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What Would be the Best Hi-Def Station For Movies? (1 Viewer)

Brian Cal

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Nov 13, 2000
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I currently subscribe to HBO HD, and while I think it's great, I would like to subscribe to something that specializes in all movies. I am on the fence about whether I should switch to Cinemax HD or Starz HD, or even switch at all.

My main concerns are:

1) Quality of the Movies (subjective, I know...)
2) Picture Quality
3) Sound (do they broadcast in 5.1 like HBO)
4) OAR (HBO does not always broadcast OAR)

Thanks for any help.
 

Lew Crippen

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I’m not sure that Cinemax and Starz have HD offerings.

DirecTV and Dish (and my local cable) offer Showtime HD. HDNet has a movie offering channel, but the movies are not that great. DirecTV has an HD PPV offering (and example of one currently showing is Seabiscuit.
 

GlennH

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Both Cinemax HD and Starz HD are on my Comcast digital cable lineup (along with HBO HD and Showtime HD), but I don't subscribe.

I had 6 free months of Showtime HD after signing up, but cancelled when that ran out recently. I'm not impressed with the caliber of HD movies, nor the presentation quality on Comcast. Showtime HD was too dark on a lot of material and suffered from a lot of pixelization. INHD and INHD2 look a lot better. YMMV.
 

Brian Cal

Stunt Coordinator
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Interesting. I too have Comcast, and I have the option to get HBO, Showtime, Cinemax, and Starz all in HD. I have heard that the HBO HD is not true HD, but on my ISF'd Toshiba, it looks way better than DVD... and DVD looks fantastic. No problems with darkness or pixelization here. INHD and INHD2 look a bit better, but many of their movies are generic.

If I could get an HD movie channel that looked and sounded as good as HBO HD (and didn't broadcast Sex in the City 19 hours a day) I'd be a happy camper.
 

GlennH

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I like a lot of older classic cinema, so I'm waiting for an announcement of Turner Classic Movies HD.
 

Mike-C

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Dec 23, 2003
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I receive both HBOHD and StarzHD. HBO broadcasts 24/7 in HD but for some reason StarzHD doesn't. You can watch a movie in HD followed by another film in upconverted 4:3. It drives me nuts! Its not like they are showing classic black and white movies that were filmed in 4:3, they will have LOTR:TT or FOTR in 4:3 and then a few days later they'll be broadcast in HD and the next time back to 4:3.

As far as the quality goes the blacks are nice and dark and I've never seen any compression artifacts or pixelation of any kind but the feed from INHD and HBOHD seem to be just a little better.

That all being said I still enjoy the channel but if it wasn't included in my cable package I wouldn't pay extra for an HD channel that selectively shows some things in HD and some in 4:3.
 

Jesse Skeen

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What the world truly needs is a HD porno channel :D (bug-free and commercial-free of course.)
 

Thomas H G

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Aug 10, 2002
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:emoji_thumbsup: WORD! Just kidding.....(yea right, I'm kidding)

Here in the DFW metroplex, they only offer HBO and Showtime. I'm having trouble getting picture on my CBS HD channel that was suppossed to be ready for Superbowl Sunday.

GRRRR:angry:
 

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