DirecTV HD settings

[Lou_82]

Hey all, I apologize in advance if this is the wrong forum. I have a question about getting the best possible HD picture with DirecTV.

Right now I have an HR20 box hooked up via HDMI 1.3a cables. Dont get me wrong, the HD channels look great but I guess I was expecting a little more. I just feel I've seen better HD displays elsewhere (friend's house, bars, etc). One thing I am noticing is that the HD channels appear a little bit "grainy" and im sitting about 8 feet away on a 40" samsung.

RIght now my HR20 has native OFF and I have all four outputs enabled.

What is the best setup to get the best quality HD picture?

Thanks

 

[Jimbo]

Hey all, I apologize in advance if this is the wrong forum. I have a question about getting the best possible HD picture with DirecTV.

Right now I have an HR20 box hooked up via HDMI 1.3a cables. Dont get me wrong, the HD channels look great but I guess I was expecting a little more. I just feel I've seen better HD displays elsewhere (friend's house, bars, etc). One thing I am noticing is that the HD channels appear a little bit "grainy" and im sitting about 8 feet away on a 40" samsung.

RIght now my HR20 has native OFF and I have all four outputs enabled.

What is the best setup to get the best quality HD picture?

Thanks

It kinda depends on what you are watching.
Live sports always look better than others....
Anything LIVE will look better, alot of channels are upconverting old movies and shows, they will normally not look as sharp as something that was originally shot in HD with HD cameras, so alot has to do with what your watching.

Jimbo

 

[gadgtfreek]

I think once D* goes mpeg4 youll see some sharpness show up in the picture. ESPN sports coverage really stinks right now for some reason, but DiscHD and UHD look very good.

Also, If I understand you correctly you have all 4 outputs enabled(480i,480p,720p,1080i)? But have native off? This is not doing you any good, turn native to ON so the HR20 will pass the channels native signal thru to your TV.

 

[Lou_82]

.

Also, If I understand you correctly you have all 4 outputs enabled(480i,480p,720p,1080i)? But have native off? This is not doing you any good, turn native to ON so the HR20 will pass the channels native signal thru to your TV.

The problem is my TV sometimes does not recognize my HR20 box VIA HDMI if the native is ON. Sometimes it does and sometimes it doesnt. The DirecTV tech admitted to me that their HR20 boxes have some compatability issues with some HDTVs VIA hdmi and that I am best to leave native off.

 

[gadgtfreek]

The problem is my TV sometimes does not recognize my HR20 box VIA HDMI if the native is ON. Sometimes it does and sometimes it doesnt. The DirecTV tech admitted to me that their HR20 boxes have some compatability issues with some HDTVs VIA hdmi and that I am best to leave native off.

Ah. Man, youd think at this point all these provider dvr's would be past hdmi issues.

 

[Jimbo]

Ah. Man, youd think at this point all these provider dvr's would be past hdmi issues.

It's not just DVR's, it's all sorts of electronic equipment that are having HDMI problems, not just D* products, TV's DVR's ect all types.

Jimbo

 

[Lou_82]

I put native back on and my TV is picking up the box, im noticing a few drops here and there but the signal eventually reappears, ill see how it goes.

Is native ON that important? What exactly does it do? Thanks for all the help guys.

 

[gadgtfreek]

I put native back on and my TV is picking up the box, im noticing a few drops here and there but the signal eventually reappears, ill see how it goes.

Is native ON that important? What exactly does it do? Thanks for all the help guys.

You can either have the box change everything to your tv's native resolution (720p/1080i) or have the box send the channels native through (480i,720p,1080I) to the tv and allow the tv to change it to its native resolution.

Honestly, Ive never seen a big difference between 720p and 1080i settings, main reason I like native is my two tv's do not like 480i channels passed from the box as 720p or 1080i. They just dont look as good.

The E* 622 does not have native and that really sucked, one of the features I like more on the HR20.

 

[atp1313]

Even though ESPNHD is 720p, if you have NATIVE off and all outputs checked on, the signal comes through as the lowest possible format (480i). Uncheck those two lower settings and leave NATIVE off and see how it looks.

 

[fxstsb]

Your best HD picture will be on HDnet. If it is scenerey 1080i will be the best and for action sports 720p will be. I don't want to hear 1080p since no one transmits it.

 

[gadgtfreek]

Even though ESPNHD is 720p, if you have NATIVE off and all outputs checked on, the signal comes through as the lowest possible format (480i). Uncheck those two lower settings and leave NATIVE off and see how it looks.

I did not know that, thought it would default to your tv's resolution.

 

[atp1313]

I did not know that, thought it would default to your tv's resolution.

I thought so too, but when the new HR20 was hooked up yesterday and the tech defaulted all formats, and NATIVE was off, the HD football game came through as 480i, the lowest setting. So I think if you "force" the signal to be what you want, even below HD quality, the box will pass the signal through as you requested. The NATIVE mode is great in this regard. I guess you can turn on Native and leave all four formats active and let the box auto-switch. But I would rather have only 720p/1080i sent through to my TV.

 

[gadgtfreek]

I thought so too, but when the new HR20 was hooked up yesterday and the tech defaulted all formats, and NATIVE was off, the HD football game came through as 480i, the lowest setting. So I think if you "force" the signal to be what you want, even below HD quality, the box will pass the signal through as you requested. The NATIVE mode is great in this regard. I guess you can turn on Native and leave all four formats active and let the box auto-switch. But I would rather have only 720p/1080i sent through to my TV.

I actually have mine set on all 4 and native and let it swap between. Like I said I never noticed between 1080i and 720p. but having the dvr upconvert a 480i signal just looks funny on my tv so Im guessing the upconversion my tv does is better.

 

[Lou_82]

Even though ESPNHD is 720p, if you have NATIVE off and all outputs checked on, the signal comes through as the lowest possible format (480i). Uncheck those two lower settings and leave NATIVE off and see how it looks.

What exactly is the idea, to get every HD program in 1080i? Or is every HD program not in 1080i? I used your instructions aboved, disabled 480i and 480p and set native OFF and the Yankee game on YESHD went to 720. I then put native back ON and the resolution on YES went to 1080i.

Im new to all this so im just trying to get an idea of what i should be trying to accomplish. Thanks.

 

[Plywodstatebum]

Have you tryed the Component cables to see it there is any diff.?

 

[Lou_82]

Yea i think HDMI is a bit crisper.