All Non HD Showtime Channels Go Dolby Digital

[mailiang]

I recently changed over from Dish Network To Direct TV. I was watching Showtime Extreme the other night and noticed that it was in DD. I do not have HD. I decided to check all the other Showtime channels and they were also in DD. Was this change made recently by Showtime or does this have to do with my switch to DTV? When I had Dish I only received DD on Showtime east and west. Which is the still same for HBO and Starz on both Dish and DTV.


Ian

[Steve Mehs]

It’s because you switched to DirecTV. The satellite providers have decided to add the Dolby Digital audio feed for the east and west feeds of the main channels from HBO, Starz and Showtime, in additional to those all of 6 channels, DirecTV also has the DD feeds for all the Showtime channels they carry but Dish Network does not.

By the way, every premium movie channel in existence has a Dolby Digital feed and has for years, it’s just the satellite providers are behind the times and only pass DD on the main premium channels. I have 44 standard definition premium movie channels with Time Warner, every single one is in Dolby Digital. Granted a lot of content is in DD2.0 due to the channel providers themselves. After a quick scan through only movie in full DD5.1 right now is Hostage on Starz Edge, but then again it is 3 in the morning and the demand for Dolby Digital 5.1 on softcore porn is not very high. :)

[mailiang]

Dolby Digital requires more bandwidth. It may be that at this time the Satellite providers just don't have room. More satellites and transponders plus other changes may be required to catch up with cable. Keep in mind however, many cable companys like Cablevision, only provide DD with HDTV receivers. Bottom line, over all picture quality and sound on non DD sources is still better with satellite.

Ian

[Steve Mehs]

Personally I don’t think it will ever happen. The satellite providers have put premium movie channels in the backseat in favor of international channels and locals. Other then replacing Starz Theater West with Black Starz a few years ago DirecTV has not added a premium movie channel since the USSB days. My cable company has every movie channel, all in DD and they cost less then satellite.

I honestly don’t know how this is done, but it’s not just the premium channels that are in DD, my receiver detects as every digital channel on the system is in DD. Food Network, Lifetime, Biography Channel, etc they’re all in DD2.0. A few channels where you don’t have a dynamic sound range like the CSPANs, The Weather Channel and CNN International are in DD1.0. What little analog channels are left that haven’t been converted to digital yet are just normal Pulse Code modulation. Also TW in my area provides better and less compressed picture quality then DirecTV on both premium and non premium channels.

[mailiang]

Just to clarify things. Since all DTV channels are broadcast digitally there is very little difference between DD 2.0 and standard digital audio. The real difference is with 5.1. Due to bandwidth restrictions some 5.1 movies are being broadcast in 2.0 by those who provide the feeds. As far as picture quality is concerned I haven't seen TW but I have watched Comcast and had Cablevision and Dish and DTV has a much better picture. Until cable companies offer fiber optics right to your door (which is what Verizon is planning), personally it's hard for me to fathom that cable can offer a better picture then satellite. Cablevision here at the Jersey shore has local channels that produce more grain then you can find on our beach.:D
A technical spokesmen for DTV told me that unlike Dish Network, international programming does not take priority. Local and national broadcast have been their focus since Fox took over. Also, since adopting their newer MPEG 4 format both picture and sound quality has improved. They plan to make future improvements by early next year and with the launching of new satellites they not only will offer more programming but better performance. But to be honest with you, if the price is right when Verizon shows up at my door, you'll know which service will be for me.;)

Ian

[Steve Mehs]

personally it's hard for me to fathom that cable can offer a better picture then satellite.

Why? They’re both digital, it all has to do with who compresses more and by my own eye, DirecTV compresses much more the TW in my area. DirecTV was fine on my 32” 4:3 SDTV, blown up on my 42” 16:9 HDTV, it was nothing but moving blocks, when I got cable installed I was surprised at less compressed the digital channels were. Right now I only have about 25 analog channels left, none of which I watch, as they comprise of mostly locals and community access, I have locals in HD so it doesn’t matter.

Cable can do a lot of things better then satellite, it’s just many franchises don’t. They settle for sub-par quality, crappy channel selections and high prices. Also cable doesn’t have blanket picture quality. Each franchise is individually run, the picture quality on Comcast in Jersey may be significantly better/worse then lets say Comcast in Chicago. I know my TW franchise has better picture quality on the digital channels then the neighboring franchise that serves the south half of NY state, but the analog channels look better on that system then mine, but it doesn’t matter much anymore with digital simulcast almost complete in my division.

The Dolby Digital 2.0 doesn’t sound too different then DirecTV, but it’s nice to have. The one thing that does sound much better with cable is the Music Choice channel. I spent a lot of time listening to Much Choice when it was on DirecTV and I list to it a lot with cable, at higher volumes, with cable it sound less distorted and has a very clean sound overall.

[Stewart Vernon]

I'll second what Steve just said... Cable should be able to have better (or at least not worse) picture quality... but in many parts of the country they go for profit over quality too.

I know in my area we always got better OTA even in analog than analog cable... but we had cable because of the cable-only channels. Picture quality on cable suffers needlessly in many cases because they are not nearly as cramped for bandwidth as the satellite companies are these days.

