Cable PQ vs Direct Tv PQ

[efy007]

Hello,

I have been looking over various threads here but cannot see any definitive, detailed answers so I figured Id ask. Pardon me if there is a thread devoted to my question already.

I am really getting sick of Comcast and want to make the switch to D*. I am not concerned over pricing, or channel lineups. My biggest issue is PQ on both SD and HD. I just got a 58" Plasma and am not happy with PQ on SD. On HD channels I notice a lot more "tiling" or "artifacts" during fast motion scenes. I have read on these threads that tiling/artifacts are caused because of compression issues. I am going with the assumption that as Comcast keeps adding channels, they have to compress more and more so my PQ gets worse because of that.

So basically I just want feedback from all you D* users (preferably the people who have switched from cable to D*) Is there an improvement in SD channels over cable? On HD channels do you notice the same, more, less tiling/artifacts vs cable? I dont mind equipment issues, set up issues, pricing, etc. My issue is quality! Im very picky or rather anal about it PQ and want the best PQ I can get.

Normally, from everything I have already read, I would just make the move, and if I wasnt happy I could go right back to cable. But the fact that I know I am locked into a contract with D* makes "the move" more difficult. So, any feedback on your experiences regarding PQ, tiling, artifacts, HD, SD would be greatly appreciated.


Thanks!

[Ken S]

Comcast for us has a far better SD picture. HD is very close between the two.

[RobertE]

In general SD is going to look like crap on a set of that size. DVD's won't be too bad, but not great.

[lparsons21]

My experience goes back a bit.

I had our local cable system for a few years, and the analog channels really were not good, but OK on my 36" set. When I upgraded to a 61" HDTV, it became quickly apparent that cable was rotten on it. The analog channels really sucked now, and some of the digital weren't much better.

So I switched to Dish, which at the time was better for HD. Both SD and HD from Dish were better by far than they were from Cable.

Early this year I switched to DirecTV because they had the HD channels I wanted and also had my locals in HD. IMO, the picture from Direct was different from Dish, but still much better on SD and HD than was cable.

But that is my experience with my cable company. I don't know how your cable would appear to me.

[Upstream]

I just switched from DirecTV to Comcast in central NJ.

I didn't have HD with DirecTV, so I can't compare DirecTV's HD to Comcast's HD.

For SD, I get some analog and some digital SD channels from Comcast. The picture quality on the Comcast analog SD channels is comparable to DirecTV's SD channels. On the Comcast digital SD channels the PQ is much better than the PQ on DirecTV's SD channels.

[Grentz]

I have only really seen side by side HD between Mediacom and Directv, and Directv was a far better HD picture compared to Mediacom (who also only has around 15 HD channels)

[rudeney]

I can't really tell you much about cable vs. D* (it was over 10 years ago when I switched from Charter analog cable to all-digital D*). I can tell you that for my local HD channels, D* is indistinguishable from OTA. During the Summer Olympics, I was seeing some compression artifacts in the water during the swimming coverage. I switched to OTA on my TV's ATSC tuner and it was exactly the same.

[BattleScott]

Hello,

I have been looking over various threads here but cannot see any definitive, detailed answers so I figured Id ask. Pardon me if there is a thread devoted to my question already.

I am really getting sick of Comcast and want to make the switch to D*. I am not concerned over pricing, or channel lineups. My biggest issue is PQ on both SD and HD. I just got a 58" Plasma and am not happy with PQ on SD. On HD channels I notice a lot more "tiling" or "artifacts" during fast motion scenes. I have read on these threads that tiling/artifacts are caused because of compression issues. I am going with the assumption that as Comcast keeps adding channels, they have to compress more and more so my PQ gets worse because of that.

So basically I just want feedback from all you D* users (preferably the people who have switched from cable to D*) Is there an improvement in SD channels over cable? On HD channels do you notice the same, more, less tiling/artifacts vs cable? I dont mind equipment issues, set up issues, pricing, etc. My issue is quality! Im very picky or rather anal about it PQ and want the best PQ I can get.

Normally, from everything I have already read, I would just make the move, and if I wasnt happy I could go right back to cable. But the fact that I know I am locked into a contract with D* makes "the move" more difficult. So, any feedback on your experiences regarding PQ, tiling, artifacts, HD, SD would be greatly appreciated.


