DirecTV... too much compression, video quality sucks

[Thundrchez]

I've been a DirecTV subscriber for over 5 years now. I knew all along that the digital mpeg stream that they use is a lossy compression. Because I took a digital image processing class, I knew exactly what to look for to see the artifacts of the compression. I could see them all along, but they generally were not so noticable that they significantly dectracted from the program.

However, over the past couple of months, it looks as if they have really cranked up the compression level and the mpeg artifacts are absolutely dancing everywhere. It is really annoying, and it significantly detracts from the program. Detail in the picture seems to be noticably lost as well. When they show somebody walking forwards from the background, I should see their facial features much earlier than I actually do.

Has anybody else noticed the same trend? I think that I am going to punt them in about a week once the NFL regular season is over.

It irks me that they advertise/boast that they are "digital" quality when they have had the details compressed out of their signal.

[Jammrock]

I've kind of noticed that. It all depends on what the program is and what station it's on. ESPN for example always looks nice. The big movie channels usually look nice. The commercials always look nice.

SOme of the smaller shows on smaller stations do take a big hit. I wonder if it hast to do with signal priority, the actual box decoder or just the analog to digital conversion. I don't know enough about how the DTV works to tell you how.

I would guess it would be bandwidth/signal. The popular shows and station would probably get full bandwidth, while the less watched shows would only get enough to show it. For example, Sci Fi is normally decent, with minor artifacts. During Dune it looked sharp and almost crystal clear.

Just a guess.

Jammrock

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[Thundrchez]

Yes. It is not the case that all programs suck all the time. Sometimes the programs on a channel will look fine, and later that same channel will look like crap. Some channels will always look relatively good. Yesterday afternoon as I was flipping back and forth between various NFL games, some channels looked great while others sucked.

I fear that this is only the beginning of the curse for HDTV systems. Sure, you'll have great resolution and a more movie-like aspect ratio, but the programs will be compressed so badly that there is no gain in having the higher resolution.

Is this a case of technology becoming too good?

[Electric Amish]

I've started to notice this too.

Especially on the basketball broadcasts on the Fox Sports channels.

amish

[Rags]

Same here. You notice it in sports and heavy action scenes in movies. It has, indeed, become worse.

This is my last month of DTV until they sort the problem out. That's my protest

Rags

[HedsSpaz]

Sure, you'll have great resolution and a more movie-like aspect ratio, but the programs will be compressed so badly that there is no gain in having the higher resolution.

Don't be so sure. There are other technologies in the works and other companies than DirecTV, and not all of them will stand for such poor quality. iTV, or eTV if you prefer, is the future of Television, and with it comes all digital broadcasting via satellite as well as cable, and a well designed system should allow for high res without destroying the available bandwidth.

Ian

[Dr Mordrid]

We have MediaOne broadband and the quality is great. Of course the RoadRunner cable modem also delivers 1200-1700 mbit/sec too, which is a plus

Dr. Mordrid


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[agallag]

Hey Doc, 1200-1700 mbit/sec seems a bit much. You'd need three OC-12 lines to get that kind of bandwidth. Most large ISPs don't have that much pipe. I think you may have meant 1.2-1.7 mbit/sec

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Andrew
Carpe Cerevisi

[Gurm]

Or else he meant 1200 or 1700 millibits. That's wicked slow though. Hehe.

Anyway, the issue with the DTV is also apparent on my RCN digital cable service. Take MTV-X for example - some videos look very nice. Metallica looks like crap. I don't know if this is a political statement about Metallica, or if the fact that their videos tend to be all one color (lots of black & white, or blue & white) is a red flag for the transmitter to crank up the compression. Hmm...

- Gurm

P.S. I have to say - my father-in-law has DSS with DirecTV, and it looks pretty darn good most of the time on most of the channels. Of course, I don't watch sports on there...

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[Liquid Snake]

Hmm. My father has a DTV system. I have definitely noticed artifacts, but not all the time. As Rags mentioned, they are definitely visible in fast action scenes. Otherwise, they are mostly invisible to me. But then again, I have a cheap POS 20" TV

[Arsa]

How do you define millibit? ;-)

I got question about DVD though... i have seen artefacts on it too, during "fast action scenes".

[Thundrchez]

Yes, DVDs also use a mpeg stream which is lossy compressed. DirecTV is compressed on the fly in real time, where DVDs are mastered in a much longer non-real time environemnt. If you know what to look for, you can see the same type of artifacts in DVDs. How many artifacts you see depends on how good of a mastering job that they did.

Maybe my problem is that I've got a nice 32" tube. If I had a 20" POS, I probably wouldn't notice the artifacts nearly as much.

[Arsa]

Well, you can insert key frames when you change camera e.g. during broadcast... you could even predict it ;-)