I'm in southern NH, I have Comcast cable. We just got SciFi channel HD last week, and both last week's and this week's episode of Stargate Atlantis had stuttering, freezes, and generally poor PQ.

I assume the PQ is probably a low bitrate issue, probably Comcast's fault although you never know, maybe that's how SciFi sends it out.

So, first, any other Comcast user suffering through SGA stuttering/freezing? For the people who get SciFi HD via satellite, is the PQ poor for you as well?

Comcast is now using "HDTV Lite" for all new channels, with each channel configured for a max of 13.3Mbps ABR. That 13.3Mbps ABR is sufficient to provide a good picture on channels like HBO-HD and STARZ-HD, but not for channels like SciFi-HD and USA-HD. When bitrate requirements exceed available bandwidth, you will see pixelization and skipped frames. Edit: The above description is an oversimplification. But Comcast is now squeezing three channels into 38.8Mbps instead of two.

Here's video footage showing what Comcast users around the country are seeing since the new channels were added:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nT30UW80N0I

As you can see, the picture breaks up and skips frames during intense scenes.

In some markets, Comcast did 'tweak' their settings this past week to filter high-frequency information (fine detail) from the picture signal. This greatly reduced -- but not completely eliminate -- the amount of pixelization and skipped frames.

I'm not sure if it's good or bad that I'm not the only one having this problem. Last week it was so bad that I actually switched to regular SciFi channel to watch. How can Comcast think this is acceptable? Now that I think of it, this week was a bit better, so I guess they did the tweak in my area.

I posted this in the other Comcast thread, but...

There was definite improvement in Memphis this week. I had the exact same dropped-frame/breakup issues ever since Comcast added Sci-Fi HD. It was almost completely unwatchable.

As of last night, it was perfect. No dropped frames, no picture breakups. Not one glitch the entire show. First time since I've had the channel that I can say that.

Great news. Thanks for the update, Aro.

Same issues here in Central PA. I also have similar choppiness on USA.

That DirecTV switch might be coming sooner rather than later. I put it off because I knew these new channels were coming, and now that they're here, I'm extremely disappointed.

Last week during Atlantis, I saw blocks every time an energy weapon flared. I've seen basketball games at 12-13 Mbps with no problems and BB is as demanding as video can get. I don't think bit rate is SciFi's problem.

Last week during Atlantis, I saw blocks every time an energy weapon flared. I've seen basketball games at 12-13 Mbps with no problems and BB is as demanding as video can get. I don't think bit rate is SciFi's problem.Where? You're not going to get HD basketball in 12-13Mbps without a lot of artifacts or a lot of vertical filtering (detail removal) to reduce peak pitrate.

USA-HD and SciFi-HD are 1920x1080i channels with peaks that exceed 18Mbps during intense scenes. When Comcast's equipment is configured to pass all or most of the detail in the image, the bandwidth doesn't exist to deliver that channel without regular pixelization and dropped frames.

In the next week or two, you can expect Comcast to tune their encoder to eliminate much of the high-frequency picture information (fine detail). That should significantly reduce peak bitrates so you no longer see the pixelization and dropped frames, but at the expense of picture detail. It may take some time for Comcast to 'tweak' to get the best picture they can out of the limited bandwidth.

Where? You're not going to get HD basketball in 12-13Mbps without a lot of artifacts or a lot of vertical filtering (detail removal) to reduce peak pitrate.

USA-HD and SciFi-HD are 1920x1080i channels with peaks that exceed 18Mbps during intense scenes. When Comcast's equipment is configured to pass all or most of the detail in the image, the bandwidth doesn't exist to deliver that channel without regular pixelization and dropped frames.

In the next week or two, you can expect Comcast to tune their encoder to eliminate much of the high-frequency picture information (fine detail). That should significantly reduce peak bitrates so you no longer see the pixelization and dropped frames, but at the expense of picture detail. It may take some time for Comcast to 'tweak' to get the best picture they can out of the limited bandwidth.

The bit rate for the Tin Man was 12.2 Mbps on the average as reported by VideoRedo. Raycom is 13.5 Mbps while FSNHD is 13 Mbps, both 720p. I haven't noticed any pixelization.

I'm in southern NH, I have Comcast cable. We just got SciFi channel HD last week, and both last week's and this week's episode of Stargate Atlantis had stuttering, freezes, and generally poor PQ.

I assume the PQ is probably a low bitrate issue, probably Comcast's fault although you never know, maybe that's how SciFi sends it out.

So, first, any other Comcast user suffering through SGA stuttering/freezing? For the people who get SciFi HD via satellite, is the PQ poor for you as well?

I saw it on Direct TV and the PQ was excellent

Same issues here in Central PA. I also have similar choppiness on USA.

That DirecTV switch might be coming sooner rather than later. I put it off because I knew these new channels were coming, and now that they're here, I'm extremely disappointed.

bummer. I've noticed audio drops on discovery. not terribly frequent, but they are there and it's noticeable since that rarely if ever happened before. I'm pretty sure discovery, usa and sci fi are on the same qam for us. I haven't seen picture break ups but I haven't watched very much on usa or scifi hd yet.

bummer. I've noticed audio drops on discovery. not terribly frequent, but they are there and it's noticeable since that rarely if ever happened before. I'm pretty sure discovery, usa and sci fi are on the same qam for us. I haven't seen picture break ups but I haven't watched very much on usa or scifi hd yet.

