Comcast Puts the Screws To HDTV

Todd Spangler writes "Comcast, like every video distributor, compresses its digital video signals. But to fit in more HDTV channels, Comcast is squeezing some signals more than others. The cable operator claims it is using improved compression techniques, so that most subscribers won't see any drop-off in picture quality. But A/V buff Ken Fowler claims the differences between some of Comcast's more highly compressed channels and Verizon's FiOS TV are indeed noticeable. He's posted his comparative test results on AVSForum.com — and the results are not pretty."

Comments

In conclusion

[Midnight Thunder]

In conclusion by not upgrading to an HDTV, and using my bunny ears, I am getting the same quality as Comcast's digital offering. Sweet :)

Re:comcast

[griego]

Your bill.

Please fix the headline

[HangingChad]

Please fix the headline by dropping "Puts the" and "To" from the sentence.

Thank you.

Re:Screws to HDTV? Not exactly

[billcopc]

I should mention that the Hoverman uses coat hangers for the conductive material, which may be hurting it when compared to the Yagi's proper copper piping.

I wouldn't worry about it, after all those coat hangers beat the pants off of Monster Cable :)

Re:Who has what?

[Anonymous Coward]

*calls you on his new Comcast voice telephone service*

Do you still get the turtles?

Re:Who has what?

[jollyreaper]

Okay, fair enough. But they're making the argument about the phone company not knowing enough about TV to provide good TV service... in the middle of an ad where the cable television company is saying that they can provide great telephone service. Did no one spot the obvious logical flaw in their attack?! I guess the people responsible for not planning the Iraq war have gone on to careers in advertising.

Re:Screws to HDTV? Not exactly

[dpilot]

I'm running 2-pass XVid with "Gentoo stable" codecs for what that's worth, and I'm seeing about the improvements in filesize on the order of 6X. I haven't really watched any full movies yet, just viewed snatches for a rough quality check. This batch is really my first set of experiments, and I've finally transcoded a set of shows for burning.

Unfortunately my DVD player doesn't do XVid, though most new players appear to. They're also a fraction of the price I paid several years ago - getting almost cheap enough to pick up on a whim. I'll just play the DVD on a computer - until I get a new player.