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BBC vs ITV - Picture Quality?

(June 2008)

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BA
bilky asko
noggin posted:

For info - ITV2+2 and Film Four are on Mux D, and E4+1 is on Mux C.


I really do hate ITV2+2's compression! I might as well be watching YouTube.

I agree with ITV1 looking rubbish on satellite - It looks blobby and poor. I have noticed it for years and have wondered why it was and is terrible picture quality. Freeview is very sharp in comparison - you can see things like people, and the show you are watching. Amazing.
NG
noggin Founding member
itsrobert posted:
I agree with noggin that ITV1 on Sky is absolutely unwatchable. It's not just the anorak in me, either. I've heard 'non-anoraks' saying how poor the ITV1 picture quality is, particularly when football is on. I've also noticed during Granada Reports that the T&Cs on competitions are illegible. The picture is that soft that it is impossible to discern each letter in such a small font size.

Luckily, I can watch ITV1 on Freeview. I still think analogue gives a clearer picture though if you have good reception. The only reason I have to watch a digital source is because I have a widescreen TV. If I still had a 4:3 TV, I would definitely still be watching analogue.


Whilst analogue may not have compression artefacts - you don't get a full 16:9 picture, and neither do you get component/RGB picture quality and no nasty composite artefacts. On the other hand, although the analogue NICAM digital stereo is lower bit depth and runs at a lower sampling rate than MPEG layer 2 audio that we have on digital TV, the lack of compression (it is companded rather than compressed) gives NICAM an edge I think.

Pity we aren't using MAC any more - that had cracking component 16:9 pictures and NICAM audio!
MA
Markymark
Hymagumba posted:

I've always been under the impression that ITV in particular looks nicer on Virgin than in does on Sky but I don't really watch must of it.


Virgin Media source ITV (and BBC/4/5) by off air reception of Freeview (aka DTT), so yes, it should look better than Sky or Freesat for the reasons Noggin has outlined.
PE
Pete Founding member
Markymark posted:
Virgin Media source ITV (and BBC/4/5) by off air reception of Freeview (aka DTT), so yes, it should look better than Sky or Freesat for the reasons Noggin has outlined.


ah that's interesting. i suppose that'll help them regionalise and therefore save a bit more bandwidth too.
MS
Mr-Stabby
The few times i've noticed major picture quality issues on ITV1 via Sky is on 'Britains Got Talent'. You know the shots at the beginning of the programme where they show massive amounts of people waiting outside the building to be auditioned and cheering at the camera? They do quick pans across the audience, and it's just a pixelated mess. Unbelievably bad!
SP
Spencer
Mr-Stabby posted:
The few times i've noticed major picture quality issues on ITV1 via Sky is on 'Britains Got Talent'. You know the shots at the beginning of the programme where they show massive amounts of people waiting outside the building to be auditioned and cheering at the camera? They do quick pans across the audience, and it's just a pixelated mess. Unbelievably bad!


IIRC, you're in the Channel Islands aren't you?

I've noticed the picture quality of ITV1 appears to be better on ITV1 Channel than any other region. Comparing the tiny credits on Corrie for example, they appear much more readable on Channel. Can anyone confirm if Channel is broadcast at a higher resolution, or is it just my imagination?
DB
dbl
Spencer For Hire posted:
Mr-Stabby posted:
The few times i've noticed major picture quality issues on ITV1 via Sky is on 'Britains Got Talent'. You know the shots at the beginning of the programme where they show massive amounts of people waiting outside the building to be auditioned and cheering at the camera? They do quick pans across the audience, and it's just a pixelated mess. Unbelievably bad!


IIRC, you're in the Channel Islands aren't you?

I've noticed the picture quality of ITV1 appears to be better on ITV1 Channel than any other region. Comparing the tiny credits on Corrie for example, they appear much more readable on Channel. Can anyone confirm if Channel is broadcast at a higher resolution, or is it just my imagination?

According to this: http://www.linowsat.com/0282/all/10906V.html
ITV1 Channel seems to have a much higher bitrate (3.4mb) than the average ITV1 region, however the resolution is the same (544x576).
SP
Spencer
dbl posted:
According to this: http://www.linowsat.com/0282/all/10906V.html
ITV1 Channel seems to have a much higher bitrate (3.4mb) than the average ITV1 region, however the resolution is the same (544x576).


Interesting - thanks for that. Nice to know I wasn't totally imagining the difference.
MA
Markymark
Spencer For Hire posted:
dbl posted:
According to this: http://www.linowsat.com/0282/all/10906V.html
ITV1 Channel seems to have a much higher bitrate (3.4mb) than the average ITV1 region, however the resolution is the same (544x576).


Interesting - thanks for that. Nice to know I wasn't totally imagining the difference.


I wonder if that's because the South Bank to CTV; CTV to Astra uplink circuits might be a lower bit rate than mainland ITV links ?
SG
SiGa
Its only since Channel went widescreen the quality improved. Before it went widescreen it was horrible.
NG
noggin Founding member
SiGa posted:
Its only since Channel went widescreen the quality improved. Before it went widescreen it was horrible.


But that is probably not a bitrate issue - until Channel went 16:9 ISTR that their presentation area ran in 4:3 composite - so would have been covered in PAL artefacts (which hammer MPEG2 compression)
NG
noggin Founding member
Markymark posted:
Spencer For Hire posted:
dbl posted:
According to this: http://www.linowsat.com/0282/all/10906V.html
ITV1 Channel seems to have a much higher bitrate (3.4mb) than the average ITV1 region, however the resolution is the same (544x576).


Interesting - thanks for that. Nice to know I wasn't totally imagining the difference.


I wonder if that's because the South Bank to CTV; CTV to Astra uplink circuits might be a lower bit rate than mainland ITV links ?


That would make sense - use a higher bit rate for final encoding to offset the losses incurred by lower rate encoding upstream.

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