Hey guys, a bit of a technical question and I don't know how many of you can answer this BUT, do any of you know whether Movie Central HD on Bell is 10880i or 720p?

I am interested in picking up a 169time or NextCom mod'd stb but am really enjoying MCHD on Shaw in 1080i and have heard "rumors" that MCHD is only 720p on Bell.

Thanks in advance for anyone who can help!

This has been discussed several times on this forum, however, Bell is unwilling to provide a definitive answer, or they have given different answers to different people, so no-one can be sure.

See the Digital Home FAQ on "HDTV Formats".

http://digitalhomecanada.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=30

I don't believe there would be a major difference since I've seen the difference between identical programming on PBS Spokane and Detroit (a while ago when both were still available on Rogers). Detroit was 720P, Spokane was 1080i)

Thanks for the reply, too bad no one knows!

It does matter to me somewhat since it is a lot harder to manipulate progressive video since it's 60fps. Plus (without getting into the 1080i vs. 720p debate) I tend to think 1080i looks a bit sharper on my 1080i TV.

Thanks man, I will continue to dig!

Good luck with your search! I asked Bell directly, and the reply from Bell CSR's via email was that Bell broadcasts the originating native format. However, many members here have posted that Bell does 720p to save bandwidth..so who knows for sure.

We DO know for sure that Bell broadcasts MC-HD and TMN-HD in 720p. It has been verified by many people using capturing systems or stream analysys on a PC.

Thanks, I will put that in my FAQ (I believe it was in there, but not with certainty.)

I have my 9200 and my HDTV set to 1080i, I've tried them at 720p but to my eyes the 1080i setting seems to have more detail, if it's broadcast in 720p shouldn't that setting look better?

We DO know for sure that Bell broadcasts MC-HD and TMN-HD in 720p. It has been verified by many people using capturing systems or stream analysys on a PC.

Missed this reply in my inbox...

Thanks for the news, answers my question very nicely!

Cheers,

to echo ilyo,

When I spoke to a Bell product person several weeks ago (he demo'ed the 9200 for me at a Bell media event) he told me that ExpressVu broadcasts the originating native format.

I believe him since he is a member here ;)

For all those who think otherwise. BEV does NOT broadcast 1080i at this time on its HD network. They do recieve 1080i from many of their providers including CTV and CBS and NBC but they do not have the technical capacity to direct that signal out in its native format.

I have spoken directly with a number of senior members of the engineering team at BEV and BGM. They have confirmed this. There are no immediate plans to broadcast in 1080i for 2 reasons. 1...1080i takes up a greater amount of bandwith and BEV would have to stop sending out a certain amount of HD channels as they would not have enough room to air them all and 2...switching to 1080i is more than just an encoding issue it requires an entire technical makeover at BEV.

Hopefully this puts the debate to rest.

Yup definetely 720p. For the reasons listed by editor. I checked into this myself before.

For all those who think otherwise. BEV does NOT broadcast 1080i at this time on its HD network. They do recieve 1080i from many of their providers including CTV and CBS and NBC but they do not have the technical capacity to direct that signal out in its native format.

Maybe I'll need to check again these days, but 2 months ago all US network channels that originated in 1080i WERE 1080i on BEV (plus CityTV and CBC). When is your information from? If it's not something very recent, you've been lied to.

editor / Falcon,

I posed the question directly to the Bell ExpressVu product manager responsible for the 9200 during a Bell press event last October (see my post above) and another member posted an email came from a Bell CSR today stating that it was native.

So that leaves two options:


Either product managers and CSR's at ExpressVu don't know what their saying or
you're mistaken.


Thoughts?

Hugh, this issue has always been clear as mud. See the following two links, which are also referenced in the Digital Home FAQ on "HDTV Formats".

Global stating they send 720P to BEV.

http://www.digitalhomecanada.com/forum/showpost.php?p=330618&postcount=76

PowerPoint Presentation by BEV Exec.

http://digitalhomecanada.com/forum/showpost.php?p=322876&postcount=31

Both links are from this year, although the PP presentation is October 2005.

57, I totally agree that it is clear as mud hence why I didn't say editor and Falcon are wrong, merely that they are at odds with Bell product managers and Bell Customer service representatives.

Frankly, I tend to believe the 720P all-the-time theory but the good folks at Bell can't decide so how can we say definitively?

Question. Has anyone ever received an accurate response from a BEV CSR? ;) This question is rhetorical.

And in fairness to the CSR's, they are simply relaying information given to them.

Their ignorance is a function of the training they receive from Bev. We should be chastising management for the lousy job they do training their frontline personnel and NOT the CSR.

Posts deleted due to forum rules being broken.

... product managers and CSR's at ExpressVu don't know what their saying ...
Thoughts?
Wouldn't be the first time. "Techs" often don't know everything about the systems so why would product managers and CSRs?

Alot also depends on how long they have been working there. There is actually alot of stuff they have to learn and alot of the people never used BEV before doing this job. They cannot possibly learn everything during their training.