DIRECTV compresses some SD channels a lot. Right now, it's just a bandwith thing, they need the space for HD content, so they compress more than most providers do. I don't notice it much, but then again, I don't have and HD TVs, and my biggest screen in 27''. With an HDTV screen, you probably will notice a lot of those compression artifacts. But if you think it is abnormally bad, you may want to make sure all your cables are in good condition and that there isn't something wrong with your setup. Try calling DIRECTV if it gets too bad.
Why Is DirecTV Picture Quality So Poor?
Hey guys,
I have had DirecTV for a while--mostly due to the Sunday Ticket. The PQ on all the TV's in the house that have DirecTV (3) aren't very good (although on one of them downstairs, the PQ isn't bad).
But on the second floor, we have two HD TV's, and the PQ is not good. Now, don't get me wrong, I know to get HD quality picture, I'd need an HD receiver and then have to subscribe to the service. But should regular, standard tv look THIS poor? It's not unwatchable, but it's pretty poor.
I see digital noise...I see fuzz...words on the screen have a noise around the edges of them or they appear to be "bleeding" a bit. I see macroblocking. What is going on? Is this just the price you pay for having satellite?
Standard TV on something like comcast doesn't look like this, does it? Does anyone have any suggestions?? Is the only hope to get HD channels and HD picture quality? And even so, the regular tv PQ will still be so poor.
Anyone know how to go about addressing this issue? Thanks.
I have had DirecTV for a while--mostly due to the Sunday Ticket. The PQ on all the TV's in the house that have DirecTV (3) aren't very good (although on one of them downstairs, the PQ isn't bad).
But on the second floor, we have two HD TV's, and the PQ is not good. Now, don't get me wrong, I know to get HD quality picture, I'd need an HD receiver and then have to subscribe to the service. But should regular, standard tv look THIS poor? It's not unwatchable, but it's pretty poor.
I see digital noise...I see fuzz...words on the screen have a noise around the edges of them or they appear to be "bleeding" a bit. I see macroblocking. What is going on? Is this just the price you pay for having satellite?
Standard TV on something like comcast doesn't look like this, does it? Does anyone have any suggestions?? Is the only hope to get HD channels and HD picture quality? And even so, the regular tv PQ will still be so poor.
Anyone know how to go about addressing this issue? Thanks.
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Have you reduced the brightness, contrast, and sharpness settings? These being set too high exacerbate the display of SD on a large screen HD set.
As jdspencer points out, a lot depends on your TV's video settings, and on the connection between your DirecTV Receiver/DVR and TV. First, try to use the best quality connection. In order from best to worst video quality ....
HDMI ... Component ... SVideo ... Composite video ... RF coax
Also, a Video Calibration DVD, such as Avia or Digital Video Essentials, makes it easy to optimize your TV's video settings (brightness, contrast, sharpness, etc.). That can really help improve your TV's video quality, even with lower resolution compressed DirecTV video.
HDMI ... Component ... SVideo ... Composite video ... RF coax
Also, a Video Calibration DVD, such as Avia or Digital Video Essentials, makes it easy to optimize your TV's video settings (brightness, contrast, sharpness, etc.). That can really help improve your TV's video quality, even with lower resolution compressed DirecTV video.
And folks have differing ideas of what is acceptable, they view at different distances, etc.
My 32-inch LCD looked pretty bad on SD when viewed from 5-feet away in the living room. Now that it is on the bedroom wall and viewed from 12 feet away while lying in bed, it is hard to tell the difference between SD and HD.
My 32-inch LCD looked pretty bad on SD when viewed from 5-feet away in the living room. Now that it is on the bedroom wall and viewed from 12 feet away while lying in bed, it is hard to tell the difference between SD and HD.
Do you have a large TV but not HD?
Style, Gems, CDUSA, Daystar, NASA, Shop at Home, Shop NBC and about 20 or 30 more channels that have no business being in broadcast.PacMan3000 said:Hey guys,
I have had DirecTV for a while--mostly due to the Sunday Ticket. The PQ on all the TV's in the house that have DirecTV (3) aren't very good (although on one of them downstairs, the PQ isn't bad).
But on the second floor, we have two HD TV's, and the PQ is not good. Now, don't get me wrong, I know to get HD quality picture, I'd need an HD receiver and then have to subscribe to the service. But should regular, standard tv look THIS poor? It's not unwatchable, but it's pretty poor.
I see digital noise...I see fuzz...words on the screen have a noise around the edges of them or they appear to be "bleeding" a bit. I see macroblocking. What is going on? Is this just the price you pay for having satellite?
Also does all the Private Networks take our bandwidth or are they on a different sat that our systems don't see?
Jerry
No, I've got two HDTVs with an HD DVR and an HD receiver, if you were talking about me.purtman said:Do you have a large TV but not HD?
Wow. I don't see any of that on my four boxes. (3 x R15, 1x R11, all SD).PacMan3000 said:Hey guys,
I see digital noise...I see fuzz...words on the screen have a noise around the edges of them or they appear to be "bleeding" a bit. I see macroblocking. .
I recently purchased an Hitachi 42" plasma and upgraded to HD (H20). I notice that the SD channels appear quite "fuzzy", however it looks a lot better if I don't set the display to "stretch" in the receiver settings - obviously. I get even better results if I set the receiver to "native" and then adjust the settings on the TV to 4:3 or 16:9 as the case may be.
That said, my other set in the house is a standard Sanyo 35" with an H10 receiver and the picture on that is great. My only guess is that the Hitachi plasma just doesn't display SD all that well.
That said, my other set in the house is a standard Sanyo 35" with an H10 receiver and the picture on that is great. My only guess is that the Hitachi plasma just doesn't display SD all that well.
A problem with Plasma is that its owners don't want to turn down the color, contrast or brightness (that's what they bought plasma for in the first place). Another common problem is that relatively cheap TVs have relatively cheap scalers.BradBrening said:My only guess is that the Hitachi plasma just doesn't display SD all that well.
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