[Fridaylights]

I have to say that the VOD quality sometimes is not good with Telus Optik TV. I'm surprised that more people are not complaining about this issue. I'm going to call Telus and officially complain to see what they have to say.

I only rent HD and I don't understand how the encoding is not up to my expectations. I expect more for my $7.

List of problems:

1) Very soft picture. Looks more like DVD than HD.
2) Motion or judder problems.
3) Pixilation
4) Fast motion causing picture to break-up.
5) Low level lighting scences are handled very poorly and see compression problems.
6) Changing the original aspect ratio from the original movie or Blu-ray disc.
7) Rented a recently released HD movie and only got analog Pro-Logic ii ( the Blu-ray disc is in DD HD)

 

[ryankenn]

What's the story with the aspect ratio? I'm watching Inglorious Bastards right now on Movie Central on Demand and its a widescreen format, but its displayed as if its 4:3, so I have black bars top and bottom and on both sides. The TV is setup for 1080i and HD movies show fine, but all SD movies seem to not zoom as they should (in VOD)

 

[Wiremonkey]

Widescreen movies are shown with black bars on sides and sometimes the top too when you request them in SD from VOD. They have bars on the top, because they were not shot in the 16:9 format, they have bars on the sides when viewed on an HD TV because they are altered for SD viewing.

Even some HD movies are letterboxed (bars on top and bottom) as they were shot in Cinemascope or other propriatary widescreen movie formats, not HD. Cimemascope and other widescreen movie formats do not comply exactly with the 16:9 format of HD, so alterations must be made so that they fit your screen.

- another TELUS tech

 

[shoota]

Movie Central on Demand is all SD, I believe. So that would be why it is 16x9 inside of a 4x3 window.

Super Channel has an HD on demand section.

Yeah, the VOD quality isn't that impressive and sometimes seems worse than broadcast. I don't know if the content providers are giving lower quality versions of their movies or what, but I generally don't rent VOD.

 

[Fridaylights]

Movie Central on Demand is all SD, I believe. So that would be why it is 16x9 inside of a 4x3 window.

Super Channel has an HD on demand section.

Yeah, the VOD quality isn't that impressive and sometimes seems worse than broadcast. I don't know if the content providers are giving lower quality versions of their movies or what, but I generally don't rent VOD.

Sometimes much worse than broadcast. I definitely agree. And doesn't make sense as VOD should be considered a premium product over just regular TV.

The last HD VOD that I rented looked like upconverted DVD quality and had terrible motion problems. It also only had Pro-Logic sound. Because it was a foreign film, someone probably decided they could get away with lower quality -- but that doesn't mean it was a low quality source as the Blu-ray disc got a good review for quality.

As a consolation to Telus, I hear complaints about the VOD quality from Rogers and Bell also. I wonder if there is a common VOD supplier to all of the Canadian TV providers?

The way I look at it, here is an opportunity for Telus to differentiate themselves and offer superior VOD movies. I have tried PS3 VOD movies and they are even worse than Telus. With all of the brick and mortor shops slowly disappearing, I really do care about this issue as it is getting harder to rent Blu-rays. If Telus can get the quality to be better, they will get much more money from me as tend to rent a lot of Blu-rays.

 

[shoota]

Yeah, I think it has to be a content provider thing since x264 and xvid filez tend to look much better at the same bit rate as VOD.

 

[beanagee1]

I called to get the higher speed internet, hoping to get the upgraded modem that will enable the 3HD service. I got bounced back and forth from Optik support to Internet support and then back to Optik support. I had no confidence in any of them and did not want to waste more time. I just asked them to sort it among themselves and call me back when it is sorted it out. I hung up not wanting to deal with the fumbling incompetence.

I do not expect to hear back.

 

[Wiremonkey]

When you hang up you will never hear back. CSRs have a very limited time to assist customers on the phone. They are given a hard time if they take too long. If you get impatient and hang up thats fine with them, they just move on to the next caller.

Believe me, once you hang up they move on to the next customer because thats all they can do, they are not allowed to keep working on your issue if you hang up.

If you are frustrated with TELUS customer service PM me. I get paid to be frustrated and will do what I can to assist you. I will need your telephone number (the one the OptikTV service is on), and what it is you would like, then I can see what can be done.


- another TELUS tech

 

[CentaurChester]

Quick question to anybody who's rented off the VOD.
Are you getting DD 5.1 sound on your movies (For any the movies that should have 5.1 Dolby digital sound)

I haven't tried renting off VOD for Telus yet because. In till HD picture/sound/ 5.1 info on guild are fixed.

