Picture Quality in HD

[Molly110]

Just switched to Fios from Comcast and there is a noticeable difference in picture quality. Many commercials, news stories/clips on the high def channels are cropped are fuzzy and appear like standard def. Tech and tech support explain this is because the source (e.g. commercials and news stories) were not shot in high def therefore the picture being fed will appear fuzzy like standard def, there is nothing that can be done about this. Tech switched boxes from a used set top box to another used set top box, and there was no difference.  Asked if a DVR box would change the situation, and he said it was all the same.  All settings on my TV are set properly for 1080p, so that is not the issue. I also noticed that a PBS program on my laptop had poor picture quality too, the tech agree and said it was because the program was probably not filmed in high def (it was a recent BBC program that I have watched in the past with Comcast and picture quality was excellent and in high def). Are there other issues that Verizon should check out like the fiber line, the ONT box, splitters, that could be the issue? Or is this picture quaility what I should expect with Verizon fios? Any suggestions or help appreciated.

[minded]

What he told you sounds about right.  Not every program on an HD channel is transmitted in HD.  If this is only happening with particular programs, and on others it looks really good, I personally would assume that program is not being transmitted in HD.

[Molly110]

Thanks so much for the reply.  While watching a progarm, live local and national news programs for example, some of news appears in hd, other parts (news clips), appear in standard def and blurry.  The back and forth in picture quality within a news program was never an issue with Comcast. 

[minded]

What I am about to say may be difficult to do, but really think about the HD picture you were getting before with Comcast, and try to compare it with the HD picture you are receiving now.  Now, is one noticeably better than the other?

The reason I ask is that SD programming can look absolutely horrible when coming over a line with little to no compression.  Your original service may have been HD, but because it was compressed, the quality difference between HD and SD was diminished.  The fact is, for SD programming, the decompression algorithm can better the tv picture as well.

So if you can, take a really good look at the HD picture and compare it to what you have before.  Most likely you are getting better.  Below I've linked to a pcworld article that explains signal compression better than I could.  Unfortunately it doesn't address your original question, but it may fill in some of the holes.

[minded]

Oops, forgot to post the link:

http://www.pcworld.com/article/144800-2/is_hdtv_compression_damaging_picture_quality.html

[Molly110]

Hi and thanks again. If I understand, it is possible the issue I have is because I am getting little or no compression? Comparing the two, the picuture quality delivered in high def from Comcast is much superior to the high def I am receiving from Fios. If it has something to do with compression, I am not sure how that is resolved.

[minded]

If you are getting a worse OVERALL picture with FiOS than you were with Comcast, then nothing I said applies.  The worse HD picture doesn't bother you?  I'm sorry, I'm at a loss for a resolution to your problem.

[Molly110]

Thanks again. Yes, my tv picture quality is worse with fios. Also watching a tv show on my neighbors laptop (they do not have fios tv), I noticed they are getting a much sharper program than I getting watching the same program on my laptop. That leads me to wonder if the issue is outside, from the box or line coming into the house. The tech did not check the outside box or lines, and said if there was a problem there I would be getting any signal, it was either "on" or "off". Should I have requested the tech to check all of those connections and lines?

[Hubrisnxs]

Overall the picture quality on FiOS should be superior to comcast or cox or any other provider with the exception of DTV.   they have a pretty close picture, if not equal.   Some basics are important, You should have an HD tv set, you should have an HD Set top box, and they should be connected to one another using a single HDMI cable.  

Make sure to check that.   

Then the set top box needs to be set properly.  it's unusual for it not to be, but double check just in case. 

click menu>settings>video settings.

There are two settings that are important here

Video Format should be set to 1080i

and 

SD OVERRIDE should be set to either OFF (preferred) or 480i

If those things are all ok, or done, then go to channel 600 for CNN HD   or Try to find discovery HD, and then make the comparison.

If you flip between  channel 100 and 600, can you tell the difference?

If not, then there is something wrong. 

Hope that helps a little.   

Also let us know if it's just overall picture quality, or if you are getting channel break up or pixelization.  it looks like the picture is digitizing or is blocky, or choppy.

If it's tiling or pixelizing, then take a look at this page, and see if these suggestions help.

Tiling and Pixelation issues

[Molly110]

Hi, and thank you for all of these suggestions. Made/checked all of the connections and settings on my HDTV as you suggested. CNN channel 100 displays a cropped picture on all 4 sides (quality poor), and CNN 600 displays full screen picture (quality mediocre, still poor quality in commercials and anything not live from the studio). If this is any clue the text displayed on CNN channel 600 under the announcers has some pixels (text not super sharp) and the commercials between the broadcast as I mentioned are still fuzzy and I notice pixels in the commercial images. In summary, I am experiencing issues with overall picture quality.  One last clue(?). The picture quality on my upstairs TV is also poorer than it was with Comcast. I did not use a set top box with Comcast, nor do I have a STB on that TV with Fios, just the cable connected to the TV.  Does this sound like tilling and pixelation issues you mention?