Newbie questions (please be gentle) on DirecTV 4k

[bobinraymoremo]

Apologies in advance for what is sure to be a rambling post, I can just feel it I did a brief search and didn't find anything closely related.

We live fulltime in our RV and recently bought a new RV. It came with a Jensen HDTV and we put our Genie HR34/700 in it. Seems like we have much better picture quality when we utilize over the air signals than DirecTV. Sooooo,

Is there a setting on my TV to improve the quality of the DirecTV picture?

Would a better TV than the Jensen do a better job?

I see some TVs are now DirecTV ready, would that help?

Not sure if it is related but we had to turn HDMI CEC off on the Jensen since it caused the audio to go into mute.

 

[ncted]

Apologies in advance for what is sure to be a rambling post, I can just feel it I did a brief search and didn't find anything closely related.

We live fulltime in our RV and recently bought a new RV. It came with a Jensen HDTV and we put our Genie HR34/700 in it. Seems like we have much better picture quality when we utilize over the air signals than DirecTV. Sooooo,

Is there a setting on my TV to improve the quality of the DirecTV picture?

Would a better TV than the Jensen do a better job?

I see some TVs are now DirecTV ready, would that help?

Not sure if it is related but we had to turn HDMI CEC off on the Jensen since it caused the audio to go into mute.

My opinions and speculations:

I'd expect OTA to look better than any Satellite or Cable signal in general, although OTA can look like crap too. It totally depends on the channel.

Depending on your TV, it might have different settings for OTA vs. HDMI.

There are always better TVs. It is all about what you are willing to pay.

I don't think DirecTV ready TVs are likely to have a better picture with DirecTV service.

HDMI CEC should have no effect on picture quality.

The one thing that comes to mind is make sure your HR34 is set to the best resolution for your particular TV (1080i, 720p, etc.) If it is set to 480p, for instance, it won't look nearly as good as OTA HD stations.

 

[Tampa8]

What dumb question... JUST KIDDING!!
Over the air often can look better than from cable or satellite - though not always. But it shouldn't be a big difference. I would try setting the Genie to Native mode. Also make sure you are actually watching an HD channel. I do not think a different TV would make a difference. Directv ready would make no difference it only means you can set up to watch without another receiver. (Called RVU technology)
Also it is common to have to turn off CEC not just with a Directv receiver and would not affect the picture quality.

 

[bobinraymoremo]

Did have Native=OFF so switched to ON and then made sure all the resolutions were checked and compatible so we will see how that goes, making sure it is an HD broadcast.

I see that DirecTV is broadcasting some things in 4k, the sports things intrigue me. DirecTV lists the HR34 as being compatible with 4k but since 4k was not listed in the resolutions I was wondering how that would work. Would Native=ON handle that as long as I had a 4k TV?

 

[b52pooh]

The requirements for 4K satellite reception are more exacting than HD. You will need to upgrade to an HR54 Genie, along with a C61k mini, in order to watch 4K. The HR 34 does not support 4K. The HR 54 can receive a 4k signal and disburse it to the C61K mini, but cannot display the 4k picture connected directly to the TV.

 

[bobinraymoremo]

I'm not sure 4k is in our future. But first a question, I did some research and was wondering if in addition to a new Genie and miniclient that I might need a new lnb too. We have a roof mounted automatic satellite dish, a Winegard Trav'ler SWM3 Slimline Winegard TRAV'LER Tech Specs. Right now we have the Genie in the living room and the mini in the bedroom since the living room cabinet is bigger than the bedroom entertainment cabinet. I'm not sure the HR54 would even fit in the bedroom cabinet. So I'm out the 4k thinking but back to the new TV thinking,

Which TV would everybody recommend because I know the Jensen is low end.

The requirements for 4K satellite reception are more exacting than HD. You will need to upgrade to an HR54 Genie, along with a C61k mini, in order to watch 4K. The HR 34 does not support 4K. The HR 54 can receive a 4k signal and disburse it to the C61K mini, but cannot display the 4k picture connected directly to the TV.

 

[b52pooh]

In the future, DirecTV will be using Reverse band technology to broadcast 4k programming. (At least, that is the plan.) Currently the 4k programming can be watched using a regular SWM 3 LNB. We have no idea how near or far in the future the requirements will change.

 

[robjlevin]

In the future, DirecTV will be using Reverse band technology to broadcast 4k programming. (At least, that is the plan.) Currently the 4k programming can be watched using a regular SWM 3 LNB. We have no idea how near or far in the future the requirements will change.

I got the HS17 a few weeks back and a RB LNB was installed at the same time. I've read other reports as well. This seems to be SOP now.