Honest HD PQ impressions only please

[jxhopper]

I have been holding out in deciding on a new provider. I wanted to wait until D* launched the new hd and not before. I wanted to get feedback before I made a commitment. It's been hard to wait, but now is the time for me. I have a 70" TV and I want wowed by the PQ.

So... Has D* delivered the goods or what? Please give me honest evaluations of pre-HD upgrade and post-HD upgrade quality.

Your input is greatly appreciated.

[hasan]

On channels with HD quality source material, the PQ is excellent. Many of the new channels have sparse amounts of HD source material at this time. I'm assuming the HD quality sources for these channels will build up over time. A certain amount of patience is in order, and in some cases, feedback to the providers regarding "stretch-o-vision", upconverting and HD quality feeds is in order.

[Bowtaz3]

So far <knock on wood> the pq has been amazing.

[jxhopper]

On channels with HD quality source material, the PQ is excellent. Many of the new channels have sparse amounts of HD source material at this time. I'm assuming the HD quality sources for these channels will build up over time. A certain amount of patience is in order, and in some cases, feedback to the providers regarding "stretch-o-vision", upconverting and HD quality feeds is in order.

Thanks, I will not blame D* for HD channels not having true HD content all of the time. I am looking for what they can control, Bitrate/resolution. Thanks for your input!

[wilbur_the_goose]

jxhopper - put it this way - I have a HD-DVD player, and the D* quality is just as good.

PLUS - the audio quality is also wonderful.

[r1ga]

What I have seen so far is very good. But 80% of what I watch is sports, and there hasn't been and won't be much sports on (new channels) probably until the next round.

[JonVig]

I was a D* customer for seven years, an early adopter of the 5 LNB sidecar dish because I wanted my locals over the dish. My OTA was giving me fits. I became frustrated at how slowly D* was offering new HD channels and switched to Comcast in SE Michigan. The PQ was really good, comparable to D* IMHO, but came back to D* for more HD channels.

In my experience, the HD PQ on cable and D* were good, but cable had a better PQ on SD, I just didn't want to watch any more SD than I had to.

[2Guysfootball]

I have to say I am impressed the PQ on actual HD content is outstanding so far.

Even Stretch-o-Vision AKA-TBS is still a huge improvement over the Sd channel.

The Audio is Nice and Clear.

[raven56706]

If you saw the movie THe Queen last night on Starz.... it looked almost like the Blu Ray version....

[Tom Piperson]

When switching from an H20 to an HR20, I had to trade my OTA feed for a second satellite feed. I was relunctant because been able to do A/B comparisons I could see that the D* LIL (DC Locals) were not a crisp as OTA, and I lost PBS.

So far, it looks like the MPEG4 HD also suffers a little, but then maybe there has yet to be any full resolution source material.

I've not seen any significant block compression artifacts, so I would guess the bit rate is sufficient for the resolution.

The degradation I see is a general softening of the fine detail.

[ColdCase]

I have a 70" TV and I want wowed by the PQ.

Is that a 1080 or 720 set native? How much better PQ does it take for you to be wowed? Or do you just want a PQ comparison between the satelite providers and cable/FIOS HD-TV? You are at the whim of the provider as they adjust compression and bandwidth, and whether you can see it or not depends on your display device and your critical eye. Right now I think FIOS has technically the edge on resolution and bandwith... but there are so many variables, and, from my limited exposure, the "best" channels look good when served by any HD provider.

[Mike-SVT]

"I have been holding out in deciding on a new provider. I wanted to wait until D* launched the new hd and not before. I wanted to get feedback before I made a commitment."

+1 - except that after hearing the comments on Wednesday morning I pulled the trigger and ordered me up some D-TV HD - will be installed in about two weeks.

Can't wait to see the new picture quality.

[mhayes70]

So far. The PQ and sound quality is excellent!!! Crystal clear picture and even the strech-0-vision on TBS and TNT looks very good. :biggthump :biggthump Two thumps up!!

[VLaslow]

I would agree with hasan. The quality of true HD material is good. I didn't see much last night that was in true HD. On my Vizio, SD doesn't look that good...so, I try not to watch it.

[uncrules]

I watched a little bit of Anderson Cooper last night on CNN HD and it looked spectacular.

