Starz Hd

[AVJohnnie]

Can anyone tell me if there is something specifically different about the way STARZ HD is encoded/decoded compared to the other E* HD offerings? I only ask this because STARZ HD seems to be the content that gives both my 622s the greatest amount of difficulties with their trick-play features. For example, erratic behavior coming off pause, inconsistent fractional speed control, strange pixilation in multi speed or fractional speed playback. This seems to have started commensurate with the arrival of L3.63 on my receivers. Anyone else seeing these issues on STARZ HD with their 622s?

Thanks,

[slowmo]

Noticed last night for the first time. Heavy pixelation when fast forwarding thru recorded content. Had not replayed any material from Starz recently prior to that moment.

[dave1234]

Can anyone tell me if there is something specifically different about the way STARZ HD is encoded/decoded compared to the other E* HD offerings? I only ask this because STARZ HD seems to be the content that gives both my 622s the greatest amount of difficulties with their trick-play features. For example, erratic behavior coming off pause, inconsistent fractional speed control, strange pixilation in multi speed or fractional speed playback. This seems to have started commensurate with the arrival of L3.63 on my receivers. Anyone else seeing these issues on STARZ HD with their 622s?

Thanks,

STARZ HD is a MPEG4 encoded stream. This may or may not be related to the behavior you're seeing, but it is a difference. I don't use trick play features much so wouldn't notice this.

[Mark Lamutt]

MPEG4 vs MPEG2 is almost certainly the reason.

[AVJohnnie]

Thanks for the responses guys -- I thought it might be something to do with MP4 vs. MP2. I only had a little time available this morning to do a quick check of it with the L3.65 download -- at first glance it looks like the problem may have been addressed by the update. I'll test it some more after I get home from work this evening.

John

[leif]

I've definantly noticed the described above issues. They were the same with previous software. I find it extreamly annoying and dread the thought of it prevading all m-peg 4 channels.

[emathis]

If this is what MPEG4 is like with a DVR, it's going to be a real pain. I have always enjoyed the pristine picture while in FF, making it easy to find a specific scene. Now it looks like crap. WTF!!!

[whatchel1]

All those that are fussing about MPEG 4 do not realize that it isn't being used yet. What is being used at the present time is MPEG 2 w/ MPEG 4 tags. MPEG 4 will be used in the future once the bugs have been worked out. So to blame MPEG 4 is to blame a tag and we have the tags so that only certain programs will show on the new equipment. This was a move to get us to go ahead and start moving away from the 942's and into the 622's.

[Tylast]

I had the Starz pack & discontinued the service because I could never get Starz HD to come in. It was just a blank screen on my 622.

[dave1234]

All those that are fussing about MPEG 4 do not realize that it isn't being used yet. What is being used at the present time is MPEG 2 w/ MPEG 4 tags. MPEG 4 will be used in the future once the bugs have been worked out. So to blame MPEG 4 is to blame a tag and we have the tags so that only certain programs will show on the new equipment. This was a move to get us to go ahead and start moving away from the 942's and into the 622's.

It doesn't matter because it's still running through the MPEG4 decoder, which means different software. Hence the different behavior even if it's MPEG2 with MPEG4 headers.

[R_Childress]

I thought Starz and NLFHD were true Mpeg4 streams.

[CABill]

I thought Starz and NLFHD were true Mpeg4 streams.

And that is why both of those channels get complaints about "trick play" functioning. I thought the true MPEG-4 channels were identified in the "Uplink Activity" threads. I might pay more attention if I had MPEG-4.:)

[Slordak]

The other difference is that Starz HD is coming from the 129 orbital location for a number of folks. Other older HD channels (e.g. Discovery HD) are on the 110 satellite, so while it's easy to blame MPEG-2 vs. MPEG-4, it can also be a signal strength problem with 129.

[AVJohnnie]

Whether these channels are actually Mpeg-4 encoded or Mpeg-2 tagged as Mpeg-4, or which orbital position they arrive from seems to matter not… I believe I can safely state that the receiver’s trick play functionality is for all intents and purposes, rendered useless most of the time on these content streams.

As long as you view them live, no problem. As long as you view them recorded and don’t use any trick play features, no problem.

And now the “pause / jump-to-live” bug we’ve been dealing with since L3.63 has served to make the problem even more acute for these particular channels.