.....Among national HDTV providers....Says so on page 17 of this weeks Future Shop www.futureshop.ca flyer....

...Did they do a technical comparison...or even a side-by-side visual....ExpressVu + StarChoice

...Bring it on!...Let's see the reviews/results

...Or did they just pull this info out of their butts!

if they are delivering 1920x1080i then they are probably not too far off.

.....Among national HDTV providers....Says so on page 17 of this weeks Future Shop www.futureshop.ca flyer....

...Did they do a technical comparison...or even a side-by-side visual....ExpressVu + StarChoice

...Bring it on!...Let's see the reviews/results

...Or did they just pull this info out of their butts!

Clearly, by your sig, you disagree.

So can you provide us with a technical comparison...or even a side-by-side visual....ExpressVu + StarChoice...reviews/results?

can you provide us with a technical comparison...or even a side-by-side visual....ExpressVu + StarChoice...reviews/results?

....I'd love to see this kinda comparison in a print magazine or online

hmm, according to a Directv commercial they have the best HD.

also can it really be better then cable companies that send their HD with only compressing it to fit on QAM256?

If they have, or ever get, HDNet with its Sunday 6:50 am ET test patterns (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?postid=5175424#post5175424) it could be a clue to PQ. (Most seem to measure <1300 lines effective resolution (resolvable detail), as outlined in the 3rd paragraph here (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=9673232&&#post9673232), although someone posted a full reading of ~1920 lines. It's only a clue because readings aren't fully applicable to possible PQ of other channels. Guess another clue would be the bit rate per channel compared to other delivery sources (frequent postings here). Static test patterns, of course, requiring very little bandwidth, could be misleading compared to demanding images with lots of motion and detail. -- John

It doesn't say who did the study on the best HD provider.

They also advertise 50 HD channels, but on their website I count 27 (and that includes 5 time shifting channels.)

http://www.bell.ca/shopping/PrsShpTv_AIO_Pkg.page

Well, BEV has GENERALLY has higher bitrates than SC, but 1280x1080i now on many channels (used to be 1920, then 720p).

SC has 1920x1080i ON EVERYTHING INCLUDING THE DETROIT ABC/FOX BUFFALO SEATTLE ABC stations, but lower bitrates.

Choose your poison.

hmm, according to a Directv commercial they have the best HD.
I rolled my eyes every time I saw that D* Jessica Simpson "Daisy Duke" commercial.

http://www.tvpredictions.com/directvpullsad121606.htm
DIRECTV Changes Jessica Simpson HD Ads
Time Warner sued the satcaster for allegedly making false claims about its high-def picture quality.
By Phillip Swann
Washington, D.C. (December 16, 2006) -- DIRECTV has apparently agreed to change a commercial starring Jessica Simpson that said the satcaster offered the best High-Definition TV picture on the market.

Multichannel News reported in this week's edition that the satcaster had agreed to pull the spot. But on Sunday, DIRECTV was still running the Simpson commercial but with a different tagline: "For a HDTV picture that can't be beat."

The new tagline suggests that DIRECTV's high-def picture is as good as any other TV provider, but not necessarily better.
Here's an unresized 256x256 PNG crop of "Robots" from each of the sources...
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=9739397&&#post9739397

Cable:
http://crtforum.com/img/robots-c256.png

D*:
http://crtforum.com/img/robots-d256.png

E*:
http://crtforum.com/img/robots-e256.png

Can anyone provide the same frame from ExpressVu or StarChoice?

Actually, there are some issues with that....but it also answers some questions at the same time.

All these originated with HBO which is forced to used to Older Motorola Encoders as they use DCII.

SC* also is forced to use the older Motorola Encoders because of their system.

E*, D* and BEV are not forced to use the much older Motorola Encoders and thus can use better encoders.

FWIW, Mark Cuban compared all the systems and has stated that he did not go with the Motorola DCII system as it locked him into the Motorola Encoders which were inferior.

That's why he went with the Wegner IRDs instead - so he can use a non-Motorola encoder.

Anyway, so have that variable between SC and BEV

And then you have the variable of TMN vs Movie Central - which both look different.

So to truly compare you would need caps of all 4.

And since HBO isnt the source, its still leaves other variables out there.

Having just left Bell ExpressVu for StarChoice I can say that for both providers the picture quality is dependent upon the channel. BEV has Boston locals and SC has Detroit locals. The picture quality during the Tonight Show is a little better on SC than on BEV. I don't know if it's the source or the satellite provider that makes the difference.

Overall, I would say that SC is better than BEV, but not much. I don't believe that the US satellite providers have as much variation between the best and worst picture quality. Both Canadian suppliers have significant differences between the best and the worst.

And that is my opinion. :o

HBO is forced to used to Older Motorola Encoders as they use DCII. SC* also is forced to use the older Motorola Encoders

...Isn't DCII a secure system that hasn't been hacked vs the piracy that ExpressVu faces?

....Also it seems to me many StarChoice SD channels have first generation signals....i.e HGTV, Fine Living, Sportsnets, TSN, TMN's etc.....right up to Anik F1R from the source and down to your StarChoice dish, cable headends & ExpressVu who must uplink it again resulting in second generation quality.

We watch quite a bit of HGTV on StarChoice & the picture quality is very, very good on our Sony XBR

Is there a list of StarChoice's first generation quality channels??

Someone sent me a 4th PNG frame... "C2"...

Cable:
http://crtforum.com/img/robots-c256.png

C2:
http://crtforum.com/img/robots-c2.png

E*:
http://crtforum.com/img/robots-e256.png

D*:
http://crtforum.com/img/robots-d256.png

...Isn't DCII a secure system that hasn't been hacked vs the piracy that ExpressVu faces

and this has to do with quality how? Not my problem!


....Also it seems to me many StarChoice SD channels have first generation signals....i.e HGTV, Fine Living, Sportsnets, TSN, TMN's etc.....right up to Anik F1R from the source and down to your StarChoice dish, cable headends & ExpressVu who must uplink it again resulting in second generation quality.

Is there a list of StarChoice's first generation quality channels??

C2 is the only first generation cap above

C1, E* and D* are second generation caps

Your point?

lord tunderin jesus boy, just be happy you have TV at all out there. :D