Peterpack Posted April 14, 2007 Posted April 14, 2007 How much of Foxtel is broadcast in 16:9 ? and do you generally watch foxtel with your tv in 4:3 mode ? or do you stretch the picture ?
CallFire Posted April 15, 2007 Posted April 15, 2007 Movie channels, fox8, w, v, v2, nat geo, howto, lifestyle and foxsports are all in 16:9 (there's a few others but really, who cares) and I watch all 4:3 in pillar box cause it just looks crap (..er) if stretched
Kiwiconehead Posted April 15, 2007 Posted April 15, 2007 Watch 4:3 pillar boxed as it looks crap stretched.
chalkeroochy Posted April 15, 2007 Posted April 15, 2007 Setting 4:3's to 14:9 sometimes come out sort of OK & some times not, Foxtel have a long way to go for the money we pay.
tomohawk Posted April 15, 2007 Posted April 15, 2007 Yeah they do have a long way to go. I'm seriously considering not continuing my subscription, really.
beem130 Posted April 16, 2007 Posted April 16, 2007 They really need ' Just' mode. My widescreen Panasonic and MCE has this which just stretches to edges and leaves the centre undistorted. I end up setting my Foxtel to stretch and use 'Just' on my panasonic. Would be nice if they included an option like this in the STB so then I don't need to adjust it manually
Smacca Posted April 16, 2007 Posted April 16, 2007 They really need ' Just' mode. My widescreen Panasonic and MCE has this which just stretches to edges and leaves the centre undistorted. I end up setting my Foxtel to stretch and use 'Just' on my panasonic. Would be nice if they included an option like this in the STB so then I don't need to adjust it manually I'd like that, as well as the option to customize the aspect ratio for each individual channel. Foxtel channels in 16:9 widescreen: ABC ABC 2 SBS SBS World News Channel Nine * UKTV UKTV +2 LifeStyle LifeStyle +2 Fox8 Fox8 +2 W W2 Bio. How To Ovation TVSN Aurora Showtime Showtime 2 Movie One Movie Two Movie Extra World Movies FBO FBO Preview Fox Sports 1 Fox Sports 2 Fox Sports 3 Fox Sports News FUEL TV Main Event Sky Racing TVN Nat Geo CI Channel [V] Channel [V]2 Country Music Adults Only 1 Help *Syd, Melb, Bris only
BribieG Posted April 27, 2007 Posted April 27, 2007 When watching DVDs (not so much movies but some of the older documentary series like "Civilisation" or "World at War" ) my LG TV (not the DVD player) has a "zoom" option that sounds exactly like the "just" option above. I'm not a Foxtel subscriber as yet because I'm totally unimpressed with the PQ and aspect ratios displayed at the Foxtel 'kiosks' in shopping centres, especially the sports channels. I wonder if my "zoom" option would work when feeding a signal in from a foxtel box? Does anyone with a LCD or Plasma have experience with this?
forumite1503560776 Posted April 28, 2007 Posted April 28, 2007 When watching DVDs (not so much movies but some of the older documentary series like "Civilisation" or "World at War" ) my LG TV (not the DVD player) has a "zoom" option that sounds exactly like the "just" option above. I'm not a Foxtel subscriber as yet because I'm totally unimpressed with the PQ and aspect ratios displayed at the Foxtel 'kiosks' in shopping centres, especially the sports channels.I wonder if my "zoom" option would work when feeding a signal in from a foxtel box? Does anyone with a LCD or Plasma have experience with this? Are you another then that will subscribe to Foxtel for PQ rather than content. It amazes me people look at their screen more for PQ than content....not trying to argue but I am in disbelief.
BribieG Posted April 28, 2007 Posted April 28, 2007 If I was more interested in content then I would not have spend several thousand dollars on a widescreen high definition TV. I would have stuck to my crappy little CRT 51 cm Sony, on which Foxtel no doubt looks just fine (because that's the old technology that Foxtel was designed to operate on). Put it this way: "I love to listen to music on my little old mono casette tape player" "What, you have a state of the art stereo CD system? and you are not happy with mono music played through one ear plug ? What's wrong with you, I am in disbelief" This is 2007
forumite1503560776 Posted April 28, 2007 Posted April 28, 2007 If I was more interested in content then I would not have spend several thousand dollars on a widescreen high definition TV. I would have stuck to my crappy little CRT 51 cm Sony, on which Foxtel no doubt looks just fine (because that's the old technology that Foxtel was designed to operate on). Put it this way: "I love to listen to music on my little old mono casette tape player" "What, you have a state of the art stereo CD system? and you are not happy with mono music played through one ear plug ? What's wrong with you, I am in disbelief" This is 2007 But FOXTEL is ALL about content, that is what they rely on. If you enjoy watching movies or sport , on TV with ads all the time lucky you.I prefer the wide variety of sport (LIVE!!!!!!!!!) and movies without ads with a decent enough PQ, I do not have a HD set top box as I prefer to pay more for content....I bet there are more HD ready TV's out there with Foxtel than there is HD tuners.
