"Technical" issue?

Also, looks like that fashion TV bitrate around 15mbps. (if not mistaken) And that's in MPEG4.

Sorry for the late reply....was tied uopwith work today....this is wat I gather:

ESPN Malaysia, Star Sports Malaysia and ESPN HD Malaysia feed (dedicated M'sia feed) are all sent to Astro via fiber optic - hence there should not be any loss/degrade of picture quality.  If the channels were sent via satellite, then the signals will go thru various passes, i.e. SIN to Satellite, Satellite signals pulled down by Astro and re-uplinked again and then downlinked again to subscribers dish; which makes the quality worse.

Hence, it should be a compression issue on Astro's side.....they may have given movie channels a higher bitrate...

Even on Starhub, movie channels are given slightly higher bitrate than the Ent. channels.

As for HBO, the catalogue/old titles sometimes do not have HD tape available thus a SD tape is upconverted instead....not sure why they are stretched....maybe they feel most viewers want their widescreen TV filled up with video images. Should write in to complain!  FOX Movies Premium does a better job than HBO.

For HD channels with no subtitles, likely it is also sent via fiber.....channels sent vi fiber does not carry subtitles by default.

Yup, most of HD5 programs are upscaled. Why? No competing Free to Air Channels, hence HD5 folks are being complacent...

Hope this helps.......

so starting from March, Astro Celestial Movies will be broadcast in HD...

not painful ceased compare with channel V n bbc entertainment

on the other hand,,,2 hd new channel in...fuiyoh  

>720i
 

Also, did everyone thinking to analizing HD channel bitrate using .tp recorded files on the WD HDD hooked to B.yond into a PC one would be good?

Fyi, update:

New world movies kind of movie  channel starting soon on starhub. CinemaWorld and CinemaWorld HD.

Fyi. CinemaWorld is actually a world cinema ch from ex employees of HBO Asia according to limited info on net. Features movies from UK, Spain, Latin America, Finland, Middle East etc. Ch is in HD but not indicated on the channel logo.

enriquelee - channel is on starhub.

Kaspersky fan - all subtitles on starhub, whether SD or HD are all chosen by default fr starhub. We can't choose or disable them...

They should have offer [V] HD instead.

Have a good weekend!

haha i notice all HD channels r like that compare with SD counter parts

Just saw announcement in Astro Beyond HD today 22-03-12,... AXN Beyond changes name to BeTV on 2nd April 2012. So AXN Beyond HD also to BeTV HD. I think someone here have previously mentioned about the "new" BeTV channel. Not "new", only name change.

I think they are afraid we don't believe if they choose 1st April because of "ah-hem fools day" so they picked 2nd April. Strange, isn't it ?

More info here... http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/lifestyle/03/08/12/axn-beyond-be-rebranded-betv

Here was what the vice president (communications, marketing and digital) of Sony Pictures Televisions Asia, said ... "BeTV will have the three Es: entertaining, engaging and easy viewing...It will be very different from AXN".

Mmm... "will be very different from AXN" ??? What ? Was he kidding everyone ?

Nay, just a statement for publicity only. He just talk stupid rubbish. Shows and programs still remain the same and the many repeats will still be there, hehe.

In my opinion, BeTV can be twisted to mean "Bullshit Entertainment TV".    Sorry for the mildly foul language.

Same thing happened for Star Movies name changed over to Fox Movies Premium, and "maybe" the only change was more movies with Dolby Digital 5.1 surround audio. Using my Home Theatre audio system, some of such newer movies have good surround effects from rear to front speakers and good vocal placement in the centre speaker but not for those movies with only Dolby 2.0 surround using only 2 main speakers. I seem to feel that HBO HD show more upscaled from SD to HD quality movies when compared to Fox M.P. Of course the Astro HD channels Dolby Digital 2.0 or 5.1 audio is way way below the quality from blu-ray discs with lossless DTS-HD Master Audio and Dolby True-HD audio (5.1 or 7.1 audio channels).

Maybe in future Astro change Wah Lai Toi to "Wo Bu Qan" in mandarin which means "I don't watch". Poking at Astro and joking only (只是开个玩笑).

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Added on March 22, 2012, 6:02 pm
My pleasure, you are welcome.

I didn't subscribe to Sport Package as I am one of the few idiots who seldom watch daily sports events from BPL football, Golf, etc. However, I do go or stay in my sister's house to watch football World Cup (from 2nd round matches to final) and Olympics. I cannot possibly miss those.

