DirecTV vs Dish

Voyager6

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:welcome to SatGuys Officialbulldog. If you tell us what you are looking for in a sat TV provider, we can help point you in the right direction.
 

mr_tv

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Mar 5, 2010
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As to a direct answer to your question I will go for it. I install both. In the end it is just choice. Choose price, package and technology and sign up. That being said (putting flame suit on) in my OWN PERSONAL OPINION I think you should go with Dish'sHopper with sling or DTV"s Genie if you want the best in hd video quality. The older Dish VIP receivers do not in my opinion have as nice a HD picture. Good luck.
 

eurosport

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Mar 31, 2008
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....The older Dish VIP receivers do not in my opinion have as nice a HD picture. Good luck.

Opinions are just that. The VIP boxes are receiving the exact same signal as the Hopper. Therefore the HD will be the same. The Hopper doesn't magically add anything to what it's receiving.

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AIsmail

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Dec 25, 2005
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Stewartsville, NJ
Actually, the original Hopper greatly improved my picture quality over my VIP 722. While the signal both receivers get is the same, what each receiver does with that signal is apparently different.

As for pros and cons for someone who currently has experience with both, I'd say Direct has the better programming options plus they offer sports and Dish has the better hardware.
 

TheKrell

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Actually, the original Hopper greatly improved my picture quality over my VIP 722. While the signal both receivers get is the same, what each receiver does with that signal is apparently different.

Are you making this claim based on analog outputs, or :eek: digital outputs?
 

KAB

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Opinions are just that. The VIP boxes are receiving the exact same signal as the Hopper. Therefore the HD will be the same. The Hopper doesn't magically add anything to what it's receiving.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using SatelliteGuys
You're right, nothing magical...just newer and perhaps better processing chipsets.
 

KKlare

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Nov 18, 2003
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Asked and answered. With HDMI I noticed an improvement in the HD picture quality with the Hopper and same with HwS. Wife even noticed it.
-Ken
 

Hall

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Feb 14, 2004
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You're right, nothing magical...just newer and perhaps better processing chipsets.

That can absolutely impact the picture quality too, so to some eyes, it can be better. By the same token, it can be worse (or no change). I've seen plenty of people here say the PQ is better with the Hopper vs previous receivers...

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TheKrell

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That can absolutely impact the picture quality too, so to some eyes, it can be better. By the same token, it can be worse (or no change). I've seen plenty of people here say the PQ is better with the Hopper vs previous receivers...

I have too. The question is whether this is just wishful thinking, or a real improvement in PQ.

Among the people who noticed it, were they just looking at the menus which are HD with the Hopper? The next question is whether this improvement supposedly seen on program material is with analog outputs (component), or digital (HDMI) outputs. I am trying to understand what a VIP receiver could do differently on the HDMI output when the entire chain from Dish uplink center to your TV is all digital. At first blush, this would seem to be impossible.

Finally, for completeness, and I'm sure this never happened to anyone on SG ;), there is the possibility that they were watching an inferior output on their VIP receivers, and never realized it. Of course a switch to HD outputs on the Hopper would make the Hopper look better.
 

Rizon216

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Jan 6, 2013
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Among the people who noticed it, were they just looking at the menus which are HD with the Hopper? The next question is whether this improvement supposedly seen on program material is with analog outputs (component), or digital (HDMI) outputs. I am trying to understand what a VIP receiver could do differently on the HDMI output when the entire chain from Dish uplink center to your TV is all digital. At first blush, this would seem to be impossible.

Do the receivers do any sort of processing on the video? I would imagine there's at least a little bit of processing done on some channels (upscaling) but not sure what else would be done, and not sure how much that would affect picture quality.
 

ncted

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Jul 4, 2004
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I've had both recently, as well as TWC. I can say that both satellite services provide a far superior experience to what my local cableco offers. I would give the edge to DirecTV on PQ, but not by as much as it used to have. The Hopper does seem to have improved things for Dish PQ IMHO. Dish seems to suffer less from rain fade for whatever reason. The real reasons I am with Dish now are:

1. I cannot receive DirecTV at my new house.
2. I prefer Dish's online account management tools. I don't have to talk to someone every time I want to make any type of change that results in removing or downgrading a package.
3. It is a bit cheaper for my particular package/equipment combination than DirecTV was. YMMV, so use the ordering tools with both to see what the on- and off-contract pricing would be for you.

Best of luck,
Ted
 

Hall

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Feb 14, 2004
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Do the receivers do any sort of processing on the video?
There is "processing" inherent in the delivery or transfer of the data through the receiver to our TVs, but it's not done for picture quality reasons, changes, etc. If you took two different chipsets and put them in receivers that see the same satellites, use the same cabling, connected to identical TVs, I suspect you'll see a difference. Minute, substantial, who knows ?
 

MikeD-C05

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I've always noticed an improvement in picture quality with any new DISH sat receiver that is new to the market. The broadband chipset in the newest receivers is always the latest cutting edge version and it does make a difference to me on my hdtv. Now that being said , I also think that we want to justify the purchase or upgrade of a new receiver so we rationalize to ourselves that there is an improvement.
 

Hall

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Now that being said , I also think that we want to justify the purchase or upgrade of a new receiver so we rationalize to ourselves that there is an improvement.
:up That is a much bigger reason than most people will admit. I see it happen all the time... They want to see a difference !
 

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