DISH vs DIRECTV

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mpinales

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Oct 15, 2010
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Is there any difference in picture quality between Dish and DirecTV? I am considering a change.
 
From what I've seen is that Dish eastern arc SD is much better then DIRECTV, western arc equal or less since they still use MPEG2 on western for SD. For HD as mentioned some say they a noticeable difference others say they see no difference.


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There is a difference, but I don't think it's what's important between the two carriers. Programming is more important. Which carrier has the channels you want to watch the most?
 
There is a difference, but I don't think it's what's important between the two carriers. Programming is more important. Which carrier has the channels you want to watch the most?
I couldn't disagree more. Picture quality is by far the biggest determining factor for most people because with very few exceptions both Directv and Dish carry the same channels. At least what most people consider the main channels. Dish sends out a 1440 line resolution signal and Directv sends out a 1920 line resolution signal. The larger the screen size the more easily you can see the difference. I switched away from Dish four months ago and the PQ increase is startlingly obvious with Directv. On the flip side, the Hopper 3 blows away the Genie in every aspect including bigger hard drive, more tuners, easier to ad external hard drive and other effective innovations.
The 4K edge also goes to Directv. Directv still does not carry the PAC-12 Network. Dish does not have The NFL Package. I still prefer the Dish remote. Dish's web site is easier to navigate.
 
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I couldn't disagree more. Picture quality is by far the biggest determining factor for most people because with very few exceptions both Directv and Dish carry the same channels. At least what most people consider the main channels. Dish sends out a 1440 line resolution signal and Directv sends out a 1920 line resolution signal. The larger the screen size the more easily you can see the difference. I switched away from Dish four months ago and the PQ increase is startlingly obvious with Directv. On the flip side, the Hopper 3 blows away the Genie in every aspect including bigger hard drive, more tuners, easier to ad external hard drive and other effective innovations.
The 4K edge also goes to Directv. Directv still does not carry the PAC-12 Network. Dish does not have The NFL Package. I still prefer the Dish remote. Dish's web site is easier to navigate.
If one provider has a channel that is a must have and the other one doesn't, are you still going to go with the other because of picture quality or equipment?
 
If one provider has a channel that is a must have and the other one doesn't, are you still going to go with the other because of picture quality or equipment?
Of course not. That is why I mentioned that Directv does not have the PAC-12 Network. There are very few channels inherent to one specific provider.the makeup of the different packages could be a big factor to some. Like The Golf Channel is not located in the Choice Package but is contained in Dish Networks similar priced package. But it is available form Directv. I think both providers offer 98% of the "must have" channels.
 
I couldn't disagree more. Picture quality is by far the biggest determining factor for most people because with very few exceptions both Directv and Dish carry the same channels. At least what most people consider the main channels. Dish sends out a 1440 line resolution signal and Directv sends out a 1920 line resolution signal. The larger the screen size the more easily you can see the difference. I switched away from Dish four months ago and the PQ increase is startlingly obvious with Directv. On the flip side, the Hopper 3 blows away the Genie in every aspect including bigger hard drive, more tuners, easier to ad external hard drive and other effective innovations.
The 4K edge also goes to Directv. Directv still does not carry the PAC-12 Network. Dish does not have The NFL Package. I still prefer the Dish remote. Dish's web site is easier to navigate.
I agree with most of this. Dish receivers are probably better and faster but directv receivers are good enough to do most. And DIRECTV has better picture. As said above dish SD in mpeg4 is better than DIRECTVs mpeg2 SD but HD is much better on DIRECTV. 720p is about the same but 1080i on DIRECTV is just miles and miles better (as I see it). It's almost to the point that 720p looks better than 1080i on dish.
 
Is there any difference in picture quality between Dish and DirecTV? I am considering a change.

If you are going from DirecTV to Dish, you will probably notice a change. Fast motion will not look as detailed, and, IMHO, the Dish picture looks softer. That said, you will probably get used to what Dish looks like pretty quickly. Neither of them look nearly as good as OTA, so whenever I watch something on my TV which has nothing but an antenna hooked up to it, I am disappointed when I have to go back to watching DirecTV.

