Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Ten Action, increasing pixelation plus Setanta

According to reports being received there seems to be severe pixelation on Eurosport channel quite often. We hope Dialog rectifies the matter soon and improve quality on this only non cricket oriented sports channel on DTV.

It is sad that many Dialog TV subscribers were deprived of watching the UEFA Champions league final which was telecast on Ten Action. Ten Action is moving away from it's original football centric focus and now telecasts non footballing content as well like basketball and often share content with Ten Sports so Dialog should remove the "DTV Test" channel and introduce Ten Action immediately in it's place. Dialog would also do well to remove the a channel such as CCTV News which is available FTA on analog transmission and add "Setanta Sports".

If CSN is a hinderance to add "Setanta Sports" then Dialog we urge Dialog to remove CSN off their network (easier said than done due to VVIP influence) since it now available FTA over analog transmission.

Dialog TV is loosing ground to indian DTH operators in Sri Lanka and according to some reports we get, Indian DTH operators have a major market share in Sri Lanka compared to DTV.

36 comments:

hellbreez said...

Eventhough DTV says they give Digital picture quality this is not true.The signal upto the decorder is digital.But from the decorder to our TV we use normal analogue RCA cabling.
The reason is DTV decorder does not have a HDMI out socket to carry digital signals to our TV.
Hence the picture quality drops automatically.

admin said...

well said blog administrator.thank you for keeping the pressure on adding setanta.great to know that you are not scared about that vvip.there is another problem hear the setanta agent in srilanka is a government boot licker.not that he dosent want setanta on dialog tv but he has to cow down to that vvip for his survival...please Yoshitha Rajapkse let setanta be on dialog tv, now that you have the rights to the srilankan cricket premier league.let the dialog tv fan enjoy the full setanta channel...which according to me is highly unlikely unless your highness intervenes..

Chandika Gunawardhana said...

yes, we need Ten Action

JD said...

I can't believe Dialog still haven't added Ten Action!! The UEFA Champions League Final was a big miss and with the growing fan base of football in the country and the Champions League been one of the most watched football tournaments it was really disappointing Dialog aren't doing anything about this.
Also, how about adding AXN Beyond which has some excellent content that is not shown in any other channels. The Indian DTH operators as well as LBN have all the channels that i have mentioned in their line-up.
Its really pathetic that Dialog cannot even match the other providers for content.

nilu said...

If we had competitive DTH operators like in India dialog will be crushed. I heard that airtel will be launching a DTH in SriLanka but still no sign of them.

If want new good channel there should be competition among DTH operators.

Nokia said...

@ nilu
I totally agree with your coment. It's same like what happen to Mobile Market

Tharu said...

Yes.. we need to have better channel line up for sure. Also the picture quality MUST BE improved. Totally agree with you Hellbreez, the picture quality is dropping day by day as the DTV decorders are total desaster. My decoder emits digital audio even after switching it off!!!

Picture quality will definitely be better if HDMI out is added..

Lankan Blogger said...

What a load of idiots you lot are. Having an HDMI out will only be any good if there are HD 720p/1080i/1080p channels provided by Dialog. With the current picture quality it doesn't matter what cable you use.

Wow someone has been selling you all a bill of goods. Such ignorance.

If you really want to complain get some knowledge of your own without repeating someone else's words. Or else the customer service staff will lie away all your complaints.

This blog used to have some knowledgeable followers. Now they are all gone.

Lankan Blogger said...

And there is no picture quality called "Digital". Digital is only the way of transferring video/audio data. The actual picture quality depends on the encoding and compressions.

Often analog pictures will be clearer than digital because analog cannot be compressed. But analog video takes up a lot of space, and you can get snowy effects like on terrestrial (normal antenna) channels.

Dialog compresses their channels a lot so that they can squeeze more into each transponder. But recently there has been an actual improvement, even though you people prefer to see more pixelation.

I'm not supporting Dialog or anything, but you guys need to get something into your heads if you want to be taken seriously by Dialog.

Lankan Blogger said...

Honestly this blog must exist only to bitch about this and that.

Dialog is not getting worse and worse all the time. Of course it is not improving fast enough, but it isn't really getting worse except in your heads.

