Optik TV compression -- any way to reduce the visual effects?

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I've only seen an old thread on this, but other people I know with Optic TV have commented about this as well - Telus Optik TV is very digitally compressed. It is most noticeable when watching scenes shot in a dark area (e.g game of thrones - look for scenes in a dark areas where actors are carrying torches, the black area around the torch is blocky and weird shades of almost black.) Another example is a solid coloured areas -- instead of being uniform, it appears pixelated with faint swirls or loops of blocky colour bands. It's not a smooth gradient as you'd expect (or used to with DVD/Blu-Ray sources)

What is interesting is pure internet streaming (e.g. Netflix, Apple TV) does not have as bad compression, and Telus on Demand (paid for content) usually gives a crisper image. It's mainly broadcast TV that seems to suffer the most ill-effects (whether LIVE or via PVR)

I understand the need for compression, especially over copper/DSL, but for those of us that have upgraded to pure fibre, surely there is less need for such heavy compression over a fibre optic network. Telus are you working on reducing your compression as bandwidth increases? Can it be managed on a household basis (If so, I'd like it turned off or reduced for better quality!) Give me better picture quality and I'd sign a 5 year contract!!!

Secondly, given the fact of digital compression, does anyone know the most effective method of reducing it? I've tried many of the different settings on my TV such as noise reduction, but none seem to have much effect at improving picture quality.

Thanks!




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