Is it me, or has Dish's PQ gotten markedly worse in the past few weeks?

Would SD be different on eastern arc since it is mpeg 4 while SD on western arc is mpeg 2?


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Title says it all. I've noticed what seems like a lot more compression artifacting lately, especially on channels like TNT, LIfetime, and FX. Mostly macro blocking. I know Dish uses a good amount of compression, always has, but my perception is that it's getting worse lately. Of course, perception can be very deceiving, so I want to know if anyone else has noticed a difference.
Completely agree. Came back to Dish after a 2 year stint with DirecTV. PQ on ESPN and locals seem fine but I find the same macro blocking and almost slow motion look on the channels you mention.

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Completely agree. Came back to Dish after a 2 year stint with DirecTV. PQ on ESPN and locals seem fine but I find the same macro blocking and almost slow motion look on the channels you mention.

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Agree that many "cable" channels like those look sub-par, but I found that to be the case on Dish of old, DirecTV, and Spectrum as well. On Spectrum they at least have smooth motion (MPEG2?), unlike the jerky mess on D* and E*. Even on Starz, it should look a lot better. We watch Starz on the streaming App on Roku more often than not since it looks better. That said, most of the channels we watch do not suffer from this problem.
 
Agree that many "cable" channels like those look sub-par, but I found that to be the case on Dish of old, DirecTV, and Spectrum as well. On Spectrum they at least have smooth motion (MPEG2?), unlike the jerky mess on D* and E*. Even on Starz, it should look a lot better. We watch Starz on the streaming App on Roku more often than not since it looks better. That said, most of the channels we watch do not suffer from this problem.
Problem with saying how PQ looks on cable systems is that each system is different. Our Spectum PQ sucks compared to DIRECTV due to macro blocking.
 
Completely agree. Came back to Dish after a 2 year stint with DirecTV. PQ on ESPN and locals seem fine but I find the same macro blocking and almost slow motion look on the channels you mention.
That's the ironic thing. I switched to DirecTV a couple of years ago, partially due to Dish's PQ. I switched back in October, and was pleasantly surprised to see that the PQ was pretty much the same as DirecTV. But since about the new year, I feel like I'm seeing more macro blocking and a generally "softer" looking picture on some channels, like the ones I mentioned. Interestingly, my network locals still look pretty good. Of course, streaming is a whole different ballgame, but I already knew that.

FWIW, I'm in southeast Michigan, so eastern arc, I guess?
 
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I have noticed a difference for a while now. Thought it was my eyes going or dirty glasses, wait I don't wear glasses . . . and especially after watching VOD or Streaming. Major difference. My eyes are good, since other sources are really good with really good programming. Age ol' addage: "Garbage in, garbage out."
 
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That's the ironic thing. I switched to DirecTV a couple of years ago, partially due to Dish's PQ. I switched back in October, and was pleasantly surprised to see that the PQ was pretty much the same as DirecTV. But since about the new year, I feel like I'm seeing more macro blocking and a generally "softer" looking picture on some channels, like the ones I mentioned. Interestingly, my network locals still look pretty good. Of course, streaming is a whole different ballgame, but I already knew that.

FWIW, I'm in southeast Michigan, so eastern arc, I guess?
Same here, south east michigan.

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Problem with saying how PQ looks on cable systems is that each system is different. Our Spectum PQ sucks compared to DIRECTV due to macro blocking.

True. My local Spectrum PQ is not better than DirecTV, but the motion is definitely smoother than both Dish and DirecTV. It is a former TWC market, FWIW.
 
I can't remember if I said this before, but where I have noticed the picture quality decrease over the years is on the 1080i channels more than the 720p channels. I have a recorded episode of Around the Horn from ESPN from 2012ish and I can't tell the difference in PQ from then to now when sitting in my chair. When I am right next to the TV, I can see more speckling/pixelating but nothing that is detectable from sitting back. ESPN is 720p. Contrast that with CSN/NBC Sports Chicago. I recorded the HD replay of the Cubs World Series win that was replayed on the RSN back in 2016 - back when Dish had 8-10 HD channels per transponder - and it was fine. But I contrast that to the RSN now, which is 1080i, and it is very soft, lots of pixelation. But in 2019, Dish has 14 HD channels on the transponder that has my RSN. So when ESPN was on a transponder with 8-10 HD channels and now is on a transponder with 14 HD channels, there wasn't much of a change, but the RSN I see a noticeable difference.
 
I switched from a VIP receiver to a Hopper 3 last year, and I have always felt that I had a better picture with my 722. Nothing else has changed, viewing on a 65" Panny VT60 plasma all settings on the TV are the same. I just think a lot of the channels that I have watched on both receivers look softer on the Hopper 3. I love the features of the Hopper but I think the VIP picture was crisper and more detailed.
 
Unless I use an antenna, anything 1080i on either dish, the fire stick, or the local cable company, has terrible motion. This weekend during the 24 hour race, NBC sports network looked like someone took a very poor 480i picture and zoomed in, plus the motion was all over the place, like playing a video game that bogged down.

Videos on the ‘fire stick’ always looks unnatural, hard to explain but when the camera is panning, it goes way too fast, and action scenes are missing frames. The colors are also cartoony, and just has a modern day video game feel.

So what I’m getting at, it is definitely not a problem exclusively with dish, and is likely the industry cutting corners.
 
i have had a trial of directv now. and it seems the PQ is better than dish
Ok, nevermind. I guess it needs to be spelled out.

DTVNow is a streaming service like Dish's SlingTV. Both of them are going to have better picture quality than Dish satellite service, and DirecTV satellite service as well. You are comparing apples to oranges.
 
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