EPL Picture Quality: FSC v. Setanta

[HDSports]

Every weekend I watch EPL on Setanta and FSC, and find that the Setanta feed is much clearer. I initially thought the poorer feed on FSC was due to my cable provider, but the FSC logo and ads/promos at the bottom of the screen are crystal clear. Perhaps their tape-delay machine needs it's heads cleaned...the game feed looks very soft, especially when I tune over from a game broadcast on Setanta where it is very sharp. (FYI, I get FSC on Comcast and Setanta from Globecast)

[JohnR]

I have Fox via Direct TV and have the same experience. The feeds tend to be fuzzy, much less crisp than an NFL game that is televised on CBS or Fox.

[dustcowpoke]

My FSC feed is sometimes almost as good as my local channel HD feeds. Great picture quality, crystal clear picture from TWC, wouldn't switch to Directv to get a fuzzy feed.

[jammybastard]

Do a search as I told everyone why this is a year ago.
Here's a hint:
Setanta uses a fatter pipe than FSC.
In this case size definately matters!

[HDSports]

Do a search as I told everyone why this is a year ago.
Here's a hint:
Setanta uses a fatter pipe than FSC.
In this case size definately matters!

Could you give us the to this discussion?

[jammybastard]

Could you give us the to this discussion?

The simple answer is that Setanta has a better looking picture because they use a connection that has higher bandwidth than FSC's source.
About double the capacity if I remember correctly.

[joebloe888]

The simple answer is that Setanta has a better looking picture because they use a connection that has higher bandwidth than FSC's source.
About double the capacity if I remember correctly.

You do have to remember the following:

Setanta Sports USA is produced and master-controlled in Dublin, Ireland. The finished product is then fibered to the Globecast uplink in Miami and the DirecTV uplink in El Segundo, California.

FOX Soccer Channel is produced in West Los Angeles and is master-controlled in Houston, where it is uplinked via satellite (on a compressed digital transponder) for distribution to cable and DBS operators.

Unlike FSC, there is no need for Setanta to take any feeds off the trans-Atlantic satellite transponders.

[kstuart]

Does Setanta Sports USA channel have actual stereo sound on the EPL matches ?

That is something I've been requesting for many years (after watching an EPL match in Surround Sound in a London pub 6 years ago).

[jammybastard]

Does Setanta Sports USA channel have actual stereo sound on the EPL matches ?

That is something I've been requesting for many years (after watching an EPL match in Surround Sound in a London pub 6 years ago).

Setanta and FSC both get their feeds from TWI. I'm sure those feeds are stereo to the uplink. I think it gets summed and sent mono to the USA.
A few years ago I asked one of my friends at Fox in LA (he supervised interstitials across their US sat feeds) why the games sounded mono and he said they were and they did it to save money. Bandwidth for stereo = more money.

[servotron]

Am I seeing things, or is the Fox Sports en Espanol feed even clearer than both FSC and Setanta?

I swear while I flipped past the Ars/Pool FA cup game I thought it was in HD even though I don't have HD.

[westsidepunk]

I think that the cup game may have looked different because it came from a different originator of the content than the league games do. Definitely not HD.

[servotron]

I think that the cup game may have looked different because it came from a different originator of the content than the league games do. Definitely not HD.

I know it wasn't HD.. it just looked quite sharp compared to the same game on a different channel.