E* HDTV Quality better than D*

[tbfu2000]

Is it true that there is a better (less-compressed) HD signal (read: picture quality) with E* than with DirecTV?

I have read a few things on this but because I don't fully understand the DBS lingo I don't know if the diference is really that big of a deal.

Can folks from both sides on this issue chime in?

Thanks

[tds4182]

I switched from E* to D* a few months ago because I wanted to watch college and pro football in HD and E* wasn't able to offer ESPN HD at the time. I had owned a Dish 6000 HD receiver with both 8VSB and 8PSK modules. When I switched to D* I purchased a Sony DirecTv HD receiver.

In my opinion, the picture quality is about the same on both units. The OTA HD reception on the Sony unit is quite a bit better than the Dish 6000 unit. Tuner seems more sensitive and now I don't have to listen to the fan on the 8VSB unit all the time. The Sony unit seems to run a little cooler than the 6000 also.

Both the Dish 6000 and the Sony DirecTv receiver are good units. At the time I switched D* had superior HD programming, especially in the area of sports.

Good luck!

Is it true that there is a better (less-compressed) HD signal (read: picture quality) with E* than with DirecTV?

I have read a few things on this but because I don't fully understand the DBS lingo I don't know if the diference is really that big of a deal.

Can folks from both sides on this issue chime in?

Thanks

[Mike123abc]

I think the question is what is DirecTV planning to do in the future. They have been experimenting with compressing the HDTV feeds due to lack of satellite space. DirecTV-7s has been held up so they are really getting crunched for bandwidth. Once they get 7s up they will have a bit of breathing room, but probably not much.

DirecTV has yet to announce how they are going to get around the HDTV bandwidth issue like Dish has done (dish has added 2 new satellites locations and a new SuperDish system to receive them). I would assume some time next year DirecTV will announce a new satellite location and a system to receive it so that they can keep up with the new HDTV channels.