[ejjames]

Just a heads up, STARZ COMEDY 519 is showing "Cars" at 8:35 Friday morning. Should be a great test. I can't wait!

ej

[wilbur_the_goose]

ejjames - Shoot - even The Honeymooners looked good last night.

Methinks I'm going to cancel my Netflix subscription, which I had solely for HD-DVD. The new D* offerings are more than enough to satisify my HD need.

[Azdeadwood]

Just a heads up, STARZ COMEDY 519 is showing "Cars" at 8:35 Friday morning. Should be a great test. I can't wait!

ej
Actually animation is not a good test. Mainly because there is less variation of color and clear delineation between objects. That is why clever sales people will show cartoons on a low quality TV's.

"Real life" recordings are a better test.

[jxhopper]

Is that a 1080 or 720 set native? How much better PQ does it take for you to be wowed? Or do you just want a PQ comparison between the satelite providers and cable/FIOS HD-TV? You are at the whim of the provider as they adjust compression and bandwidth, and whether you can see it or not depends on your display device and your critical eye. Right now I think FIOS has technically the edge on resolution and bandwith... but there are so many variables, and, from my limited exposure, the "best" channels look good when served by any HD provider.

I'm looking for the old D* VS the new D*. My set is 1080 native. I've had E* HD, I just want to know if the picture quality is superior with the new D*.

FIOS is not an option where I live for any time in the foreseeable future.

Regards

[John4924]

I will have to agree with all the other posters. The PQ on real HD content [not stretch-o-vision or zoom-o-vision] are really outstanding. I was looking at CSI Miami [on A&E HD] last night and the aerial views of the city and coast were outstanding! Don't really care for the show, but the PQ was really, really outstanding! :)

Just goes to show you how real HD can be! :D

Cheers,
John

[Chris Blount]

From what I have seen so far, PQ is good on my 106" projection system. Not quite as good as Blu-Ray or HD-DVD but darn close. With a 70" screen such as yours, you might be hard pressed to see any difference.

[sgluck]

I saw part of "Casanova" on StarzHD yesterday morning PQ and sound were outstanding. Im using a Pioneer Elite 43" Plasma and Definitive Technology Speakers so Sound and Video are very important to mee

[TigersFanJJ]

Actually animation is not a good test. Mainly because there is less variation of color and clear delineation between objects. That is why clever sales people will show cartoons on a low quality TV's.

"Real life" recordings are a better test.

Thanks. Now I know why our local electronics store (by that I mean rent-to-own store) is always playing "Cars" on all of their HDTVs.

[djzack67]

I'm really happy with the PQ so far. As said by many even the upcovered SD stuff looks good. D* really can though so far. And this is just the start.

[davemayo]

Longtime lurker...finally decided to take the plunge and upgrade to HD. Been with D* for 9 years. Install is on Saturday morning. Can hardly sleep... :D

The information on this site is fantastic.

Thanks.

[spoonman]

So far <knock on wood> the pq has been amazing.

I have to agree. It's amazing and better then I could have expected. :)

[cpanic]

The PQ on the local channels in MPEG4 is excellent. I had a very hard time discerning any difference in quality from my OTA locals - I had to sit about 6 feet from my 50" plasma and switch back and forth several times before noticing a very slight better PQ on the OTA.

When source is good the new MPEG4 channels look amazing as well. The fact that we are even complaining about the HD sources should attest to how good the PQ is.

Maybe cable in some areas can compete, but Comcast in my area is horribly compressed - both SD and HD. D* SD and HD blows my local Comcast out of the water - and that's pretty sad considering how overly compressed D* SD is.

[John4924]

Longtime lurker...finally decided to take the plunge and upgrade to HD. Been with D* for 9 years. Install is on Saturday morning. Can hardly sleep... :D

The information on this site is fantastic.

Thanks.

:welcome_s to the forums!

Just make sure if you need a multiswitch that they install the correct one. Either a Zinwell WB68 or Zinwell WB616. And if you diplex OTA, make sure they put the bbc's upstream of the first diplexer. :)

Cheers,
John

[ivoaraujo]

From my experience,the PQ is excellent. I was watching every HD channel that came out yesterday and I was blown away.
I was blown away just with the local on the 8's on the weather channel. WOW.
To me there is no choice. Directv beats them all.
Hope this help you make a choice.

[davemayo]

:welcome_s to the forums!

