Just got DirecTV set up, REAL BIG PROBLEM!! HELP!

[Raff]

Hey guys..I'm back again after finally getting my direcTV set up ...i run into HUGE problems.

After activating DirecTV, I tuned into the channels and they all came in Blurry and terrible quality. I thought it might be just 1 channel, I was wrong.

It turns out, every channel I turn too does not look anywhere close to analog quality, LET ALONE DIGITAL. My locals look HORRENDOUS, and even other channels look crappy.

Only the Hi-Def channels come out fine, everything else (AND I mean EVERY channel) comes out blurry and distorted.

I've been on the phone with DirecTv and they said my signal strength is fine and they have no idea. The person who installed the dish, their company is closed till tuesday..so I am really dissapointed.

I JUST WANT MY DirecTV to work. Everyone seems so satisfied with DirecTV, why do I always get all the bad luck.

I live in the 02747 zip code(south eastern MA) and I feel that comcast cable analog is a better quality than what I am getting now!

Any help would be greatly appreciated!!

 

[Claude Greiner]

Let me guess, you have an HDTV set right?

 

[Raff]

yah..sorry forgot to give details

My HDTV is a 52" Toshiba DLP HDTV...the weird thing is..the same thing is happening to my 36" Toshiba(6-7 year old tv)..with the regular reciver..I don't see any digital quality, i see below analog..its verry depressing to look at!

 

[boba]

yah..sorry forgot to give details

My HDTV is a 52" Toshiba DLP HDTV...the weird thing is..the same thing is happening to my 36" Toshiba(6-7 year old tv)..with the regular reciver..I don't see any digital quality, i see below analog..its verry depressing to look at!

If your not happy go back to cable. You have one major misconception digital is not better. A good analog signal will always be better it contains all of the information not just a digital sample of the key information. A good analog signal is hard to find but you may have a cable provider that does it right. Next thing you need to learn about is line doublers and how your TV signal is processed.

 

[charper1]

How did you let the installer out of the house with it looking as bad as you describe?

Use the s-video output for SD channels and the component or DVI for HD. Properly setup a DBS system will be equal to higher priced cable.

 

[sundevil]

If you can hook up an antenna to get the locals you will be able to get the HD broadcasts from your local stations and the picture is 10 times better than the locals over the satellite (at least in my case) even when it is not an HD broadcast.

 

[hdtvtechno]

Raff

How do u have your HDTV setup as

what cables u using, whats res u have set up on ur tv, etc ?

 

[charper1]

If you can hook up an antenna to get the locals you will be able to get the HD broadcasts from your local stations and the picture is 10 times better than the locals over the satellite (at least in my case) even when it is not an HD broadcast.

Hey Sundevil, I'm in Gilbet too. Val Vista @ Guadalupe (near Freestone Park) You?

 

[robert luzzi]

directvs picture quality is ALWAYS better THAN CABLE if the install is done right.

better color saturation and sound....always

im going to take hell over this......but.....hd sucks

been installing directv 5 plus years and there is NO better system for the price

3 grand for a washed out pic from directv or dish or voom or an ota dont think so!!!!

ill stick with my 32" rca scenium, rca 700 w amp and my rca 480 sd reciever

...............bob

 

[caeyathompson]

directvs picture quality is ALWAYS better THAN CABLE if the install is done right.

better color saturation and sound....always

im going to take hell over this......but.....hd sucks

been installing directv 5 plus years and there is NO better system for the price

3 grand for a washed out pic from directv or dish or voom or an ota dont think so!!!!

ill stick with my 32" rca scenium, rca 700 w amp and my rca 480 sd reciever

...............bob

You're right... you're going to take hell over this. Now what company are you with? I want to make sure to not recommend you.

Casey

 

[Seanb61]

directvs picture quality is ALWAYS better THAN CABLE if the install is done right.

better color saturation and sound....always

im going to take hell over this......but.....hd sucks

been installing directv 5 plus years and there is NO better system for the price

3 grand for a washed out pic from directv or dish or voom or an ota dont think so!!!!

ill stick with my 32" rca scenium, rca 700 w amp and my rca 480 sd reciever

...............bob

Why oh Why do people have to say such things! you don't know anything about HD if all you can say is -HD sucks, I'll take SD. -

PD - a decent HD setup no longer costs 3 grand...

 

[eckman]

some of you guys need to research before you jump head first into a hdtv. Yes hd looks great but the sd channels if streched will look somewhat blurry and distorted.

I am used to it and think it looks fine. Give it a few years so more people can get these tvs and change the programing then

 

[ShadowEKU]

Im a dish person but ive seen Direct used many places. Sounds like the OP doesnt like the stretch factor. with your TV youll get that on all SD channels that you have set to fill the whole screen.

 

[sundevil]

Hey Sundevil, I'm in Gilbet too. Val Vista @ Guadalupe (near Freestone Park) You?

I am just down the road across from Freestone Park (west of Lindsay), probably less than a mile from you.

