Anybody watching the series? Nats fans / Astros fans?

Pretty big Nats fan myself - lived in D.C. for a number of years and love the team, the games, and Nats Park.

Special K

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Re: World Series
By: Special K to All on Tue Oct 22 2019 07:33 pm

Anybody watching the series? Nats fans / Astros fans?

I'm watching. Did anyone else notice the low video quality from a couple of the camera angles (on FOX)?

I'm an Angels fan, but I'm sort of rooting for the Astros.

digital man

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Re: World Series
By: Digital Man to Special K on Tue Oct 22 2019 22:59:03

I'm watching. Did anyone else notice the low video quality from a couple of the camera angles (on FOX)?

So I've wondered about this - essentially the compromise between stream quality vs fidelity - like where the networks have the sweet-spot. I might be crazy, but I feel like HD level quality has gone down over the years. I remember some things when 1080p started to become availible with a few channels - like being able to make out fine details on the field during a sports game(crumples of paper, turf divots, etc.). Now, even thought the picture is much better than pre-HDTV days, I feel like resolution has been scaled back.

But yes, I did notice that. Also, I don't like Fox's prodcution of the WS - Joe Buck is too generic for me. I want Romo-level commentary and analysis.

Special K

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Re: World Series
By: Special K to Digital Man on Wed Oct 23 2019 08:20 am

So I've wondered about this - essentially the compromise between stream quality vs fidelity - like where the networks have the sweet-spot. I might be crazy, but I feel like HD level quality has gone down over the years. I remember some things when 1080p started to become availible with a few channels - like being able to make out fine details on the field during a sports game(crumples of paper, turf divots, etc.). Now, even thought the picture is much better than pre-HDTV days, I feel like resolution has been scaled back.

I have over-the-air TV, and last time I checked, it seemed pretty much all channels were broadcasting only 720p. I don't think I've seen a channel where I am brodcasting 1080, but it has been a while since I checked a channel's info on my TV. I believe there's a resolution limit to what they can broadcast digitally over the air, but I don't remember what that limit is.

Nightfox

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Re: World Series
By: Special K to Digital Man on Wed Oct 23 2019 08:20 am

Re: World Series
By: Digital Man to Special K on Tue Oct 22 2019 22:59:03

I'm watching. Did anyone else notice the low video quality from a couple of the camera angles (on FOX)?

So I've wondered about this - essentially the compromise between stream quality vs fidelity - like where the networks have the sweet-spot. I might be crazy, but I feel like HD level quality has gone down over the years. I remember some things when 1080p started to become availible with a few channels - like being able to make out fine details on the field during a sports game(crumples of paper, turf divots, etc.). Now, even thought the picture is much better than pre-HDTV days, I feel like resolution has been scaled back.

It's weird though how only a few of the camera angles have that overly-compressed/pixelated look though. The primary camera angles (e.g. from the outfield camera, over the pitcher) don't have any problem. I don't get it. I've watched a lot of Astros games this year (e.g. against the Angels) and those broadcasts (usually over FOX Sports West) did not have this issue.

But yes, I did notice that. Also, I don't like Fox's prodcution of the WS - Joe Buck is too generic for me. I want Romo-level commentary and analysis.

I'm used to the commentary style from watching a lot of national baseball over the years, so I have no problem with the (mostly) unbiased FOX announcers.

digital man

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Special K wrote to All <=-

Anybody watching the series? Nats fans / Astros fans?
Pretty big Nats fan myself - lived in D.C. for a number of years and
love the team, the games, and Nats Park.

Looks like I'm gonna have to not like you much this next week and a half.
Haha. I sure wis Gerritt had his bad game back in July or something. 19
in a row didn't mean much last night. Andthe 8 times we had bases loaded
with two outs, one more hit wouldn't hurt.

Soto was a killer last night.

It's going to be a good series, though. I still believe my 'Stros will
take it in six.