[mailiang]

It's not just about bandwidth. The problem with cable is that despite the addition of fiber optics and digital feeds you still need to move a video signal through miles of coax to get to your front door. That means you are running the signal through a series of line extenders to keep the gain up to reasonable level. Every time the signal is amplified you add distortion. The further away you are from a fiber optic trunk line the greater the deterioration in video quality. Also cable systems cost more to maintain and this often results in poor service or higher costs. I have a neighbor of mine who works for Comcast of whom I have discussions about this with. He's a tech supervisor and in his home he uses DTV! I've had Direct for a few weeks and with proper installation and setup I still feel it offers an excellent picture. Keep in mind that a few years ago Dish was considered by Consumer reports as having the better picture, now with all the improvements they have been making Direct has the edge and is now ranked no 1 in TV service by JD Powers And Assoc. I am pretty confident that with Fox as the parent company things are getting better and there is still talk about them acquiring Echo Star. This is not the old Hughs Network, this is better TV:D Still I believe that when Verizon comes to town they will have the edge over everybody. By offering fiber optics right to your home, they will have the ability offer phone, broadband service( twice as fast as cable, 30mb)and super high quality TV.

Ian;)

[Adam Richey]

I wish premium movie channels would be a priority for DirecTV and Dish Network because they are so far behind cable, package comparisons are almost a joke. I want Starz Comedy, HBO Comedy, Showtime Beyond, @Max, OuterMax, and several more. Does anybody think it MAY happen after all of those new satellites are launched for DirecTV? It sure sounds like they will have a LOT of space, not only on spot beams but nationally as well.

[Steve Mehs]

The problem with cable is that despite the addition of fiber optics and digital feeds you still need to move a video signal through miles of coax to get to your front door. That means you are running the signal through a series of line extenders to keep the gain up to reasonable level.

With analog, but digital is digital you either have it or you don't, there's no middle ground. It's the same thing as saying there's a tree that's partially blocking your satellite dish and you get a max signal strength of 60%. 60% or 100% you still have the exact same picture quality.

Taking it to the other side, in house, I have the incoming cable line split three times, one for each TV and once for Road Runner, hooking the cable line directly to the box without the splitter increases the analog picture quality but has no effect on the digital channels, as it shouldn’t. My cable company’s main plant is over 60 miles away and I get better picture quality with cable and I’m downloading at 97% of my allotted bandwidth. I can see this stuff with my own eyes.

[mailiang]

I wish premium movie channels would be a priority for DirecTV and Dish Network because they are so far behind cable, package comparisons are almost a joke. I want Starz Comedy, HBO Comedy, Showtime Beyond, @Max, OuterMax, and several more. Does anybody think it MAY happen after all of those new satellites are launched for DirecTV?

I can understand your concern and I'm certain that with Fox, DTV is changing their priorities. Due to greater competition Murdock has been building a case to merg Dish with Direct TV which congress refused to allow due to anti trust issues. With the merger there would be a lot more program options, lower pricing and faster improvements in technology. However as I mentioned earlier Verizon TV will probably offer you the most selective programming. We'll just have to be patient and wait and see. I personally am not a big fan of the premium networks, HBO, Starz and Showtime. I think they are part of the problem. There is just too much redundancy. I can't tell you how many times I turned on an HBO channel recently and they where playing Cinderella Man. If the premium networks want more coverage by the service providers they need to offer more titles and produce more original programming. What attracts viewership are productions like Showtime's new Brotherhood and HBO's Saprano's, Deadwood, Entourage and occasional comedy spots and miniseries. The trouble is, they are few a far between. The one thing I learned years ago when I worked in the Television industry is that you need to be creative enough to captivate a wide range of audiences in order to sell more affiliates your programing.

Ian

[mailiang]

With analog, but digital is digital you either have it or you don't, there's no middle ground.

Not exactly. You still have to maintain a minimum signal level. It is still transmitted and amplified. The further the signal travels, the more often you have to amplify the signal, and the greater the distortion. Unlike analogue if you don't have enough signal, instead of getting snow you lose the signal entirely or the picture becomes pix-elated, like having a scratched or dirty DVD.
I'm not denying that you have a great picture. I just pointing out that the gap is getting smaller between satellite and cable. Cable still has the edge when it come to HD and Direct has a long way to go before their programming in that area even comes close to impressing me. The future is with 100% fiber optics, thats why the cable companies tried so hard to block Verizon from competing with them here in NJ. Between that and constant pricing increases, the cable monopoly has really irked me. Maybe we should move this discussion to another thread calling it satellite verses cable picture quality;) . Thanks for the replies, I have found this discussion quite enjoying!

Ian:)

[Paul Secic]

I can understand your concern and I'm certain that with Fox, DTV is changing their priorities. Due to greater competition Murdock has been building a case to merg Dish with Direct TV which congress refused to allow due to anti trust issues. With the merger there would be a lot more program options, lower pricing and faster improvements in technology. However as I mentioned earlier Verizon TV will probably offer you the most selective programming. We'll just have to be patient and wait and see. I personally am not a big fan of the premium networks, HBO, Starz and Showtime. I think they are part of the problem. There is just too much redundancy. I can't tell you how many times I turned on an HBO channel recently and they where playing Cinderella Man. If the premium networks want more coverage by the service providers they need to offer more titles and produce more original programming. What attracts viewership are productions like Showtime's new Brotherhood and HBO's Saprano's, Deadwood, Entourage and occasional comedy spots and miniseries. The trouble is, they are few a far between. The one thing I learned years ago when I worked in the Television industry is that you need to be creative enough to captivate a wide range of audiences in order to sell more affiliates your programing.

Ian

And the networks are creative?

[mailiang]

And the networks are creative?

By creative I not just referring to content. HBO and Showtime have offered some of the best productions on TV. They have set a benchmark for networks to emulate. The bottom line is that we don't need more channels, most of which offer us the same thing. We need more variety, more programing.

Ian