 

[stevesmall]

directvs picture quality is ALWAYS better THAN CABLE if the install is done right.

better color saturation and sound....always

im going to take hell over this......but.....hd sucks

been installing directv 5 plus years and there is NO better system for the price

3 grand for a washed out pic from directv or dish or voom or an ota dont think so!!!!

ill stick with my 32" rca scenium, rca 700 w amp and my rca 480 sd reciever

...............bob

You are not going to take hell over this you will just be ignored and i hope to god you never show up to install for me. I hear voom is looking for upper management

 

[cbearnm]

Regardless of opinions, D* SD should look at least as good as analog cable does on the same TV.
Can you receive OTA (analog) signals on the HDTV? If so, what is the picture quality like?
I have a Toshiba 46" RPTV (HD) and think the SD channels on are fine. My local Fox channel tends to be a little dark, but it this way with the OTA signal as well as the D* feed.
If SD analog looks OK on the TV and D* SD looks awful, try checking the cables between the receiver and the TV. This is most likely the weak link. If you are using S-Video, try component or RCA if available. Or swap them around as needed to test it in as many configurations as possible. Does your TV have an AutoTune (or AutoFocus) function? If so, feed it the signal from D* and let it rip.
I agree with some charper1, you probably should have not let the installer leave with a bad image. Call the installer and see if they can come back or call D* and say you were not pleased with the install. A lot of people try to make it all sound harder than it is. Basically, it's connecting wires and making sure the wires are good quality. You may have 'cheap' RG-58 cable, try RG-6. The shield may be bad and you are getting stray signals or there may be a kink in the cable from the dish.
If you have a 'regular' TV, try hooking it up to the receiver and see how the SD channels look. At least this way you can isolate where the problem is. If SD looks bad on an 'old-fashioned' TV, then it's a receiver issue. If it's fine, try the other inputs on the HDTV.
In spite of what a lot of people say in this forum, SD should not look 'horrible' on an HDTV. Sure, it's not as clear as HD, but isn't that the point? You can instantly dismiss anyone that says something is 100 time worse or better. It is a dramatic difference, but that is just hyperbole. You should get a resaonably good SD signal on your HDTV, it's foolish to expect less. Granted, the image is much larger than on a standard TV, but you should be at a greater distance as well.

 

[slacker9876]

You have one major misconception digital is not better. A good analog signal will always be better it contains all of the information not just a digital sample of the key information. A good analog signal is hard to find but you may have a cable provider that does it right.

Wow, I am very surprised to hear this from a dealer. It is NOT a misconception, this is why the 480i DTV signal you get 5mi from the looks the same as the one you get from 50mi (with the right antenna) ... try that with analog! The reason is RF interference, there is so much of it that analog cannot survive the trip. I am not saying this is the case for all situations but 950 of 1000 times, digital will surpass analog in a land slide. The analog is ALSO 480i but due to interference it appears worse, even with a stronger signal.

Next thing you need to learn about is line doublers and how your TV signal is processed.

This would be a lot more on par than the above ... if you double a crappy signal, you will double the crap!

On the topic of the thread your picture on the 36" should be far better than anything you can receive from ANY cable provider. on the DLP that is another story ... there are many factors to this including receiving equipment, connection options, cables used, and of course the signal. It may pain you to know (now that your strapped in for a year) that the DirecTV signal is optimized for a 4:3 TV that is 36" or LESS in size. That came to me from the horses mouth!

some of you guys need to research before you jump head first into a hdtv. Yes hd looks great but the sd channels if streched will look somewhat blurry and distorted.

I am used to it and think it looks fine. Give it a few years so more people can get these tvs and change the programing then

This is the reason you should always use native modes to view your programming ... I have pillar boxes for my 4:3 content and it looks far better than what I had with any other provider.
FWIW

 

[Raff]

I dont seem to have the options on my tv to change it.. I can only go to Theater Mode(s) 1,2,3 and natural..Full is grayed out..i cant put any black bars around it or anything..if that was the case I would

I just thought the image would be clear and not so stretched out that it is almost unviewable!

 

[Dino]

Raff, you may want to look at the settings in your DirecTV/HDTV receiver for relief (rather than settings on the TV itself).

1) See if your receiver's setup menu or system menu allows you to select your TV's aspect ratio and make sure that it's set for 16:9
2) See if your receiver's setup menu or system menu allows you to select how it formats 4:3 content, and if so make sure it's set to output 4:3 content in 'pillar box', which will give you the black or gray bars on the sides of your image, while maintaining the 4:3 aspect ratio of the original picture (that option is probably set to 'stretch to fit screen' or something similar right now, judging from how you describe your picture)
3) Determine the native resolution of your display (as a DLP it's probably 720p, but it might be 1080i), and program your receiver to output at this resolution (my Samsung receiver has a dip switch on the back for this option, but your receiver might allow the option change in a system/setup menu)

The last point can improve your picture because, for high-end components like your TV and your receiver, each component can and will make format conversions. This can lead to unnecessary conversions that degrade picture quality. For example, suppose your TV is 720p native, and your receiver is set to output 1080i. Here's what might happen:

Receiver gets 480i (standard definition) signal; CONVERTS it to 1080i because that's what it's programmed to output; transmits picture to TV; TV gets 1080i signal; CONVERTS it to 720p because that is its native resolution

Now you have two conversions when only one is necessary (a single 480i -> 720p would be best); furthermore, the second conversion is a DOWNCONVERSION, which is (in my opinion) more destructive than an upconversion.

Hope this advice helps you (and others out there); note also that these points are from my personal experience with analog (component cable) connections; your mileage may vary with digital (DVI, HDMI) connections.

--Dino

 

[Raff]

Dino- thanks for your help..i managed to set it to Pillar...but still have a question about the resolutions..I have hte same HD reciever as you..and I dont see any DLP thing in the back which you were talking about..on the front of the reciever it says RESOLUTION and you can change from 480 i/p - 720p-1080i-native1-native2-native 3..i really have no idea what native 1,2 or 3 is but i dont see much of a difference between any of those.

Just wondering if you can go into more detail about hte resolutions so i can change it..My problem is.. that the programming on any channel seems blurry even when in 4:3 with the bars..its hard to make out the faces and it doesnt seem to be normal.

Any help would be great!