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Hello,
I recently switched over to Fios Triple Play from Comcast and everything is working well, but I'm noticing some differences in the HD programming.
Let me explain. My daughter likes to watch the Disney Channel. With my Prime HD package, we get Disney HD and the SD Disney channel. What I'm noticing is that some programs that come on on the HD channel are coming through as SD. I know it's an SD signal because the picture is "soft" and if I flip over to the SD channel the picture is the exact same.I also get the black bars on the sides. This is how I know it's not in HD.
This seems to be happening to a few shows on Disney HD but not all. I know this is happening for the Hannah Montana and Wizards of Waverly Place, but not all the time.
To make it even stranger, when the commercials come on, it's in HD. The commercials for upcoming episodes of the show I'm watching are in HD. But then when the show comes on, it's back to SD.
Now, I know these shows are available in HD because when I was with Comcast, if I was on an HD channel, it was in HD. The guide also says that the show is supposed to be in HD too.
So far, I've only noticed this on the channels that my daughter watches, Disney HD, Nick HD, and I also experienced this on Sunday watching Amazing race on CBS.
I know there is the option to change the aspect, but that's not what I'm looking for. Changing the aspect only stretches the picture and makes it even worse than SD.
Has anyone noticed this with their channels? I have Verizon coming to my place on Friday because a tech needs to see it even though there won't be anythign they can do. I'm thinking that whoever their provider is, they are the ones sending down the wrong show format to these channels. Seems like a waste of time to send someone out when they just need to look into the programming.
Thanks,
Mike
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The guide always says HD for an HD channel, it doesn't go by program. The fact that some commercials are in HD proves everything is working right and you are not getting the SD feed. The shows with the black bars are older ones not shot in HD.
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That's what I started thinking, but I never experienced this when I was with Comcast. Furthermore, how do you explain that Amazing Race this past Sunday was in SD on the HD channel? The previews for Amazing Race were in HD!
Mike
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I think the above explanation regarding old episodes is accurate, although I don't watch the Disney channel, so I couldn't tell you for sure.
Amazing Race is not shot in HD. It is one of the holdouts amongst reality shows. Their official explanation is that they are constantly on the go, and they often rely on foriegn film crews in remote locations. Such makes it difficult ensure that the show is always shot in HD, and lugging around HD equipment is supposedly tougher than SD equipment. Now, whether or not that is some **bleep** from CBS is anyone's guess. The host of the show has said that he wants it shot in HD, but has yet to get his way.
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Thanks for the replies but I'm not convinced. I still think that the incorrect signal/picture is being sent to the HD channels for certain shows, and not because it was recorded in SD.
I looked up on TVGuide.com the channel line ups for NICKHD and Disney HD and they have the same channel line up. What I'm going to do is call a friend that has Comcast and confirm that it is in fact in HD. However, I know it is in HD because I just switched last Thursday to Fios and I know that these shows were always in HD.
The other thing I'm going to do, is that I noticed that earlier in the day there was one particular show my daughter was watching that wasn't in HD and is playing again later tonight. I'm going to check if the later one is in HD.
I'll post back the results sometime tomorrow, but I think in the meantime, I'm going to keep my scheduled tech appointment this Friday, but I don't think they will be able to do anything from my home. It's something going on at Verizon in my opinion.
Mike
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mike9, Verizon isn't doing anything with the signal. Basically, they can't. They're not downconverting HD programs to SD. Your complaint is probably better suited to the network; they provide the signal to Verizon, who just passes it along.
Like matcarl said, the fact that the commercials are in HD on the HD channel proves that it's working correctly; if Verizon was downconverting the channel, then the HD commercials would be in letterboxed SD. And they aren't, so that proves the signal being sent to the TV is 1080i. And Verizon is certainly not downconverting the program itself, in-between the commercials. They don't do that and like I said, they really can't do that technically.
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But it doesn't explain the fact that these channels and programs were always in HD when I was with Comcast. Anyways, like I said, I'm going to double check it, and let you know the results. I have a feeling many people don't realize that they should be getting HD channels when they aren't.
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I think you are wrong ... HD comes in HD and SD comes in SD unless the source provider is only providing the feed in SD. Verizon passes the signal thru how the provider sends it into their system, while others may choose to re-render the channel and push it out in an HD resolution (it's still and SD resolution image in an HD resolution rate -- which does nothing to improve or degrade the picture). You can't "create" what isn't there in the first place. Keep in mind that Verizon provides both the SD and HD versions of channels, so make sure you are tuning in the correct one.
What is more likely the case is that you are confusing SD override features with HD resolution. Try changing the Menu -> Settings -> Video Settings -> Video Format and SD override values to see if your STB behavior changes to what you expected to happen.
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Well I've confirmed it. During an episode of Hannah Montana and Wizards of Waverly place on the Disney HD channel, I called a friend with Comcast and they told me that on their Disney HD channel, those 2 shows were being showed on their tv in HD WS format. On Fios, it was being shown in SD format with the black bars on the side.
Unfortunately, noone believes me and it's really getting frustrating. It doesn't happen with every show, only a few and usually between 3:30-5:30pm EST. Yes, you can argue that the shows playing during this time wasn't made in HD, but they have been because on the Comcast network, it's being shown in HD WS format.
The other thing I've noticed is that when these shows come on, I see "Now avaible in HD" logo on the bottom left. This logo doesn't ever show up (I haven't notcied at least) when it is showing a show in HD WS format.
