Is VOD quality the same as Dish?

[rockymtnhigh]

I never use VOD, but the few times I've tried, I've picked "watch later" and it ALWAYS gave me the crap quality version, even on allegedly HD content. It may look like HD (well, Dish HD to be exact, there's quite a difference you know) when nothing was moving, but otherwise, forget about it, it looked like SD (and I mean Dish SD, not real SD, which can actually look alright on a big screen if it's not bit-starved.)

This seems to be exactly the results that I get............

When I use VOD.........I generally choose "watch later". My internet speed is supposedly 2.0, but I doubt that it is that fast. I am seriously considering upgrading, but if it isn't worth the $$, then I won't.

What receiver do you have? I think that is key.

 

[ChadT41]

Upgrading for the on demand through dish alone, would not be worth it, if you are only going to get a couple mbps better. If we are talking 10 or more, then it might be worth it, but if you are going up to 5....I would recommend against it and tell you to save your money.

Hall, If you go into your network status screen, what is the speed you get there?
Menu>Settings>Network Setup>Tests>Test

 

[primetimeguy]

It's been a long time since I've rented one, but the 1080p choices on channel 501 I recall being pretty good quality. I believe those are the ones already stored on the harddrive so no additional download required.

 

[Hall]

Yes, they are played from the hard drive, not streamed.

 

[bnewt]

What receiver do you have? I think that is key.

I have 2 HWS

 

[rockymtnhigh]

I have 2 HWS

Ok, that eliminates what I thought the problem was. Bummer. As I posted above, when I upgraded to a Hopper, my VOD improved drastically. I'd contact DIRT and ask if they have any suggestions.

 

[Tony S]

I have a HWS. Previously, I had 3Mbps DSL and I was not happy at all with the few VOD downloads that I tried. I was not able to watch instantly, the download took forever, and the picture quality was not good.

Recently, I changed to charter cable internet which is 60Mbps down. Yesterday, when I tried my first VOD with my cable internet, Dish said that it was streaming at 20Mbps, and I was able to start watching right away. The video quality was very good, definitely HD. For me, getting the faster cable internet made a huge difference.

 

[ChadT41]

I think it has everything to do with the value you could have at the "watch now" speed, assuming most people will want to watch their movie relatively soon after renting it.

 

[bnewt]

I really wouldn't mind spending the additional $, as long as I get the benefit

 

[ChadT41]

Do you know what the upgrade soeeds would be?

 

[Hall]

I really wouldn't mind spending the additional $, as long as I get the benefit

I presume this is for the FREE offerings Dish provides ? If you pay add'l money for faster internet and then pay for movies on top of that, I don't know if that's going to be worth it. Of course, that's your call....

 

[horseshoe]

I can tell you when I had DSL with average measured download speeds of 2.5 MB that my VOD movies were not very good and quite soft. When I switched to Comcast with 50 MB downloads the quality went up to the point they were as good if not better than coming right off the dish. By the way I always use the Watch Later option so that was never a factor.

 

[bnewt]

I presume this is for the FREE offerings Dish provides ? If you pay add'l money for faster internet and then pay for movies on top of that, I don't know if that's going to be worth it. Of course, that's your call....

yes it would be for the FREE VOD

You are correct....paying extra for the internet speed & then for the movies....would not be cost beneficial

 

[Hall]

Hall, If you go into your network status screen, what is the speed you get there?
Menu>Settings>Network Setup>Tests>Test

Didn't know that was there...

It seems to keep checking, but it's at 14.x Mbps at the moment (I have 15Mbps service).

 

[ChadT41]

Its a new feature with S515. I do not remember seeing it before then TBH

 

[Hall]

I probably haven't looked at that menu since I first got a Hopper.

 

[ChadT41]

I only caught it when people brought it up on here. But the last update I looked at when I was helping someone else, and do not remember seeing it there.