TNT pixelization sucks

[Kash76]

Wow the TNT DirecTV feed really is horrible. There is cutouts from time to time and the pixelization is bad. I've tried on 720p and 1080i.

[scooby_doo_53]

I haven't seen any pixelization on TNT-HD.

Now granted, I only have watched one show - "The Closer" which was done in HD (at least I think it was). As far as I can tell, the picture is fine there.

[rkester]

It is very pixelated during action especially. I've yet to see a show that wasn't pixelated.

When Armageddon was on the other night, I popped in my DVD and it looked BETTER than the TNT HD feed.

[JimSpence]

Let's make sure we are on the same page concerning terminology.
Pixelation is caused when the digital signal is lost momentarily.
What you see during fast motion is caused by too much compression.
DirecTV compresses their HD channels too much, DVDs don't have any or very little, compression.

There's a lot more to this, but this is the way my simple brain understands it. :D

[TheBigDogs]

My reaction would be that it doesn't matter - the PQ is way under the level of acceptability. We (I) see this across the entire spectrum of HD offering from DTV except HBO and ESPN.

For those shows where I am able to compare OTA and DTV, I see problems with the sat feed that don't show up (live and recorded) in the OTA feed. I realize that there's some prejudice that's bound to creep into my views because of all the issues with DTV lately (lease vs. purchase, price increase, 2 year commitment, rebate failure, etc.) but I think they're doing a really poor job and delivering a really inferior product.

[TyroneShoes]

Let's make sure we are on the same page concerning terminology.
Pixelation is caused when the digital signal is lost momentarily.
What you see during fast motion is caused by too much compression.
DirecTV compresses their HD channels too much, DVDs don't have any or very little, compression.

There's a lot more to this, but this is the way my simple brain understands it. :D
But the result of a momentary loss of signal is the same as bandwidth constriction of the signal, which leads to buffer under-run, which leads to pixellation. That's one issue, which can be the result of two different problems. The other issue is resolution.

And what you say is correct, pixellation is an issue primarily with DTV. A DVD will have less (if any) pixellation, but it will still have only 480 resolution. DTV may have more pixellation, but they will still have HD (lite) resolution. And if there is enough pixellation, a lower-rez image without pixellation might be preferable.

[rkester]

In my case, I did find the 480P image preferable to the 1080i pixelated one with Armageddon.

I used to be the kind of guy who'd pop in a DVD of a movie when I saw it was on HBO/TNT/whatever to get the widescreen and dolby digital.

Little did I know that I'd be down-res'ing _from_ HD content to DVDs the same way.