Is anyone with a big screen and DirecTV happy?

[RichLux]

I'm all caught up in the "digital quality picture hype" of DirecTV and am about to pull the trigger on it for my 53" Sony (non-HD) television. Unfortunately, during my due diligence on the newsgroups, I've seen an overwhelming number of posts about how horrible DirecTV is on large screen tvs. Before I go and get myself locked into a year contract, does anyone have any good news for me. I really hate my cable company (Comcast), but the picture quality isn't bad with analog cable, so I'd hate it if I switched to DirecTV and got a worse picture!

Someone say it aint so :-(

Rich

[pez2002]

(1 Where are you from
(2 How much are you paying with comcast

[BILLKT49]

I have a Hitachi 43 inch analog and Direct TV. Not as big as a 53 inch for sure but it may give you an idea. My picture quality is excellent. My picture is better than most of the channels on my cable system. I have had both cable and Direct TV in the last year. Hope this helps.

[RichLux]

Originally posted by pez2002
(1 Where are you from
(2 How much are you paying with comcast

I'm in Rockville, MD and I have analog "basic plus" or whatever they call it. No premium channels. It's around $49/month on unlimited # of TV's (I only have 2 right now). I know DirecTV will give me more channels for a few less $, but its picture quality that's more important to me than anything else.

Rich

[platinum]

I have D* hooked up to two large screen tv's a 52in rca and a 50in toshiba, I have excellent pq. I'd say go for it.

[juan ellitinez]

Dont Worry Uncle Murdoch will fix everything

[Karl Foster]

Originally posted by juan ellitinez
Dont Worry Uncle Murdoch will fix everything

...I'm sure the picture on Dish is much better on a big screen :rolleyes: I'm sure Uncle Charlie has made huge strides in pq on non-HD tv's...

[rickaren]

I couldn't be happier with my set-up.

[HarryD]

Rich,
I would re-think buying a set that big w/o it being HD. There's probably not that big a difference in price.

[RichLux]

I already have the TV (it's about 5 years old). It's DirecTV that I'm looking to get :-)

Rich

[apc1]

If you're that worried about PQ, you might step up to a larger dish. A 24" dish is not much larger and will give you more gain. I've heard this improves quality on larger screen tv's.

[scooper]

apc1 - Fallacy #1 - All a bigger dish will do for you in DBS is give a bit more rain fade margin. It will have ZERO effect on Picture Quality - period - end of discussion.

[Win Joy Jr]

I have a 50" Non-HD Toshiba RPTV with my DirecTV DVR, and the picture is much better than the comcast provided analog basic channels. Granted, the DirecTiVo is going to the TV vis s-video, and the cable is in via coax, but it is a MAJOR improvement.

[jrbdmb]

Wait till Uncle Rupert takes over DirectTV and watch the PQ hit the skids ... No more HD, just "480 enhanced whatever" ...

For real HD, 1-800-333-DISH ..... :grin:

[platinum]

Originally posted by jrbdmb
Wait till Uncle Rupert takes over DirectTV and watch the PQ hit the skids ... No more HD, just "480 enhanced whatever" ...

For real HD, 1-800-333-DISH ..... :grin:

Get a grip...:barf:

[LarryS]

I have a Sony 53" XBR and I find the picture quality with DirecTv pretty good after 3 months. Prior to that I had Echostar for years and found that side by side the Direct signal was a little crisper than the Echostar. Our cable here really sucks so its fuzzy signals aren't worth a comparison.

[bcushman]

I have a 45 inch Mitsi and have excellent PQ

[James_F]

I think my DirecTV non HD picture is much worse than my Cox Digital Cable... I haven't been impressed with DBS picture quality for many years. :shrug:

[adkeith]

I wish we could go back to the picture quality the DBS providers had five years ago. Some areas have cable with excellent picture but the Cox in my area which was completely upgraded last year is awful.

[MeadMkr]

The local channels via DirecTV are often sub-par due to lotsa compression while many of the other channels can be excellent PQ. There are times when I get some pixelation on a few channels like USA & SciFi but generally its a nice picture. I went with the Hughes E86 for my Mits 65" to replace the old (and I mean old!) receiver which was pretty lousy PQ on the big-screen. Since upgrading its a lot better :)

I'll probably move the antenna out of the attic and onto the roof and deal with my locals that way for at least the Mits. The OTA and HD OTA are outstanding compared to the locals on D*, only problem is I can't get all of the 'locals' OTA :(

Cheers,
CW

[Baywoof]

The quality of feeds, from best to worst on my system (60 in. Sony GWII, old Dish 5000 sat receiver Samsung OTA tuner, and attic antenna w/ inline amplifier:

1. HD locals via OTA HD tuner
2. Digital (DT) local channels via OTA HD tuner
3. Satellite feed
4. local channels fed from antenna into 5000

A progressive scan DVD comes in at 1.5

11 channels (includes 2 sub channesl) in the Houston area broadcast digitally with 5 having HD programming during prime time and Signal strength went from fair to excellent after hooking up the in-line antenna amplifier. With this amount of local digital broadcasta available, I've opted not to hook up a second dish and buy a new sat. receiver (6000 model w/HD add-ons) just for what is offered by Dish right now. I may opt for the new HD Dish receiver when it's available by year's end and sell the OTA tuner. I hope Dish add HD signals to to 110 sometime in the future.

