[mythtv-users] How small can I get my captures?

[Ray Olszewski]

At 12:53 PM 6/19/2003 -0500, Aran Cox wrote:
>On Sat, 2003-06-14 at 12:04, Ray Olszewski wrote:
> > At 11:42 AM 6/14/2003 -0500, John P DeVale wrote:
> > [...]
> > The second part is that I got digital cable for one location. This does 
> not
> > help with the standard channels -- they still come in at analog quality
> > (way to go, Comcast!) -- but both visually and in capture, the superiority
> > of digital is apparent. Fortunately for me, Comcast is, at the moment,
> > running an extraordinarily good deal on digital ($6/month for first
> > location, $3/month for each additional location, for about 30 digital
> > channels, of which maybe 8-10 are of interest), which makes it at least
> > marginally affordable for me.
> >
>
>That's totally different from my experience.  The digital channels here
>(Mediacom) look hideous.  All the pay channels on are digital only so
>consequently, all the movies on HBO look like over-compressed divx
>files.  I'm utterly thankful most of the channels are analog and that
>even when using the digital box (which I rarely do) that those channels
>which are analog are simply passed through the box.  I can't imagine how
>digital channels could look any better than their analog versions no
>matter what the provider says in their adds..


Fortunately, I don't have to imagine it, since I can see it before my eyes. 
There is none of the typical interference that analog signals can be 
subject to; the images are close to DVD-like in their sharpness, whereas 
the analog signals have noticable "chaff-like" noise, and some have 
diagonal-bar interference. Some of the analog-signal problems probably 
derive from retransmission of local broadcast signals, but I see the 
difference on cable channels like TLC and TVLand too, when contrasted with 
(say) the digital delivery of TCM.

For a less subjective measure, my digital-channel captures are a good bit 
smaller (20% reliably, sometimes as much as 50%) than my analog-channel 
caps ... in my experience, the main thing that causes capture sizes to vary 
is the random noise in the signal, since the encoder sees that is 
information to be encoded.

Don't get me wrong ... I am not questioning that your experience differs 
from mine. I have no inclination to question any statement that says a 
particular cable company does a particular thing badly ... my own tales of 
provider incompetence just happen to be about installation gaffes, not bad 
signal.

I am telling you that when I say I see better quality on digital here, I 
really am telling the truth ... I am NOT an ad (or an "add").