[igreg]

How does a person know what the preferred resolution is for a given HD program? I understand the networks are 1080i except for ABC which is 720p.


What resolution are Fox (480 or 720?); Brave; HDNET; Discovery; etc. Is there a web page that covers this topic? Thanks!



P.S. Other than just by looking, how are you even positive that a show is in HD?

 

[bfdtv]

All are 1080i except for ABC/FOX/ESPN, which are 720p.

 

[plasmamaniac]

What kind of HD recorder do you have? HD Tivo has a backdoor code that will display the resolution for each tuner. That's is a pretty cool feature.

 

[Kemosabe]

Quote:

Originally posted by plasmamaniac HD Tivo has a backdoor code that will display the resolution for each tuner. That's is a pretty cool feature.

What is the code for this feature? Where can I get a list of the backdoor codes for the HD Tivo? How are the backdoor codes enabled?


Thanks ................. Herb

 

[MarkV]

Hmm, on the R5000-HD, all D* HD data that I've captured shows up as 1280x1088i.


Does that mean it is converting the mpeg2 stream prior to dumping it to the harddrive? Could it really be doing this in realtime? I've used AVIcodec to check the format. HD OTA through the unit seems to remain at native res.


Of course AVIcodec could be wrong. Is there a reliable way to check the resolution of a stream?


Thanks,

Mark

 

[bfdtv]

MarkV,


No, DirecTV is recompressing / re-encoding some of their feeds to a lower resolution so they can fit more HD channels per transponder. This does noticeably degrade the PQ. That original source is 1920x1080i.


Some members are hoping that DirecTV will increase the bandwidth to its HD channels and restore the resolution to its original 1920x1080i after the football seasn is over, but I wouldn't bet on it.


Dish Network also re-encodes / recompresses to reduce bandwidth so they can fit more channels, but not quite as much. Some cable companies like Charter do as well.

 

[plasmamaniac]

These backdoor codes are listed on the Tivocommunity.com website and you can link to it from this forum. Some are dangerous but they will warn you of that. I can't remember exactly where it is but it is like the Tivo FAQ. Do a search for "backdoor codes".

 

[plasmamaniac]

Yes, the backdoor code is Select, Play, Select, Instant Replay Button, Select.

You will hear 3 pings if the activation went thru successfully. To sort the Now Playing List in either Alphabetical, Last Recorded etc. hit Slow, Zero, Record and Thumbs-up which the first letter of each spells sort. To change the skip to end button to 30 second skip, hit Select, Play, Select, 3, 0, Select. Again you will hear 3 pings if activated successfully. You can go to tivocomunity forum and they have a list of all of them.

 

[HDHTPC]

Quote:

Originally posted by igreg P.S. Other than just by looking, how are you even positive that a show is in HD?

For the most part you can't. You need a trained eye to tell if there is enough detail in the image to see if it is an "upconvert" or true HD.


On vary many shows the upconverting is very obvious because they used 4x3 NTSC, so on the HD chans it shows up with vertical bars on the left and right of the image. Some stations (such as TNT-HD) stretch 4x3 to fill the 16x9 frame, so you have to notice that everything is stretched.


SHO-HD does show some 16x9 native upconverts, so for that chan you really have to look closely to see if the image has enough detail to tell that it was true HD. Sometime there are debates on the forum to poll if a particular SHO-HD program was true-HD or an upconvert.


Somebody (like dr1394 or trbarry) could probably capture some frames, and run analysis software on an HD feed and tell you if it has enough detail to be from an upconvert or real HD - but most of the time it is just educated guess based on how the picture looks. The broadcast format doesn't change - even if HBO, SHO, TNT (or whatever) shows an upconvert it still shows up to your set as a full HD broadcast signal - it just lacks some of the possible detail in the picture.

 

[VideoGrabber]

HDHTPC commented:

> SHO-HD does show some 16x9 native upconverts, so for that chan you really have to look closely to see if the image has enough detail to tell that it was true HD. Sometime there are debates on the forum to poll if a particular SHO-HD program was true-HD or an upconvert.

 

[VideoGrabber]

> SHO-HD does show some 16x9 native upconverts...

 

[zeroendless]

Quote:

For the most part you can't. You need a trained eye to tell if there is enough detail in the image to see if it is an "upconvert" or true HD. On vary many shows the upconverting is very obvious because they used 4x3 NTSC, so on the HD chans it shows up with vertical bars on the left and right of the image. Some stations (such as TNT-HD) stretch 4x3 to fill the 16x9 frame, so you have to notice that everything is stretched.

I agreed if that applys to high resolution CRT monitor, on great PQ upconvert material, it's close. However, projecting both 16:9 upconvert / true Hd on big screen is another story.


I don't have the greatest display or hd scaler but i can tell the differences easy from my moto 6802 staright to Panny 500. Speaking of upconvert, I played with HTPC before, while not the best on earth but it's tweaked to highest FFDSHOW setting that sucker can take, but it never came close to HD. I wish i could trade this $2500 machine for Lumagen HD scaler just to statisfy the curosity.


It's totally depends on display....really or I'm just being picky

 

[bfdtv]

Quote:

For the most part you can't. You need a trained eye to tell if there is enough detail in the image to see if it is an "upconvert" or true HD.

If you've got a quality "big screen" that is appropriately calibrated, there is a vast difference between much of the HD and upconverted content. One looks incredible on a 106" screen...the other does not.

 

[HDHTPC]

As pointed out, some "true" HD material (on SHO-HD for instance) suffers in the resolution department enough that it looks a lot like an upconvert even on high end displays. Maybe the source was 16mm film? Maybe they used an ancient transcoder? Maybe the film was from a 3rd generation copy? Who knows. Sometimes they don't look that great.


Also, sometimes SHO-HD goofs in the wrong direction. There have been many reports of many shows that looked "too good to be an upconvert" yet the guide didn't indicate that it was HD.