Anyway to get a 1080p signal from fios?

Question

A couple of weeks ago, I purchased a 32 Inch Sony Bravia 720p but yet 1080p compatible HDTV. I know my TV is capable of receiving 1080p signals as most HDTV’s are in the modern era. However, Fios via the HD DVR only broadcast up to a 1080I signal. My question is this, is there anyway to get a 1080p signal from Fios or will 1080I have to be settled for? What I mean is under video options on the set top box the options are 480I, 480P, 720P and 1080I there is no 1080P option.

Answer 1

BigDaddyTees wrote:
I’m sort of glad I didn’t opt for a 1080p tv then as in my case it probably would have been a waste, aside from playing BLU ray disk/HD video games. I’m someone who mostly watches their tv and occasional does other things with it (see above.)
All channels are already distributed in compressed format (typically MPEG-2). Some cable providers pass the local HD channels as they receive them, but virtually all apply additional compression on the cable HD channels (i.e. they re-compress). Verizon FiOS is the only major provider does not recompress any of its HD channels to save bandwidth. FiOS does recompress a few [mostly premium] channels distributed in MPEG4 format, but only to redistribute them in MPEG2 for those without MPEG4-capable receivers.
Not all content providers allocate and equal bitrate to their HD channels.  Most channels are distributed via rented capacity on satellite, and that costs serious money, especially for content providers that supply mutiple HD channels.  More budget consious content providers may use lower bitrates, either to minimize satellite carriage costs and/or make their channels more enticing to cable providers that face severe bandwidth constraints.  If a particular cable provider is constrained for bandwidth, they may be willing to add a $10,000 in time and equipment to recompress TNTHD -- a channel many demand -- but they may not be as willing to do the same thing for a lesser watched channel like HGTV.  Cable channels like ESPN, TNT, USA, SciFi, Hdnet, MHD, and CNBC all distribute their channels at fairly high bitrates, while cable channels like HGTV, Discovery Channel, Animal Planet, and the Science Channel are distributed with significantly lower bitrates.
Local broadcasters (ex: ABC/FOX/CBS/NBC) all have 19.4Mbps available to work with, but that must be split between the main HD feed, any SD subchannels for traffic/weather/etc, and a limited amount of PSIP guide data. Some broadcast networks also sell a portion of their bandwidth to other companies for commercial datacast purposes.  These days, it's very rare to find a network affiliate that uses anything close to 19.4Mbps.  Most independently owned NBC and CBS affiliates dedicate just 12-14Mbps to their HD feed, with the rest used for weather / traffic / news subchannels.  A 12-14Mbps feed is generally sufficient to provide a high-quality picture on 1080p24 sourced content like movies and episodic series -- albeit with some added blurring on motion -- but is often inadequate to provide a high-quality picture on native 1080i60 video with lots of movement, such as sports.  Today, the best network picture is typically found on CBS owned-and-operated affiliates, as they all devote at least ~16.0Mbps to their HD feeds.
Less bandwith for the HD feed translates into higher compression.  Generally, the first thing compression equipment does is is filter [out] shadow detail.  This includes fine details that you might see in faces, hair, and clothes.  After that, compression equipment will reduce the amount of motion information in the picture signal, resulting in more blurring. Compression may also reduce the color gradations in certain parts of the image. When all this is inadequate for a certain scene to achieve the desired bitrate set by the cable company or broadcaster, you'll start to see more obvious defects like blocking and/or stutter (dropped frames). This is most common in motion scenes, which require significantly more bandwidth than static scenes.
In an ideal world, Verizon FiOS would obtain full-bandwidth 19.4Mbps feeds from each ABC/CBS/NBC affiliate, but that just isn't an option without buying thousands of dollars in new equipment for each affiliate.  Most local networks use equipment that allows them to output their commercially-integrated channel at one bitrate and one bitrate only, so Verizon is stuck with the same feed used OTA.  Perhaps one day, when Verizon makes the move to MPEG4, it will offer to buy new new encoders for CBS and NBC affiliates in major markets, to provide the absolutely best picture available [anywhere] on those channels.  We can dream.
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