Picture Quality: VOOM vs. DIRECTV

[harrym]

I have just switched from DirecTV to Voom. After working through a nightmarish installation (the guy hooked up the STB to the HDTV with a coax cable and looked at me like I was stupid for demanding a DVI cable), I am less than impressed with the picture quality. (I now have a DVI connection). Even the native HD content on channels like RUSH and ULTRA seem less clear and vibrant than the HD content on DirecTV. For example, the PQ of soccer games on WorldSport is noticeably inferior to that of similar games on DirecTV's HDNet. The same is true for Discovery HD content on the two networks. Even the locals seem inferior on Voom (when they come in at all -- I am waiting for the new, "stronger" antenna).

I have played with the red button on the box to make sure I'm getting 1080i and have not gotten any improvement. Voom's CSR just told me that "some people see a difference while others don't -- it's in the eye of the beholder." Has anyone else experience this? Am I missing something? Help!

 

[squicken]

Don't compare anything HD to HDNET. HDNET is the gold standard. There are numerous threads on this topic, and there really isn't a consensus on who's got the best PQ amongst DBS providers, other than that HDNET is the best looking channel. Welcome aboard

 

[DarrellP]

I have Voom and the Dish HDPack which includes ESPN, TNT & Discovery so I can compare those channels to Voom and the Dish delivered PQ is better, Voom does seem softer, but there is NO difference with my OTA HD, in fact, Voom wins by a slight margin there since I am viewing it via DVI.

 

[vurbano]

Even the locals seem inferior on Voom (when they come in at all -- I am waiting for the new, "stronger" antenna).

Its not possible for there to be a difference OTA. They are identical. WHy do you need a new antenna? Use the antenna you used with D* since you have seen D* OTA right? where is the antenna you used with D*?

 

[slacker9876]

There are many mitigating factors when making the comparison you're making. First, if you want to view everything in 1080i that is great but on SD programming you are "up-converting" that SD signal. I have seen this “process” to be flawed on the Hughes HTL-HD model as well as on my Voom STB. You should view all programming in the native format. Also, your LOS is different and you could be looking at different factors of interference, all in all, it should be about the same.


I watched my first NHL game on ESPN-HD via Voom last night, I did not notice a difference between the Voom Box and my HTL-HD made by Hughes. The PQ was the same.


Your installer was a moron (as are most of them) for not hooking up DVI, may as well buy a Porsche and put crude oil in the gas tank.


As far as judging HDNet against Voom networks, cyuknke is right ... you can't do this. HDNet is 1080 from end to end, no other network in the world is like this. I am not positive but I think if we were to get HDNet over Voom the PQ would be identical to that of D*


On OTA ... OTA is OTA, I have noticed better performance out of the stealth antenna installed vs the Terk TV-55 I was using before. I get NBC, which I never did, but I lost all my feeds from Cheyenne, WY. My OTA's are better looking with the voom box, but this is a function of the antenna, not the service.


If you look at the premium stations I think the V* HBOHD looks better, as does the SHOWHD. All the others seem to be that same to me.


Try the native resolution and let us know if you perceive a difference.

 

[occammd]

There is some difference in OTA, not in quality, but in rcvr sensitivity. You could lose or gain stations if you switch provider boxes.
The other issue may be DVI. I still have not gotten a firm answer on 16-235 or 0-255 outputs for black/white on the VOOM STB, but if this differs from D* STB to VOOM STB it could make a difference.

 

[barth2k]

If the same channels -- discoveryHD, espnHD, TNTHD -- look better on D* than on V*, that may be sign V* is doing some wrong. You can try switching output between the receivers to make sure the difference you are seeing isn't due to the cable or input (i.e., take whatever you plug in the V* receiver and plug it into the D* receiver, and vice versa).

I think there's a tendency on the part of satisfied users to dismiss other people's complaints, but if we do that, we're not going to get any improvement in the service. Heck, even if we bitch and moan about stuff, we still may not get any improvement. But we have to try.

 

[DarrellP]

I see the same thing with V* vs E*. I have my Voom stb running into my pj via DVI so it should yield the best results. My Dish 6000 is running into my pj via Component and I can do an instant switch between the two and V* looks a bit compressed. Last night during the Laker game, there was a closeup of Shaq and on V*, could see a smearing effect on his forehead from compression, yet on E* I did not see that happen.

It looks like V* is adding some compression. I hope this is temporary due to bandwidth constraints. For awhile Dish was screwing around with compression on HDNET Movies and the same smearing was happening only it was way worse, it looked as bad as a normal SD channel on Dish.

 

[harrym]

Thanks for all of the input guys. Actually, I have noticed a big improvement after my STB downloaded the most recent software update. My signal strenght went from 65 to 99 and most channels look much better than the first two days. I may stick around after all.

As for OTA channels. I am still waiting for the "better" antenna. I tried plugging the Terk antenna I used with my D* receiver into my V* box, but I still cannot get the locals. Currently, the satellite and OTA antenna are combined into one cable from the roof to the box via a diplexer. This is another thing I asked my installer not to do, but he refused to run two separate cables. In any event, he inserted some sort of a card in the back of the box into which the one cable plugs in. Shouldn't I still be able to plug in the Terk and get the locals as I did before?

 

[Who Me?]

PQ can vary depending on the MPEG decoder chip used in the recever.
I noticed, awhile back, that on D*TV that my recever's video looked differnt than a friends.
They were differnt models, mine was a newer model.
Mine had sharper edges, but showed a 'banding' effect when there was slight luma level changes.
Like with a ramp sig. going from light to dark from the top to bottom of the screen.
Mine would have 'lines' thru it as the level changed.
As if a 8 bit sig. was missing the last 2 bits.
My friends did not have this effect,
But the pix had softer looking edges.

Not to say that over compressing the video cant cause the same effect, it does.
Along with pixelizing if the video is switched into/from a frame other than a I frame.
On the product I work on, at work, when I put the bit rate as low as it goes (4Mbps) the video tends to look grainy, not soft or blocky.

 

[jrM]

yes i noticed that directvs discovery Hd is sharper than vooms

 

[ZeitGeist]

I have a DirectTV Zenith DTV1080 to go along with my Voom subscription. I run the component output of both boxes through inputs on my Denon AV receiver so I can do switching. All component cables are Monster component cables. When I switch back and forth between the same SD channel on the two services there is a small but noticeable picture quality advantage to the DirectTV box. Side-by-side comparison of Discovery HD and HBO HD showed a very small advantage to the Voom box, mostly noticeable on HBO. On OTA digital channels there is no noticeable difference between the two.