What kind of picture quality Dish Network have

On AVERAGE what kind of picture quality does Dish Network have on its ntsc recievers? Don't use extreme examples like Pay Per View Channels(best picture) or the superstations(worse picture quality). I'm talking about the average picture quality on Dish Network on ntsc dish recievers.

Wow! I have a question for those that chose option 5. What channels are laserdisc quality besides PPV?

I suspect that at least some of them are watching on small (13"-25") televisions. I watch on a 27" tv and a lot of the channels look at least SVHS quality...then there are the others that are really poor - one of the reasons I'm resisting upgrading to a larger tv just yet :)

I don't know what to make of this! So far over half think Dish Network provides broadcast resolution or better. No wonder DN isn't doing anything to improve PQ...most think it's great!

Last night I spent about an hour switching between my DN receiver and my analog cable service to compare signal quality. On most of the channels the cable was clearly sharper, with more detail (resolution). It also had some channels that were no better, and a few had some analog interference effects. BUT...DN had visibly lower resolution on most channels. (as viewed on a 32" Sony from the mid 1990's)

This survey is flawed. The picture may be high-resolution, but it is riddled with compression artifacts and other flaws. Digital video can be high-resolution and low-quality at the same time.

Remember, the opinions depends of the TV and which channels are being watched.

Good points. Yes, they can deliver a high resolution picture at a low quality. The question is what is causing the "artifacts and flaws". Yes, ones television does make a difference. Having gone from a 27" relatively low-end RCA to a 36" Cinema Series Toshiba I can vouge for how much an improvement a television can make....lol although it doesn't help a bit with those artifacts and flaws.

To each their own I guess. By and large I find the quality adequate. If I didn't I'd go back to cable. What's everyone elses excuse for staying? 8-) J

I've noticed that people who complain about Dish Network's poor picture quality the most are people who have high end tvs like Sony Wega, Panasonic Superflat, Toshiba Cinema Series, and especially people with large high end projection tvs.
I've also noticed that people who complain about Dish Network's poor picture quality almost always have calibrated tvs, and they almost always use and S-video cable to connect their dish reciever to their television.
On the other hand I've noticed that people with low quality tvs are almost always satisfied with Dish Network's picture quality.

I have always believed that those who complained about the "unwatchable" or "horrible" Dish (or Direct) channels really must have a worse picture than I am getting. And perhaps their cable really is better than what I or ANY of my friends in surrounding towns with different cable companies are getting. But I have a 46" rear projection tv, that has been "ISF'D" (calibrated) and for the most part the programs I am watching range from just below good to very good, and once in awhile excellent. Take football on Fox and CBS on Sundays. Two weeks ago there was definately some pixalization especially on the Tampa game on Fox, but not unwatchable or horrible. This week I found the picture to be very good with very little pixalization and a clear picture on both networks. (keeping in mind that I agree the Dish picture is on the soft side all the time) I can see a difference on the West networks all the time (some what worse) than the local network (some what better) but never unwatchable or horrible. At times some of the superstations are only below good, but again not unwatchable. Here I have to concede going back several months ago, the Denver superstation was the worst of the bunch, close to horrible, and more recently in the good catagory. Fox News, MSNBC, and usually HBO'S are very good to sometimes excellent. A&E, Discovery etc.. seem to range from just good to a bit better than good.
All this is not to say it couldn't be better. Just look at the Herbal commercial run on Dish all the time. No matter what channel it is on, it is the clearest, sharpest picture I think possible without being HD! Now if they can make this commercial look this good, why not everything! I am picky about what the picture looks like, as I spent hours comparing before buying my TV, and then spent quite a bit on getting it fully calibrated. (made a huge difference) I wish there was a way to have someone who is very unhappy with their picture to see mine and for me to see theirs. Perhaps this would shed some light for BOTH of us. Finally, there is one thing that I tried and it could make a big difference in these reports about PQ. If I go from the Svideo connection to the old style "Cable" connection the picture is much worse - murky an unclear. There is a world of difference on my set between these two hookups using Dish. In fact there is a subtle difference between using RCA connectors and Svideo, with Svideo being a little sharper with richer colors. By the way, the week that the Tampa game had some pixalization, I also felt the OTA picture was also not up to what is usually is making me wonder if it isn't the feed sometimes rather than a Dish or Direct problem.

kenny sez:
"On the other hand I've noticed that people with low quality tvs are almost always
satisfied with Dish Network's picture quality"


It seems self evident to me that people with "low quality tv's" don't care about quality...otherwise they'd have high quality tv's. If they don't care, then of course they're satisfied.

FWIW, last night I took out some of the VHS tapes that I bought and compared each one to E*s PQ. From the information I gathered, The majority of channels on E* are better the VHS but a little worse then good broadcast quality.

Steve

<<Steve Jay Shem
DBSTalk Moderator
Posts: 519
Posted: 11/12/01 4:18:07 pm****
Re: re:Re: What kind of picture quality Dish Network have
FWIW, last night I took out some of the VHS tapes that I bought and compared each one to E*s PQ. From the information I gathered, The majority of channels on E* are better the VHS but a little worse then good broadcast quality.
Steve>>

You must not watch too much sports or Superstations then.
I'll admit, a stationary image on The Weather Channel kicks vhs's ass, but any programming that has any kind of motion is usually worse than VHS quality overall. I've never seen horrible pixelation on vhs the way I've often seen on Dish Network during sports and dark scenes and stuff. Your VCR probably doesn't have an S-Video output either.
Many of the new VHS/DVD combos have vcrs with S-Video outputs.
Most good SVHS and DVHS vcrs will also give you the most out of a VHS tape because those vcrs almost always have an S-video output.
VHS is in the Y/C domain so VHS really requires an S-video output to get the maximum VHS quality.
You also need a good BRAND NEW prerecorded VHS tape(preferably THX approved) on SP speed. Then you should compare to VHS and vhs will beat most Dish Network channels if you do everything right including have the right vhs tape recorded in SP, have a vcr with an S-Video output, have a very high quality S-Video cable, and have a high quality monitor/tv.

Notice I said most. The supers are an exception to that. Since you dont see pixelation in VHS that often I was comparing E* pixelation to the noise on VHS. I was using movies that I bought a few years ago, Air Force One, Silence Of The Lambs, ect and I have my VCR hooked up via composite intop my HT rcvr. And from what I saw E* PQ (for the most part) was slightly above VHS.

Steve