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Poor Picture with Showtime Anytime

I have been a subscriber to Verizon Fios for a week now and there is an obvious difference in picture quality for Showtime Anytime (which is new to me as I didn't subscribe to Showtime with my previous provider) and Netflix and HBO GO (which I have used for about two years). With Showtime Anytime there are two problems: 1) There is a jagged look to objects and people instead of a smooth look. In gaming this is called "jaggies" I believe and is solved with the anti-aliasing settings of the game. 2) There is a ever slight (but noticible) strobe-like effect that means that that the frame rate is too low. The sound is fine.

Netflix and HBO GO playback is outstanding and my internet speed is super fast now (58 MBPS down). There is an optional driver update for my graphics card, NVIDIA Geforce GTS 240 (I don't game with it any more). I don't know if a new driver will really change anything with this issue and I tend to leave things alone if they are working.

I don't think this is the fault of Verizon FIOS but I wonder if anyone else has noticed this.

Thank you,

TryBri

Comments

PJL

@TryBri wrote:
I have been a subscriber to Verizon Fios for a week now and there is an obvious difference in picture quality for Showtime Anytime (which is new to me as I didn't subscribe to Showtime with my previous provider) and Netflix and HBO GO (which I have used for about two years). With Showtime Anytime there are two problems: 1) There is a jagged look to objects and people instead of a smooth look. In gaming this is called "jaggies" I believe and is solved with the anti-aliasing settings of the game. 2) There is a ever slight (but noticible) strobe-like effect that means that that the frame rate is too low. The sound is fine.
Netflix and HBO GO playback is outstanding and my internet speed is super fast now (58 MBPS down). There is an optional driver update for my graphics card, NVIDIA Geforce GTS 240 (I don't game with it any more). I don't know if a new driver will really change anything with this issue and I tend to leave things alone if they are working.
I don't think this is the fault of Verizon FIOS but I wonder if anyone else has noticed this.
Thank you,
TryBri

Showtime Anytime is standard definition only. That is why its quality is inferior to HBOGo and Netflix, which are HD. It is not your PC graphics card.

TryBri

Thank you for your reply. It seems to me that they would upgrade their service to HD for the sake of competition. Hopefully they will in the future.

walt178

PJL is correct about that Showtime Anytime is in SD. But that isn't the only problem. I took a look at it after viewing your post. The quality is much lower than it used to be. I checked about six shows/movies and in each case the quality was so bad I wouldn't watch it. Many of them had small windows (about 4 sq inches) and the picture was great in the window. But full screen was horrible. It looks like the resolution is geared towards small screen, such as tablets, rather than computers.

PJL

@walt178 wrote:
...It looks like the resolution is geared towards small screen, such as tablets, rather than computers.

I think you've hit on something. Viewing on a 10 inch Android tablet with the Showtime Anytime app is fine. It looks like Showtime is streaming "on the cheap" unlike the other services. Too bad...

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