Is HD what you thought it would be ?

[andyin137]

This is really not a Dishnetwork issue but the programmers issue.But I was wondering how many people would go back to Standard definition programming (with a Good SD Tv).

When I signed up for HD programming and Bought into all the Hype about HD TVs and decided to purchase an HD set.I honestly thought that once I subscribed To HD channels every program would be in HD or at least upconverted to HD.Dont get me wrong programs and Movies that were filmed for HD are great on the HD sets.But most of the programming ,even on Supposedly HD channels are not in HD,I find myself constanly changing the ratio to get a decent picture,personally I find that annoying and prefer to turn on TV and not be doing that.
I was home for the day this last Tuesday(playing sick from work)and chose to spend the day relaxing watching TV,even though I have the Classic 250 package with HD and Platinum .I could hardly find any auctuall HD programming on any of the HD channels except for HD net ,MGM and HD Movies(most of that programming is a continous loop of the same thing),and maybe some programming on Discovery,and science network,but alot of that is repeats also.
I have an older SD TV and for the most part enjoy watching most of my TV on that set.basically if I knew before giving in to all this HD hype what know now about HDTV programming I honestly would have waited because most programming looks better on my SD set unless its auctually filmed for HD.
Just interested in seeing how many other feel this way.Dont get me wrong I love my HD set but for the most part and most of the programming is in SD so you get a shrunken picture unless you stretch it out and that looks weird.Honestly if I was in the market now for an HDTV and knew exactly how it works,I would have certainly waited for more HD programming to make it worth changing everything over.Just my opinion.Can anyone recommend a decent HDTV that has good SD Picture .

 

[Skyhi]

I'm very happy. I usually only watch sports or primetime programming......I'd say 95% of the time what I watch is in HD.

I do agree with you that SD (NOT stretched) looks pretty bad on my hd set.

 

[satjay]

Love the HD picture, especially for sports, but its amazing when you see the picture difference overall with other channels. For example, I have watched much more of the travel channel now that I have it in HD. There have also been other shows and channels that I watch a bit more of becouse its in HD. As you probably know the big diference its when you are watching SD on a wide screen. One of my Dish recivers is split between a HD and SD tv, the SD is only like a 12 inch so for SD you dont see the big huge difference that you would see on SD for plasma or LCD and such

Though sometimes when I am watching HD, I do say to myself, Gosh I am paying extra just to have a nice picture, But its worth it though!

 

[Lkr]

I've been nothing but satisfied, even though I've had to wait a while for a bunch of channels on Dish

 

[Rangers484]

After the initial WOW factor wears off you get accustomed to the better picture.

I don't really think about it until I see an SD channel or program and then i definitely notice how much better HD looks.

 

[dodger72]

i can only notice a slightly difference between hd and sd but i still think it is worth it

 

[PHXHoward]

I love HD programming. Pretty much everything I record now comes from HD channels and is filmed in HD. If you took the day off and watched TV, I'm not surprised that a lot of what you saw was upconverted SD. You will find a lot less true HD programming during the day. Most is during primetime.

As far as going back to SD, I wound not want to do that. After getting spoiled with HD, the low quality square picture looks really bad to me.

I wish the Daily Show would get on the ball and broadcast a 16:9 picture.

 

[mboron]

I really like it and I think it is the wave of the future. Within the next 5 years I'll bet most everything is HD. The aspect ratio thing can be a pain, but as someone else said, I find myself watching shows I never used to watch because of the picture.

 

[riffjim4069]

The thrill is not gone...completely.

I purchased my first HDTV in February 2002 and put up an OTA shortly afterwards so I could watch a couple hours of Prime-Time each night. It was a joy whenever a sporting even like the Masters or Kentucky Derby was broadcast in HD since it sent chills up-and-down my back. I still get the same chills when watching FiOS TV, but there is an aweful lot of substandard programming being pawned by the cable programmers, lots of HD-Lite being (bandwidth starved) perpetrated by Cable and DBS providers, and most of the broadcasters have watered down their HD stream via the sham known as multicasting.

For example CBS' NFL Football used to be "the bomb" a few years ago, but after multicasting a couple SD channels on the same frequency the bit-starved signal is fillEd with pixelation and macroblocking during high motion scenes. The picture looks great...just as long as the player don't run on the field. Additionally, while there is tons of good-quality (picture quality) programing on my 122 channel FiOS TV lineup, I still need to sort through a whole lot of garbage in order to get to the good stuff. Thank goodness for the HDNets and a handful of other channels that haven't compromised their standards and always look fantastic.

 

[riffjim4069]

Within the next 5 years I'll bet most everything is HD.

Granted, all the channels will be HD capable but as long as you have people watching the Andy Griffith Show and Gilligan's Island, you'll have plenty of leterboxed and stetchy-vision SD.

 

[M Sparks]

Granted, all the channels will be HD capable but as long as you have people watching the Andy Griffith Show and Gilligan's Island, you'll have plenty of leterboxed and stetchy-vision SD.

There's no reason Andy Griffith or Gilligan's Island couldn't have HD masters made, unless the original masters have been lost.

The only thing that can't benefit from HD are the cheap videotaped sitcoms of the 70s-90s.

However there is no reason for stretch-o-vision...ever! Scripps and Turner...pull your heads out!

