Damn.. Well screw me.

My PQ is noticably worse.. some channels are worse than others.. some are just piss poor. Macroblocking and artifacts like a mo'fo. Grr.. calling TWC to complain..

Well.. that's good news (finally) but I have a more pressing issue I wanted to ask the other TWC Brooklyn/Queens customers here - Has anyone else noticed a visable drop in broadcast quality pretty much throughout the entire HD channel selection spectrum starting this past weekend (Saturday or so)?? Even though we don't have the new channels yet.. it looks like TWC has already chocked the bandwidth to make room for the new stuff that's coming..

-HBO HD is showing much more macroblocking and minor compression artifacts than before. This was always one of the better looking 1080i channels.

-Showtime HD is even worse. I'm even seeing compression artifacts in the blacks now!! Also, this channel was one of the best HD-looking on the channel roster. The degregation in PQ is disgusting :(.

-Discovery HD is pretty much the same.. they might have cut a sliver of bandwidth on this channel thusfar but looking better than HBO or Showtime now..

-Can't really say much on the major network HD broadcasts other than ABC (watched the Oscars last night). I swear it looked bandwidth choked a bit as well.

-Even SD channels (like AMC) were looking worse for wear. Watched 'Breaking Bad' last night and could see compression artifacts all over that shit..


So, basically I'd like to know if anyone else has noticed this or if I'm starting to lose it over here? It just seems to me that TWC is starting to really bit-starve these channels in order to bring in 7 or so new HD channels. But it begs the question: if all the HD channels are going to be bit-starved in order to add more programming (due to bandwidth limitations..), then is it really worth it in the end? I'd rather have 10 high quality HD channels than 20 bit-starved ones. I HATE seeing compression artifacts in broadcasts.. it reminds me of yesteryear when some early DVD releases were poo-poo on the compression front.

I have a 1080p 42" Panasonic Plasma going through HDMI and I can sure as hell tell a noticible PQ difference from even last week's broadcasts over the TWC system here in Brooklyn. I count the days when Verizon Fios comes into town.. I'm sick of paying more and more for cable and getting less. And if TWC is so touting their "switched digital" system.. well I can say that I don't see it working thusfar.

Hmm... Any other comments would be insightful.

Ahh.. Now the backlash can begin. 08' will be a disasterous year for our boys in Blu - incomplete spec for most of the year; prices too high for the average consumer (don't forget about a market in recession..); Sony's stranglehold on licences that attempt to muscle every consumer into buying their gaming console; precious BD-J; every Blu player already rootkit'd to the nines (Sony knows your secrets..); very little growth in studio libraries for HDM (based upon manufacturing costs).

I really could go on and on.. but I digress.

Engadget - You gotta do a followup story on this and get some info. because obviously this story is not correct. Get ahold of your sources.. find out what's up. What was your source to begin with?

HAHA - Comparing HD-DVD to radioshack "cheap" equipment. You Sony Blu-Boys just won't stop. Actually HD-DVD is the most stable, rock-solid, and fully complete format of the two. Of course, the Sony "smoke and mirrors" game was to falsely make the consumer THINK that HD-DVD was cheap because the prices were cheaper compared to Blu.

And dude, you need to go back to school and figure out what region coding really is before you spout off about "I never noticed no region encoding on my blu or SD player".

So, your final arguement was that 'Transformers' sucked! Nice arguement there dude. The format war was never about specific titles and what studio released what - it's about quality and affordability for HDM to thrive in the mass-market. Have you actually ever watched an HD-DVD? Seen a full presentation with interactive extras and sleek HDi? Did a side to side comparsion on any properly encoded disc from both formats?! Of course you haven't.. you just feed into that Sony bs and keep justifing your buying into a format because you can't find any good games to play on your PS3.

Sony will destroy HDM - I guarantee it.

Sam.. You get the clue.

Blu laser technologies and licences to hardware developers will be determined by Sony. So what if there are seven manufacterers? Unless they are all willing to lose money to sell blu at current HD-DVD hardware prices, then everyone is left with overpriced stand-alones for the next year at least (and aren't even the final BD spec!) You see, Sony's needs to start recouping all that money paid off to Warner, Fox, Disney, Target, Best Buy, Bill Hunt, and all the underlings that worked on 'Project Hydra'. Oh, and they also want to jumpstart their failing PS3 brand. So guess what! - if you want to buy into HDM, then your cheapest way is going to be the ugly-ass Playstation console.

