Hopper 3 bad PQ

[solstars]

I just went from a vip 722 to the Hopper 3, and I have had major issues getting a good picture on my 80 inch Sharp TV.

The 722 picture was much better, and nothing else had changed. While trying to fix the issue, I set the Hopper to output 720 instead of 1080. The picture was instantly better!

The question is why? I want my streaming to show in 1080, but setting the Hopper to that resolution makes everything else look horrible (especially locals). Even OTA looks terrible with the 1080 setting.

Its obviously an upscaling issue, but is is the receiver or my TV? The TV is older and just predates 4k by about a year.

 

[patmurphey]

Your TV or your TV settings. Hopper3 picture is better than 722.

 

[solstars]

The TV settings are untouched. Same HDMI input as 722, but PQ is poor only in 1080. The 722 was also set to 1080 output, so this still makes no sense.

 

[Chris Leer]

umm let me guess your tv settings might have to be calibrated because this happens with sports channels such as ESPN and other sports stations that do have the 720p resolution so give that a shot to see because the PQ on a hopper 3 should be much better than that and speaking that they have updated their encoders to give you the sharpest picture possible.

 

[solstars]

No sports... and it's every channel. The locals (OTA and SAT) are full of very visible compression artifacts in 1080, which disappear in 720p. The OTA part has me baffled, because directly to an outboard tuner it is a crystal clear picture. The OTA in the 722 worked perfectly and had no such picture problems. This is even visible during still scenes, so it's not just motion causing the problem. If anything, that tells me that one of the two devices is resizing the video. Because of the OTA issue, I have to suspect it is the Hopper. If I tune to HBO or another non-local channel, the picture is so soft it is like looking through a light fog, yet still has some pretty noticeable compression artifacts. As expected, quality varies by channel.

I attempted to calibrate the display last night, but the same results appear regardless. I'm convinced that there is some type of bad scaling going on here, but don't know why the TV would do this with the Hopper and not the 722. Leaving it in 720p works, it's just not optimal. It's just odd to me that I cannot get a good 1080 picture out of this new receiver. I guess I leave it in 720p until I get a new TV. Hopefully that doesn't worsen the problem when it tries to upscale to 4K.

 

[Voyager6]

1st question, was this a Dish install or self install? Was the LNB replaced with a hybrid?
2nd question, how old is your HDMI cable? I would replace an older cable and/or try a different HDMI port on your TV.

 

[solstars]

All solid questions. Dish installed and LNB was upgraded to hybrid. HDMI cable was the one out of the Hopper box, but has already been swapped during the troubleshooting process.

 

[ncted]

Eastern Arc or Western?

 

[solstars]

Western.

 

[MikeD-C05]

Try a different input. If not it might just be that the largest screen I’ve heard of for home use is blowing up all defects in the satellite picture.

 

[solstars]

I tried the input switching.. no change. Heh... I was just looking at a Samsung 82" 4K last night!

 

[eddie willers]

Western.

As others here have said, the Hopper 3 should give you a slightly better picture. I went from the 722, to the Hopper, to the Hopper 3. The 3 was noticeably better. (not a whole bunch, but enough to notice)

Could it be you got a bad Hopper? Possibly, but I first suspect the TV.

PS. I am adding this since it may be a factor. I just remembered that I bought the 4K OLED about a month before the Hopper 3 was released. Maybe the Sharp is having a problem with a derezzed 4K to 1080. Have no clue....just spitballing here.

 

[Bobby]

Try a different input. If not it might just be that the largest screen I’ve heard of for home use is blowing up all defects in the satellite picture.

I've got a 75" TV and it looks very good using my Hopper 3. That extra 5" is not going to make that much difference.

 

[solstars]

... and the majority of the defects are not there in 720p mode. I'll resign myself to the fact that it's an old TV and convince the wife we need to upgrade!

 

[Bobby]

Just for jeepers, can you share your TV make and model number?

 

[solstars]

Sharp AQUOS LC-80LE642U

 

[eddie willers]

... and the majority of the defects are not there in 720p mode. I'll resign myself to the fact that it's an old TV and convince the wife we need to upgrade!

Show her my earlier post. But be forceful! (or beg )

 

[solstars]

Show her my earlier post. But be forceful! (or beg )

She loves the new Samsung. I personally prefer the LG OLED right now, but they don't make one over a 77". Running the compressed-to-death Dish signal into it won't do it any favors anyway. Movies from my media server on the Sharp look fantastic though, so I can't even imagine that on a more modern panel.

 

[solstars]

Guess I got of topic. Sorry everyone. I'm still interested if anyone knows why my problem be happening, but I'm about to throw in the towel on trying to fix it. It doesn't sound like it's the Hopper.

 

[Bobby]

Sharp AQUOS LC-80LE642U

Do you have digital noise reduction on or off? If it is on, try off...