I don't see why Dialog is a total disaster really. Their customer base is still growing and Dialog has introduced some new decoders which are loads better than the old ones. I have one of the OpenTel models, and it is brilliant compared to the 2008 Technosat MPEG4 model.

Airtel won't be launching DTH in Sri Lanka anytime soon because of the lack of a large enough market. The mobile market is over-saturated and I think Airtel has learnt a lesson from that, so DTH won't really grow much for a while.

I think the next step for Dialog is to start broadcasting some good HD channels. Perhaps STAR World HD, now that it is available in India. LBN is evidently testing HD already, so Dialog should get their act together or they could lose customers in the Colombo city areas.

nilu said...

@Lankan Blogger

the bloggers here can be not knowledgeable like you but they post their problem and short comings with the dialog tv and provide information but personally, i think dialog should do more to there custmers than present situation.Warner TV channel get pixelation every time than other channels and recently all NAT GEO Channels were out in the the night without no reason.

Rovin said...

i would like to see ten action again.... we really miss the uefa final :(

Ron said...

Jackass LANKAN_BLOGGER!!
Your post clearly shows how stupid and how dumb a person could be in this living years.A RCA cable carries ANALOGUE SIGNALS from your decorder to your TV.
A HDMI CABLE CARRIES A DIGITAL SIGNAL FROM YOUR DECORDER TO YOUR TV.Even if your Tv is analogue format it helps to increase the picture quality.You can clearly see the difference on a Digital TV.HDMI is the latest addition.We had RCA/S video/Component and now HDMI.Eventhough DTV proudly says they give a digital signal end user do not get a digital signal.The signal is converted into analogue via a rca cable.True DTV has upgraded thair STb's but there is NO HDMI OUT SOCKET!!.
The people around you must be knowing your are dumb.But now the entire world knows your are dumb too.Thanks to your post and keep posting.Might get a MBA thanks to your dubmness

Lankan Blogger said...

It doesn't make much of difference if the signal from the STB to the TV is analog or digital.
Analog signals weaken over distance and are affected by environmental factors more than digital signals, meaning that you get effects like ghosting and lack of clarity. But that's for long distance analog transmission like the analog satellite TV and our ordinary terrestrial TV.

Between your STB and TV, it hardly matters if you use an HDMI or RCA cable. I agree that there will be some sort of picture degradation, but this is not noticeable to us. Three reasons:
1. We don't have HD channels on Dialog. Hence the picture clarity is not high enough that we notice any loss of quality due to an analog signal.
2. Dialog compresses their channels to a great extent, so their is a significant loss of clarity already. That is probably what you are annoyed about. I would agree that it is annoying to see pixelation, but this situation has improved a lot.
3. Most Sri Lankans still have CRT TV sets, where the resolution is limited to (often less than) standard definition. On CRTs you can barely notice even the pixelation due to Dialog's compressing, let alone any degradation due to an analog signal. On LCD/LED or plasma screens the pixelation and any other quality losses are clearly noticeable because the SD picture is streched over the HD resolution panel.

Now for some lessons in reality rather than theory:
1. STB manufacturers do not often make STBs which have HDMI ports but cannot decode HD channels. It does not make much sense to do so.
2. It makes little difference to the end user whether the signal between their STB and TV is analog or digital. What matters is that the signal from the satellite to the receiver/STB is digital, so we can have more channels at less cost.
3. CRT TVs (which I believe is what you meant by "tv is analogue format") do not have HDMI inputs. Unless it's an HD CRT, which are rare around the world and probably never heard of in Sri Lanka.
4. Studying television systems is my hobby, and I tend to learn a lot from experience. I wouldn't say anything here if I were not 95% sure of it. I want to learn from my mistakes, so feel free to correct me. But I think I already know more that you do. I don't want to show off though.

I will be happy to keep posting. But I'm not looking for a flame war here.

HSJAYA said...

Lankan Blogger,

Well said ! Lot of people talk lot of rubbish here without knowing facts and basic knowledge. You cannot have a decent chat here as most of the time many people talk only very bad about DTV. But still keeping DTV. Some buggars say they are using LBN, DISH TV and DTV and compare features.

I dont know how they afford to do this and more over where is the time to watch three operators.

