Why can't films add tom hd? Comcast has it and it looks great.
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Obviously you're more knowledgeable about this than I am. However having seen TCM HD on Comcast the quality of the HD feed is definitely better. Surely FIOS can afford to add TCM HD. and drop one of the numerous crap channels.
Did you mean to ask "Why can't FIOS add TCM HD?" ?
Why can't Verizon give us TCM HD? I am sick of watching great films in letterbox. Every other major provider has TCM HD. Verizon seems oblivious to our wishes. I've tried calling, chatting (people in India don't know that TCM is a channel) and writing with no good explanation.
ek222 Do you think HD will eliminate letterboxing? If anything, a film worthy of a studio HD transfer should remain in its original aspect ratio (OAR). Which is usually 2.40:1 for modern films, a lot of comedies are shot in 1.85:1 OAR, which is almost the exact dimensions of your HD flat panel TV. The overwhelming majority of B&W films on TCM are old enough that they were shot in 1.33:1 OAR. The new BluRay version of 1946's "The Big Sleep" retains the original aspect ratio. (If you don't like the black bars, then use the zoom function on your TV to eliminate them.) RJM
Obviously you're more knowledgeable about this than I am. However having seen TCM HD on Comcast the quality of the HD feed is definitely better. Surely FIOS can afford to add TCM HD. and drop one of the numerous crap channels.
Why does this show up as 'solved'?
The opening poster has the abiliity to mark any one post in their thread as a solution when they consider that their question has been answered.
kk222- Didn't mean to come off as an apologist for Vz. I also love TCM, and am annoyed with the SD "mini-box" in the center of our glorious 16:9 aspect ratio HD TV screens. ( 16:9 is the height vs. the width, which works out to be an almost perfect match for films shot in a 1.85:1 aspect ratio.That still doesn't stop some channels like Encore and HBO from "cropping" the film to make sure there are no black bars, however tiny, showing. Please keep in mind, if you are fan of film noir like myself, a film like 1946's "The Big Sleep" will still have a small black bar on either side of the image, even in HD. If you have a zoom function on your TV, you can zoom in and eliminate these bars, and fill up your entire screen, without making it look too badly cropped. But I agree 100%, Vz is more than happy to bomabard us with religious broadcasting and infomercial channels, b/c they get paid for it. Getting the TCM HD feed might cost them a few dollars more per month. Until such a day arrives, I put up with the SD "mini-box" versions of film noirs I haven't seen, and buy SD or BluRay DVD versions of the films I love. I just ordered "The Big Sleep", restored frame by frame by Warner Brothers Archives, on BluRay yesterday. The reviews are fantastic, the frame by frame restoration brings out details unseen in the SD version. There is also an expanded version of the essay on the differences between the 1945 and 1946 versions of the film that is twice as long as the one on the SD DVD. I can't wait. All 4 Bogie and Bacall films are now available on BluRay, if you are a fan. RJM
@ek222 wrote:Obviously you're more knowledgeable about this than I am. However having seen TCM HD on Comcast the quality of the HD feed is definitely better. Surely FIOS can afford to add TCM HD. and drop one of the numerous crap channels.
Because apparently Verizon feels we want more religious and Infomercial channels in HD rather than ones we actually watch. Cannot believe they've added WOW, Daystair and Uplifting all in HD among others. Talk about pure garbage channels.
Can't wait until they add the rest of Byron Allens crap .tv Infomercial channels in HD. 
Verizon is starting to loose me.
Many such channels PAY Verizon part or all the costs of carrying them. So of Course Verizon is willing to carry them.
I love FiOS and am glad that I switched to it from Comcast about 3 years ago. But one thing I don't like is that FiOS doesn't carry TCM HD -- only the SD version of the Turner Classic Movies channel. I use a TiVo Bolt with a cablecard to get FiOS channels, and I like to transfer recordings of movies to my computer. Using Plex, I can stream them back to the TiVo when I want to watch them. I have several TCM HD recordings I made when I was on Comcast, and they look better than the SD recordings I'm now making from TCM on FiOS.
