I really can't help but wonder why Comcast handles SD channels the way they do.
Many SD channels are downscaled by Comcast from an HD source and letterboxed to 4:3. An example of this is the Starz channels, which are only delivered to cable companies in HD. Even if these channels must be carried in SD, letterboxing them to 4:3 makes no sense to me. Comcast already has some SD channels in 16:9 (mostly local subchannels, but also a handful of others, like Kids Central), so why doesn't Comcast carry these channels in this format? As things stand, quality is reduced because some of the picture area is used for black bars, and widescreen TV owners (presumably the vast majority of customers by now) have to mess with the aspect ratio options to view these channels correctly.
For that matter, why does Comcast continue to carry so many SD duplicates of HD channels? Surely getting rid of these would free up a fair amount of bandwidth for other things, and it would also remove the confusion of multiple channel numbers for the same content. Are there really that many boxes in the field incapable of downconverting HD channels for SDTVs (or people who refuse to pay Comcast an extra fee for the privilege of watching things in HD on rented equipment)? Every single OTA box in the US is capable of this, since there are no SD duplicates broadcast OTA, so I can't imagine this is an expensive feature to implement.
Is there something I'm missing here? These feel like obvious things from my perspective.
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