Local HD Channels: OTA Versus DISH

[theoak]

So, with Ciel 2 coming on line in the next bit, I have some hope of getting the HD versions of my locals.

(I am really looking forward to recording 3 HD locals at once if needed.)

For those that already get their local HD channels via Dish, is there any difference between the two channels (OTA and Dish supplied) if you flip back and forth? How about in recording?

Thanks ...

 

[HDRoberts]

I find a HUGE difference in recording space. Dish HD locals are MPEG4. Makes a tremendous difference there.

I personally don't notice a big quality difference. But I don't have a huge TV either.

 

[theoak]

Yes ... I am looking forward to the recording space savings too ...

The reason for the question is that that Dish's SD versions of my local channels are very washed out ... compared to the SD that I get OTA.

 

[beagjake]

Living in Cleveland, Oh with HD service I was told that I need a second dish mounted in order to receive the locals in HD. This forum seems to imply that something about this Ciel 2 thingy and Sat 129 will result in my having local HD without the 2nd dish. Does anyone have insight on when this will happen, and when it does how will I know that the stations are available. Will Dish send me an email, is a service call needed, do I need to know something about system set up. All advise is welcome........

 

[Skyhi]

I find a HUGE difference in recording space. Dish HD locals are MPEG4. Makes a tremendous difference there.

I personally don't notice a big quality difference. But I don't have a huge TV either.

I agree. HUGE difference in recording space, but I can't see any difference in quality on a 40 inch TV

 

[Bradtothebone]

I can't tell any appreciable difference in PQ on a 61" screen. I'm sure if you look close enough, there probably is some. Like HDRoberts said, the file sizes are a lot smaller off the sat - less than half the size of OTA typically.

Brad

 

[theoak]

Great! I was a little concerned that I would end up with washed out HD.

The benefit of being able to record more than 1 local HD channel at a time though would definitely out weigh washed out HD ... it just would be nice to have both

It looks like I will get both ... bonus :up

Can't wait ...

(Come on Ciel 2 ... 129 ... you can do it ...)

 

[dj_osbo]

I have a 55" Samsung and I can see no difference between OTA HD locals and Dish HD locals at normal viewing distances. I can see only a very slight degradation when carefully observing the screen from just a few inches away. Obviously, I'm quite pleased with the Eastern Arc performance!

 

[HDRoberts]

Living in Cleveland, Oh with HD service I was told that I need a second dish mounted in order to receive the locals in HD. This forum seems to imply that something about this Ciel 2 thingy and Sat 129 will result in my having local HD without the 2nd dish. Does anyone have insight on when this will happen, and when it does how will I know that the stations are available. Will Dish send me an email, is a service call needed, do I need to know something about system set up. All advise is welcome........

See the Ciel-2 tracking thread. Suffice it to say it is till testing at 138, and while we hope it will head for 129 very soon, we don't know when it will start moving and come online.

The 4 local HDs available on Dish have been given a table entry for Ciel-2. Since they should be uplinked from the same location (Monee, IL), they should come on pretty fast once Ciel-2 is fired up. But no one can say for sure when or even if they will be turned on.

If you subscribe to HD and locals from Dish, they should show up automatically on your receiver (provided your locals preference is set for HD). An entry will also turn up in the uplink reports showing the channel's package flag changed to available.

 

[theoak]

Do you know what Dish setup you have now? If you have a 1000.2 then you are already looking at 129. Once the new satellite gets in place, then as noted above, it all should be pretty automatic.

 

[reuben432]

I have a 55" Samsung and I can see no difference between OTA HD locals and Dish HD locals at normal viewing distances. I can see only a very slight degradation when carefully observing the screen from just a few inches away. Obviously, I'm quite pleased with the Eastern Arc performance!

The main difference is if you just have OTA your local channel guide does not show up, it just indicated digital something, whereas if you order the locas via dish, the guide populates the shows date and time. Sucks for me, why should I pay dish an extra 5 bucks for something I get crystal clear and free from the sky...

 

[theoak]

The main difference is if you just have OTA your local channel guide does not show up, it just indicated digital something, whereas if you order the locas via dish, the guide populates the shows date and time. Sucks for me, why should I pay dish an extra 5 bucks for something I get crystal clear and free from the sky...

It is worth the 5 bucks for me for just the ability to record the HD locals. The DVR Pal is $250 (I think). $5 fits into that a lot of times

And if Dish gives me my local HD soon, I can now record triple ... icing on the cake. @party

 

[BuddyBoy]

The Super Bowl is the only TV program of the year where I make sure to watch OTA rather than Dish HD locals. I can see a difference from about a foot away, but no difference from the couch.

 

[theoak]

Wow ... you must really like your football to sit a foot away from the TV

 

[BuddyBoy]

Wow ... you must really like your football to sit a foot away from the TV

Only for the halftime show when Britne...uh, never mind, think I've said too much already.

 

[kenskibum]

I definitely notice a difference between some of the dish vs OTA locals here in the Seattle market. I think it may have to do with the equipment they use to compress the signals. I sometimes get one frame of garbage after a shot change (see attached still frame) that I never see OTA on the same channels. This happens on ch 5 (NBC) and ch 7 (CBS) and when I had it (Fisher contract dispute) ch 4 (ABC). Never see it on ch 13 (FOX) or any of the regular sat channels. I have contacted the dishquality@echostar.com folks, and they appreciated my documentation of the problem, but it is yet to be resolved.

If I could reliably get the OTA channels, I would save the $5, and I could live without the program guide. -Ken

 

[theoak]

I get those all the time on my OTA HD either through the dish receiver or from the antenna, so it is the source, not Dish. I suppose it could be my TV too ...

(Post 300)

 

[jlong27]

If you local HD Ch is 1080i does Dish also send it to you in 1080i?

Something else I notice is if there is a blip in the video it happens to both the ota signal and the dish feed.

 

[theoak]

It is my understand that the source format is preserved. With that being said however, if your receiver is set to output 1080i, but the channel really broadcasts 720P, Dish will send the program to your receiver in 720P, but your receiver will then output it to your TV as per its output setting, which in this example is 1080i.

 

[DishSubLA]

Hardly any difference between Dish LIL and OTA here in Los Angeles. 95% would say no difference at all. If you have descerning eye, then in side by side PIP, you will see just the slightest difference. In fact, although the Dish LIL HD is just the slightest bit "softer" (MPEG4 is lossy compression) it has the effect of eliminating the noise (this is used on the omnibus term for any unwanted artifacts) on some OTA's, and it handles fast pans better.

I often watch OTA's on both Dish and Tivo and directly from the TV, and there are a lot of "glitches" including lip sync problems on all these sources. While Dish can be blamed for some PQ LIL problems, the local station is in fact the problem for a fair number of the problems.