I have experience vast improvement in DTV cutomer service during this year and most of the complaints I have made rectified promptly without any additional cost to me.
This was not the case about one year back.

So it seems DTV is making an effort and as DTV cutomers we should appreciate those kind of efforts rather than all the time blasting them away as if DTV is the worst thing in this world

Lankan Blogger said...

@ hsj
Thanks for your feedback. Your points are quite true.

I agree that Dialog is doing quite better now. They recently replaced my 2008 decoder with the brand new OpenTel model they have got recently. My old unit died due to a power supply problem, so when i complained they gave me the new model. The new model is much better and has clean graphics and gives a very good picture quality. I feel that it is better than the old unit, but I don't have a way of comparing the picture quality. It certainly is more reliable and its quite responsive (no lag or sound problems when changing channels).

They had already replaced a 2008 model of mine, for power issues, last year. This time they gave me the new model without any questions asked.

sattvmania said...

@rajeev,lankan blogger

you are both right but the fact is dtv is only mepg2 right as i had 2 dtv connections.
But gave away one as i wanted watch both videocon,dish tv.Now i am using videocon, right now much better than dtv,dish tv and mpeg4.Only good thing about dtv is they have local chls,better customer care . I am never going to give away videocon dth as it is the best right now even if you don't have hdtv.

Babul said...

Admin,
I think we ar having a problem with DTV bootlickers penetrating the blog to cover their ass.It's clear this "lankan blogger","hsj" is a same person.Pls remove this clown from the blog.

Lankan Blogger said...

I don't like to lick boots. Tastes yucky.
Sorry but I'm not the bootlicker you're looking for.

If this blog is supportive of free speech then the Admin has no right to block me out. The purpose of this blog is (supposed to be) to discuss Dialog TV, not only to criticise it at every moment.

It is a face that more than one person often has the same views (e.g. me and hsj). Another fact is that not everyone shares the same views. A forum like this exists so that all the views can be heard.

Hence don't assume that I am the only person with my views, and that there cannot possibly be others who share my views. Simply put, I am not the same person as hsj.

Babul said...

Dude........
so you know wat the taste of boots are like............that says something.......
Apart from that..i don't know how some one can say DTV is good when,
they don't have the best channels such as AXN beyond, Ten Action,Setanta Sports to name a few.Yet wasting transponder space on a test channel and some FTA crap like CCTV.
Finally this so called improved customer service take up to 5 mins just to pick up the phone let alone serving you.

DIGITAL BROADCAST SRI LANKA said...

http://www.dbsl.tk

Lankan Blogger said...

I'm satisfied with the channels that are available, like STAR World, AXN, Warner, TLC, Fox Crime, etc. Dialog has all the sports channels apart from Ten Action, Setanta and DD Sports.
Of course I would like it if more channels were available, but I as happy with what is available.

And CCTV is not bad. They have some interesting programming which you can't watch on any other channels. Just because you don't watch it doesn't mean that nobody does.

This is the selfishness that seems to have become typical of this forum.

nilu said...

@lankan blogger

everybody knows that CCTV is waste of channel. you already proven that your a proDTV.

V8 said...

@lankan blogger –

you think CCTV is good .. LOL .. you seem to be an exceptional case or someone dialog has sent to wash their dirty laundry .. & if you are from Dialog you sure need to learn a bit of subtleness man .. you sound like a Government TV channel who play their trumpet for the govt..

Just because you know about the technical aspect of this doesn’t make you a big shot & your opinion above all the others .. It’s pretty clear that most of the bloggers don’t think that Dialog is doing the best they can & if the definition you give for that feeling is “Selfishness” that’s your problem … and if you feel this forum is too low for your likening I wonder what you keep pestering away ...

Lankan Blogger said...

@ nilu
That is your opinion. You are not "everyone".

@ V8
How do you know that a majority of DTV customers don't want CCTV? Did you ask 20,000 customers about whether they want it? Are even 20% of DTV customers discussing on this forum? No.

Basically there is no way to know that CCTV is unwanted by all. I do occasionally watch documentaries on the channel. But I don't watch Cartoon Network and Pogo. Should I say that "Pogo is a waste of a channel" because I don't watch it?

