[mythtv-users] DTV: It Has Begun

[Yeechang Lee]

Nick F <nikos.f at gmail.com> says:
> As someone who relocated from the UK to the US two months ago - I'd
> add just one point to the UK (ROW) vs. US 'debate'
> 
> The quality of SD DVB-S and DVB-T transmissions is light-years ahead
> of the SD NTSC signal on cable (I don't know about satellite).  And
> - this is from multiple datapoints at people's houses/hotels/etc.

Isn't the comparison apples and oranges, though? The proper comparison
should be between Freeview (a digital technology) and US digital SD
over-the-air transmissions (its closest US counterpart), or Freeview
and US digital SD cable transmissions which typically will occur on
>=100 channels; <100 channels are typically in analog and, yes, look
as crummy as classic analog NTSC (or PAL) over-the-air does.

> European SD DVB transmissions (from properly mastered programmes
> like BBC dramas) are very similar to DVD quality.

I don't doubt it. I know that when I watch a digital SD cable or
over-the-air recording here zoomed to fill my 47" screen, I can see a
difference between it and real 720p/1080i HD but, regardless, looks
really really good despite the zooming.

In any case, my argument still stands. Freeview got started at about
the same time as the US digital transition occurred, but will take an
unspecified number of years before it can ever deliver HD, while the
US--thanks to more or less entirely skipping the SD only-digital
stage--has been doing it for years. Were you living in the San
Francisco Bay area I'd invite you to stop by, see over-the-air HD in
action, and then challenge you to say whether you can't see a
difference between it and Freeview.

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