Just make sure if you need a multiswitch that they install the correct one. Either a Zinwell WB68 or Zinwell WB616. And if you diplex OTA, make sure they put the bbc's upstream of the first diplexer. :)

Cheers,
John

Believe me, I've spent hours reviewing all of the invaluable advice on this site. I called the local installer directly and specifically requested a Zinwell multiswitch.

Thanks for the reminder.

[dshu82]

Oveall excellent so far. Studio shows on BTN have looked great, even found myself watching a show on pandas last night on Smithsonian for a while. Looked terrific....

[MikeR]

Oveall excellent so far. Studio shows on BTN have looked great, even found myself watching a show on pandas last night on Smithsonian for a while. Looked terrific....

:D Agreed....my wife was beating me up for watching the DC Zoo/monkey show last night...."we live 45 minutes from the DC zoo!, Why do you need to watch a show on monkeys? We have seen those monkeys."

Me: "Ummm....because they look better on TV":D

[CoachGibbs]

I think the new Mpeg4 channels look a lot better than the bit starved HD Mpeg4 locals.

[jsirwin]

[/QUOTE]So far, it looks like the MPEG4 HD also suffers a little, but then maybe there has yet to be any full resolution source material.

I've not seen any significant block compression artifacts, so I would guess the bit rate is sufficient for the resolution.

The degradation I see is a general softening of the fine detail.
+1

[QUOTE]Many of the new channels have sparse amounts of HD source material at this time. I'm assuming the HD quality sources for these channels will build up over time. A certain amount of patience is in order, and in some cases, feedback to the providers regarding "stretch-o-vision", upconverting and HD quality feeds is in order.

+2

I don't have Startz only HBO which wasn't affected by the added "HD" channels. There just isn't much true HD to see right now unless it's on some of the pay channels. The early CNN this morning looked good but soft. Smithsonian HD is showing HD most of the time and it looks good but soft. It's so early you can't tell for sure if it's the broadcaster or D*.

[Hdhead]

I'm amazed by the the PQ on the 106" projector. Didn't even know the projector was capable of this quality. No HD locals so first experience with mpeg-4. My jaw dropped yesterday morning when the first thing I tuned to was CNN and saw Kiren Chetry (sp) in stunning HD. And those "local on the 8's" graphics on the Weather Channel are very nice. Just hope D* doesn't reduce bitrates as they add more channels as has been their mantra over the years.

[chuckrollz]

i have an older 52' rear projection, and the picture still looks great! but i agree, the sound is amazing.

[Homebrew101]

What I have seen so far is very good. But 80% of what I watch is sports, and there hasn't been and won't be much sports on (new channels) probably until the next round.

Then tune into the Big Ten channels on Saturday and watch HD football!

We also checked out some of the programming on the new Smithsonian channel last night - even my wife thought the PQ was great - she normally cannot tell if a show is in HD unless I tell her it is LOL.

[cuibap]

PLUS - the audio quality is also wonderful.

Some of the channels have DD 2.0. What's up with that? I was hoping they're all DD 5.1

[dshu82]

I will be there at noon, watching PSU rebound against Illinois....

[smiddy]

My recommendation, since the variables are so many, is to find someone who has DirecTV HD and go check it for yourself. Then compare it to your local Cable HD. It would be great is you can find these folks with the same external equipment as your own (external from DirecTV box and feeds).

Based on my own personal experience the PQ is awesome. I have a 92" screen that is being projected which is great, and the 45" LCD looks great too. The SQ is excellent as well. As one person pointed out, the content makes a difference too. My locals have yet to go full HD on all of their programming, and neither has all of the new HD channels DirecTV has given us. By far, the two best channels with both content and PQ are Discovery HD Theater (been here for a while) and Smithsonian HD (new broadcasting as of yesterday). For the other channels I suspect due to their content makes a difference.

[borghe]

Actually animation is not a good test. Mainly because there is less variation of color and clear delineation between objects. That is why clever sales people will show cartoons on a low quality TV's.

"Real life" recordings are a better test.

ummm... have you seen Cars? comparing that to typical animation is insane. it has more in common with real life than animation.

on some computer animation I might agree with you, but on most pixar animation, most of their stuff is pretty dang photo realistic... not much of the clear delineation or lack of subtle coloring you're mentioning. None at all really.

