.

Anywho, I tend to agree with the above assessment of the networks. It's not your local affiliates in St. Louis, as I think the order stchman posted them in is equivalent to what I see with the NYC locals. WNBC (4), our local station, is the worst quality IMO. I watched Law and Order last night and it looked closer to 480p than 1080i. Compare that to the shows I watch on Monday and Tuesday, (24 on FOX and NCIS, CSI: Miami and The Unit on CBS) and the difference is astounding. I've seen a couple episodes of American Idol here and there during the season and that broadcast looks stunning.

Could multicasting be part of the problem for NBC? I know that the NYC NBC station multicasts both a local weather channel (NBC Weather Plus) and a local NYC documentary/public interest channel (WNBC 4.4). I know the Philly affiliate does the same. Could this steal bandwidth from the HD channel? ABC does the exact same thing in NYC, with a local weather channel and the ABC News channel. However, I don't regularly watch any shows on ABC so I can't really comment on them. Of course, ABC broadcasts in 720p while NBC is in 1080i.
Yes, our NBC affiliate is KSDK Ch5 and they have a 5-1 (NBC) and 5-2 (24 hr weather) for the digital stuff. I NEVER watch 5-2, but now that you mention it, maybe there is a bandwidth issue. Our local PBS station (KETC) has 4 channels 9-1, 9-2, 9-3, and 9-4 and the main HD 9-1 does not look that good either. As you can see I rated PBS #5. I dont watch PBS so it is no biggie.