Dallas locals quality?

[garye]

I (finally) upgraded my system to Dish 500 last weekend, to get more PPV channels and locals. I called Dish to turn on locals, and watched them for about 20 minutes (looked at each channel offered). The quality IMHO was really bad--looked like low data rate MPEG-1 to my eyes, viewed using a 35 inch TV.

I called Dish back after 20 minutes of viewing, and had them shut off the locals if that was what the quality was going to be.

My question: Do others share my opinion on the DFW locals, or was I too hasty in my decision? I don't think it is my job to get Dish or the locals to give me better PQ on the DFW locals, but I also can't justify paying for the channels as delivered. Is anybody here happy with the DFW locals when viewed on a similar-sized TV set?

TIA.

[koko]

oh yeah, it looks bad. if you squint real hard, its almost wachable though. if i weren't hooked on the DishPVR I'd have dumped the locals too. I just cant bear to go back to VHS tape.

[boba]

I find the Dallas locals are better than AT&T cable and most channels are better than an over the air antenna except digital OTA. How have you got your TV connected to the satellite receiver?

[garye]

Originally posted by boba
I find the Dallas locals are better than AT&T cable and most channels are better than an over the air antenna except digital OTA. How have you got your TV connected to the satellite receiver?


I am using the S-video connection. Other AT150 channels look good--very good in most cases. My only issue is the PQ on the locals.

[lgnaclo]

one thing that you have to remember is that e* and d* buy their programming too, so what ever quality they get, they can try to improve it a little, but if the quality they get is pretty bad to begin with, then there really is nothing that e* and d* can do to impro them.

[garye]

Originally posted by lgnaclo
one thing that you have to remember is that e* and d* buy their programming too, so what ever quality they get, they can try to improve it a little, but if the quality they get is pretty bad to begin with, then there really is nothing that e* and d* can do to impro them.
Yes, I agree. But that doesn't encourage me to purchase them either...

[Turbohawk]

Yeah, I noticed the locals look like sh-t. Very much like MPEG 1 or even worse. The colors are very dull, reminding me a lot of the old moonshot films of which the only source was one screen at NASA, so the quality was second generation at best. The locals look like 4th generation or worse.

Time Warner cable in my area does have a much cleaner signal with the locals, but OTA sucks worse where I'm at than even Dishnetwork's signal.

What to do? E*, maybe it's a just a bad adjustment on your end? Could a little tweaking be in order?

[dishrich]

Some cable co. actually do NOT pull locals off-air like you think they would, but have direct connections to the stations, usually in the larger markets, like in NY. (when the WTC collapsed with all the TV transmitters, that is why the NY cable system didn't lose local channels) Heck, even here on my system, our local NBC & PBS channels DO have direct connections to our local cable system.

Unfortunately, OTOH, DBS doesn't always get a direct feed from the stations & must pull off-air, which usually means a poorer picture on some local channels.

[Mike123abc]

You might try just using an antenna. I am extreamly pleased with the 6000's ability to do OTA. I now have 3 channels CBS/NBC/FOX in digital. The Fox station is a 2.5kwatt 25 miles away (one of those temp digital deals they will go to like 300kwatt eventually) and it works great on the 6000. I had the antenna up getting the analog channels and got rid of the lifeline cable.

If you can get OTA save yourself the locals fee and probably get a much better picture.

[mnassour]

Originally posted by dishrich


Unfortunately, OTOH, DBS doesn't always get a direct feed from the stations & must pull off-air, which usually means a poorer picture on some local channels.

And we can't make a general statement, since this varies by provider and market. For instance, in my home market, all have fiber links to DirecTV, with the exception of the PBS station. OTOH, DishNetwork picks up everything off the air. In other markets, the situation is reversed.

I'd really be interested to see how Dish and Direct pick up those Dallas locals...since I have relatives there and am doing an install for them in a week or so....

[johnsmith22]

Í just got Atlanta distant networks, I find the quality (definition etc) to be reasonable but the colours appear to be washed out and CBS particularly has a bluish tinge to it. I assume its a matter of what you see is what you get as its a case of garbage in equals garbage out when they go over the uplink/downlink.

Can anyone comment on the quality of Atlanta and of New York networks, if New York is generally better I think I will change.

[hankh]

Have noticed smearing on close facial shots on all of the
locals I have had a chance to view. Dallas, Shreveport, and
Tyler. Moreover, I have noticed this same smearing on CBS
from Chicago and New York. Overall PQ on E appears to
be poor on these channels.

[Mike D-CO5]

E-mail Dish about picture quality issues at : dishquality@echostar.com .

These people will give you a canned reply at first , but eventually you will get a reply from the engineers. Leave your phone number where you can be reached at home and during the day. I have worked with them on Houston locals and now Little Rock locals. They have called me personally and have responded to all my emails and even left me their cell phone numbers at the office. The head engineer called me and work with me personally to tweak over the phone the problems I was seeing in both picture and audio problems for both cities.

Remember it won't change over night. You have to be patient and remember it is not always on Dish's end. In Little Rock , the ABC station and the WB station were both horrible. Lines rolling and almost black and white quality on them . It took from the end of August to just this week but ALL of the channels in the locals package are good now.

The affiliate in Little Rock needed a color generator , that Dish supplied , in order to get the ABC station up to good quality. The WB station needed to use the digital feed in order to repair the rolling lines and noise I was seeing. It took a lot of hounding of these affiliates by Dish and myself to get these two stations to monitor the chroma levels on the stations so they stayed consistently up to standards. I think it also helped that I e-mailed the stations themselves and even e-mailed the ABC network website to ask them to put pressure on the ABC affiliate to improve the picture quality.

You don't have to put up with bad picture quality , but be prepared to do some work to get the stations all up to quality. Dish encourages all people who are not happy with the picture quality to e-mail them and describe what you are seeing. They will fix the stations if you keep e-mailing them and calling Dish to describe what you are seeing. Be very descriptive in detail what you are seeing. Sometimes it takes just a tweak or two at the uplink center to fix the smearing you are seeing.

But remember this it always helps if you have your tv calibrated: low on contrast and low on brightness and very low on sharpness. My tv looks great on all sat picture now and I don't even see any artifacts anymore in my picture quality with Dish.

[music_beans]

oh yeah, it looks bad. if you squint real hard, its almost wachable though. if i weren't hooked on the DishPVR I'd have dumped the locals too. I just cant bear to go back to VHS tape.


Well, the Sioux falls locals are really good in PQ, especially CBS. KTTW and KWSD are kinda grainy though.

And BTW, VHS Tape is not that bad. (unless you have a big screen, which I don't)