resolution/hd/ota/compression

[Bulbman2]

I am totally confused... I have a e86 hd hughes direct tv receiver. I do not subscribe to direct tv. I am using the receiver strictly for ota digital broadcasts.
the picture I receive is near hd quality.
When I had satelitte- I tried both direct tv and dish- the picture quality is not acceptable. very washed out, and lacking any detail. Is there a way to compare resolution Ie lines on ota vs satelittle vs cable..... To my understanding the the best hd signal, if you have the proper equipment is still the ota signal, because both satellite and cable compress and decompress the signal.

Help I am an amateur

dont know why it should be so complicated


thanks john

 

[lilyarbie]

Dish and Direc both receive their channels uncompressed by C-band (Big dishes) dishes. They then compress the channels down in order to retransmit them to their own satellites so that they will fit in the transponder space that is available. In other words, the programming you see on either service came from tons of satellites which is then passed on to just a few satellites owned by the services. With Over-the-Air, if a station broadcasts just one channel, then the channel is almost uncompressed. If a station broadcasts multiple channels, then compression comes into play and the quality on each of the channels becomes reduced. So, more is not really better when it comes to quality unless you are into quantity without caring of quality. Cable also involves compression on digital and High definition channels as well.

 

[Bulbman2]

ota resolution

would it be logical to say----------station for staion.... if you had an ota signal that shows 720p and you receive that local from dish or dtv that the ota signal is superior???????... MY question is????? does this relate to lines of resolution... of ota vs. dtv/dish????..... my picture quality is far superior on ota>????



john