For the most part I avoid watching SD channels whenever I can but I have noticed some improvement in my SD locals. I think the improvement is due to the fact that DISH is now picking up the local OTA digital feeds (instead of the analog feeds) and there is not as much "interference" type problems. As far as compression artifacts they are as bad as ever on my locals but that is because DISH is putting several cities on that spotbeam. Hopefully, when Echostar XI goes into service (this week) and they balance out the channels from 110 the picture will improve.
New Improved SD PQ
I don't think anybody has mentioned the SD picture quality lately. I keep thinking I'm watching DVDs. There used to be noticeable compression artifacts that didn't really bother me but I was aware of them. Compression artifacts I notice show up around text in commercials or outlines in cartoons or blotchy dark solid colors. I've installed my two DTV converter boxes and I've seen OTA HD converted to SD by the boxes. The SD is gorgeous. It seems to me Dish is taking the HD feeds and converting them to SD instead of digitizing analog feeds. I still see artifacts on Cartoon Network which I see has a digital feed, so I sure could be wrong, but something has changed in the last month. Maybe Dish is receiving and passing along SD digital. Maybe it's new improved encoders. Has anybody else noticed improved SD PQ?
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My locals have always looked good - but down here in NC, there is not that many DMAs to have stations to crowd the spotbeams.
As far as the "cable channels" are concerned, it's the same old story - some are better than others, but in general over the years, the quality has been going up.
As far as the "cable channels" are concerned, it's the same old story - some are better than others, but in general over the years, the quality has been going up.
I know that E* has been broadcasting digital feeds of my locals downrezzed to sd for at least 2 years maybe longer. The FOX affliate in my DMA is actually a digital subchannel and therefore cannot be received via analog. It is really a pretty cool deal in my DMA, KXII has CBS that braodcast in 1080i, Fox in 720p and MYTV in 420p all broadcast on digital channel 20. They are the only station in the country that are broadcasting two HD feeds on one digital channel.
I don't watch the locals much on my 508. When I do I see static bursts and the sound could be improved, such as when Norm uses his table saw on the New Yankee Workshop. Mostly I watch the "cable" channels and depending on the content of the show to me they look just as bad as always. From time to time I see macro-blocking (checker boarding), color gradient (palettization) and/or fuzzy edges (mosquito noise). I wouldn't compare DISH SD with DVD quality, more like out of spec SVCD. :lol:
I noticed the same thing. My SD locals aren't too bad now. Still, not HD though! I began noticing the difference after the Turbo charge. May be coincidence though.John79605 said:I don't think anybody has mentioned the SD picture quality lately. I keep thinking I'm watching DVDs. There used to be noticeable compression artifacts that didn't really bother me but I was aware of them. Compression artifacts I notice show up around text in commercials or outlines in cartoons or blotchy dark solid colors. I've installed my two DTV converter boxes and I've seen OTA HD converted to SD by the boxes. The SD is gorgeous. It seems to me Dish is taking the HD feeds and converting them to SD instead of digitizing analog feeds. I still see artifacts on Cartoon Network which I see has a digital feed, so I sure could be wrong, but something has changed in the last month. Maybe Dish is receiving and passing along SD digital. Maybe it's new improved encoders. Has anybody else noticed improved SD PQ?
SD quality on my 60" sony hdtv is the same as ever, not good. Have not noticed any improvement in image quality.
SVCD is about the description I'd give most Dish cable channels, with edging into the low-end DVD for the premium / PPV channels. And this is based off of recording on my PC with Hauppage WinTV-PVR cards.
I noticed it on most SD channels about 2-3 weeks ago on my 722, with Sony HD tv. It was about the time the Turbo Charged ubgrade happened.
A properly encoded SVCD can look very good, IMO much better than what is often seen on the DISH "cable" channels, and even though a SVCD uses a lower bit-rate, it also doesn't suffer from a 16-bit color depth. SVCD is much more efficient.scooper said:SVCD is about the description I'd give most Dish cable channels, with edging into the low-end DVD for the premium / PPV channels.
I've been wondering if that was why. My SD channels seem to be a lot better lately.otnipj3s said:I noticed it on most SD channels about 2-3 weeks ago on my 722, with Sony HD tv. It was about the time the Turbo Charged ubgrade happened.
Most of my locals are in HD now and look really good too.
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