does signal strength equate to picture quality?

[bnewt]

Just wondering if a strong signal means a good picture. Considering the switch to dish 1000 & from what I have read, the signal strength will be less than I now have with dish 500. Will this mean that my picture will not be as good?

[Rop]

Nope, it won't.
As long as the receiver has enough signal to lock on to you'll see the same picture. That's the beauty of digital signals, they are for the most part all-or-nothing. If you currently have frequent break-ups (ie. the display freezing briefly) because the signal strength is at the edge of what the receiver needs then a bigger dish / stronger signal may help.

-Rob-

[Stewart Vernon]

The answer is a resounding yes and no!

As Rob says, digital signals are generally on or off, you get it or you don't... but signal strength determines your reliability at locking the signal during adverse weather conditions or if there are trees in the way and even planes flying by at just the wrong locations!

[Slordak]

Just to re-state what has been stated above... If you're looking at your TV and your signal strength is 105, and you then tweak the satellite dish to raise the signal strength to 120, and then look again at your TV, you will see absolutely no difference in the picture. If the picture is not actually breaking up, more signal strength does not make the picture "sharper", "more clear", or otherwise improved in a marginal way.

The comments above about bad weather apply, of course...

[larrystotler]

After about 55-60% signal, it becomes redundant. That's why you can go from 125 down to 60 during a heavy rain cloud cover and still watch TV. So long as it has enough to show a smooth picture, it doesn't matter what the signal is.

So, in short: No.

[bnewt]

I think that my current signal strength is around 100 - 115. So if have the dish 1000 installed & my signal drops to say 95 - 105, I will still be ok.

[larrystotler]

Easily