a Q about Foxtel / Austar via Satellite (HD resolution)

**Cartman80** · 12-06-12, 08:49 PM

Lame Q i know..and probably been answered a zillion times..but anywho..I have a ''quick n curious Q'' about Foxtel / Austar via satellite on C1 / D3..the resolution of the HD channels..are they all just 720p or are some actually in 1080i??..does anyone have a list of the HD channels and their respective broadcasting resolution??..thanks people.

**ferni** · 13-06-12, 06:22 PM

All channels I've ever checked are all 1080i

**shlocker** · 13-06-12, 07:08 PM

ESPN 720p

**davmel** · 13-06-12, 11:01 PM

Originally Posted by ferni

All channels I've ever checked are all 1080i

I guess you never bothered to check both of the ESPN HD channels....

All of Foxtel's HD channels are 1920x1080i except for the two ESPN HD channels which are transmitted in 1280x720p which is the resolution used for distribution from the USA by ESPN.
The 3D channel used to be 1280x720p also when showing ESPN 3D content during the first few months that it was active, but now Foxtel keeps it at 1920x1080i and upscales the ESPN 3D content.

But of course the technical resolution becomes almost irrelevant when you compress the hell out of the stream and fine detail of individual pixels is wiped out when information is transmitted as 16x16 pixel element macro blocks! When that happens the effective resolution of each frame can be as little as 120x67 instead of 1920x1080. Oh digital compression, where would we be without you.......

**Cartman80** · 14-06-12, 10:42 AM

Weird..Fox Footy looks so much better to me when i set the MyStar set-top HDMI display box res to 720p rather than 1080i..hmmmmmm

**Cartman80** · 19-06-12, 09:32 PM

From what i can see..all cable HD channels (apart from ESPN / ESPN 2 - 720p) are in 1080i..is this correct??..and from what i can tell..when it comes to Satellite..is that all HD channels are in 720p to save on bandwidth..is this true??..as i said..Fox Footy (and all the others) look so much better when i set my HDMI output resolution to 720p..hmmmmm :/

**davmel** · 20-06-12, 02:57 AM

Originally Posted by Cartman80

From what i can see..all cable HD channels (apart from ESPN / ESPN 2 - 720p) are in 1080i..is this correct??..and from what i can tell..when it comes to Satellite..is that all HD channels are in 720p to save on bandwidth..is this true??..as i said..Fox Footy (and all the others) look so much better when i set my HDMI output resolution to 720p..hmmmmm :/

Satellite and cable are both identical in that all HD channels other than the ESPN ones are in 1080i. Foxtel encodes once for both sat and cable so there is no difference.
As for your viewing display, it might have a better rendering engine for progressive video compared to interlaced so 720p could well look better than 1080i.

**Cartman80** · 21-06-12, 12:50 AM

Thanks for clearing that up mate.

I'm sticking with the 720p setting.

**pc9** · 21-06-12, 10:31 AM

Originally Posted by davmel

Satellite and cable are both identical in that all HD channels other than the ESPN ones are in 1080i. Foxtel encodes once for both sat and cable so there is no difference.
As for your viewing display, it might have a better rendering engine for progressive video compared to interlaced so 720p could well look better than 1080i.

Interesting - my VAST UEC box definately produces a better quality image set at 720p than if I set it to 1080i. My display is a Samsung series 5, FHD
51" plasma.