1.31.05
In 1995, I signed up for DirecTV service. I was immediately impressed by the incredible clarity of this new "digital-satellite-TV-phenomenon." It provided, via s-video to my 27" Sony Trinitron, the clearest, sharpest, and most detailed video image I had ever seen.
The only time the video image would let me down was:
a.) during scenes that involved fast action -- especially sequences that involved fire or firey explosions; during these sequences, the video image would be peppered with digital artifacts (I think the MPEG decoder had trouble keeping up with the dramatic difference in the content between each of these high-action frames).
-and-
b.) during heavy snow or rainstorms; under these scenarios, the video image would sometimes (pretty infrequently, really) rip and shred into a tattered patchwork quilt of jittering, multi-colored digital legos, all vibrating against each other (the audio, too, was an awful mess while this was happening).
In 2000, I discontinued my subscription to DirecTV, and went back to off-air terrestrial broadcasts, just to save a few bucks.
Well, three weeks ago I decided to go back to Satellite TV. I decided to go with Dish Network. I got a 522 and a 311 receiver. I ordered the DISH 120 package.
I love the dual-tuner DVR. I love the Sirius music stations. The program guide is excellent. So far, I have only two gripes:
Small gripe: it takes too long to change from one channel to another (Four Seconds !?!) I think I can learn to live with this issue, but gripe number 2, I'm not so sure.
LARGE GRIPE: What happened to all that sharp, detailed video goodness I remember having through DirecTV? The majority of the Dish Network stations have the approximate quality of a Video CD! Nearly ANY scene change produces subtle, blurry pixelization all over the screen. And the issue doesn't SEEM to be hardware-related; the picture quality looks the same on the 522 and the 311; the 522 is hooked up via s-video to a 27" Trinitron, the 311 is also hooked up via s-video to a (separate) 27" Trinitron.
My uneducated guess as to the source of the problem: the Dish Network satellites provide, of course, a finite amount of bandwidth. At one time in the past, the Dish Network video signal would probably have looked just as good to my eye as the DirecTV signal ever did. But, in order to stay competitive with Cable TV and with DirecTV, Dish Network had to add more channels to their lineup, further divying up the bandwidth pie, and thusly allocating less and less bits per channel. And less bits per channel equals less video and audio quality per channel.
And finally, my questions: Is it my equipment, or is it just me? And if it is the equipment, if I'll just have to "love it or leave it," then can anyone tell me: what are the comparative video-quality difference between Dish Network, DirecTV and digital cable?
Thank you,
mfberry
In 1995, I signed up for DirecTV service. I was immediately impressed by the incredible clarity of this new "digital-satellite-TV-phenomenon." It provided, via s-video to my 27" Sony Trinitron, the clearest, sharpest, and most detailed video image I had ever seen.
The only time the video image would let me down was:
a.) during scenes that involved fast action -- especially sequences that involved fire or firey explosions; during these sequences, the video image would be peppered with digital artifacts (I think the MPEG decoder had trouble keeping up with the dramatic difference in the content between each of these high-action frames).
-and-
b.) during heavy snow or rainstorms; under these scenarios, the video image would sometimes (pretty infrequently, really) rip and shred into a tattered patchwork quilt of jittering, multi-colored digital legos, all vibrating against each other (the audio, too, was an awful mess while this was happening).
In 2000, I discontinued my subscription to DirecTV, and went back to off-air terrestrial broadcasts, just to save a few bucks.
Well, three weeks ago I decided to go back to Satellite TV. I decided to go with Dish Network. I got a 522 and a 311 receiver. I ordered the DISH 120 package.
I love the dual-tuner DVR. I love the Sirius music stations. The program guide is excellent. So far, I have only two gripes:
Small gripe: it takes too long to change from one channel to another (Four Seconds !?!) I think I can learn to live with this issue, but gripe number 2, I'm not so sure.
LARGE GRIPE: What happened to all that sharp, detailed video goodness I remember having through DirecTV? The majority of the Dish Network stations have the approximate quality of a Video CD! Nearly ANY scene change produces subtle, blurry pixelization all over the screen. And the issue doesn't SEEM to be hardware-related; the picture quality looks the same on the 522 and the 311; the 522 is hooked up via s-video to a 27" Trinitron, the 311 is also hooked up via s-video to a (separate) 27" Trinitron.
My uneducated guess as to the source of the problem: the Dish Network satellites provide, of course, a finite amount of bandwidth. At one time in the past, the Dish Network video signal would probably have looked just as good to my eye as the DirecTV signal ever did. But, in order to stay competitive with Cable TV and with DirecTV, Dish Network had to add more channels to their lineup, further divying up the bandwidth pie, and thusly allocating less and less bits per channel. And less bits per channel equals less video and audio quality per channel.
And finally, my questions: Is it my equipment, or is it just me? And if it is the equipment, if I'll just have to "love it or leave it," then can anyone tell me: what are the comparative video-quality difference between Dish Network, DirecTV and digital cable?
Thank you,
mfberry