DrP Posted April 28, 2007 Posted April 28, 2007 But FOXTEL is ALL about content, that is what they rely on. Yeah, they rely on endless repeats of the same content. Just in case people should pick up on the endless repeats, shows are shuffled between channels to give the illusion of a larger range of programming too. Sure Foxtel has lots of 16:9 channels, but why does Foxtel go out of its way to obtain 4:3 copies of 16:9 shows and then run them on the 16:9 channels? Why is that?
BribieG Posted April 28, 2007 Posted April 28, 2007 I quite agree that foxtel is all about content. when I lived in a cabled area a few years ago I used to get Optus Analogue and watch on my old TV and it looked great, with the animal channel and the news channels and the movies etc. Nowadays because I work most evenings I don't watch much FTA except for a couple of the American Cop and Law shows and ABC (Planet Earth etc). At weekends I watch arts shows on Sunday afternoons, news bulletins and that's about it .However I watch a lot of DVDs on my upconverting DVD player and have a huge collection of Docos and 2 video stores 200 metres down the street. I am completely uninterested in sport except for the Olympics and Commonwealth Games (I used to run marathons when I was younger) My point is that nearly everything I watch in the restricted viewing time that I do have is either HD, DVD or good SD delivered at a good bitrate. If I turned on my TV and was confronted with shyte 2.5 mbps PQ that I was paying $100 a month for, I would go "ugh" every time I turned the set on, content or no content. Some people are not visually oriented, for example most women are sound and text oriented, that's fine. Most guys are visually oriented which is why most people on the DTV forum are male. Digital (the subject of this forum) is not all about Picture quality (there's a big interest in sound, e.g. 5.1), but mostly it's the picture.
forumite1503560776 Posted April 29, 2007 Posted April 29, 2007 I quite agree that foxtel is all about content. when I lived in a cabled area a few years ago I used to get Optus Analogue and watch on my old TV and it looked great, with the animal channel and the news channels and the movies etc.Nowadays because I work most evenings I don't watch much FTA except for a couple of the American Cop and Law shows and ABC (Planet Earth etc). At weekends I watch arts shows on Sunday afternoons, news bulletins and that's about it .However I watch a lot of DVDs on my upconverting DVD player and have a huge collection of Docos and 2 video stores 200 metres down the street. I am completely uninterested in sport except for the Olympics and Commonwealth Games (I used to run marathons when I was younger) My point is that nearly everything I watch in the restricted viewing time that I do have is either HD, DVD or good SD delivered at a good bitrate. If I turned on my TV and was confronted with shyte 2.5 mbps PQ that I was paying $100 a month for, I would go "ugh" every time I turned the set on, content or no content. Some people are not visually oriented, for example most women are sound and text oriented, that's fine. Most guys are visually oriented which is why most people on the DTV forum are male. Digital (the subject of this forum) is not all about Picture quality (there's a big interest in sound, e.g. 5.1), but mostly it's the picture. Perfectly good and reasonable answer :-)
ozgal Posted April 29, 2007 Posted April 29, 2007 Some people are not visually oriented, for example most women are sound and text oriented, that's fine. Most guys are visually oriented which is why most people on the DTV forum are male. Digital (the subject of this forum) is not all about Picture quality (there's a big interest in sound, e.g. 5.1), but mostly it's the picture. I resemble that comment as I'm one of the few females here on DTV. I have Foxtel IQ (and a new 70" sxrd). I may not be as visually oriented as most males, but crappy old Foxtel PQ really annoys me - especially when it fluctuates. One program on same channel may be acceptable while the next is fuzzy or clearer but ever so slightly out of focus. It's not just on the 70 incher either. I have a SONY 32" in the bedroom and although the flaws are less noticeable due to smaller screen, it is still not the crystal clear picture I'd love to be watching. The dream would be for Foxtel to supply great content & HD PQ for less $$$. But we all know that 'aint gonna happen anytime soon. Not unless our population grows tenfold overnight. Cheers, ozgal
BribieG Posted May 1, 2007 Posted May 1, 2007 ozgal - interesting that you went for a really big screen. It's a physiological fact that womens' field of vision is different to mens', we can only see clearly in a narrow band (good for spear chucking) whilst women have a very broad field of accurate vision (good for spotting hyenas sneaking up on the camp). I't a proven fact - try it with a male and some objects. At a party: See that woman over there, the one with the .... DON'T TURN AND STARE .. S**T SHE'S SEEN US NOW .. " At the movies guys will move their eyes constantly around the screen, women will sit there and see it all in one hit. With increasing screen sizes and the younger audience tending to stay single (and increasingly affluent) longer into their 20s and 30s the female 'vote' could be a cruncher for Foxtel.
