Cuprisin: Channel 58 to offer fewer NCAA tournament games, but more in HD

[vegasvic]

Everything looks good now on my end, OTA.  Crisp clear HD picture.  Thanks for staying on top of this for us.

[Bebop]

The bitrate is almost reduced to half (between 8-13Mbps) and pixelations in fast scenes.

[bubbaridesfast]

As long as you are monitoring feedback here JimHall, any word on an HD signal via DirecTV?

[RonH]

I think the bitrate has been cut down for a couple weeks on cbs.  Badger games in the BigTen tournament had bad PQ during fast motion as well.  I've assumed it is because of the double multi-casting with METV.

[SRW1000]

Also, we are monitoring HD & SD on several sets and at the very start we had some motion artifacts, but as of 11:50am final adjustments were made and we have seen no motion artifacts to speak of.  I would be curious if you are still seeing them and what type of set and antenna system you are using.

Thanks

Well, since you're asking, I think the artifacting is quite bad.  It's especially noticeable on the floor pattern during any camera movement, particularly while panning on fast break shots.  The pixelization is so bad that the floor almost appears to be shimmering.

This is from a Channel Master 4228 on a 50" 720p Panasonic DLP.

Scott

[JDrama]

After one day of the tournament I applaud 58's decision as well to forgo the four multicasts so that we can have the HD feed. Yeah the HD feed is not perfect but it definitely trumps the SD feed we had to suffer through the last couple of years. I am also happy that CBS is showing all games online for free. This will allow me to still see my alma mater Mississippi State's game online and still be able to switch to the HD feed for the game that 58 elects to show at that time as well.  It is like having the best of both worlds with being able to watch all the games without having to sacrifice the glory of watching March Madness in HD!

[brewtownska]

Jim Hall,

With the new software/hardware you installed, are you able to change between 720p and 1080i on-the-fly?  Maybe it's my equipment misreporting, but during the NCAA games this evening the stats showed I was getting 720p, but later in the night when Letterman was on, the stats showed 1080i.  I'm using a Samsung h260f set-top box to pick up the QAM signal via Time Warner Cable.

If you are in fact able to make those changes on the fly (or fairly quickly), I can see where your station will have a unique advantage over some of the other locals where you can tailor the signal to 720p for sports or 1080i for primetime shows.

Mike

[Bebop]

Jim Hall,

With the new software/hardware you installed, are you able to change between 720p and 1080i on-the-fly?  Maybe it's my equipment misreporting, but during the NCAA games this evening the stats showed I was getting 720p, but later in the night when Letterman was on, the stats showed 1080i.  I'm using a Samsung h260f set-top box to pick up the QAM signal via Time Warner Cable.

If you are in fact able to make those changes on the fly (or fairly quickly), I can see where your station will have a unique advantage over some of the other locals where you can tailor the signal to 720p for sports or 1080i for primetime shows.

Mike

I got 720P too, I thought I my equipment was acting up.

[Bebop]

[bubbaridesfast]

^^^ Good examples of the artifacts I experienced all weekend. It didn't matter if I watched OTA or via TWC at a bud's house. Was this only local or did other CBS markets have the same thing?