(And letterboxed SD programming should be upconverted and zoomed, because that's what we all do at home, and I guarantee they have better quality upconverters than we do.)

 

[TNGTony]

Amen Brother! Tell the same thing to A&E networks!

See ya
Tony

 

[lakebum431]

i can only notice a slightly difference between hd and sd but i still think it is worth it

If this is true, then you are doing something very very wrong. There should be a substantial difference between SD and HD.

 

[Jim S.]

I'd only go back to SD if it was provided in full resolution and with a proper bitrate -- NEITHER of which are the case with Dish. (Nor are they the case with their HD, but at least there's more data to start with so it comes out halfway watchable.)

 

[DodgerKing]

For everyday programming, a good upconverted 4:3 image or even an SD image on an SD TV is only slightly worse than a true 16:9 HD image on an HD TV. It don't get the same Wow factor. But when it comes to sports and moves, the extra width makes a big difference and when you compare it to a SD station on an HD TV, the difference is so great the SD looks like crap.

 

[8bitbytes]

i can only notice a slightly difference between hd and sd but i still think it is worth it

What do you watch it on? I can tell you for me, at 8 feet diagonal, SD is horrible compared to HD.

 

[gadgtfreek]

Same goes for a 50" tv.

HD any day, love blu-ray.

 

[B_Kranski]

even on a 42" screen HD looks amazingly better then SD...at least as far as regular programing. Now things like cartoons...no real major differance.

 

[DishSubLA]

It depends on what channels you like and what content you like. For me it has been GREAT HD. Now, it is great for me because the vast majority of programming I have always enjoyed has been on channels that have significant HD content, new and a even old: History, Discovery, Science Channel, National Geographic, Animal Planet, etc. These channels have been producing HD content and avaialble in HD since the early days of HD and they have a fair vault and all the new programs for the last few years have been in HD 100%, and the content on these channels really lends itself to what HD is all about. While mom thoroughly enjoys her crime, legal, and performance shows (American Idol, et al.) on the broadcast nets who also have a very high amount of HD, and all her shows are in HD. The CSI's really do look lush and impressive in HD, and she is sold on HD.

Also, among the channels I watch are the premium movie channels, and they have a lot of HD that I enjoy. Of course, add my enjoyment of HDNET and HDNET Movies, and even Palladia, and My HD content is like in the 90th percentile because those channels and similar ones have always been my taste. I hardly watch any SD or the bad HD channels because I just don't like the content on any of the "problem" HD channels. Sure there are a few channels I do watch that I do wish Dish Network would offer in HD: BBC America, Military Channel, TCM, IFC, and all the remaining premium movie channels. But those channels I listed don't have any where near the number of shows that I am interested in watching that the good HD channels have.

I have always watched the same channels back in the SD, and it was a natural switch to HD. I haven't changed my taste because of what is available in HD.

However, if one (like my brother, a total opposite of what channels I like) lives by USA, MTV, Comedy Central--oh just pick any of those CHEAP, low-brow, channels for the rabble, then those folks are VERY unhappy that so much content is NOT in HD, horribly unconverted, or just plain disappointing in HD. I can understand the disappointment, but Viacom and others just don't care.

I for one would rather watch any SD content program on the HD simulcast channel such as MTV, for example, (in its original aspect ratio) because it looks a whole lot better at the higher bit rate and resolution than the SD channel that is severely compressed by Dish. Dish SD channels are appalling.

Finally, HD is only as good as your TV. My Sharp Aquos and Sony Z series show great detail and greatly enhance the HD watching experience with , yes, a "WOW" factor. Meanwhile my aunt's Sony S series (entry level), also using Dish Network, just doesn't do the job. Her HD is quite flat, lacking in detail, and just a let down, no "WOW" factor, and I have tried, but the old S series just doesn't have the electronics to really do some justice to the HD. I can see every crinkle and wrinkle of a face on my Sharp Aquos tuned to a Dish HD channel to the point that it is scary, but not on my aunt's Sony S series.

No, I don't want to go back to SD and let's get the SD's moving on to HD, even if they are like MTV with only 2 programs in HD and because even the SD will look lots better.

 

[JFaber99]

Finally, HD is only as good as your TV. My Sharp Aquos and Sony Z series show great detail and greatly enhance the HD watching experience with , yes, a "WOW" factor. Meanwhile my aunt's Sony S series (entry level), also using Dish Network, just doesn't do the job. Her HD is quite flat, lacking in detail, and just a let down, no "WOW" factor, and I have tried, but the old S series just doesn't have the electronics to really do some justice to the HD. I can see every crinkle and wrinkle of a face on my Sharp Aquos tuned to a Dish HD channel to the point that it is scary, but not on my aunt's Sony S series.

My experiance is the opposite when it comes to the TV quality. My new Samsung show how bad the HD is being compressed from Dish Network. Whereas my 5 year old EDTV shows the HD channels really crisp. OTA or when I use to have cable HD this was not the case. I wonder what someone with a new OLED TV on this forum thinks about satellite HD.

To the OP, look at it this way. You already made the jump to HD equipment so your set. Unless you have to have the newest stuff every year, then I could see why you (anyone) would be upset to have spent the money to convert early.

It took me a few months to get use to satellite HD and from what I see Dish Network SD is really bad. So I'm sold on HD.