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matcarl
Premium Member
join:2007-03-09
Franklin Square, NY

matcarl to webcobbler

Premium Member

to webcobbler

Re: [Channels] March and April Channel Changes 2015?

said by webcobbler:

Maybe they can take the space that those three SD channels took up, and put that toward one good PQ HD channel.

What are you talking about? They aren't getting rid of the channels, just moving them to a higher tier.
chitchatjf
join:2008-07-13
Lawrence, MA

chitchatjf to Rick4769

Member

to Rick4769
One idea would be to take the channels that are only 16:9 and send them in 16:9 format. untill the bandwidth is available for the full HD signal

matcarl
Premium Member
join:2007-03-09
Franklin Square, NY

matcarl

Premium Member

said by chitchatjf:

One idea would be to take the channels that are only 16:9 and send them in 16:9 format

Huh?

MeatChicken
join:2007-08-15
Paramus, NJ

MeatChicken

Member

said by matcarl:

said by chitchatjf:

One idea would be to take the channels that are only 16:9 and send them in 16:9 format

Huh?

I'm guessing or ASSuming he means Fios should send some of the remaining current SD only ( "HD" available) channels ( such as HLN & H2), in 480p 16:9 Widescreen until they make room for the HD .. interesting idea ... It would take up less bandwidth than full HD, but look alot better than the SD available now ...
webcobbler
join:2013-03-09
Rumson, NJ

webcobbler

Member

I am a bit confused, as well.

Does he mean for example: SD channels should take up the whole screen, like the Fishing channel, or BYU channel? Or even some movies on Cinemoi?

You can tell that they are SD compared to HD, but there are no black bars around the "usual SD channel" that is downscaled HD feed. Like H2, AHC, etc. ?

Am I correct ? lol

Also, many many channel are down sampled HD feeds, already. Hence the black bars around them. Compared to the Pillar Bars on only the left and right sides, that are 4:3.
chitchatjf
join:2008-07-13
Lawrence, MA

chitchatjf to MeatChicken

Member

to MeatChicken
said by MeatChicken:

Fios should send some of the remaining current SD only ( "HD" available) channels ( such as HLN & H2), in 480p 16:9 Widescreen until they make room for the HD .. interesting idea ... It would take up less bandwidth than full HD, but look alot better than the SD available now ...

Bingo!

That's the ticket -and do that for premium channels as well

miataman
I've attained a PHD in DVR.
Premium Member
join:2010-10-27
Chelmsford, MA

miataman

Premium Member

said by chitchatjf:

said by MeatChicken:

Fios should send some of the remaining current SD only ( "HD" available) channels ( such as HLN & H2), in 480p 16:9 Widescreen until they make room for the HD .. interesting idea ... It would take up less bandwidth than full HD, but look alot better than the SD available now ...

Bingo!

That's the ticket -and do that for premium channels as well

Isn't that something that can be locally accomplished, using the "Aspect" # function button?
chitchatjf
join:2008-07-13
Lawrence, MA

chitchatjf

Member


Isn't that something that can be locally accomplished, using the "Aspect" # function button?

Not the way Movies! (490) and Bloomberg SD (104) does it not to mention two religious channel and Cinemoi
webcobbler
join:2013-03-09
Rumson, NJ

webcobbler

Member

said by chitchatjf:

Isn't that something that can be locally accomplished, using the "Aspect" # function button?

Not the way Movies! (490) and Bloomberg SD (104) does it not to mention two religious channel and Cinemoi

As I said, The Fishing channel and BYU do this as well.

But then how does taking up the whole screen save on bandwidth for SD channels? Compared to HD down sampled with the black bars all the way around, ( like H2, Fox etc. )

MeatChicken
join:2007-08-15
Paramus, NJ

MeatChicken

Member

said by webcobbler:

said by chitchatjf:

Isn't that something that can be locally accomplished, using the "Aspect" # function button?

Not the way Movies! (490) and Bloomberg SD (104) does it not to mention two religious channel and Cinemoi

As I said, The Fishing channel and BYU do this as well.

But then how does taking up the whole screen save on bandwidth for SD channels? Compared to HD down sampled with the black bars all the way around, ( like H2, Fox etc. )

Sending, say, the HLN HD feed in 480p 16:9 would require much less bandwidth than sending it HD 1080i.
Closer, although probably very slightly more than a current 480i SD channel. They could map this HLN 480p Widescreen feed to CH 601, for example.
There's probably plenty of "room" within the SD QAMS to do this with a handful of popular "hd" feeds that otherwide won't be added soon ... ...
.


matcarl
Premium Member
join:2007-03-09
Franklin Square, NY

matcarl

Premium Member

You're going to confuse people throwing SD channels in with the HD block. This whole discussion makes no sense and Verizon wouldn't do it anyway.
spc111
join:2003-12-09
NJ

spc111 to Rick4769

Member

to Rick4769
16:9 SD is what most DVDs are (anamorphic widescreen). The main problem with broadcasting in this format is that old-school SD TVs are unable to view them correctly (everyone looks tall and skinny). The reason it is OK to do it with DVDs is that all DVD players are able to stretch the picture and add the black bars on top/bottom to correct the aspect ratio on 4:3 TVs. There is really no reason not to do it on FiOS though, since all old-school TVs need a set top box (which can stretch the picture just like a DVD player, although I am not sure about the DTAs).
chitchatjf
join:2008-07-13
Lawrence, MA

chitchatjf

Member

said by spc111:

The main problem with broadcasting in this format is that old-school SD TVs are unable to view them correctly (everyone looks tall and skinny).

That's their problem. (IMHO) SD is so 20th Century This is the 21st.

