Comcast HD vs. Dish HD?

[tsummerall]

Okay I finally bought an HD receiver and TV.

Now I have the choice of upgrading my currently month-to-month Dish Network to HD or getting Comcast HD which just came to our neighborhood 6 month ago. I currently have Comcast internet & phone.

Is there a big difference in quality? I know the cable can theoretically carry higher quality, but that's up to Comcast to use.

Thanks for any advice you have about this.

 

[dvrexpander]

Dish has more HD than Comcast, the only good thing about going with Comcast would be bundle pricing as in getting Internet to go with it which is a major Plus.

I've got Sat TV from Dish and my internet through Comcast just cause Dish has more HD channels and now HD is free.

Satellite - HDTV programming compared - HDTV World - CNET.com

 

[KAB]

If a good HD DVR is important to you, stay with Dish.

 

[tpautler]

A number of things to consider. I think the Dish DVRs are much better. We left Dish and used Comcast for a year when we first switched to HD. We were so happy to get back to the Dish interface! But, we are heavy DVR users.

We now have the Comcast bundle of phone,Internet, and the most basic Comcast Hd package along with our fully loaded Dish system. The Comast phone and Internet service has been very good. We get the TV part because it does not cost much as part of the bundle and it serves as a backup to the Dish (when the snow piles on etc) and provides some local weather and other programming that is nice to have sometimes.

Quality differences?? Always one of those endless debates. In our setup, the dish PQ seems to be better.

 

[cditty]

There is one good thing about Comcast. They have a spectacular On-Demand selection, that actually works.

Other than that, PQ and channels available vary from market to market.

 

[yaz96]

Dish has more HD than Comcast, the only good thing about going with Comcast would be bundle pricing as in getting Internet to go with it which is a major Plus.

I've got Sat TV from Dish and my internet through Comcast just cause Dish has more HD channels and now HD is free.

Satellite - HDTV programming compared - HDTV World - CNET.com

First of all, that article is from 2003!! Just a little has changed since then, wouldn't you say?

HD has always been free with Comcast, the satco's are just catching up to that.

If you are in a World Of More or XFINITY market, Comcast now has more HD channels than Dish, including HD channels that they do not and probably will not carry (the Rainbow channels for one, and the Disney/ESPN channels).

As stated above the High Def ON-DEMAND (FREE and PPV) kicks both Dish and Directs ass all over the place.

 

[kvnfl]

I live in a planned community that bundles Comcast TV in with lawn care and other upkeep things. The cable feed is Fiber to the Home. About half the houses in my neighborhood have dishes mounted to them. The folks that do not say they do not watch much TV. There is a huge PQ difference between Comcast HD and Dish/Direc HD. Satellite blows Comcast away. SD quality is on par to slight edge for Comcast.

In the DVR war there is TIVO or Dish, the rest just do not stack up. TIVO does some things better than Dish. Dish DVR does some things better than TIVO. TIVO accepts CableCARD where available for Comcast but at additional cost.

Comcast ON-DEMAND is good. You do not have to DVR many programs because Comcast does it for you.

IMHO, I'll stick with my Dish 722 DVR over Comcast and hope that 3D gets here soon.

 

[goaliebob99]

Comcast in my area is all digital minus 2-13. We have way more hd channels than dish now. Before they both were about the same.

 

[TigerpounceTN]

There is one good thing about Comcast. They have a spectacular On-Demand selection, that actually works.

Other than that, PQ and channels available vary from market to market.

That is the best answer. If Comcast has a very good lineup in your area I'd get that though. There will probably be no contract and depending on how far into the transition to digital they are, they may have even more HD than Dish. You also won't have to worry about as many contract disputes pulling your favorite HD channels off the air. Comcast in my area has AMC HD, much better sports coverage for my local teams and much better picture quality than Dish. Note that Dish Network uses HD Lite, which some will claim to not notice, but for their 1080i channels they downconverty the resolution to 1440x1080i instead of 1920x1080i. You will definitely notice if you watch a lot of HD with full resolution and then watch Dish.

I cannot recommend Dish to anyone after using it, but it is up to you. There are certain advantages to Dish like the hardware being more advanced and greater DVR capacity. There are also many satisfied Dish Network customers. If you are leaning toward Dish Network then talk to them to find out why they love it.