[apexmi]

:D Agreed....my wife was beating me up for watching the DC Zoo/monkey show last night...."we live 45 minutes from the DC zoo!, Why do you need to watch a show on monkeys? We have seen those monkeys."

Me: "Ummm....because they look better on TV":D

My daughter asked the same why are we watching this..... :) SmithsonianHD is a top notch HD broadcast in my view.

[richlife]

50" Sony LCoS (LCD) here. The PQ is outstanding (I can tell the diff between MPEG2, MPEC4 and OTA -- sorry no Blu-Ray, yet). The only PQ problems are from the broadcasters who are shortshrifting us. Complain to them.

[Skins Fan]

Quite honestly I wasn't expecting too much. I am a PQ freak and I have the equipment necessary, properly ISF'd, to make sure I get the best. The new mpeg 4 programming is absolutely stunning. If you have been out in the stores looking at new TVs lately and have remarked how sharp the (store fed) TVs looked, this is what you will see now from *D, directly to your house. I have been impressed!

[JerryElbow]

I was in the same boat. On the one hand, I wanted to drop my Time Warner cable connection and jump to DirecTV because of all the new HD channels. I planned on waiting until the new stations had hit the air and could read some review on the PQ. Instead, I bought a new HDTV and decided to jump to DirecTV at the same time to get a $300 discount on the TV. The new stations went live yesterday and I've had limited time to really do any critical watching. What I've seen is that some stations look fairly shabby and some look awesome. I haven't figured out yet if it's an MPEG-2 vs. MPEG-4 thing or just a case of "garbage in-garbage out". Offhand, I remember thinking that one show on TNT-HD look kind of nasty and another on HD Theater (the former Discovery HD Theater) looked awesome. Both are MPEG-4 if I understand correctly, so that makes me lean towards the GIGO explanation. In either case, the new stations nearly all look WAY better than their SD counterparts (upconverted Weather Channel didn't exactly knock me out). Take the plunge!

[Ed Campbell]

Nothin' but net!

[ejjames]

i guess i'm just a sucker for animation!

[ChicagoTC]

I will echo everyone else's comments. The PQ has been outstanding on my 1080P DLP display. I'm very happy, even the 4x3 non HD content looks very good.

[ccsoftball7]

I have both TWC and D* (new subscriber). The OTA and MPEG-4 LIL look virtually identical. TWC may actually look slightly better than the OTA. How, you ask. There is a fiber feed from the stations directly to TWC. With that said, the "new" MPEG-4 HD stations look better than the "old" MPEG-2 HD stations. There is no question. However, source material (channels) are also different. When WTBS-HD lights up on TWC on October 1, I will do an A/B comparison to see if we can "see" the difference. However, from what I've seen from the new HD, I doubt I will see any. I can definitely see a difference on TNT, ESPN-HD, ESPN2-HD (and other stations on both systems). TWC is better on those. WTBS-HD will be the first true test of TWC (MPEG2) vs D* (MPEG4).

Jeff

[tomcat11]

The new channels look killer on my 50" Pioneer Plasma, especially the true HD content. It is totally dependent on the source material. I did have some issues with A & E HD. I dont know what is actually was, maybe macro blocking or some kind of interference? Anyone else have an issue with A & E HD?

[apace]

My recommendation, since the variables are so many, is to find someone who has DirecTV HD and go check it for yourself. Then compare it to your local Cable HD. It would be great is you can find these folks with the same external equipment as your own (external from DirecTV box and feeds).

Based on my own personal experience the PQ is awesome. I have a 92" screen that is being projected which is great, and the 45" LCD looks great too. The SQ is excellent as well. As one person pointed out, the content makes a difference too. My locals have yet to go full HD on all of their programming, and neither has all of the new HD channels DirecTV has given us. By far, the two best channels with both content and PQ are Discovery HD Theater (been here for a while) and Smithsonian HD (new broadcasting as of yesterday). For the other channels I suspect due to their content makes a difference.

I agree.
Unless you plan to never watch SD channels. DirecTV's HD is currently looking really good. Comcast in my area has better quality digital SD, but it might not in yours.
A 70" display is going to magnify poor quality input.