Mike 360 Posted May 2, 2007 Posted May 2, 2007 Expo jst went Widescreen yesterday/today. Good to see they changing the biggest channels to Widescreen.
digitalj Posted May 2, 2007 Posted May 2, 2007 Movie channels, fox8, w, v, v2, nat geo, howto, lifestyle and foxsports are all in 16:9 (there's a few others but really, who cares) and I watch all 4:3 in pillar box cause it just looks crap (..er) if stretched I think you mean letterbox?
Hosko Posted May 2, 2007 Posted May 2, 2007 I think you mean letterbox? No the man means pillarboxed or pillar bars. Pillar bars at the strips down the left and right hand side when watching 4:3 vision on a 16:9 monitor. Letterbox is used for displaying 16:9 or wider on a 4:3 telly. The give away was when he said he doesn't like 4:3 material stretched this implys he has a 16:9 telly
elcuban Posted May 2, 2007 Posted May 2, 2007 Hi, I hope someone may be able to help. I was just watching fox 8 and it was broadcast in 4.3 . When I tried to use the TV stretch function it still appeared as 4.3. I thought that the TV might be playing up so I tried it on FTA and the stretched function work. I am sure it has worked before on Fox. Any sugestions
nico6 Posted May 2, 2007 Posted May 2, 2007 Hi, I hope someone may be able to help.I was just watching fox 8 and it was broadcast in 4.3 . When I tried to use the TV stretch function it still appeared as 4.3. I thought that the TV might be playing up so I tried it on FTA and the stretched function work. I am sure it has worked before on Fox. Any sugestions Fox8 often transmits 4:3 shows as 16:9 with the black pillar bars as part of the content (Futurama is like this), rather than your WS TV centreing a smaller 4:3 image. In effect while it looks like 4:3 it's already 16:9, so there's nothing to stretch.
elcuban Posted May 3, 2007 Posted May 3, 2007 Fox8 often transmits 4:3 shows as 16:9 with the black pillar bars as part of the content (Futurama is like this), rather than your WS TV centreing a smaller 4:3 image. In effect while it looks like 4:3 it's already 16:9, so there's nothing to stretch. Thanks , Is there any way to watch these types of programmes across the whole screen.
nico6 Posted May 3, 2007 Posted May 3, 2007 Thanks ,Is there any way to watch these types of programmes across the whole screen. Not that I've found. Just think of it as Fox8 acting in your best interests showing the content "as the director originally intended"
Surething Posted June 4, 2007 Posted June 4, 2007 I know that this is an old topic, but I too ask the same question, but more so on those that are using Foxtel on a HD Plasma. You see, I too am one of the ones that too does not like to watch a 4:3 picture in STRETCH so I used to just grin an bear it, and watch in 4:3 for that show (there was only one show at the time - MASH!) However, I noticed one day when the plasma was on the HD ABC channel, which when the ABC finish HD Broadcast, just put up their logo on a white bakground. On this white background, I noticed a DARK black shadow on the screen, in about the same spot where the 4:3 image is being displayed... I have an NEC COMMERCIAL panel, PX-XR4W to which NEC have come and had a look and they have advised that this is normal. Upon finding this, I have changed the setting on the STB to convert 4:3 to 14:9 leaving 2 narrow bars down either side of the screen and the picture not distorted. I have checked again on a white background, and the shadow has moved out to the same as the 14:9 section. Furthermore, only on Foxtel, and only on some channels (esp Fox8, Fox Classics etc) down the left hand side of the screen, there is a green line that is clearly the edge of the Foxtel signal - the NEC guy said this is normal and will not affect the panel. Has anyone else come across this before? I am about to get a Panasonic 50" Vierra (through a promotion at work) am I going to have the same issue? In regards to the PQ of Foxtel - I found using a Scart to Component cable from the Foxtel box made a HUGE difference, especially with the Rugby on Foxsports for example - but wouldn't some of the quality not be so great just due to the age of it? Really interested in thoughts and anyone that has had what I have had. Cheers...
astrodog Posted June 4, 2007 Posted June 4, 2007 In regards to the PQ of Foxtel - I found using a Scart to Component cable from the Foxtel box made a HUGE difference, especially with the Rugby on Foxsports for example - but wouldn't some of the quality not be so great just due to the age of it? The newer content is definitely better, but still not even close to decent FTA SD broadcast..... I switched from composite to S-video yesterday - HUGE difference in PQ, well worth it if you can use S-video (and component too I suppose). My only problem is my DVD/HDD recorders only S-video input is on the front of the deck..... WHY LG WHY????? Worth the cables showing for the PQ though!
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