OTA vs FiOS Locals Quality Question.

OTA vs FiOS Locals Quality Question.
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anon @ 25th Sep 12:28AM:
OTA vs FiOS Locals Quality Question.

I live in the LA region, prior to having FiOS I received locals via OTA and I would often notice macroblocking on primetime shows even when I was getting 90 - 100% on most channels, I just chalked it up to over compression due to sub channels.

Since I've had FiOS installed, I've noticed most of my OTA primetime shows are nearly razor sharp and I have to really look hard (usually during fast scenes) to see any macroblocking.

I'm assuming Verizon receives the locals via Fiber rather than OTA. So my question (hopefully someone in the know / works for FiOS can answer) is there something Verizon is doing to the picture to improve it (STB?) or is that simply a result of taking the raw fiber feed and passing it through.

Just curious, I'm VERY happy with the PQ of FiOS!
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alphapointe @ 25th Sep 08:01AM:
Re: OTA vs FiOS Locals Quality Question.

My guess would be the tiling was caused by noise. Even if you have a strong signal on an antenna, the noise floor can still be pretty high to begin with, and noise spikes will tend to tile the picture. The noise floor on FIOS, on the other hand, is probably too low to measure. :D

Mind you, this is an educated guess, as I don't have FIOS (rats...)
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tschmidt @ 25th Sep 10:12AM:
Re: OTA vs FiOS Locals Quality Question.

Cable providers use different methods to obtain broadcast programs. As you posted the preferred method is a direct wired feed from the station. If that is not possible Cable companies use over-the-air (OTA) to pick up locals.

As alphapointe pointed out even if Verizon is using OTA they probably are getting a better signal so pixilation does not occur.

/tom
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