Made the switch to D (have one concern)

[Pmjohnson]

Well, after hearing the responses on dbstalk I decided to make switch to D. Hooked it up this weekend and WOW. The football games nearly made me cry they were so good. Have one concern though. My other channels are not quite as good as they were on dish. Here 's what I think but haven't tried it yet. I was running my signal into my Mit. 73 through the S-video. One of the reasons I bought the Mit. is I thought the line doubler did and excellent job on the regular channels. I am running signal through the component port now obviously to get the HD. I am hoping that I can watch regular channels through the S-video and get the same picture that I was getting on my dish broadcast. Has any body experienced this problem. Also Locals are really bad.

[paulh]

I've heard (esp with Sony) that some people got superior SD channels via the good ole Coax, as their TV did better decoding than the D* box., so try all the inputs.
For locals, if you have a HD box, then you'll get superior local reception (even with analogue channels) with a proper antenna, and the box integrates them into the guide (so you might be able to stop paying for the free locals)

[Mike Richardson]

The way some TVs work AFAIK is that coax and composite inputs are processed and sometimes the SVideo input is not. Like paulh said try them all.

[Marcus S]

Should clear up in Jan 2004. Same issue as E* had last year. Satellite failure, tried to cram more programming on to compete with *D. In this case, the return of NFL ticket while turning up an HD pak, and D*3 failing. I have not seen it yet, but I hear NFL Sunday Ticket fans love the new interactive and extended features.

Not impressed with Sony, (manuf by Zenith). Zenith / Sony closing out each and why the bargain. New equipment around the corner. Samsung SIR-TS160 seems to have the better PQ in component and DVI modes and many that own it leave it the respective mode. All video and audio outputs on call the time. Down side; poorer PQ in S-Vid/composite/RF modes, old EPG format, no EPG zoom feature, no UHF remote, soon to be discontinued, and everyone complains about the lack of CID name on all *D compatible equip. Hughes E86 requires switching from HD to SD. In HD, standard video outputs go dead. Upside; SIR-TS160 / Hughes E86, remote supports practically every appliance back to 1987 and the E86 has a few additional whistle and bell features.