Dish Network's HD resolution

[djbrettb]

Hello,

I am currently looking to get rid of my cable TV service (such a scam!), and switch to a satellite provider. I am trying to do some research regarding the resolution each provider broadcasts.

The simple question I have is, does Dish still broadcast 1080i content at 1440x1080? I can't seem to find a single concrete answer. Not looking to start any wars here, as I know this can be a touchy subject, but this is basically the only thing I have left that I haven't figured out. My mind has always been pretty much set on going with DirecTV, but if Dish is finally broadcasting at 1920x1080, I may consider Turbo HD.

Thank you!
Brett

[P Smith]

Ppl using R5000 told us that numbers.

[djbrettb]

Ppl using R5000 told us that numbers.

I don't understand what you mean. People using the R5000 reported Dish uses 1440x1080, or they reported that Dish uses 1920x1080?

[P Smith]

Still using 1440x1088.

[jclewter79]

According to the last Charlie Chat, Charlie says they broadcast what they receive. That may or maynot be true, but thats what he said. I really wonder what kind of HT setup a person would need to have to actually the difference. I have never seen a PQ difference between D* and E* but, that just me.

[BattleZone]

According to the last Charlie Chat, Charlie says they broadcast what they receive. That may or maynot be true, but thats what he said.

It doesn't matter if it's "true", because it can be interpreted a dozen ways, none of which answer the question directly. IMO, this was intentional; it is known that 1080 content is down-rez'ed to 1440x1080i for Dish HD, just as DirecTV's legacy HD channels were down-rez'ed to 1280x1080i (the new Ka-band/MPEG4 1080 HD channels are now the full 1920x1080i).

In some cases, you could see a difference, but lots of HD is shot with cameras that only have 1440x1080 resolution anyway (most field cameras and special-effects cameras).

But, honestly, the resolution isn't where the majority of the noticable quality loss comes from. Instead, it is the limited bandwidth, and the resulting increase in compression that you're going to see. Anytime there is a large amount of motion going on in the frame (fog/smoke/fire/explosions/sweeps across the background), you'll see macroblocking and less defined color as the compression engine is forced to throw away data in order to squeeze the picture into the available bandwidth.

Bandwidth is the reason Blu-Rays look so much better than any other HD; all other forms are heavily compressed, whether you get them from cable, satellite, a telecom, or via download. Blu-Ray has 4-6 times the amount of bandwidth available compared to the other delivery methods.

Of the national TV providers (all cable is regional, even if "owned" by a national brand like Comcast, so their systems are different from area to area), known bitrate rankings would look like this, from best to worst:

- Verzion FIOS
- DirecTV
- DishNetwork
- AT&T Uverse (low and soon to go lower)