Picture Quality

[larryah]

Can anyone compare for me the picture quality of DirecTV, Dish and cable? I know that Sat claims to be better than cable, but is this technically true or someones opinion. Also some claim Direct is better picture than Dish? If this is true, why? If you cant tell, picture quality is very important to me. Ive had Sat before (Dish), but it wasnt HD, and that is what Im most interested in.

 

[Paul Wozniak]

Everybody's HD picture is pretty much the same, it's the SD where the biggest differences lie. Where I live, Comcast's SD is terrible. I have DirecTv, and our SD is noticeably better here. Your results may be different.

 

[shaun-ohio]

where i live i have directv and timewarner cable, the sd channels are bad on directv, the cable channels they dont compress like dtv does, and it gives me great pic quality, and no i dont use the dvr from the cable company, i have the series 4 hd tivo xl it rocks !!! i also have the hr22 for dtv.

 

[TDK1044]

I was with DISH for 10 years, and I changed to DirecTV about a year ago. The HD pictures are certainly higher quality on DirecTV than DISH. The only other comparison that I have personal knowledge of is U-verse. There, again the DirecTV HD pictures are better, but the U-verse SD pictures are better than DirecTV.

 

[Poke]

Yeah I had all 3 and Sat TV is by far better than cable and their hardware is allot better as well. I was with Dish now with Direct and I think Direct HD PQ is a little better than Dish and I like their hardware better so far as well. Just my 2 cents.

 

[larryah]

Thanks for the imput! I think I will go with Direct. I can get more for half what Im paying Cable One. (for a year at least, and even at regular price Ill save $30 a month.

 

[emtpud]

My experience: Comcast-terrible quality. RCN-very good. Brighthouse-very good. DishNet-ok-HD-poor SD. Directv-Excellent HD-ok SD. I'm very impressed with pq of Directv!

 

[gadgtfreek]

FIOS
Directv
Dish
Uverse

Cable is hard because markets vary.

 

[bsunbond007]

I'm new to Satelliteguys, live in Tampa, Florida area, switched to DTV from Bright House Networks cable Aug 1, 2009. My observation thus far is; much better picture (both SD and HD), good customer service, more HD than BH, more channels than BH, and approximately same cost. My only gripe is, loss of signal during thunderstorms, (Florida is probably the worst during summer), but am willing to put up with that due to the availability of NFL network which BH refused to carry due to cost, and NFL Sunday ticket which no one else has.

 

[rise&demise]

Came from a small, independent cable provider. SD looks noticeably worse. HD looks about the same. Not a big deal since DirecTV offers significantly more HD than my cable provider.

 

[Lexi51]

We went from Dish (had way too many outages), to Cable (terrible picture HD & SD both, plus too few HD channels), to Direct TV, all within a couple of weeks, and Direct TV has a lot better picture, even the colors on the tv are much better,, so far, we are very pleased with Direct TV.

 

[petsheep]

I know people that have AT&T, Comcast, and Dish... DirecTV over all. I've had DTV for the past 9 years and can't complain. Quality is superb compared to aforementioned. I HATE their DVR (8 seconds to change a channel... what!??!) and their lack of AMC HD... but I digress. DTV all the way.

 

[Jimbo]

I know people that have AT&T, Comcast, and Dish... DirecTV over all. I've had DTV for the past 9 years and can't complain. Quality is superb compared to aforementioned. I HATE their DVR (8 seconds to change a channel... what!??!) and their lack of AMC HD... but I digress. DTV all the way.

You still have older equipment don't you ?

 

[Rey]

I know people that have AT&T, Comcast, and Dish... DirecTV over all. I've had DTV for the past 9 years and can't complain. Quality is superb compared to aforementioned. I HATE their DVR (8 seconds to change a channel... what!??!) and their lack of AMC HD... but I digress. DTV all the way.

you need that HR24

 

[chargerrich]

Just left Dish for Direct and while I like to think that the PQ with Direct is better, it is really so hard to tell that I think maybe it is just my brain convincing me it is better since Direct is the new romance and we are still in the honeymoon phase.

Both Dish and Direct have really nice HD quality.

 

[chargerrich]

I know people that have AT&T, Comcast, and Dish... DirecTV over all. I've had DTV for the past 9 years and can't complain. Quality is superb compared to aforementioned. I HATE their DVR (8 seconds to change a channel... what!??!) and their lack of AMC HD... but I digress. DTV all the way.

You really need to get the HR24s!

Back in college, I lived with a roomate who had what I believe is one of the VERY FIRST receivers. It was released the very first year Sunday Ticket was available.

I remember how clunky that interface was and the delay to change channels and if you are using anything even remotely close to that then you are really missing out.

It is like going from the old 8lb brick or bag cell phones to an iPhone!