Dish PQ vs. DTV

[Virus]

I'm a long time DTV subscriber who just yesterday converted to Dish. My main gripe was HD channels. I was miffed that I have locals in HD, but no mpeg 4 DVR to go along with it. DTV's standard def PQ is really bad now. It's deteriorated over the years. At the time I made my deceision to go with Direc, Dish's PQ was worse. How does Dish's standard def programming look on high def sets in comparison with Direc?

[Mike D-CO5]

Depends on your tv /tv settings , receiver whether it is hd or sd, and your personal preference on pq.

Many like Dish's pq as it is more uniform with less break ups in the backgrounds and less pixelation. Some say this gives Dish a more softer picture overall. Many say Directv has a more sharper picture but more pixelation and break ups in the fast moving scenes. IF you tv is set on high sharpness on either sat provider you will get more jagged lines and the pq will resemble the same as what you get from a coax connection.

I had both providers in 2003 to compare them , and I perferred Dish over Directv with both picture quality and the interactive menus , guides and services. It helps to have a good hd receiver and a good hd tv. I have a toshiba hd 57 " tv and the pq is great in movie mode. The Movie mode feature covers a lot of errors in your picture and improves the picture. Also the als feature or automatic light sensor , will adjust the picture contrast depending on how much light is in the room. This keeps the picture looking its best.

Others with different tvs say a lot of different things based on their tvs . I shopped around with my sat receiver and took it to different electronic stores to plug it in and test the picture . I went in to Sears and saw a Dish 6000 hd receiver hooked up to a Toshiba 50 "hd tv and it looked great on both sd and hd channels. I tested all the channels and I was very impressed. I set about 10' from the tv screen and this too helps make the picture look its best.

I use the hd 942 receiver and the pq is wonderfull , but of course that receiver is now discontinued. The 622 vip hd dvr is the newest and the one you want , but it comes with an 18 month commitment unless you buy it outright. Dish also has the most hd now you can get and will soon have hd locals in 50 cities in the country by years end.

In the end it is your decision to make which service you like the best based on your personal preferences.

[Virus]

Right now I have a 55 Mits RPCRT that is ISF calibrated and sharpness is turned way down. Grey scale is as close as possible to 6500k. I will be purchasing a 61" JVC D-ILA in a couple months. I ordered the Vip-622 Dish HD DVR. I hope this helps to answer my questions.

[buckyp]

I dont have D* HD. Only SD. I do have both HD and SD from E*. I do find Dishs SD picture to be a bit better on my 65", but only from m 522. My 811 SD picture is not good. The HD is excellent, but the SD isn't.

[normang]

SD is always going to look mediocre on a HDTV, some channels may look better than others depending on content source.

Its a big issue for dealers after this last Christmas, because people get their new HD set home, and SD from cable and other sources looks like junk to many that after watching SD for years on 25,27,32,36 inch SD sets on a 55,60 or better HD set.

I happen to think that SD from Dish is about as good as its going to get for SD, and when you compare it to HD, there is no comparison..

[airpolgas]

bucky,
weird observation that 522 SD is better than 811 SD. Are they both uniform in their output cables? I'm asking because I have two 508s connected to my receiver using S-video, and when I switch, one of them has this diagonal pinstripe artifact.

virus,
I, too, have both Dish and DTV service. Both are only SD services right now, and I find the Dish SD on my 508 receiver superior to that of the D10 (basic receiver for DTV, I believe).

I hope that helps, but I only have a 36 inch, 4:3 HDTV. I'm sure it will be worse on a 55 incher.

[leestoo]

I have both DTV and Dish HD packages for now. I am getting rid of the DTV HD package next month. I find the Dish to be better for HD.

As far as SD in concerned, I find that Dish is better for most channels but not all. But, to be accurate, I really do no like either Dish or DTV for SD.

[bear paws]

My biggest gripe has always been poor PQ on SD. When I left D*for VOOM [sigh] I discoverd that great PQ was possible both in HD AND in SD. When V* [sigh sigh] went dark I jumped to E* on the "VOOOM" promise {still waiting} and could not believe the poor PQ not just on SD but some of the HD's got worse, esp. Voooms.

My OTA from the 811's thru hdmi/dvi are washed out [swapping to componant helped a lot]
I use my MITS [62 DLP] built-in now for OTA and it like fine crystal. The OTA Digital SD is far far superiour to E*'s SD and of course the OTA HD is something to behold.
THe Q on my 40" PANY HD CRT is not a whole lot better so I use a SAM STB for the OTA's.

I still have the 4 V* MOTS but boxed up as I don't need them for OTA. Agaist all hope that V* will rise again.:nono: :rolleyes:

E* has been out a few times to address the problem ,once replacing the switch and helped a little. The sypathetic installer said he has seen worse but not better and I should consider myself lucky I'm blessed with 2 really good TV's as they take care of some of the sins of over compression and low res. signal.

He also said never to expect old Vooom [sigh] Q even when E* goes MPEG 4 as that E* is just trying to cram too many "pickles" into the jar and most will come out mushy and that the new MPEG 4 boxes can not hold a candle to the old Motorrolas that VOOOM [sigh] used.

Since most of the offerings will still be in SD format { I have been waiting for HIGH_DEF since 1978} I keep waveing at the FIOS trucks to stop at our street. :sure:

The short of this is has ANYONE seen a improvement in SD PQ with the 211/622 or is it same old and When[?] MPEG $ really gets out of the box will we anticipate any thing better.

Bear!

PS, Can't wait till the BlueRay vs HDDVD war settles down.