[GenoV]

Offhand, I remember thinking that one show on TNT-HD look kind of nasty and another on HD Theater (the former Discovery HD Theater) looked awesome. Both are MPEG-4 if I understand correctly, so that makes me lean towards the GIGO explanation. Actually those are both MPEG-2, but no matter...in the case of this particular comparison, it's DEFINITELY a GIGO situation - mostly GO for TNT-HD. :)

[dlt21]

It appears to me that HBO 501HD is Mpeg2 .I can not see any difference from ch70,Based on comments here the Starz have made it to Mpeg4 . Anyone know if I am correct?

[MnGuy]

It appears to me that HBO 501HD is Mpeg2 .I can not see any difference from ch70,Based on comments here the Starz have made it to Mpeg4 . Anyone know if I am correct?

All the new HD channels that launched this week are MPEG-4, including Starz. All of the old HD channels, HBO, SHO, ESPN/2, TNT, etc etc are all MPEG-2 remapped.

[SatNoob]

I think the new Mpeg4 programs, that are actual HD programs and have the HD logo next to them in the guide, are very very good. They seem much better than the mpeg2 streams. I'm quite pleased with the HD movies on Starz so far they've been very very nice.

Also a few of the actual HD progams/feeds on CNN look *VERY* good for live television. The colors and detail are extremely nice.

Hopefully over the next months as more and more films/shows/documentaries are filmed we will really start see quality HD through out the day, if not 24/7.

Now, bring me my locals in HD D* :)

[petergaryr]

Using the Smithsonian Channel as an example, the PQ is, on those programs actually in HD, outstanding.

The HD portions of Mythbusters on Discovery (not Discovery HD theater), are also extremely detailed and rich in color saturation without appearing unnatural.

A&E is mostly a waste of bandwidth, unless you are a fan of the Sopranos or CSI Miami. Unfortunately, shows like Crossing Jordan which was filmed in HD from its first episode are shown in stretch-o-vision rather than HD.

So, what you get is variable, but as has been stated before, it isn't D*'s fault what the content providers are doing.

[Sirshagg]

I think it all depends on the programming.

24 on A&E was unwatchable
CSI Miami on A&E was excellent (as good as it's been on OTA CBS)
UltraViolet on Starz was stunning.
I had mixed feelings abvout modern marvels on Hist. I'm not really sure what they did with it since it was letterboxed on my widescreen tv.

It seems to me that the qiality is there so long as the source is good.

[chuckrollz]

Using the Smithsonian Channel as an example, the PQ is, on those programs actually in HD, outstanding.


pandas in the wild was awesome last night!!

[TriggerDeems]

ejjames - Shoot - even The Honeymooners looked good last night.

Methinks I'm going to cancel my Netflix subscription, which I had solely for HD-DVD. The new D* offerings are more than enough to satisify my HD need.

strongly considering that too, saving about $240 per year. They just sit on the top of the TV anyway, gathering dust, waiting for me to find time to watch them.

[jxhopper]

Wow. Awesome feedback. Thanks everyone. D* here I fricken come!

[Citivas]

PQ is OK for HD, IMHO. Not bad, not stunning. I found myself toggling between the SD and HD feeds last night (for shows with true HD feeds) to strutinze the difference. There definitely was an improvement but if you were just turning on the HD feed you wouldn't go "wow!" At least not by my standard. I think a lot of this is the lack of stunning HD content, regardless of the service provider. But some of it may be the compression. I will say I didn't see anything yesterday that looked as good as the PBS HD programs I used to watch on Comcast...

For me the standard for great looking HD is CSI: Miami. The show is pretty stupid but we watch it anyway just because the visuals are so hypnotizing. Now, in fairness, I think they heavily process the shots and they good decent even in SD, but still it is my "demo" for anyone I am showing HD to at my home. If more content could look like that, I'd be happy.

[joelq]

Wow. Awesome feedback. Thanks everyone. D* here I fricken come!

Let me be the first to welcome you to the world of DirecTV! I have been hearing from folks in my area that are making the jump to DirecTV HD that the HR20s are out-of-stock. One person placed an order three weeks ago and was supposed to be installed today. DirecTV called him to say they couldn't come install as the equipment is out-of-stock. He was given a date of October 25th as a target for getting some more in stock.

Good luck!

[shendley]

I agree with the general thesis that whenever the source material is true HD, then the PQ has been outstanding. The only thing I've noticed on a couple of stations is random pixelation and picture break up - but that's really a different issue.

