HD channels look terrible

4louie4

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Original poster
Sep 18, 2006
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I just subscribed to DishHD. The hd channels look terrible (I think) they look grainy and are very pixilated and blurry. At times it seems like im watching sd channels. Some channels look pretty good but have blurriness and pixelation. Im watching Monday night football on espnhd right now and some shots look very good, then the next shot will look all blurry around the edges of the players like little pixels all around the players and the grass will look distorted. Most close up shots look perfect but some look very grainy and blurry like slightly improved sd. Solid colors like shirts and walls look very grainy. Its a lot worse when its cloudy also. Almost makes me not want to watch. I've had a service technician out to my place and replaced something on the dish. Didn’t help at all. He then looked at the picture and said that is just how dish hd looks. I know a couple of people that have hd and it looks perfect nothing like mine. I have the dish 1000 and the vip211 receiver. Most hd channels get a signal strength of 60 to 72. I have a HL-S5088W rear projection. What could be the problem?
 
I haven't seen these issues except on ESPNHD, and I have seen that both on cable and Dish. I personally believe that it is an issue with ESPNHD, as I only see it on the up top camera (sideline view for the play). If you read AVSForums a lot of people are complaining about that 1 camera view this season, as it has looked bad for every game they have televised thus far. These people are from all kinds of different providers as well.
 
The clouds have now subsided and the picture is about 5 times better and the signal strength went up from 59 to 61. But there is still room for improvement. But can signal strength effect hd that much?
 
It is the channel acting up, but the quality in Dish HD channels across the board have dramatically decreased since last year. Getting very frustrating only because how expensive the entire "HD" operation costs!!!!
 
Thanks Richie for the email addresses ---- I did express my concern.

Also, I meant to say the quality has declined since 2 yrs ago. Every year ---- worse and worse and worse.
 
Buy an HD DVD player if you want to see what real HD looks like.. Or if you think your friends HD setup looks so much better than yours find out who their provider is and switch..Do they possibly have a cable service that isnt compressing the signal? Not likely, but its a thought..

Other than that you'll just have to deal with it..Between the channels that just simply do a horrible job (like ESPNHD and NBCHD), and the providers that almost across the board cripple the HD signal before it reaches your home, this is broadcast HD in 2006.. What the OP is seeing is perfectly normal, and it isnt going to get any better anytime soon..Broadcast HD has turned into one the biggest consumer rip offs ever..
 
The only HD channels I watch are OTA broadcast. Therefore, those are the only ones I subscribe to. I have a 921, so there's no "enabling fee" to receive them that way. From all the complaints, it sounds like I get a better picture and save money at the same time!

Seriously, is there really all that much compelling content in HD? I'll grant you sports, but if they're not done right, it's just not worth watching. Beyond that, you get better selection and generally better quality by watching DVDs. Unless you're glued to your set for more hours a day than is healthy, then it's cheaper too, to get a Netflix subscription or equivalent, and let the disks roll in!
 
Sports are always worth watching, and HD that isn't perfect is better than no HD at all in terms of the sports.

As far as the E* HD is concerned, it looks pretty good to me. Comparing to D*, it looks great. Compared to TWC (which in my area does not compress), it looks very close in PQ. As long as E* keeps the bit rate up I will be happy. 1440x1080 doesn't bother me, my big screen is only 720p anyway. The average "HD" set doesn't do full 1080i anyway...
 
I read that ESPN was having some hardware issues on their end with their HD.. If all your channels look bad then its something on your end then.. That is not how Dish HD looks either that BS! What kind of cable are you useing HDMI Componet?? Also your singal strenght should be better than that unless something outside is casueing a issue.. I would contact Dish have someone else twick your Dish sounds like the guy that set it up did a half butt job!! Also make sure your cable inside your house is up to par... Thats a thing with installers some are better than others all depends on who you have in your area..
 
Poke said:
Ok thats a Samsung Set what cables are you useing on the set??