Thanks!

Time Warner SD here is slightly better than the DirecTV SD channels, but neither look GOOD. HD is very good on both.

[hdtvfan0001]

Generally....Cable HD and DirecTV HD are very similar in picture quality. Since there are several cable outfits, and their company-to-company results may vary...I've neutralized the response.

As for SD....watching SD on a 58" plasma in general will be painful with any provider, especially once you've seen HD on the same display.

SD on my 55" RP LCD is tolerable with DirecTV (my wife occasionally watches her couple of shows still on SD channels), but its painful on my 116" Home Theater screen. HD on that large screen, on the other hand, is a joy with DirecTV.

I have seen TWC and Comcast SD and HD many, many times on larger displays and even on screens located in Home Theaters. I'm not sure that when any provider features SD on that large of a display it is not somewhat painful to see in comparison to the much superior HD channels.

[jimmyv2000]

my brother has comcrap in the same town i live in ad the PQ quality is horrible
He's in the process of switching to D*
see this thread:
http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=147831
He comapred my HD to His and likes mine way better especially on the national HD,plus more choices than crapcast,also he says the locals look better through D* than comcrap
He's running a 37inch Sony,2 panny 32 inch sets all HD and 1 RCA SD set

[makaiguy]

Sorry, but it is impossible to give a definitive answer because "cable" varies all over the map. Even the same cable provider can have drastically different quality in one city vs another, or even in different parts of the same town, at least for analog standard definition signals.

I'd expect cable digital signals to at least be about the same for a given franchise/town, but may still vary quite a bit from franchise to franchise.

[Matt9876]

Charter vs DirecTV

DirecTV wins big time on the number and quality of HD channels.


Charter feeds come in about four seconds sooner than DirecTVs feeds.

[Xalky]

Sorry, but it is impossible to give a definitive answer because "cable" varies all over the map. Even the same cable provider can have drastically different quality in one city vs another, or even in different parts of the same town, at least for analog standard definition signals.

I'd expect cable digital signals to at least be about the same for a given franchise/town, but may still vary quite a bit from franchise to franchise.

I agree. Cable companies, even the same company, vary from one area to the next. DirecTV is pretty consistent nationwide. Limited only by your clear view to the southern sky.

[n3ntj]

Our local Comcrap provider's PQ does not even compare to D*'s from what I've seen. Comcrap also can't compare in HD channels compared to D*. This may vary from area to area, but I can only tell you what I've personally seen. I can also tell you that the Time Warner HD PQ where my parents live absolutely stinks compared to D*. When I directly compare the TWC HD PQ to D*, D* is much more clearer and crisper.

[rudeney]

Charter vs DirecTV

DirecTV wins big time on the number and quality of HD channels.


Charter feeds come in about four seconds sooner than DirecTVs feeds.

And pure OTA about two seconds ahead of that. You do have to be careful when talking to someone on the phone while watching a live broadcast (sports, American Idol, etc.) if that person has cable.

[GBFAN]

The one factor a lot of people forget to include is that with cable, you can have PQ issues due to the coax cable length. With a satellite dish, you only have the coax from the dish to your receiver. My subdivision was established in 1979, the cable pedestal is in my back yard and hasn't been upgraded in a long time.

[Piratefan98]

I switched from Comcast to DirecTV back in March, and had some of the same questions and concerns you have.

My thoughts in general:

SD is probably going to look pretty bad on a 58" TV, regardless of whether the signal is coming from Comcast or DirecTV or Dish or whatever. SD just can't be blown up that much and still look very good.

In my particular circumstance, Comcast PQ was pretty good on both HD and SD, but HD channel selecton was sparse, so I switched. DirecTV PQ is very good, but I wouldn't say that it's appreciably better than the PQ I was getting from Comcast.

Jeff

[Alebob911]

That is what I switched from almost 2 years ago. At that time Charter only had about 10 HD channels so that was the main reason we switched. Digital PQ was good but analog was bad. Not one regret on making the switch. I am getting more for a tad less even though I had to pay upfront "lease upgrade" fees. Charter vs DirecTV

DirecTV wins big time on the number and quality of HD channels.