All this said, my wife can't tell the difference between any of them, so YMMV.
 
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I agree with all the Dish receivers are better things but for me the main things are channels available and picture quality. I spend 99.5% of my time actually watching programming, not seeing how fast I can scroll through the guide.
 
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I agree with all the Dish receivers are better things but for me the main things are channels available and picture quality. I spend 99.5% of my time actually watching programming, not seeing how fast I can scroll through the guide.
Yep, me too. But I'm also one that doesn't see enough difference between the PQ and the sports I care about are covered pretty much equally between services. I'm with Dish and since those two things are not really an issue, the fact that I can keep recordings even if I change hardware and the overall superior Hopper 3 compared to anything else keeps me with Dish.

That said, the local cable company is offering a huge savings to switch to them and use a Tivo powered Pace box. I'm not real fond of Tivo, but I could live with it for the savings.
 
I switched back in December from DirecTV to Dish. Ironically they finally offered me a deal once I already had Dish installed that would have kept me in the fold if offered the other four times leading up to my change that I threatened to cancel. The main reasons I left was no way to get just the Red Zone channel and the lack of tuners on DirecTV's Genie system. I like the Hopper 3 a lot. 16 tuners, Netflix app, Youtube app, etc. Only issue I had was losing signal when snow collected on the Dish installed on my roof, which never happened with DirecTV. Installation of a dish heater resolved this issue.

At first I noticed a PQ difference. Over the past few months either the PQ has been improved, I got used to it, or a combination of the two. I also enjoy being able to get the Epix premium channel. A lot of newer movies are on that premium. I missed it when I moved out of a FiOS service area and got DirecTV. Why more carriers don't offer another premium I don't know, seems like an easy revenue stream...
 
It's puzzling to me how different the Hopper/Hopper 3 and the Genie are. For years these two satellite companies battled, matching each other at every front. Not the case with their latest DVR's. I have the Genie now and as good as it is, the Hopper is better and the Hopper 3 is next gen better. I've yet to see the next gen Genie. I expected more after AT&T took over. If you read Scott G's review of the Hopper 3 you'll see what I mean.
 
IMHO part of the problem is that DIRECTV has said they wanted all their receivers UI to look similar and function basically the same, which has held back what they can do. Maybe with the HS17 coming out and DIRECTV saying that and clients will be the only STB's allowed on an account might finally be what allows DIRECTV to update the UI if they know the customer has that one box.
 
The difference in hardware/software approaches from Direct and Dish is really the big difference. Direct has been pretty adamant on building from their original HR software/firmware base. That's why today's approach on the Genies looks acts nearly the same as that original software with some improvements along the way. But they've never bit the bullet and brought out really new software.

Dish OTOH, has changed things in big ways from the older HD equipment with that software approach to the Hoppers. HUGE and completely different.

IMO, Direct had the ideal opportunity to do the same thing when they started marketing the Genie brand, they just chose not to.
 
I switched back in December from DirecTV to Dish. Ironically they finally offered me a deal once I already had Dish installed that would have kept me in the fold if offered the other four times leading up to my change that I threatened to cancel. The main reasons I left was no way to get just the Red Zone channel and the lack of tuners on DirecTV's Genie system. I like the Hopper 3 a lot. 16 tuners, Netflix app, Youtube app, etc. Only issue I had was losing signal when snow collected on the Dish installed on my roof, which never happened with DirecTV. Installation of a dish heater resolved this issue.

At first I noticed a PQ difference. Over the past few months either the PQ has been improved, I got used to it, or a combination of the two. I also enjoy being able to get the Epix premium channel. A lot of newer movies are on that premium. I missed it when I moved out of a FiOS service area and got DirecTV. Why more carriers don't offer another premium I don't know, seems like an easy revenue stream...

Well I suppose one could always have both providers. If my income was better and also if I lived in a house I definitely would.
 
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