P.S. People that give a shit about profiles are smart consumers who read up on the latest technology and don't buy into a rushed, unstable, and overpriced format. Oh, and they also do care about next-generation extras like PIP and interactive features. Call them "added values" or whatever you wish, but the consumers should be able to buy the true "next generation" now. And, that my friends, is not blu-ray (for a while, at least) - it was actually HD-DVD. Welcome to your next-gen people.

"We'd also like to give a major shout-out to Bill Hunt over at the Digital Bits.. your word is bond wit the BDA, Bill. Oh, and Linda over at accounting lost your address.. don't worry.. your Project Hydra check is in the mail tomorrow!"

Yeah.. watch them gloat and declare "Victory Once And For All!". Remember people, you can thank the people that are going to be sitting in those seats for destroying any future chance of mass-market adoption (and quality) of HDM on behalf of their Sony overlords.

This is your future people. Given pretty much everyone was on the Sony payroll meant Blu-Ray's glaring problems went un-reported. Now that Blu-Ray has "won" the format war, everyone is going to start complaining. Just remember that you did have the true next-generation and that was HD-DVD. Stable format, competitive pricing, finished spec. Now, you are left with a half-format, obsolete profile players that are overpriced and not upgradable, and BD-J (hello old school DVD-style menus!.. goodbye HDi, we'll miss ya..). Don't get me started about the PS3 - if you want to put the future of HDM in the hands of the third-place (and failing) gaming system, well then imagine your suprise when HDM grows in 2008 at a snails pace (2-3% tops). All the Sony fanboys can sit back and gloat.. but it's the true mass-market consumer who was failed and now this is what we are left with - Sony's "the next generation doesn't start till we say it does" business model. You can't really blame Sony however -- they fought dirty and hard and had everything to lose. Blame spineless studios like Fox and Warner that put a potential multi-million dollar industry into the hands of a company that will only use Blu-Ray as tool for their own greedy means. Goodbye region-free opticial media (we had it finally people!!!).. goodbye competitive pricing (would you like to buy a $400 gaming system to get into HDM the cheapest?).. goodbye interactive features (for the time being). The future is Blu people - welcome to the "consumers choice" HDM.

My friend's theory:

"It is an indication of market potential; and the HD DVD market is poised to explode. Here is a speculative scenario that I present to you:

#1 Xmas 2007 $99 - $199 HD DVD players give way to HD DVD playback being added as a feature to "regular" DVD players at Xmas 2008 and beyond. DVD players without HD DVD playback begin to be phased out due to it not being cost-prohibitive to add HD DVD playback. This coincides with the majority of Blu-ray players (Sony excluded) becoming combo players at a $500.00 or lower price point. CE companies love to plaster logos all over their boxes. The HD DVD logo will look really good right next to the Blu-ray 2.0 logo..

#2 Major block-buster movies begin to be released ONLY as combos or Twin discs (HD DVD and standard DVD on the same side) for a slight premium over standard DVD costs. Perhaps bare-bones only editions of the standard DVD will still exist at the old price point. This would permanently swing the weekly sales in HD DVD's favor. A trailer would of course run at the beginning of the standard DVD version of the movie extorting the value of the HD DVD version that you already own on the same disc. Having seen this on his copy of the latest Tim Allen flick, Joe Six Pack (who just got an HDTV for nascar) figures he'll mosey on down to Walmart to pick up one of those $50 players with an HD DVD logo on the box.

#3 Early 2009: Blu-ray may still hold a slim edge in player sales due to the PS3, but (the magical) attachment rates tell the true story. The vast majority of software is being sold on the HD DVD side due to the HD DVD market multiplying many times over due to #1 and #2.

#4 All Blu-exclusive studios (except possibly Sony and Fox) go neutral by 2nd half of 2009. HD DVD is more profitable because of the lower cost to produce titles and the cheaper replication. Something little considered by internet bloggers is that HD DVD will scale nicely with the market no matter how large it grows. Blu-ray simply could not support a market as large as standard DVD because they can't produce them fast enough.

#5 HD DVD permanently becomes the preferred format of choice for consumers (due to #1 and #2) and for most studios as well (due to all points listed) by the end of 2009.

#6 Blu-ray limps along as a movie format in 2010.

#7 2011: All studios (including Sony) release on HD DVD. All but Sony release exclusively on HD DVD. Sony is the only remaining studio releasing movies on Blu-ray.

#8 2011 - 2020: The HD DVD era."