I was at a professional trade show for visual and sound technologies recently and was chatting with a representative for one of the companies who told me that the CRTC has regulated that all HDTV content in Canada is to be broadcast at the 720P resolution standard, regardless of the broadcast sources original specification. This would mean that for example a feed from an American station that was originally 1080I would be transcoded to 720P for reception by the end users equipment.

Regrettably I do not have the equipment available to confirm if this is true at this time, however as the source was a member of the video display industry, I have no reason to suspect that he is not correct. If this is the case, then I must ask why this is so and why the CRTC feels the need to set such a regulation in the first place, especially when half of the content providers that are broadcasting are doing so in the 1080I format and as such are providing a sharper image then we are being allowed to see.

I actually hope I am wrong about this as just for once, I would like not to feel like the CRTC is doing nothing but sucking money out of our pockets only to “protect” us from something that we do not need protection from. :confused:

I'll have to call BS on that one.

Rogers currently provides content in both 720p and 1080i based on the originating network.

Just curious, was the person you were talking to a technical or marketing type?

I have no reason to suspect that he is not correctActually, you now have every reason to suspect that he is incorrect - after you read the following thread which indicates what the service providers are actually doing:

http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=76129

As stated by jvincent, Rogers, Videotron, Cogeco passthrough the signal, while *C/Shaw change all/most signals to 1080i and BEV changes some to 720P.

1080i is used by much more than 1/2 the "broadcasters".

a representative for one of the companies...We would be interested in knowing which company this person represented.

The gentleman I was talking to was a representative for a company that provides digital projectors for applications such as movie theatres and other large screen display needs. Again as I was at a professional trade show, I figured he knows more then I probably do. Thanks for pointing that link out to me.

My only problem now is that I am one of the people that it would seem is "stuck" at 720P for the time being as I am currently a BEV subscriber. I guess at some point I am going to have to get a HD disc player of one type or another just to see what my TV can really do.

No offense intended, but many sales reps know very little about the standards and regulatory issues in there respective industries. Heck, lots of the technical people don't know them either.

One should not really think of 720P as inferior to 1080i. There have been many discussions regarding which is better and which is better for which application, however, they are both acceptable standards for HD broadcasting.

The production values that go into the original programming is often far more important than the final broadcast format.

The objection I have is that service providers should not be allowed to (arbitrarily) change the format - the end customer should be able to input to the TV what is broadcast, whether that is 720P or 1080i.

Correct me if I am wrong but if there were such a reg and I fully agree there ain't, wouldn't it be Industry Canada and not the CRTC that would be doing it?

If you see this guy again tell him he will make more sense if he talks out of his mouth rather than his ___, We have enough work to do without psudo experts spreading bunk.