IanD1503559705 Posted April 8, 2007 Posted April 8, 2007 Maybe it's my equipment or eyesight deteriorating, but ABC SD recently looks as though it's been filtered and then sharpened: no longer the clear and detailed image I remember from before they fiddled with the bitrates and changed HD. I find it underwhelming now. Is it just me?
DrP Posted April 8, 2007 Posted April 8, 2007 SD AC3 audio has been cut back to 192k (stereo) here, so it wouldn't surprise me if something has been done to the picture quality too. Its quite amazing to see the ABC (apparently) scraping for bits like this while continuing to burn ~400kbit/sec on applets which only a tiny fraction of STBs ever sold in Australia could ever support. Given the age of those Teac boxes, no doubt only some of them still remain in action, so just who precisely is watching the applets?
IanD1503559705 Posted April 9, 2007 Author Posted April 9, 2007 SD AC3 audio has been cut back to 192k (stereo) here, so it wouldn't surprise me if something has been done to the picture quality too.Its quite amazing to see the ABC (apparently) scraping for bits like this while continuing to burn ~400kbit/sec on applets which only a tiny fraction of STBs ever sold in Australia could ever support. Given the age of those Teac boxes, no doubt only some of them still remain in action, so just who precisely is watching the applets? I wasn't aware of an audio rate reduction: must check when I next demux some ABC material. Maybe they are thinking they need to go back to true 1080i HD like most of the other channels and are adjusting bitrates in preparation. I was disappointed they bled the SD channel a bit in order to transfuse 720p HD, as it was fantastic quality at the beginning and what good SDTV should be, but I don't recall the PQ reducing at that time as much as it appears to be now. There seems to be less overall detail and images have a slightly fuzzy 3D anaglyph look as though filtered/sharpened.
Steve C Posted April 9, 2007 Posted April 9, 2007 SD DD audio is still 448kb/s in NSW... I'm not sure what bitrate or quality the audio being pumped out by the ABC Sydney studio is... but there's definitely something wrong with it. The audio signal on all ABC HD programs for me last night was riddled with a constant "fuzz". Not a totally consistent in tone or pitch "fuzz", nor an interference type fuzz (and there was me believing all the bullshit about "digital is either there or not" until the truth became glaringly apparent), but a grainy underlying presence that becomes more and more annoying once you start trying to determine whether it's your own equipment, or some dumb arsed technician doing something to the signal without realising how it's going to impact when received. Dr P is right. When is the ABC going to stop farting around with their transmissions and deliver exactly what the ABC's charter requires of them - a quality media service to as many; if not all Australians, as it can possibly provide. Screw all the 'special services' that are designed to appease the Politically Correct lobbyists and industry pundits. The desire to please so many is just going to end up pleasing nobody. It's just another glaring example of where this country has lost the the flamin' plot...
DrP Posted April 9, 2007 Posted April 9, 2007 ABC's HD AC3 remains at 448k, only the SD audio has been knocked down here. I think a problem with NSW HD audio has been reported elsewhere on the board.
-Bishop- Posted April 9, 2007 Posted April 9, 2007 So I'm not the only one who has noticed it? ABC stuff on my SD box has been looking like crap lately, Goodnight Sweetheart in 4:3 looks very average compared to a month or so ago, and if you leave the box on 4:3 when it hits Gardening Australia, it looks quite awful. Really nothing looks very sharp or clear on ABC SD to me anymore, I thought I was imagining it...
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