[Getteau]

And pure OTA about two seconds ahead of that. You do have to be careful when talking to someone on the phone while watching a live broadcast (sports, American Idol, etc.) if that person has cable.

I see the same thing between my R15 and my HR21's. I think the R15's is a few seconds behind the 21's or it's the reverse. I'm not at home right now to check.

[looney2ns]

Some LCD and Plasma's simple handle SD better than others do. It's not all the providers fault.

I have a 60" rear projection WEGA Sony, and SD looks very acceptable on it...I'm on WOW cable.
It also can depend greatly on how you have the picture settings setup.

[Justin23]

Are you stretching the SD picture to fill the Plasma or leaving it in 4:3?

J

[efy007]

Thanks to all who responded to my question! I really appreciate all the input!

Ed

:)

[skylox]

I had CableVision and their SD was horrible....it looks like shows were from the 80's, HD was pretty good but it would ALWAYS pixelate....even after numorous service calls and tech visits......

My DirecTV is way better for both SD and HD, the HD has never pixelated and the SD is actually clear enough for me to see a hockey puck for example....on CableVision I couldnt see the puck at all.

[dbalone]

I just moved and went from TWC to DIrecTV. After two weeks I would have to say that the SD channels are better than TWC and the HD channels are about the same from what I can tell. SD channels with TWC were horrible.

[ClubSteeler]

Bright House runs their HD at full Mpeg2 uncompressed bit rate as they receive them. In my opinion, BHN HD looks better than DirecTV HD.

DirecTV SD used to look incredible, but has gone way downhill.

BHN SD has been much better since they've gone to simulcasting every channel digitally (even the ones also transmitted via analog). However, much like DirecTV, BHN has been compressing the channels more and more, and SD is starting to look as bad as DirecTV, although the sports channels and most-watched channels are still better.

Luckily, BHN is rolling out Switched-Digital-Video and hopefully they take advantage of the added bandwidth to stop oversompressing the SD channels. We'll see.

Also, BHN is cheaper than DirecTV assuming you set up 3 or more TVs in your house (assuming you are OK with analog to the bedroom TVs).

BHN also has absolutely no contracts or commitments, free equipment exchange, no money down for equipment, and free service calls. And when there is a problem (for example, last Monday night Digital Cable went out during all of primetime for much or Orlando), they refunded the affected subscribers without being asked to.

DirecTV has a lot more HD, but for me, just about every channel I ever watch is in HD. More channels are coming every month. Just got 4 more yesterday.

My biggest complaint about BHN is the ongoing contract disputes, and therefore lack of the channels: NFL Network and Fox Sports Florida.

[Justin23]

Bright House runs their HD at full Mpeg2 uncompressed bit rate as they receive them. In my opinion, BHN HD looks better than DirecTV HD.

DirecTV SD used to look incredible, but has gone way downhill.

BHN SD has been much better since they've gone to simulcasting every channel digitally (even the ones also transmitted via analog). However, much like DirecTV, BHN has been compressing the channels more and more, and SD is starting to look as bad as DirecTV, although the sports channels and most-watched channels are still better.

Luckily, BHN is rolling out Switched-Digital-Video and hopefully they take advantage of the added bandwidth to stop oversompressing the SD channels. We'll see.

Also, BHN is cheaper than DirecTV assuming you set up 3 or more TVs in your house (assuming you are OK with analog to the bedroom TVs).

BHN also has absolutely no contracts or commitments, free equipment exchange, no money down for equipment, and free service calls. And when there is a problem (for example, last Monday night Digital Cable went out during all of primetime for much or Orlando), they refunded the affected subscribers without being asked to.

DirecTV has a lot more HD, but for me, just about every channel I ever watch is in HD. More channels are coming every month. Just got 4 more yesterday.

My biggest complaint about BHN is the ongoing contract disputes, and therefore lack of the channels: NFL Network and Fox Sports Florida.


I live in Orlando and that BHN outage you spoke of was closer to 8 hours than just the primetime hours you said. People were extremely PO'ed because the Bucs game was on that Monday night and no word on when the cable was coming back on.

I also think the refund and the free month of Showtime/TMC had a little more do to with U-verse finally being made available in Orlando that same week.

There is a reasom they call them CrapHouse/DimHouse/DarkHouse...

J