Resolution: Comcast vs AppleTV 4

[3587]

I've done some searching and can't find the right answer...

With the Super Bowl coming this Sunday, this is my question...

Comcast broadcasts in 1080i... AppleTV 4 is 1080p. Would that mean that anything you watch on the AppleTV will be slightly superior in quality? Especially with the Super Bowl being offered via the AppleTV CBS app?

I suppose no 4K will be offered online?

 

[jca24]

CBS's signal over cable is 1080i therefore you will see it in 1080i. If you want 1080p, unhook cable and watch CBS with an HD over the air antenna. No 4k.

 

[Beerstalker]

Theoretically in this case the 1080i and 1080p should not make a difference. This is because the Comcast signal will be 1080i60 which should be de-interlaced by your TV to make it 1080p30 before it is displayed. The Apple TV uses 1080p30 most of the time I believe, so they should be the same thing.

In reality, it is going to be whichever one is able to give the stream more bandwidth. That is going to depend on your local station, how they provide the signal to Comcast, your internet service, etc. Too many variables here to say for sure. Most of the time the best signal would be from an over the air antenna if you can get a good signal. OTA will still be a 1080i60 signal, but it usually has the most bandwidth (unless your local station has a bunch of sub-channels and they supply Comcast with a fiber feed with higher bandwidth).

 

[2010mini]

Dude just get some food, booze, friends and sit back and enjoy the game.

 

[3587]

Dude just get some food, booze, friends and sit back and enjoy the game.

Hey man, I have these fancy 4K TV's... Looking for the best picture so I can watch my men in tights.

 

[benjitek]

CBS's signal over cable is 1080i therefore you will see it in 1080i. If you want 1080p, unhook cable and watch CBS with an HD over the air antenna. No 4k.

OTA broadcast would also be 1080i -- the only way to get 1080p would be a web download or stream.

 

[2010mini]

Hey man, I have these fancy 4K TV's... Looking for the best picture so I can watch my men in tights.

Truth is if you want the best picture use an antenna. OTA signal is uncompressed unlike cable tv or Internet streaming.

 

[Alrescha]

Truth is if you want the best picture use an antenna. OTA signal is uncompressed unlike cable tv or Internet streaming.

The OTA signal uses MPEG2 compression. Just like DVDs. To be sure, cable will compress it *more*.

A.