Overcompressed poor quality picture

[michael123123]

Seems the picture quality on my favorite shows keeps becoming poorer and poor. Why does one of the most watched shows, like survivor, make me feel like I'm watching something in 480i resolution. I know it's all about the compression and band with the Rogers allocates to this. And this happens on other shows as well. I feel like why should I subscribe to cable anymore when the visual experience is so poor. If I go directly to the channel and pay them directly I get a much better experience. Any suggestions? We still have Rogers Cable boxes. If I switch to ignight TV can I expect the visual experience to be better? My guess is no, but maybe someone can tell me different.

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[-G-]

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@michael123123 wrote:

If I switch to ignight TV can I expect the visual experience to be better? My guess is no, but maybe someone can tell me different.

If you get REALLY nit-picky, you will see issues with any TV service.  However, the picture quality with Ignite TV is usually excellent, and probably better than any other TV service that is available today.

I haven't watched Digital TV in years but @57 can provide you with an informed opinion of what it is like to make the switch to Ignite TV, having done so just a few months ago.

[michael123123]

No offense, but your answer sounds like you're probably a Rogers employee. The question remains, that we pay a lot for cable TV and the experience seems to keep getting worse. As I mentioned it's all Rogers allocating bandwidth and compression. As an example sometimes Rogers allocates the proper bandwidth and compression to an HD hockey game, and that picture in HD is basically no different than what we also see on the 4K Channel. Meaning, that 4K is probably not really 4K, and Roger's is perfectly capable of providing a stunningly clear picture if they want to in regular HD. But Rogers doesn't. So why would Rogers do anything differently with ignite tv? I'm just so dissatisfied and now so used to receiving poor quality tv.

[-G-]

I'm not a Rogers employee, just a customer who tries to help others out here as best as I can.

Ignite TV is encoded differently and is delivered using a completely different technology than Digital TV. It is also transmitted at a much higher bitrate.  An Ignite TV HD stream will consume roughly 10 Mb/s of bandwidth; a 4K stream consumes 25 Mb/s.  In your initial post, you spoke of an episode of Survivor looking like SD quality, and that's certainly not the case with Ignite TV... although it might look even better on TV if you watch Global over-the-air with an antenna.  I haven't tried watching Survivor using the Global TV app so I can't compare it to Ignite.

And for live sports broadcasts, even at 4K, the picture quality won't be of the same quality as a 4K Blu-ray.  There are technical limitations to how well a 4K feed can be encoded and streamed in real time.  If you can accept a 2 minute delay, you can get much better quality, but then people will complain when they don't see goals at the same time as their friends who are watching on satellite or on some other service that encodes faster but at a lower quality.

As for the price that you pay for Digital TV and the picture quality that you get, well, that's why I dumped the service many years ago.  Digital TV is also on its way out and Rogers won't be investing a dime to improve it, and it will keep getting more expensive for anyone still subscribing to it.  At the time that I subscribed to Ignite TV, it was better then Digital TV, better than Fibe TV, better than satellite TV, and better than the smaller IPTV service providers.  If you get really nit-picky, you will see issues with every TV service out there.  Today, Rogers' competitors are also upping their game, and Rogers will need to find ways to improve Ignite TV and deliver superior value for the money if it wants to remain competitive.

Today, you have more options than ever for receiving and consuming your favourite content.  Pick whichever option(s) deliver the best value for your money.

[57]

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@-G- wrote:

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I haven't watched Digital TV in years but @57 can provide you with an informed opinion of what it is like to make the switch to Ignite TV, having done so just a few months ago.

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Here is my post from 3 weeks after I switched to IgniteTV.  Usually, if people have complaints on this forum about picture quality, or Internet Speed, we have found that there is some sort of issue with the signal in the home, or WiFi setup in the home  Although it can happen, it's very rare that there is a problem with the signal/Internet speed getting to the home and that is usually temporary due to work in the area.  The PQ of IgniteTV is excellent and remains the best of the service providers.  Bell still only has 720P for all their channels, bar 4K.

https://communityforums.rogers.com/t5/Ignite-TV/How-do-you-like-Ignite-TV-compared-to-Digital-Cable/...

There are still very few 4K channels and the programming on those channels is still mostly upconverted HD since there is very little 4K content produced by these broadcasters. See the following sample thread on the topic of 4K sports. Recent posts in that thread discuss how little content is available in 4K:

https://www.digitalhome.ca/threads/sports-in-4k-in-canada.285941/

The issue I mentioned in April with DD5.1 has been fixed for most channels as outlined in my thread below:

https://communityforums.rogers.com/t5/Ignite-TV/IgniteTV-Surround-Sound/m-p/493199#M14173

[RRF1]

A couple of weeks ago I was actually impressed by the quality of many of the digital cable channels for the first time in a long time

Last few days however, that quality is gone.

The Golf Channel is all but unwatchable...unless you like a dull, pixelated picture that breaks up with every camera movement.

Channels just keep disappearing also, with no notification or explanation. Fox Racing, Paramount etc.

If you switch to Ignite, many channels are not included in the Bundles and/or Flex Channels, and you have to pay A la Carte

[57]

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@RRF1 wrote:  Channels just keep disappearing also, with no notification or explanation...

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Again, off topic for this thread.  Rogers always provide notification of channels that will be dropped - typically a few months before they go away.  This information is always in your bills, but many people do not bother reading their bills.

As for an explanation, Rogers will not provide one unless the channel is stopping broadcasting.  The real reason is typically associated with suitable carriage fees for both sides, which is a business decision and is proprietary.

[mebe]

I just recently cancelled CNN and the Golf channel (rarely watched it), but I found the CNN picture to have had a much better picture than when I last had it (too many bad compression issues when changed to image stills, then back to live or multi-screens).
I still think that the Golf channel is a problematic channel for many other providers. I recall seeing a black screen for hours on one of the US online providers, so I just switched to the Golf channels live stream on its website to watch the event. Picture complaints for the Golf channel via Comcast are all over the web, so even if Rogers digital legacy is limiting the quality for some reason, the channel is still a mess for many US viewers as well.
I watched Fox Sports Racing a few months ago for some of the truck races, but even though I still see that channel listed on ch. 409 in the legacy guide, are you saying that it's now been removed from legacy digital and showing an onscreen message saying it's gone? I wouldn't be shocked if it was recently removed, but I recall last time it was just removed from some packages, but still was available (or returned quickly). 🏁

[RRF1]

Fox Racing channel is still listed, but now must be special ordered. It was removed from the VIP package.

[GMcMunn]

Does overcompressing relate to pixelation?  Currently we are having trouble watching the PGA in Hawaii.  It is the only channel that pixelates; shudders; and blacks out.  We are running 1GB Ignite service into a high-end home theatre that has been running flawlessly for three years.  I suspect this is a channel broadcast issue and note there was a lengthy forum in June 2021 specifically on this issue on this channel.  Unfortunately, there was no REPLY from community members, nor commentary from Rogers.  The issue was just left hanging...

No other channels pixelate; nor do we have trouble with streaming services.

Where do we go to get meaningful, useful, answers about this unique channel experience?

[RogersTony]

Hello, @GMcMunn 

Welcome to the Rogers Community Forums!

We definitely want to help you get this channel working properly. If there are no other channels affected then there may be an issue with that specific channel feed.

A ticket may be required to investigate this for you. Please send a private message to @CommunityHelps so we can gather your info and run some tests. Now familiar with our private messaging system? No worries, click here. 

We look forward to hearing from you.

RogersTony