MTS vs Shaw/Bell

[recon]

So who out their in MTS land can give me their thoughts on quality of HD vs Shaw/Bell? Also give me the thoughts on the functionality of all the PVR`s vs each other.

[Mozza]

Having had all three services (Bell, then Shaw, now MTS)... I will give you this quick guide.

SD Quality (out of 10):
- Bell: 7
- Shaw: 6
- MTS: 8

HD Quality (out of 10):
- Bell: 8
- Shaw: 6
- MTS: 7

PVR (out of 10):
- Bell: 8
- Shaw: 7
- MTS: 8

Reliability (out of 10):
- Bell: 5
- Shaw: 7
- MTS: 9

Price (out of 10):
- Bell: 6
- Shaw: 7
- MTS: 9

So I give it to MTS, with Bell being a very close second, and Shaw lagging behind. I used to have screenshots showing just how horrible the macroblocking was on Shaw during sporting events and any action scene in any show on any channel. I'll try and dig them up.

[Vader]

Came to MTS from Shaw Direct (formerly Star Choice)....

SD Quality (out of 10):
- Shaw Direct: 8
- MTS: 8

HD Quality (out of 10):
- Shaw Direct: 9
- MTS: 8

PVR (out of 10):
- Shaw Direct: 5
- MTS: 9

Reliability (out of 10):
- Shaw Direct: 7
- MTS: 8

Price (out of 10):
- Shaw Direct: 7
- MTS: 7

A little hard for me to rate pricing as I am on a year long promo from MTS :-). I would definitely say of all the providers that I have seen the picture quality in HD on Shaw Direct seems to be the best.... but their horrible PVR finally pushed me over the edge and the MTS PVR has been outstanding.

[Mav]

I switched to MTS from Shaw in the summer too and agree with Vader. Having the ability to record and watch a program from any tv is an excellent feature.

[CoryB]

I have no direct experience with HD on anyone other than MTS, I have noticed though that HD quality varies from channel to channel, program to program and day to day, even with the same type of programming on the same channel!

Knowing that sporting events are an excellent test of HD quality I looked at an HD NFL game on FOX shortly after getting the service in December 2009. It looked like crap compared to TLC HD. Watched another NFL game on FOX a couple weeks later and the quailty was significantly better.

Based on this experience with a single provider, it is likely near impossible to compare two services in terms of quality.

[mon_Key_C]

How someone can rate a 720 X 1240 rez signal higher PQ than a 1080 X 1920 befuddles me.

[Huffer]

mon_Key_C, which one is which?

[gummyrabbit]

Is there a quality difference between the two? I'm looking into getting HDTV service (finally). I also want to get a PVR in the package. Anything I should know before going with either of them?