I do remember that Astro completely telecast live for ALL events of the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympic Games from Opening to Closing Ceremony using many interactive channels. All subscribers to Sports Package could watch these Beijing Games channels at NO extra charge !

I did not call Astro to enquire for clearer explanation. However, I do suspect that something is not right with Astro "Unmissable" promo to persuade people to subscribe to Sports Package and then "Add-On" EURO 2012 and London 2012 Olympic Games with one-time charge of RM 50.

Very fishy and maybe some trick to hook us to Sports Package. Look at my phone screenshots I took from HBO HD channel (pressed Red button on remote) ...

This "Unmissable Offer" include these 2 coming live events in 2012... UEFA EURO 2012 and the London 2012 Olympic Games.

From the above image, subscribers to Astro Sports Pack do NOT have to pay additional charge. Ok, good, which "seem" to be as usual like before. But only "free add-on" before 01-04-12 ? What ?

Now this image above is where I cannot really understand, maybe I am too stupid. It stated that this promo ends on 31-Mar-2012 ! I feel something is NOT right here.

Question 1
Ok, if I call and subscribe to Sports Pack before 01-04-12, that means I can watch all the sports channels AND including EURO 2012 and London 2012 Olympic Games ?? Extra "Add-On" charge of RM 50 will be refunded next year !

Question 2
No, I did not call and waited till after promo ends on 31-03-12 and then subscribe to Sports Pack on 02-04-2012. Yea, I can watch all the usual sports channels ... BUT this does NOT include EURO 2012 and London 2012 Olympic Games ? I have to pay extra (RM 50 ?) to watch these 2 said events ? If this is true, I do feel CHEATED since Beijing 2008 Olympic Games was included "free" in Sports Pack !

Question 3
What about those existing subscribers who already have Sports Pack, such as those who have this Pack already included in their SuperPack 3 ? Do existing Sport Pack subscribers need to "inform" Astro before 01-04-12 to watch these 2 events ? If they informed Astro before promo ends, then the "extra RM 50" charged will be refunded NEXT YEAR 2013 ?

What happens if any existing Sports Pack subscribers were ignorant and did not know about it until after the promo ends ? Even if such subscribers knew about the promo, maybe they did not bother to call or forgot to call or did not know that they must call Astro. Ok, if existing Sport Pack subscribers failed to contact Astro during promo period... then they will be charged RM 50 and cannot get a refund next year ?

What rubbish is Astro trying to do ? Too expensive to include in Sports Pack or want to suck subscribers for more fat profits ? Does it mean that Astro now says that the EURO 2012 and the London 2012 Olympic Games is "Add-On" and is NOT included in Sports Pack ?

Does it mean that people who already have Sports Pack must inform Astro before promo ends and if did not, then no RM 50 refund ?

What about those people who came in late as new Astro subscribers after 01-04-12 ? If anyone signed-in as new Astro subscriber on or after 01-04-12 and took the Sports Pack, did not know about it and found they cannot watch the 2 events... called Astro and was informed to pay extra RM 50 as "add-on" to Sports Pack (with no refund after promo period)... I can GUARANTEE that the unfortunate subscriber will SHOUT WHAT THE HELL ! And Astro may lose one more customer after the 1 year contract is over.

Of course I did not call Astro to seek clarification on this yet. But if I logically assumed corrrectly, then I can only say ..."This is ridiculous !"... for using very cunning and foxy method to try and "rob" subscribers of more money. I feel that Astro used vague and confusing tactics in their "Unmissable Promo" and maybe trying to fool us by not explaining clearly or in detail !

Could anyone in this forum please correct me if I am wrong anywhere or provide more clearer info ? Hehe... lazy to call Astro again... have called so many times in previous months lah.

Yea, really LOL. After looking at your pics here, I started scratching my head trying to find out where I went wrong. Switched on older Astro DMT box without smartcard to test again. Mmm... still no sound. I begun to wonder whether there was any hidden trick to this. I used S-Video and RCA (Red+White) to my amp.

Before I change to direct connections to TV to test, I decided to check my complicated connections to my amp again. Then I found the answer !! I connected the Astro box S-Video/RCA out to my amp DVD input and have also assigned my amp same DVD "Optical In" to also use [Optical Input 6] with my HD TV optical out connected to it. Woila... when I changed the DVD optical in assignment to [NONE], the radio channels can be heard !!

* My HD TV optical out was connected to my amp optical in labelled No. 6. which my amp auto disconnect my DVD RCA input when detected signal from TV. Once I disabled assignment from No.6 to NONE, I got sound !

