So is it HD-lite or not?

[vurbano]

I don't have a clue what PQ is or what any of the rest of the tech talk is but it's interesting and I'm learning a lot. I'm just a consumer. I signed up for Direct TV specifically for the promised land of HD and because Dish didn't carry my locals in HD, and I'm pretty happy today. Love CNN in HD! I haven't spent a lot of time looking around yet, but what I see looks awesome. I finally get to use this tv for what it was intended.

Happy viewing, everyone!

PQ= Picture quality

 

[Sean Mota]

While I understand your point, sometimes people get too wrapped up in the numbers and don't enjoy what they have. If the PQ looks good to you then why worry all the time about the number. Just my two cents

I am not one of those. I am a former D* sub who got too wrapped up when people were saying that there was nothing wrong with the MPEG-2 HD channels. I jumped to D* and compared to another provider, it was the worst mistake I made since I lost lots of my money in equipment. I would enjoy if it did not make a difference but when I did it, the difference was like night and day on those MPEG-2 HD channels.

Now some are jumping and declaring the PQ winner but I do not think I want to bite a second time until I know for sure that the PQ is at 1920x1080i at decent bitrates. This time around subjectivity will not be good enough for me. I will need more objective data to consider a switch.

 

[richiephx]

I would agree Sean. I'm glad people see improved quality but, I think there should be a way to quantify the information instead of just blindly accepting what posters say in this forum, with the exception of Scott of course.

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

I got to be honest. I hope DirecTV's HD is better then Dish Networks.

The reason for this is this will force Dish to improve their service. Which also means no matter which company you have we ALL win. And to me thats not a bad thing.

 

[TulsaCoker]

Well you don't have to blindly accept what people say. Go to your friends house with D* or Best Buy and see it in person.

 

[richiephx]

BB in my metro area does injustice to any signal because they distribute to so many tvs so poorly. The only true test for picture quality of a specific HD tv is when a BR or HDDVD player is connected directly to a tv and we know that DBS or cable doesn't provide that level of picture quality. But then, the average person who buys a HD tv at BB doesn't have a clue what he's looking at anyway, and most of the sales associates don't either.

 

[ONUOsFan]

Well you don't have to blindly accept what people say. Go to your friends house with D* or Best Buy and see it in person.

Unfortunately, seeing the numbers, going to Best Buy or even to a friend's house won't answer the question for you... the only true comparison is for you to look at it on your TV with your own eyes, comparing the same channel and program.

Of course, this is easier said than done...

 

[volntitan]

Here's a question that may or may not been asked...will the Network HD channels be converted to the better quality mpeg4 and also ESPN? Let's be honest...probably more vieing on those than almost all the others combined.

 

[ONUOsFan]

Here's a question that may or may not been asked...will the Network HD channels be converted to the better quality mpeg4 and also ESPN? Let's be honest...probably more vieing on those than almost all the others combined.

I think the plan is to eventually migrate all HD to MPEG4, but there's a lot of confusion (at least on my part) about ESPN and the like... some are saying the new channels (i.e. 206) are already MPEG4, others are saying there are no firm timelines for the migration and those channels are just remaps of the MPEG2 channels...

I haven't heard anything about the East/West Network feeds, but if you're getting Locals in HD they're already MPEG4.

 

[Miltmeyers]

To me the new HD channels look harsh and like there is a film over them compared to the HD DVD player. The player looks smoother and sharper than DirecTVs HD mpeg4 channels. But don't get me wrong as I'm happy with the new HD channels and they are very watchable. I'm watching on a 65 inch Toshiba crt rear projector. Now I'll say it for you , "he must be kidding." or "clean your glasses." But I mean it the wow factor is not there with DirecTVs HD channels. Okay I ran the HD DVD player and switched between the two and that is what I think.I watched "The Chronicles of Riddick." It's hard to define the difference but it is obvious and I was watching the Smithsonian HD channel. Okay now don't throw rocks or see a shrink statements.

milt

 

[gadgtfreek]

To me the new HD channels look harsh and like there is a film over them compared to the HD DVD player. The player looks smoother and sharper than DirecTVs HD mpeg4 channels. But don't get me wrong as I'm happy with the new HD channels and they are very watchable. I'm watching on a 65 inch Toshiba crt rear projector. Now I'll say it for you , "he must be kidding." or "clean your glasses." But I mean it the wow factor is not there with DirecTVs HD channels. Okay I ran the HD DVD player and switched between the two and that is what I think.I watched "The Chronicles of Riddick." It's hard to define the difference but it is obvious and I was watching the Smithsonian HD channel. Okay now don't throw rocks or see a shrink statements.

milt

My "he must be kidding" reply to you is the fact you would even compare HDDVD/BR to television anyways.

 

[ONUOsFan]

My "he must be kidding" reply to you is the fact you would even compare HDDVD/BR to television anyways.

No kidding. I think the PQ on the new channels is amazing, but still nowhere close to Blu-Ray (never seen HD-DVD so I can't comment).

 

[aegrotatio]

The HD Lite gang seemed to be concerned with the resolution alone.
There is so much more to "HDTV" than just the resolution.
There is the color depth, the symbol rate, block size, the b-frame rate, motion compensation/estimation techniques at the encoder side, the transponder statistical multiplexing, and more. This is all done at the broadcasting/uplink center. It's always transcoded into something other than what the content source supplied--even with cable TV and FiOS.
A blocky, punchy, smeary picture at 1920x1080i can save more bandwidth than the same picture at whatever "HD Lite" was supposed to represent.

 

[Miltmeyers]

I was comparing a 1920x1080i mpeg2 source with a 1080i? mpeg4 source of
DirecTVs. The Mpeg4 is not as clear. or is there a fault with what I've done?

milt

 

[TulsaCoker]

probable so milt. Most mpeg2 are not 1920 x 1080 they are 1440 x 1080. By some reports the mpeg4 are 1920 x 1080 at a much higher bit rate.

 

[gadgtfreek]

I was comparing a 1920x1080i mpeg2 source with a 1080i? mpeg4 source of
DirecTVs. The Mpeg4 is not as clear. or is there a fault with what I've done?

milt

Milt,

You cant compare HDDVD/BD to TV.

The bitrate is WAAAY higher on HDDVD/BD. TV PQ wont come close to them for a looong time.

 

[Miltmeyers]

Okay that makes sense but to my eye the HD DVD player has a better picture. Maybe all considered I shouldn't set the standard that high for DirecTV. It's still a great picture and I was very happy to watch it happen at 5am this morning. Nice job DirecTV and I wait for the next update to the HD lineup.

 

[gadgtfreek]

Okay that makes sense but to my eye the HD DVD player has a better picture. Maybe all considered I shouldn't set the standard that high for DirecTV. It's still a great picture and I was very happy to watch it happen at 5am this morning. Nice job DirecTV and I wait for the next update to the HD lineup.

Thats exactly what Im saying. HDDVD/BD will blow tv programming out of the water, period.

As far as TV HD, D*'s new offering looks damn good.

 

[ApexMI]

ummmm fios uses mpeg 2 compression and d* uses mpeg 4..by definition mpeg 4 compresses alot more than mpeg 2

Yes but mpeg4 is a more efficient compression so you get smaller data size with better quality

 

[gary s]

I have a 32" 720p Sony LCD tv.

I have not had much chance to check out the new Directv HD channels yet.

I am wondering, since my tv's native resolution is much less than 1920 by 1080i, should I still notice a picture quality improvement between full resolution and HD-lite (which is actually a higher resolution than my tv's)?

It seems to me I should see an improvement but I am not sure.