Directv PQ

[adawhi]

I apologize in advance, because I am sure this is discussed as nasium -- but opinions would be appreciated.

D* has forced my hand and I think I need to switch from Dish so I can get the MLB EI package. My question is how is the SD picture quality on D* . . . is it different from what I have at Dish?

Thanks.

 

[FavreJL04]

I have DTV and never had DISH, but I hear from people who have had both that the SD picture quality is about the same on both.

 

[ChrisClearman]

different channels have different quality. it's all MPEG2 but they mess with the bitrates as space allows.

regional channels like Fox Sports are a freakin' disaster nearly all the time. nationals like CNN are usually pretty decent.

 

[dfergie]

I have both and it varys from one channel to the next...

 

[MLBurks]

I just came from Dish and I can say that the PQ on Dish is better most of the time. I was with E* for over two years and I have now been with D* for a month. I am still getting used to the pixelazation on D* that I was not used to with E*. But the PPV and Movie channels are pretty crisp and clean. I understand that once the new birds get off the ground that PQ and bandwidth issues will improve.

 

[adawhi]

Thanks for the input. I have been focused on the Dish developments over the past year or so . . . what is the timing on getting more sats up for D*?

 

[ChrisClearman]

They claim 2 new birds end of summer and into fall. Supposed to roll-out all the new HD (lite) programming. "Up to 150 HD Channels" marketing BS. They've been telling us this stuff for years.

Actually, they say this will all be MPEG4 and an improvement over the current HD, but the local spots are MPEG4 and aren't any better than the current MPEG2 (HD-Lite), so who knows.

Apparently Dish just moved over some channels to MPEG4 with good success.

 

[fredfa]

The move to MPEG4 for Los Angeles locals has produced markedly better PQ. I switch back and forth from my HR20 to my HD TiVo and marvel at the improvement.

When switching from OTA`to DirecTV's HD DVR I cannot tell the difference. That could not be said regarding the HD TiVo.

 

[wh5916]

I just came from Dish and I can say that the PQ on Dish is better most of the time. I was with E* for over two years and I have now been with D* for a month. I am still getting used to the pixelazation on D* that I was not used to with E*. But the PPV and Movie channels are pretty crisp and clean. I understand that once the new birds get off the ground that PQ and bandwidth issues will improve.

This mirrors my own experience during the past week. I switched to Dish Network on Saturday, after 8 years with DirecTV. The difference in image quality (SD) was noticeable immediately, with visibly sharper/clearer images from channel to channel. This was very unexpected and welcome. The last time I had subscribed to Dish, back in 1998 for 10 months, image quality was unacceptably soft...quite frankly, I hated it at the time, but put up with it because Dish was so much cheaper than cable, with better channel selection

This is the happiest I've been with DBS image quality in years, I just hope it continues. DirecTV looked beautiful back when I switched to them in late 1998, but once they started adding locals, image quality went downhill, and never seemed to fully recover.

Only thing that I miss, so far, is the overall slicker performance of my Hughes manufactured Sony receiver. Channel changes were quicker and menus looked much better than the ones on my new Dish 322 receiver...but it's a compromise that I'm willing to put up with.