Picture Quality

[Kidar66]

I had Directv installed today: H20-100 and AT9 Sat. I am very disappointed in overall picture quality of Directv. Not only do HD channels look washed out but SD looks soft and dull. I have a Mitsubishi WD-65731 TV. Although I hate time warner (price/customer service) there picture quality is a lot better than Directv. My TV is connected via a HMDI cable. The Directv is not crisp and the colors seem dull. I guess way say this is DTV lacks detail. I hate to say it but the colors are vibrant and crisp on Time warner. I do not want to go back to time warner but I can't see paying for this. If I go back to cable I will be left with holes in my roof from the dish.

[Olevia37HD]

People I know who go back leave the lower plate or some tar works well.
Good luck.

[Cap'n Preshoot]

I had Directv installed today: H20-100 and AT9 Sat. I am very disappointed in overall picture quality of Directv. Not only do HD channels look washed out but SD looks soft and dull. I have a Mitsubishi WD-65731 TV. Although I hate time warner (price/customer service) there picture quality is a lot better than Directv. My TV is connected via a HMDI cable. The Directv is not crisp and the colors seem dull. I guess way say this is DTV lacks detail. I hate to say it but the colors are vibrant and crisp on Time warner. I do not want to go back to time warner but I can't see paying for this. If I go back to cable I will be left with holes in my roof from the dish.

First, congratulations on your new WD-65731!!!!! :dance01:
I have the WD-65732 on order and am about to pee my pants waiting for it. :)

What you're experiencing is not normal!
Something is wrong.
DirecTV looks positively gorgeous on the 65731 at the store.

p.s. That new H20 receiver runs a trifle warm and seems to beg for better ventilation. Don't stack it in a component rack or you'll cook it. Also, do something to raise it up for better ventilation underneath. One guy I know sat it on 4 shot glasses.

Call up DirecTV (D*) and have them send the tech back with another receiver to try. That should fix it, but if not, then get someone from the dealer that sold you the Mits to come take a look.

[Upstream]

Check the cables running from your DTV receiver to the TV. It sounds like you only have a partial video connection.

(Also, double check that you have the TV video input selected properly.)

[boba]

You could also try COMPONENT cables some sets work better with component over HDMI.

[ClubSteeler]

I had Directv installed today: H20-100 and AT9 Sat. I am very disappointed in overall picture quality of Directv. Not only do HD channels look washed out but SD looks soft and dull. I have a Mitsubishi WD-65731 TV. Although I hate time warner (price/customer service) there picture quality is a lot better than Directv. My TV is connected via a HMDI cable. The Directv is not crisp and the colors seem dull. I guess way say this is DTV lacks detail. I hate to say it but the colors are vibrant and crisp on Time warner. I do not want to go back to time warner but I can't see paying for this. If I go back to cable I will be left with holes in my roof from the dish.

One result of overcompression is less vibrant colors. My digital cable picture is much clearer, uses a higher effective resolution, and has much more vibrant colors that I get with DirecTV. That being said, most other cable companies I have ever seen are not very good. So either you have a pregressive cable company that doesn't over compress and offers all digital channels like mine, or else you need to tweek.

Try component cable for comparison.
Mess with your TV's color pallette and all of the settings.
Soft and dull could be a contrast issue.
Sometime TVs have pre-set setting for different inputs. For example, my RF-in coax jack is much softer and duller to try to hide some of the noise. On the other hand when I switch to HD, it automatically makes evberything brighter and more vivid. This is all programmable, so you should spend some time messing with it.

For me, nothing I can do can make D* PQ look remotely as good as my cable quality, but I am in a very small minority here.

[frogg]

I agree with boba. Try component. On my Mits wd62525, with H20 the component is head and shoulders above HDMI. HDMI-washed out no matter how you tweak contrast, brightness, and color saturation. Component-stunning, awesome. Richer, brighter, more contrast, etc.

[Sydeny]

I just had my AT9 and H20-100 installed last week. I have a Panisonic 50" Rear Projection LCD. I had the same initial impression when I first turned it on as well. Then I discovered the box was converting everyting to 480p. Once I made the change under setup on the box to output 720p or 1080i and used to format button on the remote to toggle the picture was much sharper.

[Kidar66]

I spoke with a CSR today and they are sending a tech out tomorrow. I told them I am going cancel my service if I did not see an improvement. I was told I have 7 days to cancel. They also said that they did not want the dish back. I played around with the controls/cables on my TV and now it looks a little better. The HD channels are still hit or miss. Last night there was some pixilation on HDMOV, DiscoveryHD, ESPNHD, ShowtimeHD and HBOHD. You do not how disappoint I am about Directv. My cable company's HD Channels are outstanding. On one program on HBO the pixilation was so bad I could not watch it.