I watched a bit of Discovery last night (also new in our area) and had 2 video and audtio breakups in the 1/2 hour show I watched (Dirty Jobs).

Ugh.

Same issues here in Central PA. I also have similar choppiness on USA.

That DirecTV switch might be coming sooner rather than later. I put it off because I knew these new channels were coming, and now that they're here, I'm extremely disappointed.

Hmm. I'm in Mechanicsburg and haven't had time to watch any Sci-Fi HD yet. I've watched some of the HGTV channel and some A&E, both of which seemed OK (CSI Miami looked better than the regular CBS feed). But if they mess up Battlestar Galactica I'm going to be really mad!!

I watched a bit of Discovery last night (also new in our area) and had 2 video and audtio breakups in the 1/2 hour show I watched (Dirty Jobs).

Ugh.

happen to remember which hour that was? I dvr'd a bunch of the dirty jobs marathon last night so I'll have to keep an eye out.

happen to remember which hour that was? I dvr'd a bunch of the dirty jobs marathon last night so I'll have to keep an eye out.

Not exactly, but I think it was the 6:30 EST one. It was the episode where they go to a mill in Spartansburg PA. I grew up there....small amish town in the middle of nowhere with a population right around 300 (and probably 150 of those are amish), so was suprised to see them there. I was just flipping channels and happened to see a shot of them driving by a house and I was like "I know that house!" so I watched it.

It specifically broke up right when he goes to change the filters/screens in the basement...maybe 15-20 minutes into it. It broke up another place, but I can't remember now.

And ditto on the earlier BSG comment. I'll be sooo mad if that sputters the entire way through it like SGA does....

At least this weeks SG:A was watchable. The last three weeks the stuttering and freezing was so bad I had to transfer the show from my SD TiVo to watch.

It's a little late, but ever since we got SciFi HD in Chicagoland, we'd be attempting to watch Flash Gordon for the first time in HD. It sounds like it was experiencing the same bitrate starvation problems that were plaguing SA - picture breakup, skipped frames, etc. It was very frustrating, and definitely detracted from what was an otherwise climactic and exciting end to the season. I hope that SciFi will be able to get the "balance" fixed. It's annoying to hear that they'll need to destroy the picture quality to make that happen.

Well, the last couple of weeks Stargate Atlantis has been stutter-free! The PQ is still pretty mediocre due to SciFi-HD running around 11-12Mbits/s on Comcast, but it's certainly watchable. I would say the PQ is similar to what I see on Universal's HD channel on Comcast. Although I'd love to see a higher bitrate, I'm resigned that this is as good as it's ever going to get, and look forward to Battlestar Galactica in HD!!

I wish I had Atlantis in HD! When is SciFi HD coming to Verizon FiOS?

I wish I had Atlantis in HD! When is SciFi HD coming to Verizon FiOS?That depends where you live.

Some markets are expected to receive new channels in the next month. Other markets such as DC, FL, and TX are not expected to receive them before late July.

I live in the Boston MA market. Is Stargate Atlantis coming out in HD next month????

I live in the Boston MA market. Is Stargate Atlantis coming out in HD next month????The season is over. There are no more new episodes of Stargate Atlantis.

Perhaps you meant Battlestar Galactica?

FiOS in MA (VHO6) should get SCIFI-HD and several dozen other new HD channels in May.

The season is over. There are no more new episodes of Stargate Atlantis.

Perhaps you meant Battlestar Galactica?

FiOS in MA (VHO6) should get SCIFI-HD several dozen other new HD channels in May.

It's true Season 4 just ended of SGA, but if you like it, they show it daily at 5:00 pm EST in HD, currently they are somewhere in the first half of season 1, the last time through they ran all they way through season 2 in HD, and then started over. On Friiday nights, they appear to have started showing Season 4 over again, they showed episode 4x01 last Friday and next Friday 4x02 is scheduled. The only season I've not seen in HD so far is Season 3, hopefully they'll get it this time through.

I obviously know the SGA season is over! ;-)

I wanted to know if we will be getting SciFi HD in time for Season 5!!! I want to be prepared! If comcast has Scifi HD in the fall when Atlantis is running new episodes and Verizon doesn't, I may change providers.

I wanted to know if we will be getting SciFi HD in time for Season 5!!! I want to be prepared! If comcast has Scifi HD in the fall when Atlantis is running new episodes and Verizon doesn't, I may change providers.
If you are in MA, the Fios analog shutdown should occur by mid-May. Verizon has not indicated how long after the analog channels go away to adding QAM channels and then the HD channels, but the odds are good that you will have Sci-Fi HD by early to mid-summer. I'm in the Washington Metro market (VHO #4) and the schedule does have the analog channels going away until July 21, so it will be a long wait for the HD expansion here.