Jim Stanton

A member of the Philip Greenspun's Homepage community since February 3, 2009

If you were to log in, you'd be able to get more information on your fellow community member.

February 3, 2009, on Verizon FiOS Versus Comcast:
Two comments: 1) Comcast delivers all their HD channels in the format provided by the content provider, just like FIOS. If the source material is in 720p (such as Fox TV), both FIOS and Comcast provide it to you as 720p. If the source material is 1080i (like NBC TV), you get it as 1080i regardless. This being said, it is possible for your provider to lower the bitrate of the program stream. The satellite providers must do this due to their very limited bandwidth. Comcast I believe does as well, while FIOS does not. This does not affect the resolution, but instead can add compression artifacts. 2) CableCard is an option for both FIOS and Comcast. Every programming provider is mandated by law [1] to provide the option to not rent the set top box (STB), but rather purchase your own equipment, and the CableCard standard is what the industry came up with to satisfy that requirement. Use of a CableCard absolutely does allow you to get premium channels. The problem with it is the l...
February 3, 2009, on Verizon FiOS Versus Comcast:
Also, re: the DNS problems, I've always had luck using the public nameserver at Boston University (ns.bu.edu / 128.197.27.7). No OpenDNS shenanigans, just real DNS.