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AMC HD is Low Quality

Is there anyway to get a better quality feed of AMC HD. As of now I am currently getting about 9Mbps max which causes alot of blocking on the screen. The fact is 9Mbps is simply not enough for 1080i HD

I only bring this up because other providers across the country are currently getting an upgrade for AMC HD from their 9Mbps to close to 14 Mbps.

One example is Comcast in Michigan which has just recently made the change over and their picture quality from screenshots is much better then Fios's

This is from Michigan's Comcast broadcast for Breaking Bad Season 3 episode 1:

Sequence Summary:
File Size Processed: 4.90 GB, Play Time: 00h:48m:50s
1920 x 1080, 29.97 fps, 20.00 Mbps (13.56 Mbps Average).
AC3 Audio: 3/2 Channels (L, C, R, SL, SR) + LFE, 48.0 kHz, 384 kbps.

This is from Fios's broadcast in NYC:

File Size Processed: 3.01 GB, Play Time: 00h:48m:35s
1920 x 1080, 29.97 fps , 18.00 Mbps (8.18 Mbps Average).
AC3 Audio: 3/2 Channels (L, C, R, SL, SR) + LFE, 48.0 kHz, 384 kbps.

Comments

Bob_Robertson

if other providers are getting better stuff from the channel, I am sure that Verizon will too....

as far as when... who knows.... will we ever be notified if/when it actually happens... who knows

wvjbl2

The AMC HD movie quality is quite poor. They also appear to use a 'fill screen algorithm' similar to the 'Full' or 'Just' modes on a large-screen HDTV, which distorts the picture. I was watching a few minutes of Jeremiah Johnson tonight and, when they do a panning shot of the mountain range, you can easily see the distortion toward the edges of the TV. I don't know who they think thinks that that looks OK. Maybe they don't care...

film111

@wvjbl2 wrote:
The AMC HD movie quality is quite poor. They also appear to use a 'fill screen algorithm' similar to the 'Full' or 'Just' modes on a large-screen HDTV, which distorts the picture. I was watching a few minutes of Jeremiah Johnson tonight and, when they do a panning shot of the mountain range, you can easily see the distortion toward the edges of the TV. I don't know who they think thinks that that looks OK. Maybe they don't care...

IFC-HD does the same thing. Unwatchable.

rickla

I just got fios and noticed how bad this channel was yikes. Why even have it hd? Bad solarization.

PsUMattDE

This is how Rainbow Media is providing Verizon with the channels - there is nothing VZ can do.

4 channels into one 38.8 MB pipe - so the average 9-10MB feed you are seeing would make sense.

Caps09

We have AMC HD because it's apparently the greatest channel ever. Check out this thread from a couple years ago when people were begging for the channel- http://forums.verizon.com/t5/FiOS-TV-Programming/AMC-HD-and-other-Rainbow-Channels/m-p/17196/highlight/true#M1336

prisaz

Caps09

The point is if you are going to cram 4 channels in a QAM then you might as well not even provide the channel in HD. 4 in one QAM is not HD in my book. If pixles and digital artifacts are soooo bad! The quility has been trashed by the provider.

emorency

Watching the killing. Now and the pq is horrible blocking blooming solarization this is unacceptable Verizon please fix this Asap!!!

Keyboards

@emorency wrote:
Watching the killing. Now and the pq is horrible blocking blooming solarization this is unacceptable Verizon please fix this Asap!!!

If the provider (Rainbow Media) is over compressing (as indicated earlier in this thread) by putting 4 HD channels on a single QAM then there is nothing Verizon can do about it. Once over compressed, it can't be restored to a "higher" quality.

prisaz

@Keyboards wrote:

@emorency wrote:
Watching the killing. Now and the pq is horrible blocking blooming solarization this is unacceptable Verizon please fix this Asap!!!

If the provider (Rainbow Media) is over compressing (as indicated earlier in this thread) by putting 4 HD channels on a single QAM then there is nothing Verizon can do about it. Once over compressed, it can't be restored to a "higher" quality.

If I was Verizon, I would tell rainbow to provide the previous available quality, or Verizon is going to drop their channels. I am sure Verizon had some sort of commitment to prevent them from doing just that. If Verizon did not have a commitment for the provider to live up to their end of the deal and provide quility video, then {please keep your posts courteous}

beadnej

I just tried watching The Killing on AMC HD on my DVR and the picture is almost unwatchable. I really liked the show but don't want to watch it anymore due to how bad it is. I found comments on other message boards that noted the same issue and said it was related to how the source (Rainbow) supplies the feed? Is there anything Verizon can do to fix this. AMC has quality programming but right now the shows are unwatchable

LeftyGuitar

This might even get worse, as i've heard they announced adding "E! HD" which is also owned by "Rainbow Media", which is really "Cablevision(Parent Company)" Maybe we can write the "Dolans" to pony up some additional bandwidth for this particular QAM to give us better PQ.

