Recently Comcast added Fox to their HD line up in Boston. I don't know for sure but Fox doesn't seem to broadcast their wide screen programming in HD. I'm watching Emmys right now and compared to, say, Jay Leno Fox looks much softer and not nearly as nice as NBC. I also saw a football game on Fox earlier today and it didn't even come close to football I've seen on ABC, ESPN HD or even INHD. Quality is nicer than 'regular' fox – but nowhere near as nice as other HD channels. This is especially pronounced for programs shoot outdoors (like the football game).

What is the format that Fox uses for its wide screen broadcast?

Thanks,
Michael

480P is the source. Some locals are transmitting 720P so that means a 480P upconversion - not HDTV.

Richard F. Fisher
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Thanks a lot for your answer. It's really interesting that the difference is so pronounced considering that I'm observing it on a plasma with native resolution of 'only' 852 x 480 pixels (Panasonic TH-37PWD4).

I thought I would not be able to see quality improved quality from signal beyond 480p. Why am I seeing such a BIG difference with higher resolution feed?

Thanks,
Michael

HDTV is simply a higher resolution source in many different ways and you don't need an HD display to get an advantage with picture quality. The main thing you are missing is image detail but numerous other things have changed and for the time being this is what makes most of us go WOW. Most of us aren't watching real HDTV displays anyway regardless of what it says on the front. The only scan rate being fully resolved from source to end user is 720P available in a number of consumer products.

There will be more to come on this issue of display resolution in a future column.