I don't use the SD override feature becasue all it does is stretch the picture making it even worse!
A tech came out to my home on Friday, but showed up 3 hours before the time I had requested, so they didn't get to see it. All I was able to do was explain it to him and said he would check with a few people and get back to me. I don't think anything will come of it, because he didn't actually get to see the problem, but you never know.
Mike
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@mike9 wrote:I don't use the SD override feature becasue all it does is stretch the picture making it even worse!
Did you ask your friend if he stretches the picture?
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It's not stretched.
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I dont know specifically about Comcast, but some providers do try and "upconvert" SD recordings to HD. Basically they make a fake HD signal. In some cases and on some tv's it can make a slight difference.
However, Verizon sends an "unaltered" signal. Therefore if you are seeing a SD picture, its because that is what the channel is broadcasting.
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@spacedebris wrote:I dont know specifically about Comcast, but some providers do try and "upconvert" SD recordings to HD. Basically they make a fake HD signal. In some cases and on some tv's it can make a slight difference.
However, Verizon sends an "unaltered" signal. Therefore if you are seeing a SD picture, its because that is what the channel is broadcasting.
I will have to agree with you on this one. We all know that not all HD providers have their content in HD and DO send out SD on the HD channel. I see it all the time. Yes Verizon sends what they get. Perhaps Concast is doing some upconverting when Verizon does not. Like my upconvert DVD player does a pretty good job before the DVD gets to the TV. Perhaps Comcast is doing the same.
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Not that anyone really cares, but it's really frustrating when no one believes you or doesn't give you the benefit of the doubt. I'm already scheduled to switch back to Comcast this Saturday and I can't wait.
Just to end this conversation, I would just like to point out, that about 2 weeks ago a new episode of Wizards of Waverly Place was on Disney HD. I was with Fios when it premiered in the evening, but I can't remember the exact day. However, at that time it was in full HD WS format. The picture was super clear and crisp and you can tell it was in HD.
Today, I get home from work and that exact same episode is giving at 5:00 EST on Disney HD. But this time, it was the SD version of it. How can I tell? Well, bars on the side and crappy quality. Switch to the SD equivalent channel of Disney, and it's the EXACT same picture.I even switched to component cables that the Verizon tech gave me and the quality was awefull.
So why is the SD version of the show being broadcasted on the HD channel when it's 100% known that the new episode being shown is in fact available in HD (I saw it in HD 2 weeks ago). Oh, and not let's forget about the logo on the bottom left "Available in HD" and the guide saying it's in HD.
So ask yourselves this. When you are watching an HD channel and the picture isn't in HD, how do you really know that it's not supposed to be in HD? I only know about Disney HD and Nick HD because my daughter watched them when we were with Comcast.
I was really excited when I switched over to Verizon Fios, but unfortunately it didn't work out. Maybe it will be fixed one of these days and I'll come back.
Thanks,
Mike
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I'm sorry about your frustration, but you have to understand that your claims contradict everything we know about FiOS TV service, and you are the only person I've seen make these claims, so the onus is on you to provide us with something definitive that we can use as a starting point to getting your problem solved.
Next time you experience this issue, take a quick video with your digicam, throw it up on YouTube. Then we'll be able to see exactly what you are talking about, and maybe we can get a VZ exec in here to take care of your problem.
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Mike9
We do believe you and do care. If we did not we would not participate in these discussions in this community. It could be the first time you viewed it Disney did send it out in HD, and the second time, someone pushed the wrong button. Hey it happens. I know there are some channels that switch between HD and SD during the same broadcast. Just look at the black bars that come up when a commercial airs. I may be way off here or just don't grasp what you are saying. Sorry you are not happy and I hope you are able to get the best picture possible, be it with FiOS or another provider. But I believe FiOS is the best, along with many others.
Best Regards
prisaz
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new to verizon came from cablevision but Mike 9 was right. I noticed because my kids only watch those channels and my neighbor still has cablevision. One day I was going between both houses and noticed picture on disney was different but only with icarky show.
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Here's a really decent pair of threads regarding the black bars, if you're bored or want to know more, just follow the links.
FAQ - Black Bars - High Definition and DVDs (Also, Enhanced for Widescreen)
4:3 HD Programmes:
There are black bars on the sides of 4:3 programming that has been "upconverted" by the network for the HD channel. These black bars are actually part of the image, so most TVs and STBs are not able to stretch the image to remove the black bars. Often, the only way to eliminate these bars is to watch the same programme on a standard definition channel - you will then be able to utilize your stretch modes.
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Here is a companion piece to the above post called (FAQ - Widescreen TV Stretch Modes)
Note regarding stretching of HD inputs.
Many HDTVs cannot properly stretch HD (1080i, 720P) signals (A few models can stretch 1080i, 720P). Therefore some HDTVs cannot eliminate the black bars on 4:3 upconverted signals, or those that come from some STBs like the SA3100HD which convert all component video output to 1080i. You need to watch an SD channel and connect the STB via composite or S-video connections to another input to be able to properly stretch the SD channels. Some STBs have this capability built in.
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Just to be clear.
You will not always get a stretched 16X9 image on an HD channel just because you have a wide screen tv.
There are some stations that still broadcast in HD quality but in 4:3 Aspect ratio.
that is a decision made by the broadcaster and not verizon FiOS.
FiOS does not alter the picture source from the manufacturer at this time.
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You're right, it doesn't. I would double check with a Comcast subscriber there and get back to us. But I'm very confident it's not something Verizon can/would do.