Rick4769
join:2012-11-21
Buffalo, NY

Rick4769

Member

The only new station I received for the Month of March is a local channel addition, Grit TV a sub channel 23.3 which Verizon televises on Channel 461 in VHO15.

Rudy007
@verizon.net

Rudy007 to chewypgh

Anon

to chewypgh
That's actually grounds for terminating your contract. That's not what you signed up for; they changed the terms.

Branch
:D
Premium Member
join:2014-07-22
VHO 4

Branch

Premium Member

But right there in the contract Vz basically says we can add or remove any channel at any time. And they also say they can basically do anything they want, at any time.
bsangs
join:2002-08-21
Montclair, NJ

bsangs

Member

Just wondering, did anybody b***h about why their bills didn't climb when FiOS added a slew of HD channels this past year? Or mention breach of contract, since those channels weren't available when they originally signed their contract?
crgauth
join:2004-05-18
Glen Burnie, MD

crgauth

Member

People always gloss over that point.
billhere
join:2011-10-21
Santa Monica, CA

billhere to bsangs

Member

to bsangs
Almost all of the HD channels FiOS added in the past year were ones that I didn't especially want. I don't expect my bill to drop when TWC is lost but I would probably complain if my bill went up because of these added channels.
Strommy
join:2010-04-23
King Of Prussia, PA

Strommy to Rudy007

Member

to Rudy007
said by Rudy007 :

That's actually grounds for terminating your contract. That's not what you signed up for; they changed the terms.

You are incorrect, BranchS is dead on. When you signed up you agreed to THIER terms which includes altering the channel line-up at any time.

aaronwt
Premium Member
join:2004-11-07
Woodbridge, VA
Asus RT-AX89

aaronwt to MeatChicken

Premium Member

to MeatChicken
said by MeatChicken:

said by webcobbler:

said by chitchatjf:

Isn't that something that can be locally accomplished, using the "Aspect" # function button?

Not the way Movies! (490) and Bloomberg SD (104) does it not to mention two religious channel and Cinemoi

As I said, The Fishing channel and BYU do this as well.

But then how does taking up the whole screen save on bandwidth for SD channels? Compared to HD down sampled with the black bars all the way around, ( like H2, Fox etc. )

Sending, say, the HLN HD feed in 480p 16:9 would require much less bandwidth than sending it HD 1080i.
Closer, although probably very slightly more than a current 480i SD channel. They could map this HLN 480p Widescreen feed to CH 601, for example.
There's probably plenty of "room" within the SD QAMS to do this with a handful of popular "hd" feeds that otherwide won't be added soon ... ...
.

Isn't HLN already sent properly? You just hit zoom and it fills the 16:9 screen without any distortion. Which is how many of the SD channels seem to work.
bull3964
join:2014-09-27
Pittsburgh, PA

bull3964

Member

I think the point is, letterboxed content on SD channels isn't taking advantage of the full resolution that could be afforded to the content if it were made anamorphic instead and used the whole frame. The boxes could undo the anamorphic squeeze for non-HDTVs and HDTVs would be able to handle it natively like they do DVD output. The result would be dramatically improved SD quality at a much lower bandwidth usage than HD.
spc111
join:2003-12-09
NJ

1 edit

spc111 to aaronwt

Member

to aaronwt
SD video has 480 vertical lines or pixels (480i). If you letterbox widescreen content on a 4:3 SD screen, you end up with only about 345 lines of resolution for the show (the rest are wasted by black bars).

With anamorphic widescreen, you use the full 480 lines for the show (with no lines wasted for displaying black bars).
The TV itself (or the cable box or DVD player) is then responsible for how the image is displayed:

For a SD TV (4:3 ratio), the picture is squeezed vertically so that it displays as a widescreen picture, and then adds it's own black bars on the top and bottom. The picture is displayed on the screen as about 345 lines (like letterboxing) but it can still look better than true letterboxing since the squeeze algorithm has more lines to work with and can make the picture look better.

For an HD TV (16:9 ratio), the picture is stretched horizontally so that it fills up the entire screen, so you still have the same horizontal resolution as you would with letterboxing, but you have the better 480 line vertical resolution.
signalfinder
join:2012-12-12

signalfinder to Rick4769

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New channels have been added in the guide but are not yet tunable:

733 Sundance HD
793 Daystar HD

matcarl
Premium Member
join:2007-03-09
Franklin Square, NY

matcarl

Premium Member

Good find, Sundance is not aligned with the SD because Sony Movies is in that slot, they should have realized they would add Sundance HD one day, that was poor planning.
webcobbler
join:2013-03-09
Rumson, NJ

webcobbler

Member

At least both HD channels have Guide Data already. I assume that we will be able to tune to these two channels by Friday.

Also, Daystar is aligned with its SD counterpart. They just have to realign Sundance HD and Sony Movies Channel sometime soon.

Branch
:D
Premium Member
join:2014-07-22
VHO 4

Branch

Premium Member

I assume they will re align it at some point. Still waiting for disney hd to be realigned, no channels are in the way!
webcobbler
join:2013-03-09
Rumson, NJ

webcobbler

Member

Also channels that they could add, that already have the HD channel open are: AHC, and H2.

matcarl
Premium Member
join:2007-03-09
Franklin Square, NY

matcarl

Premium Member

They could add all the available HD's that are out there, but we all know the story of not much room.
webcobbler
join:2013-03-09
Rumson, NJ

webcobbler

Member

That's true.

I am still waiting for the day that they might go Full IPTV, and won't have to worry about space anymore.

However, why can't they add HD content to the VOD section for those receptive channels? At least that would be a little better, IMO.

Also, I am surprised that they have not added Fox Sports 2 in HD yet. They realigned it last year. With other channels moving around as well. It is a Sports Channel. No one wants to see Sports in SD, anymore.