Hopper 3 output resolutions?

[ggw2000]

Currently have a HWS and am thinking about a Hopper 3. On the HWS you can only set the output to 720P or 1080i. Is it the same for the Hopper 3?
Overall PQ on Dish is quite pathetic on a 75" screen. Video compression is terrible. Is the H3 PQ any better than the HWS?
Thanks, Gerry

 

[Bobby]

Currently have a HWS and am thinking about a Hopper 3. On the HWS you can only set the output to 720P or 1080i. Is it the same for the Hopper 3?
Overall PQ on Dish is quite pathetic on a 75" screen. Video compression is terrible. Is the H3 PQ any better than the HWS?
Thanks, Gerry

I have a 75" screen and Dish looks just fine from my Hopper 3. The available outputs are: 480i, 480P, 720P, and 1080i/1080P/4K. The latter is a single setting, the Hopper 3 will output whichever resolution the program the program is generating. So, if the program is 4K, the Hopper will output that resolution, etc....

 

[ggw2000]

So I gather that you are saying that when set to 1080i/1080P/4K that the normal output for most stations will be 1080i just like the HWS when set to 1080i?
Gerry

 

[Bobby]

So I gather that you are saying that when set to 1080i/1080P/4K that the normal output for most stations will be 1080i just like the HWS when set to 1080i?
Gerry

Yes...

 

[ncted]

Currently have a HWS and am thinking about a Hopper 3. On the HWS you can only set the output to 720P or 1080i. Is it the same for the Hopper 3?
Overall PQ on Dish is quite pathetic on a 75" screen. Video compression is terrible. Is the H3 PQ any better than the HWS?
Thanks, Gerry

I was pleasantly surprised by the PQ on my Hopper3 compared to the HR54 I had previously with my 70" Sony UHD (non-HDR) XBR70X850B. Is it always UHD Blu-Ray perfect? No, but it is pretty good compared to my other options. I am unsure how much of this has to do with my Hopper3 or my calibrated TV or which satellites I get my signal from, but I cannot really complain.

 

[ggw2000]

Thanks for the answers so far- does the H3 have better PQ than the HWS on a 75" TV?
Gerry

 

[primetimeguy]

Thanks for the answers so far- does the H3 have better PQ than the HWS on a 75" TV?
Gerry

I would say doubtful but everyone will have their own opinion and there is just too many variables. The satellite signal is so over compressed that it looks bad no matter what. I have 75 inch as well and see no difference between the hoppers. If you want good picture quality on a large TV you need a source that is not cable or satellite.

 

[ggw2000]

I would say doubtful but everyone will have their own opinion and there is just too many variables. The satellite signal is so over compressed that it looks bad no matter what. I have 75 inch as well and see no difference between the hoppers. If you want good picture quality on a large TV you need a source that is not cable or satellite.

Isn't that the truth!! Thanks for your honest opinion on PQ. As they say garbage in- garbage out . Will just stick with my HWS at this point..
Gerry

 

[TalonDancer]

... The satellite signal is so over compressed that it looks bad no matter what....

Agreed.

We have a Hopper 3 + 32in TV. The PQ of most satellite programs are roughly the same as the PQ of similar programs streamed over our very low bandwidth internet connection (2Mbs). For example, both do a very poor job of handling dark backgrounds i.e. night shots.

But interestingly….During the Feb previews I downloaded quite a few VOD movies from HBO, CineMax, ShowTime, and Starz via our very low bandwidth internet connection (2Mbps). I was surprised to see the large variation in download times of similar length movies of approx 2hr. Some would download in little more than 2 hours and others took as much as 6 hours.

BTW This difference was not because of internet traffic completion. I monitor/record the throughput on our router in real time via SNMP. The downloads that took 2+hrs and the ones that took 6 hours were all “saturating” our available bandwidth. The difference was the quality of the video being downloaded.

As you might imagine, the movies that downloaded in a little over 2hrs looked like they would when viewed via highly compressed satellite transmission or low bandwidth streaming. While the PQ of the ones that took 4-6 hours was much better.