"Upgraded" from VIP722 to two VIP612... now unsatisfying HD

[nickf829]

A quick background:
I had 1 Sony 52w4100 in LR paired with a VIP722 (with DVR), it was great, I had a great picture quality on the Sony, and a SD signal was sent to the bedroom for an old TV.
I bought a new Sony 55nx810 and moved the 52w4100 to the bedroom, now that I had 2 needs for HD, Dish Network recomended dropping the 722(since its only 1HD and 1SD) and going with 2 VIP612's (with DVR). Well I thought it made sense. I was wrong, I think.

Now when I had the 1 722, I had 2 smaller dishes outside pointing in 2 directions, when the tech replaced the 722 with 2 612's, he removed both dishes, and replaced it with an oblong, slightly larger dish than I had before. Problem? Doubtful.

Now, I have 2 TV's with an awesome picture when watching bluray's, both a not so great picture when watching satellite. I would rate the satellite picture quality a 6/10, when before it was probably a 8.5/10.

Is there any setting I can double check before I have the tech come back out and tell me "That is as good as it gets"? I was transferred to 4 different "Support Tech's" when I was on the phone with dish, then they finally transferred me to the advanced support guy, and he verified the correct satellites were being linked, and that the signal was good. I noticed that the satellite signal strength is only at about a 55, when the strength meter goes as high as 100 or 125. To me, that 55 is low, but he assured me that as long as it's green, it's good. Shady?

Any suggestions on settings I can check? Or am I alone in having this "upgrade" be more of a downgrade?

BTW: All TV connections are made with High Speed 1.3b HDMI cables. I even tried swapping cables with ones known to work 100%(as proven by watching 10/10 quality Bluray's), and the picture quality remains the same from the satellites.

 

[KAB]

Is there any setting I can double check before I have the tech come back out

Yes...Menu/System Setup/HDTV Setup....make sure HD output is set to 720p or 1080i.

 

[Kroz]

that signal meter is very misleading......

a couple of years ago dish modified the way the signal level was shown in the receiver and it doesn't get anywhere near 125 now.....

he probably gave you a 1000.4 and depending on which satellite you're posting levels from that could very well be an acceptable level.....

besides....unless its low enough to be causing pixelation from intermittent loss.....the signal level wont generally affect picture quality at all.....

 

[nickf829]

The VIP is set to display 1080i.

That's good to know that the 55 strength signal isn't a bad thing.

Any other suggestions?

When I say bad picture quality, I should clarify. It's not that I see pixelation(only very rarely), but the picture just feels hazy. The color's don't "pop" like they used to. I have made every adjustment I can make on both TV's and I can't recreate actual flesh tones. It's either to much red, or to much blue. When watching shows like House, I used to be able to see pores on the characters faces, now it just seems like the face is textureless.

This textureless picture seems to affect all channels. I used to be able to watch Man vs Wild and feel like I was in the desert drinking water from elephant dung right along with Bear Grylls, now it feels like I'm watching Man Vs Wild in an old movie theater with a less than perfect picture. I can almost hear the reel squeaking on the old projector from the projection room.

 

[KAB]

I admit I'm a bit stumped. Just for grins, you might want to try hooking up with component and compare to HDMI

 

[TheKrell]

Yeah, this is a mystery. I have a 722 and two 612's, all hooked up via HDMI. I can't distinguish between the HD pictures. I most certainly still see the pores, nostril hairs, and other revolting features of closeup talking heads in HD. Plus I've got to tell you something that you do not want to hear. You should have kept the 722 and added a 612, since there is no difference in montly fees.

 

[nickf829]

For those with a 722 and a 612, do you have only one dish outside(the oblong one)? Also with that setup, do you have the capBility to watch something recorded on the 722 from the 612? I don't like having something on DVD in the LR but not in the BR

 

[peano]

The dish is not causing your PQ issues. I have a 722k and have had a 612 in the past. Both produced a similar HD picture with a slight advantage to the 722k.

 

[KAB]

For those with a 722 and a 612, do you have only one dish outside(the oblong one)? Also with that setup, do you have the capBility to watch something recorded on the 722 from the 612? I don't like having something on DVD in the LR but not in the BR

Yes, one Dish is all you need. If you pay the one time $40.00 activation fee, you can use an external Hard Drive to transfer recordings from either receiver and then play on the other. Other, more limited option, is to run HDMI to the bedroom from the LR you can watch the LR recordings on it.

 

[dannsh]

Now when I had the 1 722, I had 2 smaller dishes outside pointing in 2 directions, when the tech replaced the 722 with 2 612's, he removed both dishes, and replaced it with an oblong, slightly larger dish than I had before. Problem? Doubtful.

I also had two dishes and they were replaced with one. The 129 Sat does not get a very strong signal. The last tech adjusted the Dish and things have been better. Here is the But! When we have really bad weather the 129 Sat loses signal while I can still get the other two Sats.

 

[KAB]

We have already confirmed that his signal strength is fine.

 

[whatchel1]

I'm going with a totally different option here. Dump both the 612's and go to a 722K w/ OTA module. Then buy one of the new Sling adapters and run that in the BR. Just tell them that the 612's didn't allow you to share between the 2 rooms in the way you would like. Not have the 2nd DVR fee will probably pay for the sling and OTA module in time.

 

[Wix]

It is more than likely that your picture quality issues are directly related to your satellite dish and not your receivers. Dish alignment and multi-feed issues are the main reason I opt for individual dishes for each satellite and use a Dp-34 or similar switch. If you are not satisfied with the current quality then have a tech come out to realign the dish, verify the feed, and make sure the dish is grounded. Be sure that the new dish is not being masked, and consider replacing your outside RG-6 with quad shield RG-6. At issue is the fact that the receivers can sync on a less than optimum signal. Any multi-satellite dish not only has less gain but issues related to skew.

