Poor Shaw Digital Quality

[QuA]

Does anyone have a 60" + TV and using shaw? I recently got a new Sony Wega LCD 60" and the quality of TV shows vary dramatically and the quality is horrible. I see double images and the text is all blurry. This is with the regular shaw digital cable box. Even if I had the HDTV version its the same quality for regular channels.

DVD movies look amazing on the TV, but if this is what Shaw provides for image quality it looks like I'll be headed back to Bell.

Anyone else experiencing these issues?

[xDiMSuMx]

try calling tech support

[1-Bar]

digital cable should not have ghosting.....its a really clean source, check your cable connections and see if they are snug fit.

What are you using from the shaw box to the tv?? (cable type and brand plz)

[Xtrema]

1st, all channel up til 55 are all analog. They are not digital either you have digital package/terminal or not. If you got noise on the line, it'll look horrible. The problem only magnifies as your screen get bigger.

Digital channels are 55 and up, but these are only standard 400 line images. Hardly DVD quality. It's digital so it should have less noise.

HDTV channels are natively 1080i and beside the compression artifacts, should give you close to DVD quality pictures. But HDTV programming is still limited and Shaw still has very little channel to offer.

In other word, HDTV contents hasn't been ramp up fast enough to match on hardware. May be in a few more year, all channel will be broadcasted in HD but til then your big screen is probably best for DVD movies.

[QuA]

Yup their coming in on Thurs to check the lines.


Originally posted by xDiMSuMx
try calling tech support

[403Gemini]

... sony v ega

(some people call it wega, others call it vega, i personally think vega sounds cooler ;) )

[QuA]

Tried a monster RCA and an A/R S-video and the regular cable.

Might be with the splitter their using for my other 3-4 tv's and cable modem.


Originally posted by xDiMSuMx
try calling tech support

[QuA]

Wicked info. I believe the terminal is the regular dtc2500? The non-HDTV version. I'm getting the HDTV version soon though.

Is bell's HDTV selection and quality better or is Shaw better?

I believe its a poor connection from the box outside our house. Lets hope they either get a signal amplifer or booster.


Originally posted by Xtrema
1st, all channel up til 55 are all analog. They are not digital either you have digital package/terminal or not. If you got noise on the line, it'll look horrible. The problem only magnifies as your screen get bigger.

Digital channels are 55 and up, but these are only standard 400 line images. Hardly DVD quality. It's digital so it should have less noise.

HDTV channels are natively 1080i and beside the compression artifacts, should give you close to DVD quality pictures. But HDTV programming is still limited and Shaw still has very little channel to offer.

In other word, HDTV contents hasn't been ramp up fast enough to match on hardware. May be in a few more year, all channel will be broadcasted in HD but til then your big screen is probably best for DVD movies.

[rage2]

Originally posted by Xtrema
In other word, HDTV contents hasn't been ramp up fast enough to match on hardware. May be in a few more year, all channel will be broadcasted in HD but til then your big screen is probably best for DVD movies.
Sucker. You can get tons of HD content on pretty much all prime time shows except reality shows. If you have a LCD/DLP or CRTRP HDTV, do yourself a favor and don't waste the TV. Get a HDTV receiver!

ExpressVu has all the CBS/NBC/ABC/FOX/PBS channels in HD. East and west feeds too. CityHD, 2 HD movie channels, SportsnetHD and TSNHD (a bit lacking for content for the last 2 channels). Oh ya, and DiscoveryHD.

Shaw has CBS/NBC/ABC, FOX is on it's way for HDTV.

If you have a US address, Dish Network has CBSHD, 10 Voom HD channels, TNT HD, HDNet, HDNet Movies, DiscoveryHD, ESPN HD (a bit lacking with ESPN HD), HBOHD, Showtime HD.

DirecTV has CBS/ABC/FOX/NBC HD east and west, HDNet, HDNet Movies, HBO HD, Showtime HD, Universal HD, ESPN HD, ESPN2 HD (in August), Discovery HD.

HD has ramped up hard in the last 2 years. I think I watch around 70% HD and 30% SD now.