One thing, though: are we sure that both of the duplicates (HBO and ESPN) are still in mpeg2? I read something a few days ago that said DTV planned on broadcasting these mpeg2 stations in both mpeg2 and mpeg4. That sounds like a waste of bandwidth to me but that's what I read. Any reliable way to check this out?

[Sirshagg]

One thing, though: are we sure that both of the duplicates (HBO and ESPN) are still in mpeg2? I read something a few days ago that said DTV planned on broadcasting these mpeg2 stations in both mpeg2 and mpeg4. That sounds like a waste of bandwidth to me but that's what I read. Any reliable way to check this out?

Other posts have stated that theduplicates can be seen even if the BBC are disconnected and thus they can't be coming from D10. I agree that it would seem to be a big waste of bandwidth to do they in both right now.

[gvatty]

I think the picture quality is very good. However, it seems when I change channel from a sd channel to one of the new hd channels it takes the tuner an extra second or so before the channel changes. Also, the tuner freezes the picture of the new hd channel for a fraction of a second before playing normally. This doesn't happen with the mpeg 2 channels like espn2 and espn (72 and 73).

[borghe]

I agree that it would seem to be a big waste of bandwidth to do they in both right now.
considering the bandwidth is sitting there unused right now, it is technically a waste to not be doing anything with it, including retransmitting existing channels in MPEG-4. I mean what's a bigger waste? Transmitting duplicate channels or having a bunch of bandwidth that you aren't doing anything with?

[Sirshagg]

considering the bandwidth is sitting there unused right now, it is technically a waste to not be doing anything with it, including retransmitting existing channels in MPEG-4. I mean what's a bigger waste? Transmitting duplicate channels or having a bunch of bandwidth that you aren't doing anything with?

I'd be surprised if they don't already have plans for the bandwidth.

[ilfn143]

the picture is sharp still some picture noise, color saturation/lack of color. but it's better than before. watch the tonight with jay leno, pay close attention to jay's skin tone on his face (lack of color) and look at the background, you'll see some picture noise, or watch that karaoke show on fox (forgot what it's called) you'll notice some pixelation. overall it's comparable to E*. i have no ideas how cable looks like because i haven't seen it. both D* and E* is OK but still not as good as off air. that's my opinion :)

[daveriv]

PQ looks outstanding to me.

[jtcrusader]

I guess I expected more from the PQ. Audio sync issues with TWC. Smithsonian is by far the best....but CNN is good. Still waiting to see HD on THC and TBS, though.

[say-what]

the picture is sharp still some picture noise, color saturation/lack of color. but it's better than before. watch the tonight with jay leno, pay close attention to jay's skin tone on his face (lack of color) and look at the background, you'll see some picture noise, or watch that karaoke show on fox (forgot what it's called) you'll notice some pixelation. overall it's comparable to E*. i have no ideas how cable looks like because i haven't seen it. both D* and E* is OK but still not as good as off air. that's my opinion :)Maybe that's just an issue with your locals because my local FOX and NBC broadcasts look identical to the OTA version (or it's pretty darn close) and I haven't noticed the problems you mention.

[ilfn143]

Maybe that's just an issue with your locals because my local FOX and NBC broadcasts look identical to the OTA version (or it's pretty darn close) and I haven't noticed the problems you mention.

maybe my local NBC/Fox is better?

[tvl76]

The PQ on my 52" DLP is outstanding, but my Sony LCD is OK at best.
The display device is an important factor.

[John4924]

Maybe that's just an issue with your locals because my local FOX and NBC broadcasts look identical to the OTA version (or it's pretty darn close) and I haven't noticed the problems you mention.

I agree with you 100%! :)

The defects he sees on leno have nothing to do with D*, and everything to do with NBC HD programming. If you want to see how really bad the NBC HD coverage of golf is, watch the president's cup this weekend. I call it "sommatime HD" [somma time it is, and somma time it ain't!] :D

[Tiebmbr]

I watched a little bit of Anderson Cooper last night on CNN HD and it looked spectacular.

Ditto on that. Fantastic color. Can't wait to Olberman the same way....

