Why does AQ and PQ fluctuate so much?

[FussyBob]

I personally thinks that the AQ sucks the last month. Very raspy, tinny, lisping, no dynamic range. PQ also degraded to where is looks very soft no detail.

I have both DTV and cable so I can compare common channels and where the channels with very bad audio on DTV, the same bad audio exists on the the same cable channels. I have 3 TV's so it's not them. My neighbors have the same bad AQ & PQ issues.

Now this past Tueday night around midnight, the AQ & PQ were very good on both DTV and cable. Next Wednesday morning it all went down hill again.

Question is why the major fluctuations?

Who is really at fault here? The source stations? The sat uploading
transmitting stations?

Why does cable channel quality track DTV channel quality? I doubt that local cable uses DTV transmissions.

[Grentz]

I think it just depends on the program/content.

Cable and directv use the same feeds from networks.

[jdspencer]

I'll assume you're comparing your local channels on cable and DirecTV. It is certainly possible that both are using the same feed from your local station. Can you do a comparison with OTA?

[FussyBob]

No I'm not comparing local channels. These are major networks channels, such as, Food, NG, Discovery, TLC etc.

I have visted quite a few homes and and they agree the AQ is very bad.

I normally watch CNBC all day and that really dropped in AQ the last month or so.

I guess that I'm just ticked off, that this day and age of hightech, things are going down hill instead of getting better.

I watched a one hour local show the other day about the switch over to Digital TV and how all the local people that now receive 7 analog channels will not receive one digital channel because the broadcasting range of the digital channels will not be same as the analog channels.

[BattleZone]

I guess that I'm just ticked off, that this day and age of hightech, things are going down hill instead of getting better.

To use a car analogy, going from SD to HD is like going from local dirt-track racing to Indy racing; it's far more expensive and complicated, and most networks have to transition in steps due to both cost and because of other dependencies, such as training their staff on the new equipment and on how the network deals with content from a variety of sources.

You're expecting this "racing team" to win races their first year in Indy racing, and that's not realistic. The same with the TV networks: it's going to take time, training, contracts, and a LOT of money to get everything working right in HD. It's no where near as simple as connecting an HD encoder and flipping a switch. Heck, after 5 years of PRODUCTION broadcast HD, there are STILL problems with encoders that manufacturers are trying to work out. They'll get there, but it's gonna take some time.

I watched a one hour local show the other day about the switch over to Digital TV and how all the local people that now receive 7 analog channels will not receive one digital channel because the broadcasting range of the digital channels will not be same as the analog channels.

Without hijacking the thread too much, chances are these folks won't have much to worry about. Lots of these reports come from how things are today, pre-transition, with reporters being ignorant of the fact that many stations will be moving frequencies, broadcast towers, and increasing broadcast power after the digital transition. Relatively few people will actually lose any channels, and many more will gain.

[FussyBob]

I'm not talking about the HD channels. The SD channels seem to have degraded the most over the last month. Tuesday they are fine, Wednesday total crap. Just doesn't make sense. STARZ channels seemed immune to this AQ & PQ issues the last month, last night they were crappy!

I guess I'm looking for a good broadcast engineer to asnwer my question as to why the ups and downs on AQ/PQ on a daily basis. Why some channels have a green or red cast forever.

On the digital transition program. They had the chief engineers from the local broadcast stations on the show and it was call-in questions. The engineers did state that there are going to be a lot of new dead areas for digital that were once ok for analog. My area of 1000 people will now have zero OTA reception. They must connect up to cable or SAT and the line of sight for SAT is limited only a few of the households. A lot of people around here just can't afford the $60-80 per month to get what they did for free.

[BattleZone]

In my area, Comcast is offering a locals-only package for $10/month.

[FussyBob]

That's a great Comcast offer. Around here the cheapest cable package is $50, plus if you need to rent boxes........

[BattleZone]

I'm pretty sure this offer is tied to the digital conversion, so it may not have been available previously. And it is locals only, no network/cable channels. Still, not bad.

Obviously they are hoping that once their foot is in the door, people will upgrade...

[Laker44]

When i first got DirecTV,the AQ and PQ was better then on cable.But since the past upgrades the AQ on the HD channels are worse and some of the SD channels the PQ is worse on DirecTV then cable.

[FussyBob]

When i first got DirecTV,the AQ and PQ was better then on cable.But since the past upgrades the AQ on the HD channels are worse and some of the SD channels the PQ is worse on DirecTV then cable.

I guess we just live with the degradation, but it makes no sense to make it worse and keep rasing the rates. Last night all my cable channels and DTC SD channels were bad. I would really like to know where the weak spot is in the data chain that affects all channels. Sort of points to the SAT uploading site.

[BattleZone]

I guess we just live with the degradation, but it makes no sense to make it worse and keep rasing the rates.

DirecTV isn't "making it worse"; the problem is at the networks, and it's an industry-wide problem that the industry has been working to resolve. And part of that implies that they are spending a lot of money to come up with solutions.

DirecTV also isn't responsible for the rates going up; the TV networks are raising their rates, and DirecTV is just passing on these costs. Why are the networks raising rates? Oh, I don't know... maybe to help pay for the costs of solving some of the problems you're complaining about? And for things like the cost of extending the digital transition another 4 months. Things like that.

[Mike Bertelson]

Well according to TomCat it isn't possible for AQ or PQ to change.

Mike