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Seattle, WA - Comcast

2M views 16K replies 1K participants last post by  LHenton 
#1 ·
I officially have no new news! However, I wanted to have a thread that I could subscribe to. After Ken took away our little "ATT advertising HDTV" thread, I felt that we needed a new little home to gripe and whine about the fact that Comcast still isn't delivering locals.


I will try to get Ken to send out a note to those subscribed to the other thread.


Cheers,

Steve
 
#15,081 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by artshotwell /forum/post/19117194


KCPQ isn't letterboxing their own SD feed? They used to provide 2 separate feeds to Comcast.

I doubt they are doing this themselves. I believe KCPQ was one of the few stations that maintained a separate SD feed to Comcast after the DTV conversion, although I don't know if that is still being done. But, I think Q13 would need to invest capital to process AFD as part of the analog output. Why bother if Comcast is already doing it for them?
 
#15,082 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by BIslander /forum/post/19119282


Why do you think I am blaming Comcast?

Good grief. Why do you think that I think that YOU'RE blaming Comcast? I'm not. I'm simply forecasting the public reaction.

Quote:
2. I am curious about the public reaction.

And that's what I was trying to comment on - the public reaction, which will be to blame Comcast (rather than FOX, or KCPQ, or whoever actually makes production decisions).

Quote:
I'm not sure why your post mentions "fixing" this.

Because I believe the public reaction will be that this is "broken".


I actually agree with everything you've said - and I further predict that someone will make an angry post here in this forum during football season to complain about "Comcast's decision" to letterbox the Seahawks games.
 
#15,083 ·
Wow, been forever since I posted in this thread, haven't had comcast cable since 2006 or something



Anyways, I was hoping somebody in here could help me out with a question that Comcast(Xfinity) can't because it appears they're morons.


Does digital starter have ESPN/ESPN2/FSN ? Need to add cable again for football season, but need to make sure I get the right package. I asked comcast reps online and they said "We don't have a channel lineup now that we're Xfinity and things are changing". Yes, that makes sense, I want to sign up for your service and you can't tell me what channels I'd get.. GREAT!


Also, can somebody confirm it is $7 more or something like that if you want HD?


Oh, one last thing.. anybody know the best number to call to try and get a deal on service. Is there a local number, or do I just call the fun toll free # on their site?


Thanks a lot
 
#15,088 ·
In the Public Notices section of this morning's Seattle Times (page 3 of the sports section) Comcast announced that we will be getting HDNet (on channel 707) and Ovation (on channel 202, presumably in SD) on October 1.


Also, AnyRoom DVR service is also coming October 1.


Also, lots of small price increases...
 
#15,089 ·
I live in the Beacon Hill area of Seattle and currently have Comcast. I am ready to kick this service to the curb. The HD quality is absolutely abysmal. ANY movie/channel with ANY amount of movement, especially horizontal movement across the frame results in horrific pixilation.


I can play a Blu-ray disc, any DVD and the image is rock solid, absolutely pristine. Watch the exact same movie on Comcast and the image absolutely sucks. And I am paying EXTRA for this level of quality.


I had DirecTV for years and left for Comcast only due to moving. At this point I cannot stand the Comcast HD quality, especially for the amount they are charging me per month (my Internet is already off of Comcast, so leaving Comcast has no impact on my Internet). During the years I had DirecTV it NEVER had image quality as poor as Comcast. In looking at some displays in a local Satellite store Dish appears to have a few advantages over DirecTV.


So the questions I have are:
  1. Is anyone else seeing abysmal HD quality on Comcast in the Seattle area?
  2. Has anyone compared the new Xfinity service to traditional Comcast, is Xfinity any better?
  3. Opinions of Dish versus DirecTV?
  4. Has anyone recently moved from Comcast to Dish or DirecTV, and if so is the HD quality any better?


In the checking I have done so far, Dish, or even DirecTV would be less expensive per month for at minimum the same channel lineup and in fact more channels/options than Comcast provides.


To my mind it is criminal how much Comcast is charging me per month to start with, it is an outright felony to charge this and deliver such abject crummy quality.


Thanks!
 
#15,090 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by davlewis /forum/post/19134078


I live in the Beacon Hill area of Seattle and currently have Comcast. I am ready to kick this service to the curb. The HD quality is absolutely abysmal. ANY movie/channel with ANY amount of movement, especially horizontal movement across the frame results in horrific pixilation.


I can play a Blu-ray disc, any DVD and the image is rock solid, absolutely pristine. Watch the exact same movie on Comcast and the image absolutely sucks. And I am paying EXTRA for this level of quality.


I had DirecTV for years and left for Comcast only due to moving. At this point I cannot stand the Comcast HD quality, especially for the amount they are charging me per month (my Internet is already off of Comcast, so leaving Comcast has no impact on my Internet). During the years I had DirecTV it NEVER had image quality as poor as Comcast. In looking at some displays in a local Satellite store Dish appears to have a few advantages over DirecTV.


So the questions I have are:
  1. Is anyone else seeing abysmal HD quality on Comcast in the Seattle area?
  2. Has anyone compared the new Xfinity service to traditional Comcast, is Xfinity any better?
  3. Opinions of Dish versus DirecTV?
  4. Has anyone recently moved from Comcast to Dish or DirecTV, and if so is the HD quality any better?


In the checking I have done so far, Dish, or even DirecTV would be less expensive per month for at minimum the same channel lineup and in fact more channels/options than Comcast provides.


To my mind it is criminal how much Comcast is charging me per month to start with, it is an outright felony to charge this and deliver such abject crummy quality.


Thanks!

When you say "watch a movie on Comcast" - are you actually watching some movie channel/network? Or are you talking about OnDemand movies?
 