That means the old Astro DMT box without smartcard can still be used to listen to all the radio channels.

I never bothered to check when I heard this from many people before since it was really not important for me. But when I tested, I did not get the sound. I thought wrongly that maybe got some hidden trick to make it work. Then... you posted your pics here... so this prompted me to recheck my connections again.

  LOLouder... Thanks to your small push, I got it right with a 100% confirmation that the radio channels do work for Astro box without smartcard. I appreciate your indirect gentle nudge. 

Yes... Starhub put UEFA EURO 2012 under their single Pay-Per-View (PPV) pack. Similar to Astro First (2 days) and ABO Events (1 month).

I think Astro wanted to prevent people from subscribing to Sports Pack only for short period by adding RM 50 and then only refund if Sport Pack is cancelled in 2013. Also, non Sports Pack subscribers may think the Unmissable promo is a trick to get us subscribe to Sports Pack early before 1-Apr to avoid additional charge. No need for me to further repeat what I have explained in my previous posts.

Maybe its much more expensive to telecast the 2 events. I can understand that.

I don't know whether Starhub use similar tactics as Astro or not. I did search their website (www.starhub.com).

Why did Astro used complicated and confusing methods to prevent people subscribing to Sports Pack for short period just to watch the sports events ?

Astro should make it simple and don't use the Unmissable Promo.

May not be the best... so here's my rough suggestion to make it simpler...

1) Just put UEFA Euro Cup 2012 in Astro Box Office Sports Event 1 at RM 50... And London Olympics 2012 in Astro Box Office Sports Event 2 at RM 50. Then offer subscription to both Event 1 and 2 at probably RM 90.

2) Announce... "Because of the increased costs for broadcast rights to these sports events, starting from 01-June to 31-August, people who subscribed to Sports Pack during this period must continue till 31-Dec-2012. Additional RM 50 will be charged to the following month's bill if cancelled before 1-Jan-2013.

This means the RM 50 will not automatically appear when we begin subscription to Sports Pack during the period from April to August 2012. I am sure this will prevent many unnecessary phone calls from many new Sports Pack subscribers who will not see the RM 50 appear in their bill because many will actually continue for long-term periods.

Also, new long term Sports Pack subscribers will NOT like to first pay the additional RM 50, Astro keep the money and then get refund in 2013. Its just like a "refundable deposit" and these people will not be happy that it may be possible for Astro to use this money to earn interest. Such "deposit" can be a huge sum if many new Sports Pack subscribers during this period. New long term Sports Pack subscribers will not like to pay "deposit" because they feel its not their fault... its the fault of people who subscribe for short term to watch Euro Cup 2012.

Hehe... maybe my suggestion is also complicated but there are many intelligent brains at Astro so I believe they should be able to make it simpler. Forumers here may disagree with me but its my personal opinion that Astro is making the additional charge of RM 50 too complicated.

The one thing I am happy is that, for Euro Cup 2012, Astro charges RM 50 which is about 3 times cheaper that the "early bird" price of StarHub at S$ 58.85 (about RM 143). Refer to... http://www.starhub.com/tv/packagebuilder.html?product=addon

Anyway, similar to most companies, Astro is a business and not a charitable organisation so I do expect it to try to get more of my money.

waiting for IPTV coverage... like h*ll they want to go to landlines..
only go for condo, and high rises building.. astro really doesnt appreciated middle class customer right???

Yea, I read about it but cannot recall whether it was the Euro 2008 or World Cup 2010. Anyway, you must be correct on the fight for Euro 2008 rights. If I am not mistaken, at that time many singaporeans complained why the rights was still not yet obtained while Astro got to be the Official Broadcaster so early... and the rights was finally bought at a date so near to the start of Euro !

I am malaysian so this fight for rights in Singapore don't affect me. Probably in Malaysia, Astro monopoly in Sat TV and the only big gun, was able to purchase the full coverage rights much easier at lower prices. Singapore competitors bidding against each other will definitely jack up the price which will inevitably increase the subscription amount.

The funny thing I found out was at the link ... "http://www.starhub.com/tv/packagebuilder.html?product=addon". When I mouse clicked on "UEFA EURO 2012 PPV-Early Bird+" link there, I got a "Page not found" error. Early Bird means subscribe early at reduced price and with price shown... Starhub should already have started accepting PPV subscription for Euro. Why show price and link in "Add-On" if not ready yet ? I don't understand. 

Unless that was sarcasm, you forgot the two words that makes assteruk subscribers very angry: Rain Fade.