Grease
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I have over-the-air TV, and last time I checked, it seemed pretty much all chan
els were broadcasting only 720p. I don't think I've seen a channel where I am >rodcasting 1080, but it has been a while since I checked a channel's info on my
TV. I believe there's a resolution limit to what they can broadcast digitally >ver the air, but I don't remember what that limit is.

Yeah, pretty much all of our "local" stations are in 720p (the ones from Lexington). A few from Louisville are 1080, I think. On the local cable,
the 720p OTA stations are 720p there, too... the 1080 stations are all
1080i, both OTA and cable networks. I think that must be a limitation of
the cable company or their equipment. I don't notice much of a difference unless I am trying to watch football or indycar, and that difference really went away when my first HD TV died. The replacement is not as large or
fancy, so it all looks pretty much the same and not really all that bad. I sometimes think the fancier TVs make the differences more apparent and, by doing so, make things look worse than they would otherwise.

I am not sure this is right (anymore) but it seems to be like some of the
ones that were on 720p on their primary were also broadcasting a subchannel
in HD also, and it was also 720p. I wondered if broadcasing a subchannel
in HD put any limitations on the "bandwidth" available for the primary
channel, which caused it to also be limted to 720p.

One of the local stations was doing that with their sub because they would broadcast some extra hours of news on that station. The sub was
otherwise broadcasting older shows that were filmed before HD became a
thing. The quality was still better on those older shows because they did
not "center cut" the sub.

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Re: World Series
By: Dumas Walker to NIGHTFOX on Thu Oct 24 2019 06:48 pm

Yeah, pretty much all of our "local" stations are in 720p (the ones from Lexington). A few from Louisville are 1080, I think. On the local cable, the 720p OTA stations are 720p there, too... the 1080 stations are all 1080i, both OTA and cable networks. I think that must be a limitation of the cable company or their equipment. I don't notice much of a difference unless I am trying to watch football or indycar, and that difference really went away when my first HD TV died. The replacement is not as large or fancy, so it all looks pretty much the same and not really all that bad. I sometimes think the fancier TVs make the differences more apparent and, by doing so, make things look worse than they would otherwise.

Yeah, one instance is where a higher-resolution screen might show some flaws that might not be as visible in a lower-resolution screen. Some of it might be artifacts of upscaling though (i.e., a 480p video looks good on an older CRT but might look a little fuzzy when upscaled on a 4K TV).

Nightfox

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Re: World Series
By: Nightfox to Dumas Walker on Thu Oct 24 2019 16:11:52

Yeah, pretty much all of our "local" stations are in 720p (the ones from Lexington). A few from Louisville are 1080, I think. On the local cable, the 720p OTA stations are 720p there, too... the 1080 stations are all 1080i, both OTA and cable networks. I think that must be a limitation of the cable company or their equipment. I don't notice much of a difference unless I am trying to watch football or indycar, and that difference really went away when my first HD TV died. The replacement is not as large or fancy, so it all looks pretty much the same and not really all that bad. I sometimes think the fancier TVs make the differences more apparent and, by doing so, make things look worse than they would otherwise.

Yeah, one instance is where a higher-resolution screen might show some flaws that might not be as visible in a lower-resolution screen. Some of it might be artifacts of upscaling though (i.e., a 480p video looks good on an older CRT but might look a little fuzzy when upscaled on a 4K TV).

Nightfox

The TV I have now is a 50inch Sony that came with a blue ray player and surround speakers / sub. I bought it in 2010 when I moved back to the States from Japan. I really don't want to ever have to buy a new one, though I know that's unrealistic. The best part of my TV is that it doesn't connect to the internet or have any of the new "smart" features or any of the artificial signal processing that newer TV's have.

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Re: World Series
By: Special K to Nightfox on Fri Oct 25 2019 08:36 am

The TV I have now is a 50inch Sony that came with a blue ray player and surround speakers / sub. I bought it in 2010 when I moved back to the States from Japan. I really don't want to ever have to buy a new one, though I know that's unrealistic. The best part of my TV is that it doesn't connect to the internet or have any of the new "smart" features or any of the artificial signal processing that newer TV's have.