[ilfn143]

I agree with you 100%! :)

The defects he sees on leno have nothing to do with D*, and everything to do with NBC HD programming. If you want to see how really bad the NBC HD coverage of golf is, watch the president's cup this weekend. I call it "sommatime HD" [somma time it is, and somma time it ain't!] :D

I was switching between off air and D* :confused:

[loubolb]

Watched Open Season last night on starz comedy and it is equivelent to any hddvd I have watched. I was in the boat of not expecting much but the quality is amazing.

[grantsa4]

Can anyone in IL compare it to cable their them?

[flipptyfloppity]

I have HD locals and OTA.

Just a quick look showed the HD locals compare well to the OTA. I'll get more time in on this when I make so longer recordings tonight, but so far thumbs up.

The other channels are a mixed bag. HBO somehow looks worse now that I have an HR20 than it did on my HR10-250, and neither looks anything like BluRay does.

The MPEG-4 channels seem a bit better.

I have to say, now that I have the new channels, I'm about as disgusted as I expected. There's actually fewer upconverts than I thought, but on the other hand, this is only because channels like Discovery are broadcasting a 5 hour loop of programming.

Honestly, the networks (CBS,NBC,ABC,FOX and even CW if you have OTA) are still where it is at. Free programming, and of pretty good quality in general.

[chrisexv6]

On my RPTV the new channels seemed a little soft (as did my HD locals). It might be due for a lens re-focus, so that might make a little, a lot, or no difference.

Tonight Ill check on my LCD, Ill just sit really close to see what kind of sharpness is on the channels.

-Chris

[tonyd79]

I am impressed. I have Comcast to do some comparisons.

Today, I was blown away by Pirates of the Carribean Deam Man's Chest. I have watched that on Starz HD on Comcast and on Comcast VOD and thought it was pretty good. It was much better today on D*.

Yes, there is a range in the quality of upconverts and true HD but the D* handling has been superb. They are doing as well or better than like sources I have.

[Fuzzybear]

Everything looked good to me except TBS which looked streched.

[aramus8]

Ditto on that. Fantastic color. Can't wait to Olberman the same way....I rarely watch anything on CNN except Lou Dobbs, but since the HD started, I keep going back to CNN for shows and commentators I don't always agree with...its the colors!!!

[nhey]

I think you'll be very interested in what I have to say about this.

I have Verizon FIOS as well as D*. The consensus opinion is that the FIOS service provides the best quality HD picture, slightly better than Comcast in my area (neither do any downrezzing).

I dumped D* last January due to HD-LITE and the fact that FIOS became available then in my area but recently decided to get D* for the new HD, so I now have both services.

I have a 70" Qualia 006, calibrated by "UMR", and considered one of the best RPTVs (it's a Sony SXRD that cost $13,000 when I bought it 3 years ago). I access FIOS using 2 cablecards and a Tivo Series 3 which is considered the best way to get the most out of the FIOS picture quality cause the Motorola 6416 box is not capable of showing full resolution while most think the Tivo box can approach 1920 x 1080. Both are connected to my Qualia via HDMI into the same input allowing me to do A vs. B comparisons of picture quality.

As someone who dumped D* in January, you can be sure I've been paying very close attention to picture detail and artifacts. I can honestly say that the new D* channels are every bit as good as the Verizon FIOS service. I see no difference at all, and in some cases the D*HD quality has been stunning.

In fact, watching CNNHD during the times of the day when they are not showing HD content, the SD content between the black pillar bars has really impressed me.

Verizon still has the edge on SD channels but I watch HD channels 99% of the time.

Bottom line - I give D* credit. They have delivered the goods with this MPEG4 rollout.

[Gary*W*]

I watched a Womens World Cup soccer game this morning on ESPN2HD. It looked fantastic compared to one I watched last week on the Mpeg2 channel. I checked out part of the movie "Zathura" on StarzHD and there were no artifacts that I could make out during the final Black Hole scene and there's all sorts of explosions and small objects flying around quickly in that scene.

I had Comcast in Nashville before I moved to Memphis and I have to say the new D* HD channels look better than comcast did.

There is a lack of HD programming on some of the channels (CNN, VS/Golf ) and TNT does looked stretched. The programming can hardly be held against D* and TNT looked stretched on Comcast as well, thats just TNT's fault.

All in all I'd say D* held up their end of this deal. The HD looks great!

[vikingguy]

I love the picture quality of the new mpeg 4 channels. It even beats a few of my OTA network channells that have 2 or more sub channels.