[xDiMSuMx]

Originally posted by rage2


Shaw has CBS/NBC/ABC, FOX is on it's way for HDTV.



Shaw has FOX and SportsnetHD now also

[Xtrema]

Originally posted by rage2

Sucker. You can get tons of HD content on pretty much all prime time shows except reality shows. If you have a LCD/DLP or CRTRP HDTV, do yourself a favor and don't waste the TV. Get a HDTV receiver!

ExpressVu has all the CBS/NBC/ABC/FOX/PBS channels in HD. East and west feeds too. CityHD, 2 HD movie channels, SportsnetHD and TSNHD (a bit lacking for content for the last 2 channels). Oh ya, and DiscoveryHD.

Shaw has CBS/NBC/ABC, FOX is on it's way for HDTV.


True. But Bell charges extra for HD channels and Shaw lacks Discovery HD (which is really the only channel I watch most anyway). And each requires a terminal for each TV and is controlled by the provider. We need HD singal over air like U.S. improve adaptation.

For now, I believe HD is only for people with money to spare, like our Beyond CEO ;D.

[GoChris]

Originally posted by xDiMSuMx


Shaw has FOX and SportsnetHD now also

Shaw has FOX Sports and SportsnetHD now also

[rage2]

Originally posted by Xtrema
True. But Bell charges extra for HD channels and Shaw lacks Discovery HD (which is really the only channel I watch most anyway). And each requires a terminal for each TV and is controlled by the provider. We need HD singal over air like U.S. improve adaptation.

For now, I believe HD is only for people with money to spare, like our Beyond CEO ;D.
haha please... $10/month, I'm sure ppl that buy $2000 HDTV's can afford that.

As for OTA, it'll take a LONG time for it to happen here. The market's too small for the local channels to convert to HDTV without either government mandate, or lowered cost of entry.

[jdmakkord]

Originally posted by QuA
Tried a monster RCA and an A/R S-video and the regular cable.

Might be with the splitter their using for my other 3-4 tv's and cable modem.



Splitters make a huge difference in picture quality. You lose signal every time you split a cable, especially when using old or shitty splitters.

[sputnik]

Originally posted by jdmakkord


Splitters make a huge difference in picture quality. You lose signal every time you split a cable, especially when using old or shitty splitters.

When splitting RG6 cables, picture quality is affected more to analog signals than digital. However non-HD channels will always look like crap on an HDTV screen regardless.

[tictactoe2004]

I've been running HD for about 5 years now and can tell you that for normal channels, the TV's are super fussy about the signal you feed them. The splitter you are using is probably part of the problem. I know that in the one place I was living, I called shaw to come out and check it out and when they got to my place and tested the cable the signal was coming in way too strong. They put something on the line to lower the signal strength and it looked really good after that.

One thing to check is your TV settings as well. A lot of people will get their new TV's home and crank up the sharpness thinking it will make the picture look better, that is not the case, your sharpness should be down near the bottom when watching analog TV on a HDTV. Make sure that you turn on the noise reduction on your TV as well when your on cable, those two will make your picture far better for cable.

Also it will just take some getting used to, you have a TV that's built for HD, it is taking your garbage interlaced signal and converting it to 480 progressive. Even after all the above is done, it is a different kind of picture and you will still get a bit of noise on your screen. It took me a good 6 months to adjust to the different style of picture your watching now.

[1-Bar]

Originally posted by 403Gemini
... sony v ega

(some people call it wega, others call it vega, i personally think vega sounds cooler ;) )

its spelt 'wega' but pronounced 'vega'. Its german for flat I believe. It originally started as a 'v' with a shadow, then people turned it into a 'w'.....


Originally posted by QuA
Tried a monster RCA and an A/R S-video and the regular cable.

Might be with the splitter their using for my other 3-4 tv's and cable modem.



Try using a 2.0GHz splitter, it costs a lot more, but it reduces the signal loss a lot :thumbsup:

[kudang]

I have sony 60XS955. Got a HD decoder 6100 from shaw too!
Picture is excellent analogue or digital and especially HD. Ask shaw if he can install a booster. They did on mine. Have 5 TVS at home.