So you like the non-smart TVs?
I actually like the smart features and internet connectivity that current TVs have. Sometimes I like to watch streaming content from Netflix or Amazon Prime video, etc. There's even some interesting content on YouTube, and I think being able to stream YouTube on a TV has made it even easier to watch (although my computer chair is comfortable, our TV chairs and couch are even more comfortable), and sometimes it's nice to be able to watch that stuff on a bigger screen too.

Also, the 'smart' functionality allows things like being able to stream videos & music from a home server (such as Plex) without having to use a disc or plug in a USB drive.

Nightfox

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Re: World Series
By: Nightfox to Special K on Fri Oct 25 2019 09:41 am

though I know that's unrealistic. The best part of my TV is that it doesn't connect to the internet or have any of the new "smart" features

I actually like the smart features and internet connectivity that current TVs have. Sometimes I like to watch streaming content from Netflix or Amazon Prime video, etc. There's even some interesting content on YouTube,

Aha. You answered my question about the new TV's. So they do have a browser built in like WebTv? Can you surf the Web and use Gmail? What about logging on to your BBS? Can you do that from your easy chair while watching Netflix?


Havens BBS

SysOp: HusTler

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Re: World Series
By: HusTler to Nightfox on Fri Oct 25 2019 01:56 pm

I actually like the smart features and internet connectivity that
current TVs have. Sometimes I like to watch streaming content from
Netflix or Amazon Prime video, etc. There's even some interesting
content on YouTube,

Aha. You answered my question about the new TV's. So they do have a browser built in like WebTv? Can you surf the Web and use Gmail? What about logging on to your BBS? Can you do that from your easy chair while watching Netflix?

Smart TVs do usually have a web browser, but I almost never use it. Smart TVs usually have dedicated apps for things like accessing YouTube, Amazon Prime video, Netflix, etc.. The dedicated apps for video/music streaming are probably easier to use than a web page on something like a smart TV.

I think I have tried logging onto my BBS from the web browser on my smart TV once, using fTelnet on the web page.

The thing about using a web browser on a TV is that, even on a big TV, text can seem a little small sometimes. Also it's not the easiest thing to do, unless perhaps you have a bluetooth keyboard & mouse you can use with your TV. Smart TVs do have a pointer on the screen and a virtual keyboard that you can control with a TV remote, but personally I find it's a lot easier to use a keyboard & mouse if you can - and you can do that easily with a desktop PC or a laptop.

Nightfox

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Re: World Series
By: Special K to Nightfox on Fri Oct 25 2019 08:36 am

Re: World Series
By: Nightfox to Dumas Walker on Thu Oct 24 2019 16:11:52

Yeah, pretty much all of our "local" stations are in 720p (the ones from Lexington). A few from Louisville are 1080, I think. On the loc cable, the 720p OTA stations are 720p there, too... the 1080 station are all 1080i, both OTA and cable networks. I think that must be a limitation of the cable company or their equipment. I don't notice m of a difference unless I am trying to watch football or indycar, and that difference really went away when my first HD TV died. The replacement is not as large or fancy, so it all looks pretty much th same and not really all that bad. I sometimes think the fancier TVs make the differences more apparent and, by doing so, make things loo worse than they would otherwise.

Yeah, one instance is where a higher-resolution screen might show some fl that might not be as visible in a lower-resolution screen. Some of it mi be artifacts of upscaling though (i.e., a 480p video looks good on an old CRT but might look a little fuzzy when upscaled on a 4K TV).

Nightfox

The TV I have now is a 50inch Sony that came with a blue ray player and surround speakers / sub. I bought it in 2010 when I moved back to the State from Japan. I really don't want to ever have to buy a new one, though I kno that's unrealistic. The best part of my TV is that it doesn't connect to th internet or have any of the new "smart" features or any of the artificial signal processing that newer TV's have.

My parents were tight with money, and from time to time we'd get a new TV,
but only when the old one was worn out. When i wanted a TV to run my Atari 2600 and later my Atari 400 and C-64, my parents told me to save up my money and wait for a yard sale.

