Anyone know if the Tivo Premiere is doing any video processing?

[1080p guy]

I am curious about this because I definitely see a more detailed picture than I can recall seeing when I was using my Sony DHG-HDD250 Dvr(Which I retired when I got the Premiere). It gives me some hope that I will gain some similar pq gains once my Comcast cable card is installed. My Comcast quality isn't horrible it is clean, very stable with decent color saturation, but I can tell I'm not watching my OTA feed because it does'nt appear to have some of the micro detail that makes the picture "feel" more dimensional. Im guessing this is due to the "compression" Comcast adds. Why on earth would you add compression to a HD signal, it absolutely defeats the whole purpose of Higher Definition. The Sony was no slouch at showing these differences, but as I said the Premiere looks better. I guess I'll have to wait & see if will to start looking for a DVDO Edge. It would be nice to have one more uncompromised HD source in addition to my HD-DVD,Bluray& OTA HDTV. Comcast looks a little like "HD lite" it will pass until "I" can "fix" it .

[Davelnlr_]

It all boils down to bandwidth. Comcast has to compress the signal, in order to fit all the channels their customers demand, on the cable. For what it is worth, DirecTv has plenty of bandwidth, but is missing about 15 or 20 basic HD channels which Comcast carries. I just dropped DirecTv and switched to Comcast, because I would rather watch channels in HD-Lite, than not watch them at all, or in blur o vision SD. Guess it is just a matter of preferences. My Comcast here, however, isnt that much different than DirecTv was. Sure I can tell a little difference on a 60" TV, but not that much. I improved the PQ a bunch just by getting the TV calibrated. I added a DVDO Edge to add back the "crispness" without adding in noise. Much improved now.

It also depends what Comcast market you are in. As all cable systems are different, some have more bandwidth than others. At some point, the picture is going to degrade noticeably on a low bandwidth cable system (like one that still runs a full tier of analog SD channels (mine doesnt).

[smbaker]

Why on earth would you add compression to a HD signal, it absolutely defeats the whole purpose of Higher Definition.


Money. More channels squeezed into the same bandwidth.

The better question is, why am I paying for comcast to deliver me worse quality than free rabbit ears can?

[1080p guy]

Money. More channels squeezed into the same bandwidth.

The better question is, why am I paying for comcast to deliver me worse quality than free rabbit ears can?

I'm not paying Comcast for the "same" content, but herein lies the dilemna, I don't need that much more content. Comcast has gotten vastly better than it was years ago. I have to walk away when my sisters start talking about how great on Demand is . Oh well, I have stop thinking out loud I guess. On another note.. So the DVDO edge does a nice job, huh? I'll have start putting my pennies away !

[crxssi]

Money. More channels squeezed into the same bandwidth.

The better question is, why am I paying for comcast to deliver me worse quality than free rabbit ears can?

Cox does the same thing.
That is why I *do* use an antenna for all the local stations. The quality is much better.

[DeWitt]

With FIOS, you cant tell the difference between OTA and cable(IMHO). With Comcast and DirecTv the difference was very noticeable.

[1080p guy]

With FIOS, you cant tell the difference between OTA and cable(IMHO). With Comcast and DirecTv the difference was very noticeable.

Yeah, I'm "Chomping at the bit" to get FIOS , but it's not available yet were I'm at in S. Jersey. (Local Comcast Sportsnet would have be available, also)

[lessd]

Money. More channels squeezed into the same bandwidth.

The better question is, why am I paying for comcast to deliver me worse quality than free rabbit ears can?

I have Comcast (Hartford CT) and on network shows I get from 8MBytes to about 8.5MBytes per hour, what does OTA take in disk storage per hour ?

[orangeboy]

I have Comcast (Hartford CT) and on network shows I get from 8MBytes to about 8.5MBytes per hour, what does OTA take in disk storage per hour ?

According to kmttg, a one hour episode of Fringe is 6.74GB on disk, with the bitrate being 16.09mbps. That information relates to how the video is stored on the TiVo.

[atmuscarella]

According to kmttg, a one hour episode of Fringe is 6.74GB on disk, with the bitrate being 16.09mbps. That information relates to how the video is stored on the TiVo.All the networks are a little different. In my area Fox, ABC, CW, & ION broadcast a 720P signal, all the others (that I get) broadcast 1080i signals. The size of a a 1 hour prime time HD show will very from about 6.5GB to 7.8GB, depending on the channel.

Thanks,

[lessd]

All the networks are a little different. In my area Fox, ABC, CW, & ION broadcast a 720P signal, all the others (that I get) broadcast 1080i signals. The size of a a 1 hour prime time HD show will very from about 6.5GB to 7.8GB, depending on the channel.

Thanks,

Is that from OTA or your cable system ?

[atmuscarella]

Is that from OTA or your cable system ?Sorry OTA - I am OTA only - live in a cable free zone :D

Thanks,

[steve614]

I have Comcast (Hartford CT) and on network shows I get from 8MBytes to about 8.5MBytes per hour, what does OTA take in disk storage per hour ?

Here's the stats for an OTA NBC show (SNL) as reported by VRD.
(Dallas TX affiliate.)

File Name: E:\Unedited TV\Saturday Night Live - ''Elton John; Leon Russell'' (Recorded Apr 2, 2011, CAST).TiVo
File Size: 7616919707 ( 7.09 GB )
Program Duration: 01:33:01.18
File Type: TiVo
Encoding: MPEG2
Video stream Id: xE0
Encoding Dimensions: 1920 x 1080
Display Size: 1920 x 1080
Aspect Ratio: 16:9
Frame Rate: 29.97 FPS
Bit Rate: 24.000 Mbps
VBV_Buffer: 976 KB
Profile: Main@High
Progressive: Prog or Int
Chroma: 4:2:0
Audio Format: 5.1
Audio Stream Id: AC3: 0 (x80)
Audio Bit Rate: 384 Kbps
Audio Sampling Rate: 48000 Hz
TS Mux Rate (bps): -1

[moyekj]

That's simply the header bit rate. The true bit rate you have info to calculate:
(7.09*1000*8 Mbits)/(5580 secs)=10.16 Mbps (i.e. very lousy for 1080i HD mpeg2)