Ya, it is supposed to be Industry Canada, or are the two passing the buck to keep us in the dark?

The CRTC does in fact oversee quite a few aspects of cable television. But there are some things they don't regulate. For example, they regulate the price of the most basic cable package offered, but they don't regulate the price of additional channels.

Also, if they think you are complaining about signal dropouts they will probably tell you that it is an issue you must resolve between you and your cable provider.

But if your complaint states that you see image degradation due to additional compression, and quote the relevant CRTC notices (follow the link I provided above), then it will reduce confusion and hopefully get us further.

p.s. I checked all 22 of the HD stations Shaw offers in my area (Victoria) and 21 of them are being re-compressed down to 3 per channel instead of 2. The last one is probably also being re-compressed and sharing bandwidth with SD channels.

tecknut;

I had a look at the thread you posted and I have to say, 'nice work' to you and the others. I feel the momentum building.

I've noticed that sound drops are quite rare for me lately. Compression remains my biggest complaint.

The Sammy Hagar concert on HDNet right now has massive macroblocking when there's a lot of movement on screen. During a scene with confetti dropping from the ceiling the image looked like it was made of LEGO blocks. The quality is so bad that I'm glad no one is here with me to see it and asking why I have $3000 in HT equipment (not counting the audio gear) and the image is worse than their CRT.

I will agree that the audio drops seem to be fewer but then all of a sudden, tonight on Ch208, they showed up and were happening every couple of minutes for about a half hour in the middle of the Family Guy Star Wars 1 hour episode.

I find the HD sound drops have pretty much gone away. I'll get the odd one on SD, but not enough to complain about.

Picture quality on the other hand, is as scattershot as always.

The Haggar concert did look bad, but then I watched something on Discovery tonight and the picture quality was among the best I've seen on Shaw in a long time. I've also found CBSHD looks a lot better lately too.

It seems really random.

i posted this on a Samsung board as my tv and pace box are both new and I'm not sure what's going on. Watching hockey I get quick white flashes. At first I thought it was from a photographer at the game but now i can tell it isn't. I'm going to try and go to a bar and watch a playoff game to see if the flash is coming from the broadcast. Are white flashes common?

Yes, they seem to be quite common for hockey games. I have noticed them on CBC, TSN, Sportsnet and the Amercian channels as well. I got them on Bell ExpressVu and now on Shaw cable as well. I don't know what's causing this to happen though. If you find out what is causing this then let us know.

White flashes? Never heard of, or witnessed, this.

Unless you're referring to the recent CBC pixellization problem.

I am out in Airdrie, AB and have noticed over the past week or two that the macroblocking is increasing. I watched the Kansas Bball game last in "HD" if that's what you want to call it - there was some big issues with this as it was pretty blocky when it came to following the play.

I am following the recommendation of tech nut and sending CRTC a note complaining of the signal degredation. I don't know if it will do anything but I figure I should try - rather than just bitch!

I saw on one of the notes that Shaw was supposed to be increasing the # of HD channels again this Spring - I am guessing they might be testing this and it is #$%( up my Shaw reception.

Yeah, I was watching a bit of the Sox game on SNET today and it was pretty macroblocky as well.

And I was wrong about the aound dropouts, they're still there.

White flashes? Never heard of, or witnessed, this.

Unless you're referring to the recent CBC pixellization problem.

Just look at a hockey game in HD (this may happen in SD as well but I rarely watch an SD channel anymore). I am sure you will notice the flashing. It's almost as if someone is using a powerful flashbulb in the arena. Anyway it just happens in hockey games and it does not seem to matter what network is broadcasting the game. The cause may have to do with the ice being so bright that it makes something overload for a fraction of a second and then it immediately returns to normal.

I don't notice that, what I notice is sometimes when the play is moving up ice the colour temperature of the ice will shift from warm to cool.

I attribute that to the overhead scorebaord flashing all sorts of different things, but maybe it's just my eye's way of processing what you guys are describing.

Anyway, NGHD was pretty embarrasingly awful last night. I was watching some documentary on demolition derbies (really funny) and the macroblocking was pretty annoying.

Noticed those white flashes last night too during the Flames game on CBC HD (209 in Calgary). Kind of annoying and there was quite a few in a row. Noticed lots of sound drops during the game too but did not note the times etc.

I have also noticed what you mean jfplay by the colour change in the ice. I've seen it quite apparent sometimes like if they were trying to adjust it. For the most part I think it's due to the "Power Rings" in the rink. It's the narrow flashing ad ring usually up on the second level of the seats. I've even noticed it while at the Flames games sitting in the seats. Some ads are quite dark then you get a real light or white one and it really catches your eyes.

I haven't noticed this 'flashing' at all...I watched the entire Flames game on 209 last night. There were a couple of sound drops though.

I haven't noticed this 'flashing' at all...I watched the entire Flames game on 209 last night. There were a couple of sound drops though.
I honestly never took notice of it before until I read about it here. I only started to notice it during the second period. It's very random and it can flash maybe 4 times in a row (separated by a few seconds). The flash itself might be 0.1 seconds, it is super fast but once you notice it you'll keep seeing it. I pointed it out to my wife and she got mad that I did. Rewinding the PVR replayed it. No sound issue when it does this, just the white flash...

I've seen the flashing now. It's almost like that special effect they used in Star Wars (I'm old) when the Light Sabres hit together they edited in a single frame that what entirely white, it's hardly noticable until you 'notice' it.

As I posted above, I have noticed this for a long time. It has not just started now. This has been going on for at least six years. I thought at first it was just my television set or the STB I had from ExpressVu. When I changed over to Shaw and their STB over two years ago it still kept happening. I doubt if this has anything to do with my television (Hitachi 61" rear projection) since more people are noticing it now too. Once you notice it you can't help but notice it every time it happens. There is definitely something wrong here. Oddly, it only happens for hockey games and for no other sporting event, even regular programming by the networks. I watched the Calgary game last night (on a regular television) at someone elses place (they have Shaw also). They just had regular analog (no STB) and their was no flickering at all.

I'm switichng between the two hockey games, CBC HD and TSN HD.

Is it me or TSN HD is not HD at all? CBC HD looks so much better then TSN's HD broadcast.

I'm switichng between the two hockey games, CBC HD and TSN HD.

Is it me or TSN HD is not HD at all? CBC HD looks so much better then TSN's HD broadcast.
Yeah, I noticed that last night as well. It seems like the Versus feed (on TSN) was not HD.