After watching HD programming, I switch to sat mode less and less at night. I found it interesting that even non HD digital local broadcast is better than the satellite feed

[bluebino]

I have a 48 inch Mitsubishi widescreen HD monitor. I just transitioned myself from Comcast to DTV. I'd say overall the picture quality is noticably different, less grainy. Of course, to some extent I think it depends on the quality of the original taping. For example, some of the "must see TV" shows are shot on higher quality film/process....so with DTV it looks very good. I click between my DTV input and my cable input(haven't shut it off yet), and there is definately a difference.

[BK78]

Rich,
Just be sure to get a receiver that outputs the highest quality video that your big-screen supports. If your TV supports Component video (RGB), be sure to get a receiver that has that video option. If you get an entry-level receiver (free), you'll get what you pay for in terms of picture quality results on a large screen TV.

[bonscott87]

DirecTv PQ is excellent (some channels better then others) on my Hitachi 43" HDTV. But then again our cable is terrible so I guess it depends if you are one of the lucky 1% who actually has decent cable.

[Richssat]

My D* looks pretty good on my 53in Magnavox Tv. The biggest problems with DBS and big screens are.

Most bigscreens come from the factory with the sharpness settings cranked all the way up. Turning that down will soften some of the blockiness

(since you don't have an HD set this doesn't apply to you but). Most people don't like that the "native" signal is 4:3. Most run their TV in 16:9 to take advantage of the extra width of the screen. The stretch and zoom functions really make a digital picture look bad.

HTH

RR

[Bif]

Oh...stick with Digital Cable, as it is superior!!!

[gowilk]

i'm a guy who has had all 3 with the same 50" screen (about 3years old) ...Directv picture qualty is superior to both with one exception (locals) ... not sure why their quality is low there but otherwise far better than Adelphia Cable and better than E* after about 11/01 when they "lowered" pq.

[durl]

I recently upgraded my Sony TV from a 53" non-HD to same size HD. I found that the picture quality did diminish slightly after the change. I performed a manual convergence (which helped GREATLY) and I use the Pro picture mode since it eliminates a lot of the picture processing and gives me a much cleaner picture. Also, I turned the sharpness way down.

I've had friends say that my picture looks awful on the set when I switch from HD to regular satellite, but that's true when you compare the two. When you look at a HD picture ANYTHING will look lousy in comparison. At the same time I've had other people talk about how good my picture is when they've only seen non-HD signals.

"Digital quality" doesn't mean DVD quality in my opinion. Digital means no ghosting, static or fade. Sure it means better quality but the level of compression is what determines the overall quality. It's like those mpeg movies we all get through email. Those are digital movies but with incredible amounts of compression which makes the quality worse.

Anyway, when you have a larger screen and you view it too closely, you're going to notice all of the signal weaknesses. It's a trade-off, but overall, I'm VERY happy with my picture.

[stuartr]

I'm on the fence about switching from Comcast digital HDTV (New Jersey) to DirectTV precisely because of the PQ issue.

The PQ on the HDTV feed from Comcast can be stunning, but the quality of the non-HDTV feed, particularly on the analog stations, can be awful.

Has anyone else made the switch from Comcast NJ to DirectTV, and are they happy with the PQ?

Finally, I'm new here, and I'm having trouble finding an FAQ on some other issues I'm sure are addressed (i.e., how real and bad is the "rain fade" problem, is DirectTV planning to add in HDTV feeds for national broadcasters, i.e., NBC, ABC, CBS, etc. If anyone could point me in that direction, I'd appreciate it.

This is a terrific resource -- thanks for all the help and info.

[ARKDTVfan]

Originally posted by stuartr

Finally, I'm new here, and I'm having trouble finding an FAQ on some other issues I'm sure are addressed (i.e., how real and bad is the "rain fade" problem, is DirecTV planning to add in HDTV feeds for national broadcasters, i.e., NBC, ABC, CBS, etc. If anyone could point me in that direction, I'd appreciate it.

. The whole Rain Fade issue is over done IMO, sure it goes out but only during the worst weather. I say go for DirecTV, of course it depends on your cable system, here cable sucks so of course DirecTV is the obvious choice, stay away from dish, my Mother has that and the PQ sucks (grainy, horrible colors, and compressed a lot, of course part of it could be the some trees are in the way at her house.

[bills976]

If you have a clear view of the Southern sky, you should have no problems with rain fade. However, if you get either a triple-LNB, para todos, or a Dish 500 (the last one being from Echostar/Dish Network), you may have a greater chance at rain fade since these dishes are much harder to aim, although if aimed correctly work in the same manner. I do agree though that the rain fade issue is exaggerated... I rarely get it and have many trees in my view towards the south.

[JAMHRR]

I have my tv using the S-Video cable and the picture quality is much better than not using it. If you have S-Video, I suggest using it. You will be glad you did.