I also have a Tv that's pushing 10 years old, a plaine no frills Samsung.
The caps on the power board went bad on it already, so I purchased a recap
kit on Amazon and fixed it. Right now money is tight, so the closest thing
to making it a smart TV is the Blu-Ray player. The BR player has an ethernet jack and offers services like Youtube and Netflix from it's media source
menu.

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Re: World Series
By: Moondog to Special K on Sat Oct 26 2019 01:52 am

I also have a Tv that's pushing 10 years old, a plaine no frills Samsung. The caps on the power board went bad on it already, so I purchased a recap kit on Amazon and fixed it. Right now money is tight, so the closest thing

How did you determine it was the caps on the power board that went bad?

Nightfox

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Nightfox wrote to Moondog <=-

I also have a Tv that's pushing 10 years old, a plaine no frills Samsung. The caps on the power board went bad on it already, so I purchased a recap kit on Amazon and fixed it. Right now money is tight, so the closest thing

How did you determine it was the caps on the power board that
went bad?

Generally, you can identify bad capacitors (at least the "barrel"
kind) by them being swollen up (especially on the top surface)
and/or leaking brown gooey stuff.

Quite common on power supplies and motherboards.



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Re: World Series
By: Nightfox to Moondog on Sun Oct 27 2019 07:32 pm

Re: World Series
By: Moondog to Special K on Sat Oct 26 2019 01:52 am

I also have a Tv that's pushing 10 years old, a plaine no frills Samsun The caps on the power board went bad on it already, so I purchased a re kit on Amazon and fixed it. Right now money is tight, so the closest th

How did you determine it was the caps on the power board that went bad?

Nightfox

I googled the model and symptoms, and I wasn't the only person having the
same issue. Also due to the age of the TV, it was made in a period when a bunch of bad capacitors were being made. One article explained the voltage rat ings were barely sufficient and would cause caps to fail. Some looked
swollen, but others showed no visible sign unless they were unsoldered and checked with a VOM. The kit included every cap from the power board, and
were of a much higher grade and better voltage ratings.

I was given a couple of dead LCD computer displays because they wouldn't power
up, and I was able to fix them all by looking for bulged or leaking
capacitors on the power board. I have also witnessed bad caps on pc motherboards that swelled up and leaked.

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Re: World Series
By: Moondog to Nightfox on Mon Oct 28 2019 06:41 pm

How did you determine it was the caps on the power board that went
bad?

I googled the model and symptoms, and I wasn't the only person having the same issue. Also due to the age of the TV, it was made in a period when a bunch of bad capacitors were being made. One article explained the voltage rat ings were barely sufficient and would cause caps to fail. Some looked

Ah, I did that one time.. I had a DVD player that stopped working and Googled it, and someone said there was a capacitor in that model of player that was known for going bad. I replaced it, and sure enough, it worked again.

I was curious how they determined it was the capacitor. I don't remember if it looked particularly bloated or anything..

Nightfox

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Re: World Series
By: Nightfox to Moondog on Mon Oct 28 2019 05:12 pm

Re: World Series
By: Moondog to Nightfox on Mon Oct 28 2019 06:41 pm

How did you determine it was the caps on the power board that went
bad?

I googled the model and symptoms, and I wasn't the only person having t same issue. Also due to the age of the TV, it was made in a period when bunch of bad capacitors were being made. One article explained the volt rat ings were barely sufficient and would cause caps to fail. Some look

Ah, I did that one time.. I had a DVD player that stopped working and Googl

I was curious how they determined it was the capacitor. I don't remember if

Nightfox

There was a rash of bad capacitors coming out of Asia roughly between 2002
and 2006. The story I heard was one manufacturer made a change to save
money, and through industrial espionage, several other companies also made
the change in their electrolytic formula. In the following 4 or 5 years, cap failure was a common thing. Even in older electronics, capacitors
have been known to dry up over time. Many older Mac models have leaky capacitors, and if they are not replaced or cleaned up, the chemical could destroy the traces on the boards, making them un restorable.

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