Finally, HD is only as good as your TV. My Sharp Aquos and Sony Z series show great detail and greatly enhance the HD watching experience with , yes, a "WOW" factor. Meanwhile my aunt's Sony S series (entry level), also using Dish Network, just doesn't do the job. Her HD is quite flat, lacking in detail, and just a let down, no "WOW" factor, and I have tried, but the old S series just doesn't have the electronics to really do some justice to the HD. I can see every crinkle and wrinkle of a face on my Sharp Aquos tuned to a Dish HD channel to the point that it is scary, but not on my aunt's Sony S series.
My experiance is the opposite when it comes to the TV quality. My new Samsung show how bad the HD is being compressed from Dish Network. Whereas my 5 year old EDTV shows the HD channels really crisp. OTA or when I use to have cable HD this was not the case. I wonder what someone with a new OLED TV on this forum thinks about satellite HD.
To the OP, look at it this way. You already made the jump to HD equipment so your set. Unless you have to have the newest stuff every year, then I could see why you (anyone) would be upset to have spent the money to convert early.
It took me a few months to get use to satellite HD and from what I see Dish Network SD is really bad. So I'm sold on HD.
I have Dish, a Tivo THX certified Series 3 and a direct connection OTA connections to the same TV, and there is
almost no difference between the Los Angeles LIL's via satellite and OTA via Dish OTA, Tivo OTA, and the direct OTA connection to the TV. Yes, the direct connection does seem the most bright and crisp at times, but also has the most artifacts visible than the Dish sat feed or Tivo. And History (depending on the show--Monster Quest and UFO Hunters are VERY crisp and show a lot of detail, they are well shot) can be extremely good.
The Dish OTA and LIL sat for LA is just a the most minute softer, but is superior over all as it does not suffer from the artifacts in fast motion as the direct OTA does, but yet is still quite crisp. The Tivo Series 3 THX has the most aesthetic PQ of all, better than the direct OTA, again. The compromise of the Tivo and Dish boxes compared to the direct OTA is extremely small, in fact, the bottom lineis that I find it no compromise worth any concern, it is that good. Sorry, but Tivo and Dish, especially the 722K, do an excellent job with PQ even when compared to the direct OTA. Remember, we are not comparing any of this to Blu-ray, which will make the viewer aware of the compression used by both cable and sat HD, and also makes OTA look inadequate.
I know that many others in other DMA's have complained about the huge difference in PQ between Dish sat LIL and direct connections OTA. However, Los Angeles HD LIL sat is impressive, and I suspect we are getting better PQ for our HD LIL's than many other DMA's only because the metro area so huge and LA metro area is the market that has the among the highest penetrations of satellite. In other words, this keeps Dish's phone lines from being clogged with thousands of irate LA DMA subs complaining about the LIL PQ. Even the SD LIL's were better PQ than many other DMA's. The Los Angeles HD LIL's are gorgeous as provided by Dish on satellite. I am impressed, so far, that they are providing it at such high quality, for now
?
What series Samsung do you have? Are you sitting only a few feet away from the TV? In my rooms, I am sitting at the recommended distance (not too far) from the TV and get excellent PQ. The Dish SD's look terrible, but not the HD's. Some TV's are going to do a better job of taking the HD they are given and displaying better than another HDTV. Hence, the flat, lacking detail, but bright and pleasant PQ of the old Sony "S" series, and the superior high detail of the Sharp Aquos (really looks good when shot well and not zoomed out to provide for 4X3 screens) and the blow-away "WOW" factor of the Sony "Z" series. HD, to a high degree, is really only as good as the electronics in your HDTV.