 

[TigerpounceTN]

There is a huge PQ difference between Comcast HD and Dish/Direc HD. Satellite blows Comcast away.

Dish isn't even in the discussion for HD picture quality unless you are looking for color banding, blurred images, pixelation, extra macroblocking and various other image artifacts caused by their overcompression and resolution downgrades. DirecTV is better than Comcast for the channels that Comcast uses a 3:1 QAM mux on, but for the channels that Comcast passes through without altering like RSNs, TNT, TBS, ESPN networks, local channels in most every market, etc, the picture quality is equal to FiOS and as good as possible. I'd say that overall DirecTV gives the most consistently good image quality of these providers, but Dish is not as good as either.

 

[bamaweather]

HD has always been free with Comcast, the satco's are just catching up to that.

Whoa, that is not the case everywhere. Here, Comcast charges $7.95/month for HD even though they offer far fewer channels than either of the satcos.

 

[TigerpounceTN]

Whoa, that is not the case everywhere. Here, Comcast charges $7.95/month for HD even though they offer far fewer channels than either of the satcos.

That is the biggest argument against cable in general. The service varies wildly by your location.

 

[KAB]

Whoa, that is not the case everywhere. Here, Comcast charges $7.95/month for HD even though they offer far fewer channels than either of the satcos.

Same here in Indy.

 

[lparsons21]

Dish isn't even in the discussion for HD picture quality unless you are looking for color banding, blurred images, pixelation, extra macroblocking and various other image artifacts caused by their overcompression and resolution downgrades. DirecTV is better than Comcast for the channels that Comcast uses a 3:1 QAM mux on, but for the channels that Comcast passes through without altering like RSNs, TNT, TBS, ESPN networks, local channels in most every market, etc, the picture quality is equal to FiOS and as good as possible. I'd say that overall DirecTV gives the most consistently good image quality of these providers, but Dish is not as good as either.

I'm sorry, but it has been very consistently reported that to the naked eye, the difference between D* and E* in HD is just that, different. Neither one being markedly better than the other with one exception - on a spec sheet!

 

[TigerpounceTN]

I'm sorry, but it has been very consistently reported that to the naked eye, the difference between D* and E* in HD is just that, different. Neither one being markedly better than the other with one exception - on a spec sheet!

By Dish customers in denial. Have you ever actually tried to watch an RSN in HD on Dish?

 

[nsafreak]

By Dish customers in denial. Have you ever actually tried to watch an RSN in HD on Dish?

Actually I have. The same RSN between Dish and Comcast (which has upgraded all of the lines in my area) and I really don't see a difference between the two.

 

[ronfelder]

Note that Dish Network uses HD Lite, which some will claim to not notice, but for their 1080i channels they downconverty the resolution to 1440x1080i instead of 1920x1080i.

They all down convert to the lower resolution level. What's more inportant is the bit rate. Who's higher gthagt I don't know. Probably depends on which channel you've selected.

Ron

 

[ronfelder]

Dish isn't even in the discussion for HD picture quality unless you are looking for color banding, blurred images, pixelation, extra macroblocking and various other image artifacts caused by their overcompression and resolution downgrades. DirecTV is better than Comcast for the channels that Comcast uses a 3:1 QAM mux on, but for the channels that Comcast passes through without altering like RSNs, TNT, TBS, ESPN networks, local channels in most every market, etc, the picture quality is equal to FiOS and as good as possible. I'd say that overall DirecTV gives the most consistently good image quality of these providers, but Dish is not as good as either.

Perhaps it's where you live or the reciever. Personallhy i've never seen an of the defects you've mentioned and I have a 42" led hdtv.

 

[Ronnie-]

Note that Dish Network uses HD Lite, which some will claim to not notice, but for their 1080i channels they downconverty the resolution to 1440x1080i instead of 1920x1080i.

They all down convert to the lower resolution level. What's more inportant is the bit rate. Who's higher gthagt I don't know. Probably depends on which channel you've selected.

Ron

They all downcovert the resolution to the lower resolution level? Who is "they"? Some do downrez, some do not. As of last check, Directv does not, nor does FIOS.

You are correct on bitrate.

 

[Ronnie-]

Perhaps it's where you live or the reciever. Personallhy i've never seen an of the defects you've mentioned and I have a 42" led hdtv.

I am not sure how where you live, as long as you can get the signal, would matter with sat service.