6000 SD Video Question?

[normang]

Greetings..

just installed new 6000 couple days ago on Mitsu 60" and HD programming looks very good. However...

The SD video coming from the S-Video output, does not seem as good as the 4900 It replaced, it seems muddier and not as sharp and clear and am wondering whether this is an issue with this receiver, or whether others have noted similiar issues when upgrading from older receivers to the 6000 with SD Video out.

Thanks for any feedback..

Norm

[jwhite]

When viewing SD with a 6000 on a big screen HDTV there are two ways to do it.

One is to let the Dish receiver "upscale" it and have the video come out the Component/VGA connectors (Blue light on).

The second it to connect via S-Video and let the TV "upscale" it (Yellow light on).

With my setup, I find my expensive projector's line quadrupler does a better job than the Dish receiver's scaler. Try it both ways and see which is best for your setup.

Jay

[normang]

Thanks for that Feedback jay..

The quality to which I refer is using the S-Video out with the yellow light on. Its not as sharp as before with the 4900 I had connected to the same TV.

When in HD mode and its being scaled down, it can actually look a little better because its smaller, its filling a 4:3 space in the center of the 16:9 space that HD is using, at least thats the way I see it.

The bottomline for me is whether other 6000 ugrader's noticed a difference in SD quality from a previous reciever on the same TV. if others have not seen a difference, then perhaps I have a defective unit in some fashion.

Thanks

[jwhite]

Interesting. I bought my projector and 6000 at the same time, so I never tried another receiver with it.

Do you have a friend nearby that has a 6000 you could try and see if yours has a problem? Are the cables the same as before?

I guess if SD out the S-Video is really poorer on the 6000 that on an SD only receiver, you could use the 6000 for HD and another receiver for SD. This would give you PIP and also the second one could be a PVR for time shifting. A 501/508 is pretty much a 4900 with the PVR support added. This would require an additional switch port and another $5/month but would add flexibility until the 921 comes out next year.

Jay

[normang]

I did read somewhere else that its possible that the way the 6000 works with HD may not be as sharp on SD as HD.. Hopefully I can garner some other feedback from those that have upgraded and noted either same quality or my PQ symptoms... Thanks

[Mike123abc]

I use the 6000 in both modes all the time. I actually had to turn down the sharpness on my TV because the pixel blocks from the MPEG were very sharply defined. I had to turn off edge enhancement and turn down sharpness on the tv to get them to blend together better. Check your cable to see if it is making good contact.

[normang]

Mike.. I'll double check my connections, could have loosened one when I installed the component cable.

I have tried some adjustments on sharpness and other video settings, while I can make some compensation, the picture does not match the sharpness of the 4900 which the 6000 replaced.

Part of me is hoping that this is merely a reciever issue, and a replacement may fix it, but I get a feeling that it may be characteristic of the 6000 because of the way it handles SD and HD..

[Phil T]

I have a 6000 and a 501 both connected to a 61" Sony. PQ on SD looks the same on both to me. The guide and pip features of the 501 are much better then the 6000's.

[normang]

Hi Phil, there seems to be some difference in opinion, some seem to think its a characteristic of the 6000 on the way it handles SD mode. While the PQ isn't bad, its muddier to me than it was on the 4900. HD is spectacular.

I find it interesting that you have a 501 and 6000 side by side on same TV and do not notice a difference in PQ in the SD mode on the 6000 vs your 501. When I watch SD in the HD mode, it looks better, but it does not fill the screen.

The dealer seems to think that the issue is 6000 related and there may not be anything to be done. And I don't want to try a slew of 6000's either to see if one is better than another because this is interim, a year from now if not less, will probably look at one of the new HD PVR models once they actually ship.

thanks for the feedback... Norm

[DarrellP]

I see no difference between my 501 & 6000.

Do you still have the 4900 laying around so you can do an A/B comparison?

[normang]

Hello Darrell, yes, the 4900 is still around, but I would only get a couple channels since I deactivated to run the 6000.

I wish I could get something definitive, perhaps I'll call Dish and see what they say too.

When I display the SD channels in HD mode, they look fine, its when I am in SD mode and viewing SD channels, that things don't look as sharp as the 4900..

Is your 501 and 6000 on the same TV?

Thanks

Norm

[davhol]

I, too, have a 501 and 6000 feeding the same TV (in this case, a Sony KV36XBR450). I do not notice any PQ differences between SD on my 6000 and the 501. If you prefer to watch the SD broadcasts via the component outputs on the 6000, you can use the * key on the 6000 remote to change the zoom level of the picture to get it to expand to the edges. You just have to remember to unzoom it when you change to an HD broadcast.

[normang]

Interesting that makes a couple people now that have not noted differences in PQ between different receivers. I think I will contact Dish, get their two cents and then see what the dealer will do.

I would of course prefer that I get the same quality as the 4900 it replaced in SD mode.

Thanks for all the feedback. Appreciate it..

Norm