HD Programming - A Sham and a Shame... - Blu-ray Forum

Wheelman1970 · 12-05-2007, 03:14 AM

Living in Canada we have limited choices in Hi-Def Satellite Providers. I am currently with Bell Express-Vu which supposedly has over 40 channels of Hi-Def programming.

I call Bullshyte! While the channels have some hi-def programming, a lot of the crap on those channels is standard def unless I want to watch the news from Buffalo or Seattle (no offense to our friends to the south). That is not what I pay for, and I seriously don't want to watch CSI whatever 3 times in 3 hours on 3 seperate stations.

May there come a day the CRTC changes the rules regarding Canadian content and we can all get what we want and what we pay for.

Mpaa_Sux · 12-05-2007, 03:23 AM

If you have famly in the usa i can set up an acount for dish or direct tv you can pay the bill over the net with CC. only problem is getting it installed but knowing all the FTA free pay chanels you shuld have no problem finding some one to install it. mabe call the trailer park boys to hook you up

*i dont condone stelling dishnetwork with pansat9200 with 8psk board installed with a dish1000 from ebay.*

rigpig · 12-05-2007, 03:56 AM

Personally, i think for the money our household is charged....iirc about 10.00 $CDN per month via Shaw Cable for these channels:

4 x major nets
4 x major nets time shifts
PBS-HD
TSN-HD
SNET-HD
CTV-HD
CBC-HD
2 x MovieCentral HD
NG-HD
Discovery-HD
Showcase-HD
HD-net
AE-'HD' (debatable whether this counts

)

The value for the dollar is fine. Yes, a lot of programming on the major US & Canadian networks isn't true HD, but, that said there is still a huge amount of legitimate HD programming that has grown subtantially since original rollout. It's not Bell, but it's another Canadian HD provider. In my opinion it's excellent.

SavagePotato · 12-05-2007, 04:24 AM

Canadian HDTV is sad. The only thing making it worthwhile is the bit american networks being available.

I've seen alot of signal issues with star choice at least, breakup of the signal etc. The canadian hd channels like ctv hd were absolutely horrendous a couple months ago. They must have done some kind of upgrade because it's improved, but ctv hd used to jitter and break up constantly when i first got my TV.

Even the quality of the SD channels compared to the american SD channels is horrible. Stuff like Space and citytv just looks horrible.

I'm tired as hell of cropped 16x9 that displays in a tiny box in the middle of the screen as well. Television needs to get it's act together.

Wheelman1970 · 12-05-2007, 09:11 PM

Time for a change. Time to buy some hardware - other hardware.

The Guardian · 12-05-2007, 11:05 PM

I think part of the problem is with digital cable or satellite they are compressing the signals more and more to get more channels in. It gets annoying after a while, I can't stand to watch anything on non-HD channels anymore.

I have Rogers BTW, and I get almost every single channel they offer, other than the specialty golf/soccer type channels.

I've noticed the quality get worse over the past year I've owned my TV, as the number of HD channels has shot up drastically. They've also cut 2/3rds of their pay-per-view channels to fit in new ones like US Superstations which tells you they are definitely maxed out on the bandwidth...

What is the answer? Simple for me.. they should ONLY broadcast the HD channels in HD, without duplicating in SD, and let their cable boxes downconvert the signal if needed. That'll free up some bandwidth.

blu2 · 12-05-2007, 11:14 PM

I'm pretty happy with the HD fare offered by Rogers in Canada. Subscribing to "The Movie Network" is a no-brainer for HD movies, and you get the best of HBO and Showtime in HD as well from it.

I also purchased "The Transformers" via HD PPV over the weekend... nice to have this as an option for watching HD DVD exclusives in HD.

12-05-2007, 03:14 AM	#1
Wheelman1970 Senior Member Member since:Feb 2007 Location:Calgary, AB	HD Programming - A Sham and a Shame... Living in Canada we have limited choices in Hi-Def Satellite Providers. I am currently with Bell Express-Vu which supposedly has over 40 channels of Hi-Def programming. I call Bullshyte! While the channels have some hi-def programming, a lot of the crap on those channels is standard def unless I want to watch the news from Buffalo or Seattle (no offense to our friends to the south). That is not what I pay for, and I seriously don't want to watch CSI whatever 3 times in 3 hours on 3 seperate stations. May there come a day the CRTC changes the rules regarding Canadian content and we can all get what we want and what we pay for.

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12-05-2007, 03:23 AM	#2
Mpaa_Sux Member Member since:Oct 2007	If you have famly in the usa i can set up an acount for dish or direct tv you can pay the bill over the net with CC. only problem is getting it installed but knowing all the FTA free pay chanels you shuld have no problem finding some one to install it. mabe call the trailer park boys to hook you up i dont condone stelling dishnetwork with pansat9200 with 8psk board installed with a dish1000 from ebay.

12-05-2007, 03:56 AM	#3
rigpig Member Member since:Nov 2007 Location:Alberta Blu-ray reviews:3	Personally, i think for the money our household is charged....iirc about 10.00 $CDN per month via Shaw Cable for these channels: 4 x major nets 4 x major nets time shifts PBS-HD TSN-HD SNET-HD CTV-HD CBC-HD 2 x MovieCentral HD NG-HD Discovery-HD Showcase-HD HD-net AE-'HD' (debatable whether this counts ) The value for the dollar is fine. Yes, a lot of programming on the major US & Canadian networks isn't true HD, but, that said there is still a huge amount of legitimate HD programming that has grown subtantially since original rollout. It's not Bell, but it's another Canadian HD provider. In my opinion it's excellent.

12-05-2007, 04:24 AM	#4
SavagePotato Active Member Member since:Jul 2007	Canadian HDTV is sad. The only thing making it worthwhile is the bit american networks being available. I've seen alot of signal issues with star choice at least, breakup of the signal etc. The canadian hd channels like ctv hd were absolutely horrendous a couple months ago. They must have done some kind of upgrade because it's improved, but ctv hd used to jitter and break up constantly when i first got my TV. Even the quality of the SD channels compared to the american SD channels is horrible. Stuff like Space and citytv just looks horrible. I'm tired as hell of cropped 16x9 that displays in a tiny box in the middle of the screen as well. Television needs to get it's act together.

12-05-2007, 09:11 PM	#5
Wheelman1970 Senior Member Member since:Feb 2007 Location:Calgary, AB	Time for a change. Time to buy some hardware - other hardware.

12-05-2007, 11:05 PM	#6
The Guardian Expert Member Member since:Aug 2007 Location:Kitchener, ON Blu-ray collection:9 Trading Score:1	I think part of the problem is with digital cable or satellite they are compressing the signals more and more to get more channels in. It gets annoying after a while, I can't stand to watch anything on non-HD channels anymore. I have Rogers BTW, and I get almost every single channel they offer, other than the specialty golf/soccer type channels. I've noticed the quality get worse over the past year I've owned my TV, as the number of HD channels has shot up drastically. They've also cut 2/3rds of their pay-per-view channels to fit in new ones like US Superstations which tells you they are definitely maxed out on the bandwidth... What is the answer? Simple for me.. they should ONLY broadcast the HD channels in HD, without duplicating in SD, and let their cable boxes downconvert the signal if needed. That'll free up some bandwidth.

12-05-2007, 11:14 PM	#7
blu2 Special Member Member since:Oct 2007	I'm pretty happy with the HD fare offered by Rogers in Canada. Subscribing to "The Movie Network" is a no-brainer for HD movies, and you get the best of HBO and Showtime in HD as well from it. I also purchased "The Transformers" via HD PPV over the weekend... nice to have this as an option for watching HD DVD exclusives in HD.

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