LeftyGuitar

Disregard my last msg. Turns out that E! is owned by COMCAST.

Hubrisnxs

Rainbow Media

Start letting them know how bad it looks. Encourage your friends and family to do the same

Kenny144

Agree with assessment that the Killing is a terrific show but the picture is nearly unwatchable. Same issue with the Walking Dead. But I am curious as to why the video quality of the commercials isn't the same miserable qulaity as the show,? And as I recall, Mad Men, also an AMC show, looked great. I previously thought that Walking Dead's issue was that it was filmed in 16MM. From what you guys say, it was the poor i.e. compressed feed that was the main culprit. That explains why the blu-ray of the Walking Dead received good reviews for its video presentation.

film111

If I'm not mistaken, Rainbow Communications has added a second channel (don't know which one) broadcast on the same bandwidth feed as AMC. That's probably why the picture has become less-than-optimal. Commercials are a different matter. Some commercials (particularly local, regional ones) are inserted by the local provider and are not part of the original feed. That is why sometimes, you'll see a commercial start, then be cut-off and replaced by a DIFFERENT commercial. Or, when one commercial ends, you might notice the tail-end of another commercial that you did not see.

tns

AMC, IFC, WE, and Fuse are the four that were combined by Rainbow to fit in one QAM.

ritchwise

I have been complaining about the poor quality of the AMC channel since December.At first, nobody in technical support knew what I was talking about. Finally, they sent a technician to my home to investigate. He got back to me and said they have the same issue when they try it "back at the office"!

Why can't this be fixed!!?? We did not have this problem last year when we were watching Mad Men and Walking Dead. This is a new problem, and there should be some way to fix it. Someone in an earlier post referred to the problem as "solarazation". That is an excellent description of this almost unwatchable picture. I have friends that have Comcast HD and they don't have the same problem. I would think that Verizon can find a way to fix this.

By the way... This problem does not occur in the "on demand" area.

This really bothers me to be paying almost $200 per month for poor picture quality and have technicians "scratching their heads"!!

Keyboards

It can't be fixed because the supplier (Rainbow Media) lowered the quality. Take a look at THIS THREAD over at DSL Reports. Once it has been overcompressed by the provider (so much that 4 "HD" channels would fit into a single QAM slot) there's nothing Verizon can do to restore the quality. Yout beef is elsewhere.

JoeWPgh

I am actually stunned by the low quality of AMC's feed. My ATI video card upconverts standard analog better then AMC's "HD" It's pathetic. It reminds me of bad internet porn from the early 90's - dithered, artifacted, artificial gradients, etc. I wish Verizon would either make those clowns step it up or ashcan them. I see no reason to pay for AMC in any way shape or form.

ritchwise

I think more of us need to complain and demand some monetary credit for poor quality. Every time I see ads for the "crystal clear picture" that Verizon FIOS offers....I cringe!

I have been talking with "supervisors" and "account managers", and they say they are "working on resolving the issue". I just think more voices need to be heard.

bobbo527

AMC has been low quality period, ever since they start showing idiotic commercials and constantly run the annoying graphics on screen. I know that is not the answer you were looking for LOL but don't watch AMC any more (same goes with once great now the equally terrible IFC).

Justin46

I posted much earlier in this thread that AMC HD did not seem that great to me but not as bad as it does to all of you. Right now I just tuned to AMC HD and The Juror is on, and the picture is really EXCELLENT, even the ads are good! In fact, it looks even better than Forever Young on HDNet Movies. How can that be? Has something changed? Or are the issues all of you see VHO dependent? I am in VHO 1 if that makes any difference.

Just wondering. And strange....

__________________________________
Justin
Verizon FiOS TV, Internet, and phone
QIP7232, IMG 1.8, Build 02.54
Keller, TX 76248

tns

@Justin wrote:
I posted much earlier in this thread that AMC HD did not seem that great to me but not as bad as it does to all of you. Right now I just tuned to AMC HD and The Juror is on, and the picture is really EXCELLENT, even the ads are good! In fact, it looks even better than Forever Young on HDNet Movies. How can that be? Has something changed? Or are the issues all of you see VHO dependent? I am in VHO 1 if that makes any difference.
Just wondering. And strange....
__________________________________
Justin
Verizon FiOS TV, Internet, and phone
QIP7232, IMG 1.8, Build 02.54
Keller, TX 76248

I don't watch it much, but several things can make a difference. A program with a low amount of movement is more likely to still look good even at a lower bit rate. And some tv's will show up errors more than others and some have circuits to correct some types of common Mpeg errors.

ritchwise

To Justin-

What is VHO1?

jd50001

If you have this issue, consider voting here: http://forums.verizon.com/t5/Share-Your-Ideas-with-Verizon/Improve-AMC-HD-Feed/idi-p/330055

A Verizon tech confirmed to me that the Burlington, MA VHO has a terrible AMC HD feed and that Verizon is aware of the problem. Perhaps voting will help Verizon make this problem a higher priority.

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