622 did not live up to my expectations

[Maddogg]

First off, let me say I was one of those idiots who paid 1K for the 921, right here at satelliteguys.us. Although we have been quite pleased with the picture quality, it is not very reliable. It requires constant re-booting, frequently fails to record shows, and locks up quite often. Because of this, my wife hates it with a passion, and has constantly been after me to replace it. This last weekend I bit the bullet and had a 622 installed.

Our first impression was that overall, ALL of the HD channels were much softer than the 921. None of the channels had the sharpness and clarity that we had grown accustomed to, and completely missing was that "looking through a window" experience. Worse yet, on all of the HD channels, ANY motion on the screen was blurred, even simple hand movements. I'm assuming this is a result of the compression but it was quite annoying.

The picture quality on the SD channels was noticeably better on the 622, but any on-screen graphics were simply horrible! Things like station logos look like they had been painted on with watercolors.

I put the 921 back in (we had not de-activated it yet) and everything went back to normal. No Food HD or HGTV HD but the few HD channels we were getting were crystal clear compared to the 622. We put the 622 back in and tried over the next few days to get used to it, but we both agreed that the reason for having HD in the first place was for great picture quality, and the 622 simply did not deliver. I called and asked to return the 622. With our modest set-up (a Fujitsu Plasma), the overall experience for us was simply better with the 921. My wife still hates it, but as for now we have no alternative.

I don't have any agenda against the 622, just simply reporting my experience.

 

[cclement]

Maddogg- aorry to hear about your 622 problems. I also had a 921, the wife and I also becaome very tired of the problems with it, so we went to a 942 and have been VERY happy with it. I know the last thing you want to do is spend money on an already outdated receiver, but it really works for us. You can usually find one for $200-300. That's why I have yet to update to the 622, we really like the 942, we have the HD pack for only $5 and it's very stable with a great picture. Just a thought.

 

[Sharper]

I was a 921 early adopter as well and am currently using the 622. Besides the broken HDMI issue, I've found the 622 tons more reliable and the picture to be just as good, if not better, than the 921 picture.

Perhaps you got a bad 622 or there is a settings problem or something? It might be worth taking a look at a different 622 if you can.

 

[mrhph]

Is your 622 set to output 1080i? By default it's 480i, and most installer will not change it for you.

 

[r_childress]

Ditto, check your output setting. Default is 480i.

 

[Maddogg]

It was set to 1080i. Tried 720p as well. Still crappy picture. Not really crappy just noticeably soft. The only other settings I saw relating to PQ was aspect ratio and format. Even at 4:3 the SD graphics were bad! I even tried a few settings on the plasma to help, but nothing did. With all the accolades given to the 622 here, maybe I did just get a bad one. I still have it (waiting for a return box) but I really don't think it was a settings issue. Some HD channels were better than others but none were as good as the 921. I really hoped it would work.

 

[mdonnelly]

Just to be sure, disconnect any S-video, RF, and composite cables. Just keep the HDMI and/or component (YPrPb) cables, and check again.

 

[Wayne88]

Vip-622

As a relatively new Dish subscriber (I joined after the Comcast promotion ended), I have no experience with the 942. I started out with a 622 and a 211. The only HD STBs I can compare them to are the Motorola DCT-6412 from Comcast (actually had 2 of them) and the Motorola HD STB that I had with Voom (had 3 of them simultaneously). I think both the 211 and the 622 compare favorably with the Voom and the Comcast boxes in terms of picture quality and as a DVR I like the 622 better than the Comcast box (although the picture quality was similar). On the other hand, I also had to return my first 622 when the HDMI output suddenly stopped working. The replacement Vip-622 was sent immediately and has been fine. I think you might try to swap that box and see if the replacement works better for you. With Comcast, I had to swap out one of my DCT-6412s to get one that worked well and when they got the Series 3 with the HDMI came out, I added a second one. For some folks, they had to swap twice to get one functioning DCT-6412.
Wayne

 

[Tom Bombadil]

The screen guides and menus look softer on my 622 than my 942.

The new HD channels look softer, but that is due to E* and not the 622.

Old great standbys like HDNET and HDNMV look softer because E* just down-rezzed them.

But on the very remaining good quality HD channels, I find the 622 to be every bit as sharp as my 942.

 

[NightHawk]

I use both a 921 and a 622 in the same setup and often switch between the two. Both have identical excellent picture quality. I have both units set to 720P over component video.

 

[rcdallas]

First off, let me say I was one of those idiots who paid 1K for the 921, right here at satelliteguys.us. Although we have been quite pleased with the picture quality, it is not very reliable. It requires constant re-booting, frequently fails to record shows, and locks up quite often. Because of this, my wife hates it with a passion, and has constantly been after me to replace it. This last weekend I bit the bullet and had a 622 installed.

I don't think I could say it much better then that. I personally have a 211 vs the 622 and it has been requiring a reboot almost every other day. One pays all this money for the latest and greatest in which reality it is a piece... and when it does lock up, Oh yeah I hear about it......

 

[leejp]

622 happy with the HD but the SD is just aweful!

The HD looks sharp and looks really good on my 622 (I do see the compression artifacts though... E* fault not the 622).

However the SD picture out of the 622 is absolutely the worst! Part of the problem I believe is that there's no native passthru mode on the 622 is that the upconversion of the 480i signals are done in the 622 vs my TV (Sony KDF-46E2000). The 622 seems to be absolutely lousy at this upconversion. I am running HDMI at 720p or 1080i presently, I will try S-VHS to see if the SD picture improves.

The SD picture looks worse than bad vhs.

 

[redman042]

I have the 622 (revision F) and it works perfectly. Picture is razor sharp on a 720p DLP set. If you are having crashing, rebooting or PQ problems you REALLY should exchange the box and see if things improve. The earlier models had issues, the latest ones generally do not.

 

[dougmcbride]

Did you change the interface to your TV - e.g. go from Component to HDMI? If so, have you calibrated your display on that input? Many times folks think it is the source that is poor but it is actually the display.

For what it's worth, my 622 is brilliant on HD and depending on compression, is very good to tolerable on SD. I'm using component connections to a professionaly calibrated display.

 

[GB33]

Is the 942 still available from Dish? I am currently with dtv, and am happy and love my sd tivo, but just want to record HD OTA. Whoever can get me that is who I will stay with.

 

[Poke]

Well 1st I would call Dish have them swap out the current 622. Then see how thinks look from there that most likely will fix the issues. If your still haveing problems then let us know here and for everyone that post issues make sure you include what brand and model of tv you have. Your TV will also be a factor due things are not always going to be the same for every tv.