Moire patterns while watching digital broadcasts - maybe a question for Amir

Moire is not a problem with video so I wonder if you are seeing what we call banding/posterization. Here is an example of it:



If so, it has multiple causes. It can be created by:

1. When the content is produced. When going to higher resolution to lower, this has to be done with dither. Unfortunately even "professionals" working on movies don't know this and create banding right in the source which cannot be eliminated after the fact.

2. Too much compression. Video compression relies on reduces the effective resolution of each video block. When pushed hard, you can see the reduced resolution in smooth graduated video images such as the sky.

3. The display. This is a pretty routine problem and the cause can be very hard to investigate as it can range from firmware error, to signal processing mistakes and flat out limited resolution of the display such as cheap LCD monitors.

If the problem is display independent, then it is either #1 or #2. Googling for user feedback on said content with phrases I mention often reveals other reports of the same problem if it is there.

If your TV supports playing still images through memory cards or otherwise, you can download smooth gray or color images and see what it does. If it has no posterization, then it rules out the display for the most part. Create the stills at the resolution of the display so that there is no resizing/resampling. Without detective work like this, it is hard to know where the problem might be.

Scaling does not frequently generate posterization so that would not be the first place I would look. That said, if you can change the settings in the settop box so that it outputs the native resolution of the source and letting the TV do the scaling, that would give you another clue as to potential issues.

Does SKY have its own STBs or is there an open market for third-party products?

The Pio should have good scalar. Just the same, be sure to set it to 1:1, or dot-by-dot or whatever it is called where it doesn't do any overscan.

As to being behind, for the longest time you were ahead of us with Teletext, PAL, etc. Only when HDTV came that for some reason Europe did not take seriously.

The situation in US for the walled garden providers is the same. With Comcast for example, you either get ancient boxes that struggle beyond any reasonable measure to do anything as they are 15 year old technology. I got the latest one (X1 from Comcast) and despite having been in the market for 1 to 2 years, is full of bugs. The simplest thing of displaying the Guide, causes it to display text on top of text, have boxes with nothing in them, screen savers that get stuck in that mode forever, etc. It is remarkable the power near-monopoly has in enabling mediocracy.