Why do some channels look better than others?

Question

Why do some NON-HD stations look better than others on my HDTV?

For example ESPN and MSNBC look pretty good on the non-HD stations, where as some like FoxNews and Travel Channel do not look as good?

Answer 1

The quality depends on:

- The quality of the cameras involved in the original recording
- The delivery mechanism to your local cable company
- The age of the coax to your house and the cable equipment

I had a digital cable box years ago, but some of the non-major channels like WB, UPN had some small bits of snow and noise.

Eventually I called the cable company to come remove the box and I showed the problems to the tech and asked how noise/snow showed up on a 'all digital' system.

"We get those channels from an antenna." was his reply.

The big networks have a good microwave feed to the big cable companies. The smaller stations - not so good.

Answer 2

Probably the frequency the channel is on....that, coupled with a bad connection could create standing waves....

A good VSWR meter could verify that ....Right Techs?

I don't think I've used mine since the 80's...

But I do know somebody like Sencore makes a Cable fault finder that can actually test and determine how far down the cable the problem will be....

That's really concise....
You oughta get one...I bet the price has dropped to $700 by now..