New Install...

[sooner5150]

Ok folks, please help me out here. As of today, I am a Dish Network customer who subscribes to every channel that I can get here in Moore, OK...I think their HD package is great, I love the VIP 622 HD DVR as it controls my living room and my bedroom. Ive never had a problem with their picture, audio sync or OTA reception, even though I do get my locals in HD via sat. We have lost signal a few times during bad storms, but that is expected. My contract with them ends this month, and with the promotions that Direct is doing along with their awesome HD lineup and more to come, I figured I would give them a shot. They are coming out tomorrow, bringing the slimline, with an HD DVR for my living room, DVR for the master bedroom and a standard tuner for the guest bedroom.

I have seen a lot of talk about bad pixilation, audio sync issues, even lots of people who can not even get the new HD channels with Direct. Though I understand that every customer base has its problems, these problems are showing up a lot in the forums and they concern me. So, yesterday the wife and I went to Best Buy to check out DirectTV and to see what we could be expecting with out install. I was not even close to being impressed. Now, granted Best Buy didnt even come close to having the correct setup, they did however have 1 HD-DVR connected via HDMI to a 56 inch LCD watching ESPN HD. The pixelation was horrible, and was way worse than what I have now. I have no pixelation hardly on any HD channels with Dish. Best Buy didnt even have the whole HD lineup that is available, and the guy stated that is was not available yet. So, with that being said, Best Buy's credability went out the door.

With everything I have mentioned here, I was curious and hopeful that some of you would be able to provide me some feedback on the pq and sound on Direct HD. I definitely do not want to go down in service. I guess I will just have the guy hook it all up and if I dont like it, he can yank it.....

[sooner5150]

Also, I forgot to mention that with Direct, I have signed up for the premier package, which according to the site includes all the FSN's. If there is an HD broadcast of these, will I see them?

[msmith198025]

Yes there are HD RSN's with D* that you wont get elswhere at this point.
As for your PQ issues. I have E* and D*. Prefer D*. simple as that. Both have good and bad points though.
Read through some more threads and while you should look at the bad, understand that you are reading about a very small percentage of customers who have PQ complaints, which may or may not be the fault of D*.

Yeah Best Buy setup? Not good

[sooner5150]

Since you have both, why do you prefer D*?

[It's Poo!]

Ok folks, please help me out here. As of today, I am a Dish Network customer who subscribes to every channel that I can get here in Moore, OK...I think their HD package is great, I love the VIP 622 HD DVR as it controls my living room and my bedroom. Ive never had a problem with their picture, audio sync or OTA reception, even though I do get my locals in HD via sat. We have lost signal a few times during bad storms, but that is expected. My contract with them ends this month, and with the promotions that Direct is doing along with their awesome HD lineup and more to come, I figured I would give them a shot. They are coming out tomorrow, bringing the slimline, with an HD DVR for my living room, DVR for the master bedroom and a standard tuner for the guest bedroom.

I have seen a lot of talk about bad pixilation, audio sync issues, even lots of people who can not even get the new HD channels with Direct. Though I understand that every customer base has its problems, these problems are showing up a lot in the forums and they concern me. So, yesterday the wife and I went to Best Buy to check out DirectTV and to see what we could be expecting with out install. I was not even close to being impressed. Now, granted Best Buy didnt even come close to having the correct setup, they did however have 1 HD-DVR connected via HDMI to a 56 inch LCD watching ESPN HD. The pixelation was horrible, and was way worse than what I have now. I have no pixelation hardly on any HD channels with Dish. Best Buy didnt even have the whole HD lineup that is available, and the guy stated that is was not available yet. So, with that being said, Best Buy's credability went out the door.

With everything I have mentioned here, I was curious and hopeful that some of you would be able to provide me some feedback on the pq and sound on Direct HD. I definitely do not want to go down in service. I guess I will just have the guy hook it all up and if I dont like it, he can yank it.....



Please keep in mind that the majority of posts on this board have to do with complaint issues concerning the satellite carriers.

You dont see many posts stating how great "this and that" are. I think there is another board for that! :hurah:

This board is like the small trouble shooting index in the back of an instruction book....only larger!

[axl]

sooner5150 as long as your dish is alligned properly you should not get the pixelation that people are talking about. I have no problems access any of the new HD channels that are available to me and I Ihave not had any pixelation errors. I have had my dish alligned properly and ensured the bbcs on the hd dvr worked properly. im really happy and it's a great PQ! I can't compare to E* for you but I can compare to my local Comcast and I have to say it's night and day.

[tvl76]

You will only get the FSN in your area. The others are available only with the sports packages. MLB extra innings, NFL, NBA, etc.

[RichH25]

The problem with D*'s mpeg2 HD channels (ESPN is one) is that the quality is highly variable based on the bit rate they are assigning to the channel at that time. I would assume, but can't verify, that the quality on ESPNHD on Dish is better than D* at this point in time. The main issue in the picture is mosquito noise due to over compression and low bit rates versus true pixelation. It is much more noticable on larger screen. For example, it is not very noticeable on my 42" plasma, but is definitely noticeable on my 60" plasma. So far this football season, MNF has looked pretty good. Some of the college games looked pretty poor (I especially noticed it Thurs or Fri games).

The above being said.... there is a lot of promise going forward. I find the mpeg4 locals hard to differentiate from my OTA locals even on a larger screen. The new mpeg4 HD channels look very good. In fact, the USC - Standford game on Versus HD was the best picture quality I have ever seen in a televised sporting event. The MLB playoffs on TBS HD also look very good. Eventually, D* will be moving ESPN HD to mpeg4, but the timing is TBD.

Also, I doubt Best Buy had representative PQ. Every time I am in there, the PQ on everything looks like crap. My PQ at home is much better than what they are showing.