So I'd like to make a formal request for Verizon to pick up the TCM HD channel.
Anyone else feel the same way?
I think a large majority of viewers would like that now. In previous years, TCM-HD was not showing ANY movies in HD. But I've heard that they have just started to do so this past year...finally! Don't know how many titles are in HD but it's a step-forward. So maybe now FIOS will consider carrying it.
I agree. I want Verizon Fios to have TCM in HD. I like fios but my two year contract is up and I am seriously thinking about switching to Cavlevision Optimum who does have TCM in HD. Who do I email at Verizon Fios to complain?
I am also very disappointed that Verizon FIOS does not have TCM HD. There is a difference between the SD and the HD. I was formerly a Comcast customer had access to TCM HD. It's one of my favorite channels. I'm always exposed to new classic movies.
I just recently signed up with Verizon, and out of the few channels I watch, this is one of them.
When my contract expires, I'll probably leave Verizon and go back to Comcast for this reason alone. I hope in the not too distant future this changes.
I would like to add my voice. I'm a new Fios customer and I'm very disappointed about this - TCM is my most watched channel by far. I wish I had checked more closely before signing up - I looked for TCM and just assumed it would be in HD like every other provider!
wkleschi, You were a very fortunate person. I know exactly what you mean, even though I am not a Western genre fan, I would gladly watch a Leone/Eastwood spaghetti western if it was in a 2.40:1 presentation. People who get freaked out about the LBX black bars don't realize you don't notice them after a few minutes. HBO etc are to blame. They are stuck in the VHS mentality, where a film like "ALIEN" would be missing 40%+ of the original image on a cropped VHS tape. I don't expect Vz to worry about our concerns, just keep HBO et al showing cropped versions of films they have shown 1K times before, like the Die Hard franchise. Ignorance is bliss. RJM
Not having TCM in HD is unacceptable in this day and age of 1080P or 4K television. It is insulting to watch TCM programing in SD when every other cable system and satellite company carries it in HD.
Add another voice to the growing choir. It is unacceptable and incomprehensible that, now approaching 2017, FIOS still refuses to add TCM in glorious HD. Receiving my bill the other day, with all services clocking in at nearly $400 a month, and things such as this has me increasingly leaning towards cutting the TV cord of my FIOS and going streaming only.
It isn't even so much over *just* one channel (although, for a lot of folks, TCM is a highly desired/frequently watched channel - one of literally the only options for watching films covering several decades worth of time... and from all sorts of differing genres) - rather, it is an indication of their continued commitment to adding sought, highly visible new HD channels and content over blowing bandwidth for junk channels they get paid to carry. My bill is plenty high enough as it is that they shouldn't need to be refusing the addition of new channels in order to subsidize their bottom line with HD infomercial channels and religious HD channels at my expense.
I was expecting TCM HD would be added around 2013 or 2014 - the fact it is August of 2016, and still no TCM HD in sight, is downright flabbergasting. The fact that it is that same futuristic date and I'm still having to frequently browse/record in the SD tier of channels, when furthermore in consideration of selfsame ridiculously $$$ monthly bill, is out and out infuriating. That I often find myself seeing a film airing on TCM that piques my interest, only to turn to Netflix/Amazon Prime/Hulu/etc. in search of that *same* film, but in a *FAR* higher quality presentation, also most certainly isn't doing FIOS any favors on my account in regards to retaining my FIOS TV package over strictly streaming only.
At this rate, I'd say we'll probably never live to see ourselves watching TCM HD on FIOS... which is both ridiculous and baffling.
Me, too! When we were swtiching to Fios from Comcast, we were assured it offered TCM. We were too stupid to ask about HD. We are still with Fios and just got a much higher-res TV. Now, SD TCM quality looks that much worse. It is disgusting that Verizon doesn't carry HD. If that doesn't change, we will. Do you want to keep us, Verizon?
I too would like TCM HD. The low quality of the current video does not nearly match the quality of TCM's programming!
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