As to a signal level of 55, that is a bit low. If you are in the mainland you should definitely request realignment, consider dish relocation, or a higher gain dish. The solution to your quality issues I believe is a good tech with a quality meter.

Wix

 

[whatchel1]

It is more than likely that your picture quality issues are directly related to your satellite dish and not your receivers. Dish alignment and multi-feed issues are the main reason I opt for individual dishes for each satellite and use a Dp-34 or similar switch. If you are not satisfied with the current quality then have a tech come out to realign the dish, verify the feed, and make sure the dish is grounded. Be sure that the new dish is not being masked, and consider replacing your outside RG-6 with quad shield RG-6. At issue is the fact that the receivers can sync on a less than optimum signal. Any multi-satellite dish not only has less gain but issues related to skew.

As to a signal level of 55, that is a bit low. If you are in the mainland you should definitely request realignment, consider dish relocation, or a higher gain dish. The solution to your quality issues I believe is a good tech with a quality meter.

Wix

Are you really Hi-Def Jeff under a different name? Signal strength above threshold will do nothing but reduce chances of rain fade. I have larger individual dishes for just that reason, but PQ does not go up with increased signal level.

 

[branchbouncer]

A quick background:
I had 1 Sony 52w4100 in LR paired with a VIP722 (with DVR), it was great, I had a great picture quality on the Sony, and a SD signal was sent to the bedroom for an old TV.
I bought a new Sony 55nx810 and moved the 52w4100 to the bedroom, now that I had 2 needs for HD, Dish Network recomended dropping the 722(since its only 1HD and 1SD) and going with 2 VIP612's (with DVR). Well I thought it made sense. I was wrong, I think.

Now when I had the 1 722, I had 2 smaller dishes outside pointing in 2 directions, when the tech replaced the 722 with 2 612's, he removed both dishes, and replaced it with an oblong, slightly larger dish than I had before. Problem? Doubtful.

Now, I have 2 TV's with an awesome picture when watching bluray's, both a not so great picture when watching satellite. I would rate the satellite picture quality a 6/10, when before it was probably a 8.5/10.

Is there any setting I can double check before I have the tech come back out and tell me "That is as good as it gets"? I was transferred to 4 different "Support Tech's" when I was on the phone with dish, then they finally transferred me to the advanced support guy, and he verified the correct satellites were being linked, and that the signal was good. I noticed that the satellite signal strength is only at about a 55, when the strength meter goes as high as 100 or 125. To me, that 55 is low, but he assured me that as long as it's green, it's good. Shady?

Any suggestions on settings I can check? Or am I alone in having this "upgrade" be more of a downgrade?

BTW: All TV connections are made with High Speed 1.3b HDMI cables. I even tried swapping cables with ones known to work 100%(as proven by watching 10/10 quality Bluray's), and the picture quality remains the same from the satellites.

I'm down in Massanutten with a EA install just south of you, and it sounds as if you were switched from a WA (western arc) to the Eastern Arc, I have been on an EA for 2 years and not really impressed with the PQ, did they give you a reason for the switch?

 

[whatchel1]

I have been on an EA for 2 years and not really impressed with the PQ, did they give you a reason for the switch?

I'm on EA and prefer it to WA. This is just conjecture but I wonder if some TV sets don't do as well w/ certain receivers/DVR's?

 

[TheKrell]

Not only do I see no difference in PQ between my 722 and 612's, I see no difference before and after I went onto an EA dish. (But almost all of my HD was coming off 61.5 before and after, so this is no surprise, really.)

 

[Wix]

Are you really Hi-Def Jeff under a different name? Signal strength above threshold will do nothing but reduce chances of rain fade. I have larger individual dishes for just that reason, but PQ does not go up with increased signal level.

Naw Don't know Jeff but I think it may be a signal quality issue and not so much a signal power issue. Even here in Hawaii 55 at the receiver on a multi-feed dish would make my alarms go off. I would re-verify the alignment and distribution first before I suspected the receivers.

Wix

 

[MikeD-C05]

I have my main 722k receiver on eastern arc 1000.4 sat dish and my two 211ks on western arc dish 1000.2 . My locals are on both 61.5 and 110, so I'm covered on both arcs. I see better pq on eastern arc dish for sd channels over western arc using Toshiba tvs on all 4 hd tvs in my house. My 722k is fed to both living room and computer room . The hd channels are the same to me on either arc since they were always mpeg 4 . The only real difference to me is the sd channels look better in mpeg 4 sd on eastern arc compared to western arc in mpeg 2.

 

[whatchel1]

Naw Don't know Jeff but I think it may be a signal quality issue and not so much a signal power issue. Even here in Hawaii 55 at the receiver on a multi-feed dish would make my alarms go off. I would re-verify the alignment and distribution first before I suspected the receivers.

Wix

It's nice that you are trying to help. The Signal strength meter now is no longer a true SS meter. It is now a combination of SS & signal quality. With SS at 55 he is not having an issue with it. I have tested that I can get a lock and have full quality picture with signals as low as around 10. That signal is really near useless as a couple of gnats getting in the way would knock out the picture. This was gone thru in detail w/ Hi def Jeff as he was trying to push his website w/ all kinds of claims about need X amt of signal level. It's been a while but think it was 70 or above also SS on EA is lower than WA due to ALL signals are MPEG 4. All his claims were disproved. He went away after several engineers showed him the proof. In fact just did a search and his website is no longer around.