This forum used to be a place of real discussion some time back. Now it's filled with a bunch of DTV haters who don't see anything good at all in the service, yet still use it. If you don't like DTV then wouldn't you have switched to some other network a long time ago?

I'm not from Dialog, don't worry. And I don't believe my opinion is more important than anyone else's. But I understand that the tone of discussion in this blog is extremely negative, which means it is impossible to have a sensible and level-headed discussion here.
You may have not noticed that whenever something good, or even something neutral is posted on this blog, everybody seems to ignore it. But of course when someone posts their anger and hate towards Dialog everyone joins in.

Yet DTV isn't really that bad is it? Of course there can be lots of improvement, but whenever a new channel is introduced most of the people here start grumbling about how useless that channel is. And the people here (and the Admin) have all ignored the new decoder introduced recently, which is loads better than the old one. Nobody mentioned it other than me, and nobody here seems to care really because something good shouldn't be discussed here. Right?

sattvmania said...

But what is the use of having a new decorder if u r getting only Mpeg2,They boasted of going mpeg4 right.I don't know what others think but for me customer care means replacing faulty equipment asap.Other things after that yes they take hell of a time to answer the phone ,now that everything is done by sms wonder what will happen next.Pkg rental keep rising with added taxes too much for the chls we are watching.Sorry to say dtv has lost it so many other alternatives now.

Malinga Randika said...

Hi !

Guys please don't think that Dialog sucks and peo is a nice gift slt offer to your hand.Though it has more features channels sucks.Charging money for local channels.Forign channels they offer are nothing when compared to dialog.
Worst thing is we are signing to an agreement for 1 year.Though we shift to something else we have to pay monthly rentalduring that year.

Gamage said...

I totally agree with LankaBlogger since he is telling the truth.now don't call me a proDialog,i don't do anyone's laundry except mine.

Dtv has improved over the time but it still haven't patched bigger slops in their service.i am no pro when it comes to technology but if they can increase the channel bandwidth they can take the their service t the next level without a doubt.as i think

Ten Action
AXN Beyond
Animax
Fox FX

should be added,dialog have some real rubbish channels in the line up like Thtv which people don't watch too much,i guess giving priority to what people like is the best thing for dialog if the would like to hold the market in coming years

and don't just hate,don't complaint so much,see things as it is and give a fair comment..keep this place clean

HSJAYA said...

Hi friends,

it is no surprise to me as soon I spoke some good about DTV we are called boot lickers by so called ass holes. This has been happenning all the time since the time I joined this blog in 2007. So do not get offended by these buggars. If you can go back to blogs in 2007 you can understand how much fight we had with these ass holes.

For these people any one who talks good about dts are bootlickers, But the same time these buggars are licking the boots of DISHTV, LBN and PEOTV by telleing us they have god given right to eduacte us with their talks.

So dont worry history repeat itself in different form and we know who are they.

sattvmania said...

I totally agree dtv is better than before customer care wise only and some good chls added recently. But at a huge cost to the customer with taxes what a waste of money.@randika yes u r right peo tv is not the answer they are worse than dtv.For me when ever there was a problem with the setup box they replaced it quikly.peotv,lbn no thanks.

nalaka77@gmail.com said...

its a problem to me that DTV is advancing the monthly payment due date from time to time ( 0n 14 in April, on 10 in May, on 6 in June, on 30 june for next month payment).
Can someone explain this?

Chandika Gunawardhana said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Chandika Gunawardhana said...

This time Tour De France is on Ten Action. We are going to miss that too..

fahim said...

Watch all free live tv channels online free.
Indian and pakistani tv channels live online, free sports tv streaming, fox soccer, goltv soccer, ten action, ten cricket, ten sports, star cricket, star sports, espn
all at one place => http://www.fancystreems.com

kappa said...

hi all,
Dialog is giving the option to record the content

I just saw the below update in Dialog website and it certainly seems interesting, but definitely not affordable. :D

http://www.dialog.lk/personal/tv/value-added-services/pvr-personal-video-recorder-feature/

Any comments?

TV & Radio Sri Lanka said...

Please continue commenting under latest post titled "Dialog's PVR (Personal Video Recording) feature".

Admin