I have never rented from VOD yet because
1) The normal HD picture/channels we get now, are already soft/poor at best now with Telus
2) Why should I pay $7.00 to rent say " Voyage of dawn treader- Narina HD" from Telus VOD when

a) picture most likly be worst then DVD quality
b) I don't even know if It's in 5.1 DD sound?
c) ALL other Tv/Cable/Sat providers give a better " TRUE" Hd Picture and sound? (Shaw sat/Cable/Bell/Rodger etc etc )
d) I go down block rent from Rodgers video the blue ray/or DVD get True HD Picture/sound for the same price?

I have asked and asked about this, Nobody will give me answer other then " All HD are in 5.1 " which is not true.
Not all movies/shows/Doc are in 5.1. Most, but not always.

Telus " True" HD is a lie.. nor do they really seem to care for true 5.1 Sound that they claim to have?

I am starting to wonder why I'm pay $110 a month for Crapy HD picture/Sound, continue issues/bugs that aren't fixed. I get better picture/Sound from Netflix.. And there selection in Canada is pretty small. I don't even want try Telus VOD till I see they fix other HD issues first.

Forgive me. I love PVR box, but Telus/Microsoft really need start fixing some these issues. HD Picture/Sound shouldn't be issue. Most other companies have solved these HD/Sound issues looong ago.

I am seriously trying be patient with telus IPTV, But I think very soon i'm going switch to Sat or go back with Starchoice. Er shaw-Direct.

-Very unhappy customer as of lately.

 

[tefoxcroft]

Optic TV quality

I have to agree with most of the comments on this site regarding the poor quality of Telus Optic TV picture and sound. Of course it isn't going to be the same as a Blu-Ray player but it is still not up to par with other on-line providers. I have a friend that works for Telus and I was showing him the difference between Telus Optic TV and the Xbox 360. The Xbox 360 picture quality is 1080P while Optic TV is only 1080I. The biggest difference is in the sound quality. Optic TV claims that the high definition channels are in dolby 5.1. I would have to say not a chance. The Xbox 360 sound quality is true Dolby 5.1. I have a high end Yamaha 7.1 digital surround sound system and the difference in sound is huge. It is virtually the same as a DVD quality recording. I know that the majority of Optic TV users don't have a good sound system so this comment won't mean a lot to them but what I am saying is this, if the Xbox 360 can have full 5.1 digital surround sound, why not Optic TV. We are paying for it, so why can't we get it?

 

[57]

Here's the FAQ on DD5.1. Most HD programming is DD5.1, so I suspect if you're not getting DD5.1, you have an incorrect setting in the STB or aren't using a digital connection, or you're going "through" a TV.

http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=17870


You may also wish to try 720P as the output format for the STB since I believe Optic get their signals from Bell, which are 720P.

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


Useful Post: http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=57741 FAQs, Optimization.

 

[TheAntiQAM]

Optik no longer sources any feeds from Bell that aren't Bell owned (i.e. CTV, TSN etc). Even those feeds are no longer Satellite downlinked, they are fibre sourced to realize best quality and fewest encode/decode step downs. As a result, all signals are passed through in native resolution from broadcaster, be it 720p or 1080i.

In combination with the HD encoder upgrade in the Optik Head End early 2013, the best default setting is 1080i, without reservation. If set to 720, and considering much of the content 1080i, the box will down-res to 720.

Regarding comments on SVOD quality, yeah the broadcaster encoding performance has been poor but is improving quickly, lots of focus on getting that quality to where it needs to be. It should be better than broadcast, and when done properly it is. My two bits.

 

[57]

Thanks for that update Anti. In that case you certainly wouldn't want to dowrez to 720P and have the TV convert again to it native resolution. I'll correct that info in the FAQ.

 

[DTVGuy]

I have a high end Yamaha 7.1 digital surround sound system and the difference in sound is huge. It is virtually the same as a DVD quality recording. I know that the majority of Optic TV users don't have a good sound system so this comment won't mean a lot to them but what I am saying is this, if the Xbox 360 can have full 5.1 digital surround sound, why not Optic TV.

I think I know what you're saying. However, to say Optik users don't have high-end systems, then to say in the very same breath that you do (when you clearly don't), is kind of a laugh.

Virtually every provider passes through Dolby Digital AC3 audio, including TELUS, which means it's not decoded and re-encoded. Having said that, the audio will be identical from one provider to the next who do this.

Video, on the other hand, is another thing. It used to be that audio was the poor cousin to video. Nowadays, it's completely opposite. Most people will forgive a slightly poorer picture, so long as the audio's good.

 

[shoota]

No, most people (Optik customers and otherwise) do not have any sound system other than their TV speakers. Most people care more about picture quality than sound quality, or else they would use something other than the 5W garbage speakers built into the TV.

The biggest thing keeping me in Bluray is the audio quality is vastly superior to VOD (from Telus, Shaw, Bell, Apple, whoever).