Canadian TV, Computing and Home Theatre Forums banner

Fibe TV Picture Quality Issues

64K views 100 replies 32 participants last post by  57 
#1 ·
Picture Quality

Hello, when I was told Fibe had a 10x better picture quality than Rogers I switched. However, I find that hard to believe. I've tried changing my TV settings as much as I can to get this "better" picture.

Does anyone have any ideas at what I could try to make this switch to Fibe from Rogers worth it?

Cheers.
 
#3 ·
"10x" is a stretch, but I continue to be impressed with PQ of Fibe vs. Rogers. Suggest you use 720 as STB resolution (that's Bell's native output) and let your TV do any upconversion to 1080, then play around with your TV settings.
"57" will probably have more suggestions.
 
#4 ·
Bell sends their signals to the Fibe STB as 720P. This picture is typically "softer" than a 1080i picture, which Rogers sends for most channels. The "crisper" picture from Rogers is preferred by some, while others prefer the "softer" picture from Bell, which is less likely to show artifacts. It all comes down to personal preference, however, as mentioned above, whomever told you Bell is "better" did not tell the truth. For more, see the following link:

http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?p=2438713#post2438713
 
#7 · (Edited)
I guess for people who have switched from Rogers analog service, picture quality could be 10 times better.
I have switched from Bell satellite and in my opinion picture quality on satellite was better but I still prefer Bell fibe TV as there are a lot more features that are not available on bell satellite and the picture quality is still acceptable to me.
 
#10 ·
Rogers digital cable is definitely much better than Bell Satellite, but I don't know about Bell Fibe. I have saw technical specs for Rogers and they stream almost all their HD channels at a standard 15Mbps - MPEG2 transmission rate.

For comparison, Bell Satellite average HD transmission rates clock in at 4Mbps - 6Mbps but they encode most HD channels with MPEG4 (equivalent to 8Mbps - 12Mbps in MPEG2).

For comparison, OTA HD is streamed at around 17Mbps /MPEG2.
 
#11 ·
Don't get me wrong, Rogers HD picture quality is OK however Bell Fibe blows Rogers out out of the park with stunning, crisp, picture quality; not to mention, how fast you can switch from channel to channel. Now, I'm not that far away from the Bell box which makes a big difference!
 
#12 ·
Don't get me wrong, Rogers HD picture quality is OK however Bell Fibe blows Rogers out out of the park with stunning, crisp, picture quality;
In your opinion. In my opinion, having optimized many home theatres with Bell or Rogers, the difference is not significant and if anything the picture is "crisper" on Rogers, with a softer picture on Bell Fibe. As I mentioned earlier, some people like the Fibe picture. I've also optimized systems for many people who have switched from Rogers to Bell and although they may prefer the Bell user experience, they miss the excellent picture they had with Rogers, because, frankly, 720P is not as good as 1080i, especially for the channels that broadcast in 1080i. The extra conversion caused by Bell to 720P for 1080i channels can in no way be healthy for picture quality.

Which is better? A 1080i picture converted by a TV to 1080P (a very easy upconversion), or a 1080i picture down-converted by Bell to 720P, then up-converted by your STB or TV to 1080P (a "more difficult" conversion). I say the answer is clear.
 
#21 ·
The "proof" is in the form of feedback from forum members who have measured the input signals to their STBs, as well as industry insiders and Bell insider knowledge regarding their satellite signals. See the FAQ on Formats below:

http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/30-57s-home-theatre-faqs/76129-faq-hdtv-formats.html

Bell/Telus

The latest information we have, is that Bell (Sat) is converting all of the channels to 720P to save bandwidth. Bell Fibe, Bell Aliant, as well as Telus Sat and Optik get (most/all of) their signals from Bell - some (local area channels) may be direct from the "broadcaster".
Since they are short on bandwidth, there is no reason to believe they switched back to 1080i for some channels that broadcast 1080i since that takes additional bandwidth. Of course the channels that are listed as broadcasting in 720P in the first part of the FAQ would not be changed by Bell to 1080i.

So, the only programming that isn't 720P is programming that is OD, or the occasional local channel that the providers listed above may receive directly rather than through Bell Sat, and transmit as 1080i. Until someone disproves the above information gathered over the years, we will maintain that Bell non-OD is 720P.
 
#23 ·
When I moved 2 years ago, Bell had FTTH in my new area but I continued on with Rogers for the first year, then changed to Bell last summer. Hands down I prefer the picture quality from Rogers. But also hands down I prefer the user experience with Bell's system (definitely not Bell as a company though!). On Fibe, gradients show easily noticeable banding, especially in darker scenes. It can actually get pretty bad.

57, I don't doubt that regular broadcast channels are sent as 720p but Bell does advertise some PPV material as 1080p so if you set your output to 720p, you'll never "benefit" from these 1080p broadcasts (benefit in quotes as I have no proof there is any benefit, and I've watched at least one move in "1080p")
 
#24 ·
Welcome back @JohnnyG. I respect your opinion and you're correct that you'd need to set the output for 1080P if you wish to benefit from 1080P OD programming. It probably doesn't matter much if you use 1080P or 720P for regular TV programming, but it's probably best not to use 1080i.

One of the main questions in this thread is "what is the incoming signal to the STB" and that's 720P for regular channels and can be 1080P for OD. There is little or no 1080i coming to the STB.
 
#25 ·
Thanks 57 :) I have always popped my head in here every once in a while, but don't post too often. Always nice to see some familiar names when I come back though!

I agree with what you're saying, although its difficult to say for sure that any given TV will upconvert better than the set-top will. As well, I've got the output from the Fibe box going into an Xbox One, and then the output of that going into my receiver, both of which have their own conversion in them, so I just put them all at 1080p and calibrate the final output. Not enough ROI on my time to test all the possible combinations!
 
#26 ·
The issue with PQ all depends on one's point of view?

The TV does make a difference.Depending on your make can make all the difference how you compare PQ between TV competitors(cheap vs expensive)?

An individuals eye site. Not all individuals have the exact same eye sight (Vision IE 20/20 etc)?

Type of set top box.

Sat,Cable IPTV,Antenna?

Your provider?

How its connected to your TV(HDMI vs S-Video vs Coax)?

There are many factors that make up PQ?
 
#27 ·
An interesting find from HighDef Forum.

These are the real uncompressed numbers of HD. Not broadcast but the true bandwidth it takes to move an HD signal around before it gets squeezed down for broadcast.

Raw uncompressed bandwidth of 1080i HD? - High Def Forum - Your High Definition Community & High Definition Resource

SD is
858 * 525 * 29.97 * 20 = 269,999,730 bits or 270Mbps

720 HD is
1650 * 750 * 59.94 * 20 = 1,483,515,000 or 1.4835Gbps

1080 30 frame HD is
2200 * 1125 * 29.97 * 20 = 1,483,515,000 or 1.4835Gbps

1080 60 frame HD is
2200 * 1125 * 59.94 * 20 = 2,967,030,000 or 2.967Gbps
 
#28 ·
Yes, but let's not confuse this thread which is discussing broadcast TV and also, more specifically, what Bell sends. For those circumstances (what Bell sends), the number are 1280x720; 1920x1080, where 720P will "save" about 10% of the bandwidth compared to 1080i, the reason Bell uses 720P for its transponders (and where Fibe gets all/most of its signals).
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top