Horrible HD Quality With Comcast

So has anyone else noticed a drop in HD quality on comcast? Could this be due to more users causing them to compress it more? I've downloaded satellite recorded 720p on various shows and even the compressed encoded files for the computer are WAY better quality then comcast's HD. Will I be better off just switching to TurboHD or something? Is it really blu-ray quality like they advertise?

It all depends on where you live and how long they've been working on things. We noticed a significant degradation in PQ last winter, and then moderate improvements every few weeks through the spring, then more recently, we noticed a very substantial improvement in PQ, just about back up to where it was at the beginning... super.

Well it's been like this for over a year so I don't have a whole lot of hope for it getting any better.

They must really hate you. Where do you live? (I'll be sure not to move there! :))

I live in a suburb of Minneapolis, MN.

Yup, Minneapolis is a pretty crappy system FWIR. And evidently no one else wants to offer anything better out there either. Maybe folks in Minneapolis just don't care as much about PQ as we do out here, and therefore don't make it as much of an issue for MSOs to worry about.

I don't envy your position.

I've been noticing little by little the picture quality is degrading. I asked the Comcast guy about it, and he did not have answer.

Compression is a problem thats getting worst here IMO.
I'm glad I'm getting rid of them.

I've been noticing little by little the picture quality is degrading. I asked the Comcast guy about it, and he did not have answer.

Compression is a problem thats getting worst here IMO.
I'm glad I'm getting rid of them.

Where do you live? Anyways that's how it's worked for me, it just gets worse and worse and as bad as it is it continues to get even worse. Good thing I'm switching to TurboHD soonly, bluray quality hd here I come.

I would not say that Comcast is perfect. I live outside of Seattle, Washington. I love the HD so much. Before I had HD, and after about 8 years of DirecTV, I got Comcast. I have made my choice. Thier billing practices are friendly to me. Working with a budget, I have the best equipment that I can get. My head might be firmly in the sand. I would rather not think that I am getting less than the best. Instead I like to think that I have movie theater quality at home. B****ing, p***ing, and moaning will not make me any happier. Might as well look on the bright side. The future looks better still, as I hope for many more channels.

I would not say that Comcast is perfect. I live outside of Seattle, Washington. I love the HD so much. Before I had HD, and after about 8 years of DirecTV, I got Comcast. I have made my choice. Thier billing practices are friendly to me. Working with a budget, I have the best equipment that I can get. My head might be firmly in the sand. I would rather not think that I am getting less than the best. Instead I like to think that I have movie theater quality at home. B****ing, p***ing, and moaning will not make me any happier. Might as well look on the bright side. The future looks better still, as I hope for many more channels.

You very well could have good quality out there in Seattle, here in MN it's less than DVD quality even. And trust me, you do not have movie theater quality in your home, the closest you'll get to theater quality is Blu-Ray but even that isn't the same.

You very well could have good quality out there in Seattle, here in MN it's less than DVD quality even. And trust me, you do not have movie theater quality in your home, the closest you'll get to theater quality is Blu-Ray but even that isn't the same.

Comcast in Little Rock is pretty good. I think Blu-ray with a good display beats many theaters, but certainly not all. After spending all of the money I have on this stuff, I sure don't plan on going to the theater often.

Chris

So has anyone else noticed a drop in HD quality on comcast? Could this be due to more users causing them to compress it more? I've downloaded satellite recorded 720p on various shows and even the compressed encoded files for the computer are WAY better quality then comcast's HD. Will I be better off just switching to TurboHD or something? Is it really blu-ray quality like they advertise?

Blu-ray is clearly the best quality available for the home. A Blockbuster or Netflix account and a Blu-ray player are a great way to watch movies at home in my opinion.

Chris

Blu-ray is clearly the best quality available for the home. A Blockbuster or Netflix account and a Blu-ray player are a great way to watch movies at home in my opinion.

Chris
Well, yes, I have bluray and blockbuster but that's completely besides the point, I do still like to watch tv for various other things other than movies, but I still watch those from time to time too.

Comcast in Little Rock is pretty good. I think Blu-ray with a good display beats many theaters, but certainly not all. After spending all of the money I have on this stuff, I sure don't plan on going to the theater often.

Chris
Well it's certainly not better than the nice digital projectors I have at the theater near my home, but I guess I have been to some bad looking theaters before, especially in smaller towns.