Give us all a break..LOL The guy owns an HL-S5088W, I bet he knows how to hook the darn thing up..

OP, you are looking at Dish Network, plain and simple..

They have a couple channels that are high quality HD and thats it..
,
The rest is down rezzed bit starved garbage, and your high quality 1080p is going to show every last problem..

Just be glad you have Dish OP, as oppesed to Directv..As far as DBS goes Dish is where its at, but its still 90% marginal HD at best..
 
Well I understand that he probally know how to hook the TV up!! LOL!! But not everything going to look the same on every TV either... Some TV's PQ looks better with HDMI other's do not..
 
:D
Poke said:
Well I understand that he probally know how to hook the TV up!! LOL!! But not everything going to look the same on every TV either... Some TV's PQ looks better with HDMI other's do not..

Everything is definately not going to look the same on every TV, thats for sure..

On most 720p sets and Direct View CRT's, or most smaller size displays in general Dish Network looks like the best thing since sliced bread..

When one hooks Dish Network up to a quality HD set, one thats actually capable of resolving detail, the real Dish Network comes out to play..

I love Dish net on my 34 inch Direct View Philips CRT, I hate Dish Network on my XBR1..

Ah, the joys of owning a quality HD set. :) Well ,the XBR1 sure looks stunning with my HD DVD player though :D No compaints there!!!

I just find it amusing that you are trying to make him believe the problem is something other than E* and/or the content providers..It isnt. Its HD in the year 2006, nothing more, nothing less :)
 
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Well, I will say this.

I started with E* a few months ago, switched from D*. At that time most of the channels on Dish (even the downrezzed ones) were, IMHO, excellent. The downrezzing did NOT seem to be a problem, for example, on many of the VOOM channels which I thought were stunning. The main issue was StarzHD. Terrible swimming, motion blocking, etc. I did NOT notice this on any other channel, even the locals (also MPEG4). HGTV-HD was wonderful, NTGHD excellent as well.

Then E* launched FOOD-HD and the motion blocking was horrendous. Quick camera movement, spinach tossing :))), whatever, was painful to look at. The other channels seemed to be still OK. However, once football season started I've noticed AWFUL motion blocking on my locals (NY, 2,4,7). Any quick movement gives the same effect as watching salad go flying on FOOD-HD. It really makes me wince, and basically I'll tolerate almost ANYTHING.

It appears, as others have pointed out, not to be downrezzing as much as bitrate. If the football and food don't move the picture is great. As soon as they become animated, forget it.

This happens on both my 43" Samsung DLP and 26" Samsung LCD. I don't believe it's cables and my signal strength goes from 75-95 on the various transponders on 61.5 (despite the crappy installation).

Very disappointing. Still, however, I'm glad I switched, despite the picture problems, lack of Setanta and rebate problems.

=NLK=
 
I am just going to keep calling dish network and complaining till I am satisfied. The technician told me that they are going to move all there HD channels over to satellite 110, he said that should improve the quality. He also said once they come up with more software updates for the vip211 receiver that would improve quality also and fix the annoying sound prolem.
 
4louie4 said:
I am just going to keep calling dish network and complaining till I am satisfied. The technician told me that they are going to move all there HD channels over to satellite 110, he said that should improve the quality. He also said once they come up with more software updates for the vip211 receiver that would improve quality also and fix the annoying sound prolem.

You will be calling for a very long time..:)

I doubt theres any truth to all HD channels moving to 110 either..Even if they did, there would still be bandwith issues..The only improvment would be in the strength of the signal, which will be nice when it rains, but it wont do anything for the low bitrates and downrezzing..
 
Yes I understand that it probally is on Dish end but you must always rule out that its not on the TV end either..
 
I have hdmi connections that i bought for 8$ on ebay. I did my research when i bought the tv. I just dont know much about dishhd. I am going to get 4000 mhz coax cables and ajust the dish a bit for better signal. Something that the technician said he couldnt improve.
 

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