[spaceman]

I've noticed at times that when I am watching something with a lot of movement (sports) I see this faint blurring of pixels around the person/object. I really started noticing this during the Olympics, watching skiing. I don't usually see this when watching football, Discovery HD, etc. Was this just crappy HD signals form NBC?

 

[raisin]

Is that an LCD display you're using? That is one of the un-desireable attributes still attached to that technology.

 

[Kassem]

I have the 30" Sony XBR Wega thing... and i've never seen that but I do not watch HDTV regularly.

 

[mulveling]

Quote:

Originally Posted by spaceman I've noticed at times that when I am watching something with a lot of movement (sports) I see this faint blurring of pixels around the person/object. I really started noticing this during the Olympics, watching skiing. I don't usually see this when watching football, Discovery HD, etc. Was this just crappy HD signals form NBC?

I sometime see this too, not just on the Olympics but yes it was noticeable there. Often it manifests as large macroblocking in areas of motion. It's not your display - it's the broadcast.

 

[pspivak]

Just like everything else in this world, HDTV broadcasts are variable. The Sunday night OTA Olympic broadcast in the Bay Area was excellent. I cannot say the same thing for every broadcast that I have seen. According to a reliable source there are several variables in the equation including the equipment at the source, transfer to the network, transfer to the affiliate and the broadcasting by the affiliate. I think it is amazing that it works as well as it does when it works well.

Also I have heard that some plasma sets have a problem with motion. I cannot conform or deny this.

Peter (56in Samsung DLP)

 

[spaceman]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mulveling I sometime see this too, not just on the Olympics but yes it was noticeable there. Often it manifests as large macroblocking in areas of motion. It's not your display - it's the broadcast.

I thought so, but wanted to make sure, and to see if anyone else experiences this. I also forgot to mention that I have a Sony WEGA 34" CRT, not an LCD or plasma. Thanks everyone for your input.

 

[star882]

It's either the bandwidth limit or interlacing. You're totally out of luck with the bandwidth limit (the network can only handle so much...), and mostly out of luck with the interlacing. There is a "practical" solution to the interlacing but the only one I've seen so far involved a compressor-cooled quad Britney supercomputer working as an elaborate DSP - probably too expensive and complex for your use.

 

[JMcMasterJ]

I find 720p to be a little bit smoother when watching sports with lots of movement. I think that 1080i is sharper and clearer for everything else. It makes sense because one is progressive and one is interlaced and it is usually said that 720p is better for sports, which I find to be true in most cases. I don't mean to start the ongoing debate of 1080i vs. 720p, but these are my findings on a 50" HDTV and I do switch between the two for different types of programming because I can change native formats and go with the one that looks best. It does depend on what format is being broadcast and the quality of the broadcast does vary. I find that CBS looks excellent brodcasted in 1080i and ESPNHD looks great broadcasted in 720p, but Fox doesn't look as good broadcasted in 720p. I would like to watch in the future a 1080p broadcast on a 1080p display

. Sorry if this didn't directly answer your question, but I do agree that the broadcasts vary.

 

[SennFan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by spaceman I've noticed at times that when I am watching something with a lot of movement (sports) I see this faint blurring of pixels around the person/object. I really started noticing this during the Olympics, watching skiing. I don't usually see this when watching football, Discovery HD, etc. Was this just crappy HD signals form NBC?

I haven't notcied anything like this on my set (RPTV). You may want to turn down the brightness a bit as it may causing a quick flicker in fast motion processes.

 

[Edwood]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mulveling I sometime see this too, not just on the Olympics but yes it was noticeable there. Often it manifests as large macroblocking in areas of motion. It's not your display - it's the broadcast.

Yeah, watch PBS-HD, and you will see tons and tons of macroblocking compression artifacts.

Sometimes it's from a "hiccup" in the broadcast, sometimes it's reception issues, and mostly, it's from compression artifacting from the broadcast itself. Stations with "sub-channels" tend to be more prone to this, because they are compresseing their data more since they have less overall bandwidth for the main channel itself.

I think they should've forgotten about the sub-channel feature altogether. Some stations like CBS, don't have any sub-channels, and they look much better, with little to no macroblocking compression artifacting.

-Ed

 

[AuroraProject]

It's caused by low signal strength.

Anyone catch this weeks CSI in HD? I just watched it off the DVR, it was one hell of an episode. I think it was a repeat though. Stokes gets kidnapped and buried alive.

 

[Trance-Addict]

I notice the blurring or "Macro blocking" alot on DLP TV's. My Samsung HL-R5688W does this alot especially when it displays stuff like smoke or fire. I figured its just a con of DLP technology.

 

[jjcha]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Edwood Yeah, watch PBS-HD, and you will see tons and tons of macroblocking compression artifacts. Sometimes it's from a "hiccup" in the broadcast, sometimes it's reception issues, and mostly, it's from compression artifacting from the broadcast itself.

I think Ed hits the nail on the head here. I also watch a lot of HDTV on my Sony Trinitron HDTV, and the artifacting from Time Warner digital cable is pretty obnoxious. What's really obnoxious is that it hits the non-HDTV channels as well. I think I got more bandwidth through my HP-2 ultra-high bandwidth cable than I get out of this digital tuner.

Japan did a lot better with their high definition broadcast sattelite. Of course I only watched NHK-BS1 and BS-2, but overall much less complaints about artificating.

Best,

-Jason

 

[Canman]

I'm reviving this thread because I finally was able to get Comcast digital cable this week. My condo building was rewired with a new distribution block to the units.

The artifacting and macroblocking on all channels, including HD is awful. Watching the Phillies game in HD last night, I was disappointed to see that it was worse than the last Phillies HD game I watched over a $25 Radio Shack antenna.

Even on HBO, the artifacting is out of control. Facial tones come in pasty and in one color. I am pretty upset because I've been looking forward to this for over a year.

 

[vibin247]

I know this is a bit off topic, but is anyone getting HD service from DirectTV? My dad is getting it installed as of this moment, and I'm just wondering what your thoughts and experiences are with it. We had HD service from Comcast before, and it was pretty good.