Where do you live? Anyways that's how it's worked for me, it just gets worse and worse and as bad as it is it continues to get even worse. Good thing I'm switching to TurboHD soonly, bluray quality hd here I come.

Just to let you know, you are not gonna get Blu-ray quality HD from TurboHD. Here is an article you can read where where "analyst" say Blu-ray vs 1080p VOD? No contest. (Yes I know it's VOD, but that should still give some reference to the quality of regular programming): http://www.strategyanalytics.com/blogs/322/ Also, this article might be slightly biased by the BDA as they are mentioned. Also, considering that satellite companies compress more on top of the compression put on by the studio, I highly doubt that it would be near Blu-ray. And don't forget, Blu-ray averages alone (just for video) roughly 25-35 Mbps bitrates. I don't think even FiOS averages anywhere near that for the bitrate and they don't add additional compression. Just something to think about.

-Shark2k

Just to let you know, you are not gonna get Blu-ray quality HD from TurboHD. Here is an article you can read where where "analyst" say Blu-ray vs 1080p VOD? No contest. (Yes I know it's VOD, but that should still give some reference to the quality of regular programming): http://www.strategyanalytics.com/blogs/322/ Also, this article might be slightly biased by the BDA as they are mentioned. Also, considering that satellite companies compress more on top of the compression put on by the studio, I highly doubt that it would be near Blu-ray. And don't forget, Blu-ray averages alone (just for video) roughly 25-35 Mbps bitrates. I don't think even FiOS averages anywhere near that for the bitrate and they don't add additional compression. Just something to think about.

-Shark2k

Of course the BDA would say this. In order to make an unbiased assessment, you need to watch it for yourself. I have and must say it is amazing but as good as or equal to Blu ray remains to be seen.

You can guess and filter through what others say all you want but until you see it for yourself you can't make a judgement.

Just to let you know, you are not gonna get Blu-ray quality HD from TurboHD. Here is an article you can read where where "analyst" say Blu-ray vs 1080p VOD? No contest. (Yes I know it's VOD, but that should still give some reference to the quality of regular programming): http://www.strategyanalytics.com/blogs/322/ Also, this article might be slightly biased by the BDA as they are mentioned. Also, considering that satellite companies compress more on top of the compression put on by the studio, I highly doubt that it would be near Blu-ray. And don't forget, Blu-ray averages alone (just for video) roughly 25-35 Mbps bitrates. I don't think even FiOS averages anywhere near that for the bitrate and they don't add additional compression. Just something to think about.

-Shark2k

Damn them and their false advertising.

My most recent job was at a movie theater. I have seen a lot of movies on a lot of screens. I took a good look at them after I got HD, for comparison. Admittedly, my local chains still use 35 mm. The HD I see is comparable to what I have seen on the big screen.

I've been noticing little by little the picture quality is degrading. I asked the Comcast guy about it, and he did not have answer.

Compression is a problem thats getting worst here IMO.
I'm glad I'm getting rid of them.


I live in Western MA. and we have Comcast (we usually call it something else) our quality has gone down, but the price keeps going up. They are still using the same lines that our original cable company(Continental) put up years ago. How can we get decent anything when they are too cheap to change the wires? Our picture quality has gone down, internet speed is bad. You can only fit so much through these lines. What do they do with all our money anyway?

The invest in to improve service in other areas, as well as to provide returns on investment to their owners.

Yup, Minneapolis is a pretty crappy system FWIR.
I don't envy your position.

Neither do I since the murder stats. in Minneapolis are so high.

comcast here has great HD quality. Looks a little better than my directv.

I live in Western MA. and we have Comcast (we usually call it something else) our quality has gone down, but the price keeps going up. They are still using the same lines that our original cable company(Continental) put up years ago. How can we get decent anything when they are too cheap to change the wires? Our picture quality has gone down, internet speed is bad. You can only fit so much through these lines. What do they do with all our money anyway?


I'm feelin ya, it's too bad they don't reinvest in the cable lines. I was getting a really good amount of overscan on my set with Comsuck. At first it was one channel, and then all the sd channels, and then it showed up on Jay Leno as a very noticeable bright orangey yellow line.

Once I got Fios, no more overscan, and all my channels look incredible.

Sky, if you get a chance run don't walk to the phone, and order Fios.