#15,091 ·
Both, on demand and channels such as HBO or ShowTime on ANY movie with rapid movement or action will pixilate horribly, to the point of nearly being unwatchable. This happens on three different HDTV's, on two DVR HD Comcast set top boxes and one non DVR HD set top box. All TV's are connected via HDMI cables to the Comcast box (the non DVR box uses a DVI to HDMI adapter). So this is not just one bad set top box or connection to a specific TV.
 
#15,092 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by davlewis /forum/post/19134339


Both, on demand and channels such as HBO or ShowTime on ANY movie with rapid movement or action will pixilate horribly, to the point of nearly being unwatchable. This happens on three different HDTV's, on two DVR HD Comcast set top boxes and one non DVR HD set top box. All TV's are connected via HDMI cables to the Comcast box (the non DVR box uses a DVI to HDMI adapter). So this is not just one bad set top box or connection to a specific TV.

I don't get problems like that in Sammamish. Sounds like you have a local problem.
 
#15,093 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by davlewis /forum/post/19134339


Both, on demand and channels such as HBO or ShowTime on ANY movie with rapid movement or action will pixilate horribly, to the point of nearly being unwatchable. This happens on three different HDTV's, on two DVR HD Comcast set top boxes and one non DVR HD set top box. All TV's are connected via HDMI cables to the Comcast box (the non DVR box uses a DVI to HDMI adapter). So this is not just one bad set top box or connection to a specific TV.

It's well known that HBO/Sho, etc use relatively low bitrates for their HD movies, much lower than Blueray (on both cable and Sat) - so if you look close you will see *some* compression artifacts, typically in rapid movement or dark/smoky scenes. I don't know Comcast's OnDemand bitrates, but likely similar.


Can you be more specific than "pixilate horribly", "abysmal", or "criminal"? Does the picture degrade into large, adjacent blocks of mostly the same color? Or are you seeing smaller, random green or white blocks? The former is more likely deliberate compression. The latter is more typical of signal loss (perhaps from your home cable splitters, connectors, etc).
 
#15,094 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by davlewis /forum/post/19134078

  1. Is anyone else seeing abysmal HD quality on Comcast in the Seattle area?
  2. Has anyone compared the new Xfinity service to traditional Comcast, is Xfinity any better?
  3. Opinions of Dish versus DirecTV?
  4. Has anyone recently moved from Comcast to Dish or DirecTV, and if so is the HD quality any better?

1. Not in the Seattle area, but in Bremerton. In fact, I moved out of that area in March 2009, and when I got everything set up with Wave Broadband (local cable company), I noticed an instant boost in video quality within seconds of turning on the TV for the first time.


2. Unfortunately, I can't really answer this question because Xfinity started out after I moved.


3. Dish Network has all the correct pricing information for DirecTV in their "Why pay more for TV?" commercials. Dish Network's base package has a savings of roughly $17 compared to DirecTV. That is, if you're looking to save a few bucks.


4. Again, looking at the first question, I did move, and the HD quality with Wave Broadband is amazing! Noticed a video quality improvement (specifically) with NFL Network!

(As noted before, I just follow this board as a previous Comcast subscriber, and as a favor to my other friends in the area who use it. Not that it matters, HA HA!)
 
#15,095 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by jimre /forum/post/19135931


It's well known that HBO/Sho, etc use relatively low bitrates for their HD movies, much lower than Blueray (on both cable and Sat) - so if you look close you will see *some* compression artifacts, typically in rapid movement or dark/smoky scenes. I don't know Comcast's OnDemand bitrates, but likely similar.


Can you be more specific than "pixilate horribly", "abysmal", or "criminal"? Does the picture degrade into large, adjacent blocks of mostly the same color? Or are you seeing smaller, random green or white blocks? The former is more likely deliberate compression. The latter is more typical of signal loss (perhaps from your home cable splitters, connectors, etc).

If the image contains a brightly lit scene it will degrade in the worst case to a combination of individual pixel blocks in greens, plus larger areas of solid blocking to the extend that underlying image is unrecognizable. On images with fog or smoke the amount of blocking is more significant (and I am not talking about the non linear graduated effect of low bit rate video that cannot do a smooth gradient, but rather total collapse of the image).
 
#15,096 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by davlewis /forum/post/19139181


If the image contains a brightly lit scene it will degrade in the worst case to a combination of individual pixel blocks in greens, plus larger areas of solid blocking to the extend that underlying image is unrecognizable. On images with fog or smoke the amount of blocking is more significant (and I am not talking about the non linear graduated effect of low bit rate video that cannot do a smooth gradient, but rather total collapse of the image).

Sounds like signal loss. Have you called Comcast to have a tech check out your cabling?
 
#15,097 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by jimre /forum/post/19139190


Sounds like signal loss. Have you called Comcast to have a tech check out your cabling?

Not for this problem. When we first moved to the new home about four years ago they were here multiple times working on problems (not the same as the current problem).


I wanted to see if my current problem was something that was well known and just a Comcast problem? Apparently, what I am seeing is worse than the normal. I'll schedule a service call with Comcast and try and explain what is happening and see if they can check signal level.


Thanks
 
#15,100 ·
I have watched the Seahawks for years on Tivo. This year I did not see a single one. It's not that I didn't record them. They were on that godforsaken NFLNetwork. The game would start and suddenly we would be half a continent away watching a different game. maybe I can understand this if it's a home game but I don't think it was alwats the case.


The other night I finally got to see the Viking game (with Viking announcers). It was a week late and the wrong announcers.


Did I do something wrong? Is this the future? If it is, the only reason for having cable TV is quickly disappearing.


Thanks for listening to my rant. Please someone point out the error of may thoughts. I would much prefer being shown to be an idiot than not being able to watch games because of some stupid NFL rules.
 
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