Just got Directv today..edit: Back to TWC

[Pacfanweb]

And I'll have to say, I'm pretty disappointed in the HD quality so far.

Anyone have to significantly change their TV settings when they switched?

Funny thing is, the regular CRT upstairs looks fantastic...the SD on it is better than cable, but both the SD and HD on my Sammy DLP doesn't look as good.

And here I was getting ready to buy one of the new LED Sammys.

Maybe I need to watch it some more to be sure, but I'm certainly not impressed so far.

This is on my DLP with a regular Directv HD receiver...not the DVR model.

Edit 5/14: Cancelled DTV and switched back to TWC. Reason: Lost all satellite signal last week on Friday. Took until the next Thursday for the repair visit. Tech said that I had no line of sight for the HD satellite, and very little for the rest. Said it should have never been installed....that the installer just put it in anyway to make a buck.
So I called and cancelled...nothing else I could do.
Called TWC and worked them over a bit...got essentially the same package as I had with DTV, PLUS two premium channels, PLUS my Roadrunner (which I always had), for about the same price as the DTV bill was....with zero down.
To get DTV, I had to pay over 400 bucks.
Now I get my better picture back.

 

[DanTMWTMP]

aren't they going to do some update in the future? or did they do that already?

 

[Shawn]

My OTA looks better than my dad's directv and comcast. Compression FTL.

 

[Slick5150]

Originally posted by: DanTMWTMP
aren't they going to do some update in the future? or did they do that already?

They're launching new satellites this year to significantly increase their HD capabilities.

 

[blurredvision]

I switched from DirecTV to cable a year or two ago because their HD sucked. You'll often hear of it referred to as HD-lite, because they down-res a lot of their HD content to save bandwidth. Personally, I was tired of paying for HD channels that weren't being broadcast in HD, because that's simply how it is. Once I switched to cable, I was completely floored at the quality of the HD picture from my local cable company. It's beautiful. I will never even consder switching back to satellite, even though I prefer it, because of the HD channels. Plus, my cable company gives you the HD DVR boxes to use while you have service with them, unlike DirecTV who charges you a crapload of money for the privledge for recording HD.

 

[Fritzo]

I got Dish Network last week...HD looks awesome! I'm in 250 channel heaven right now

 

[Pacfanweb]

Originally posted by: Slick5150

Originally posted by: DanTMWTMP
aren't they going to do some update in the future? or did they do that already?

They're launching new satellites this year to significantly increase their HD capabilities.

I think those birds are already flying. Just not online yet.

Looking at it tonight, it still doesn't look as good as cable. Even the SD isn't as clear. Almost like there's a slightly dirty glass in front of it.
This is on my Sammy 50" DLP. I don't know...I think some folks would maybe think the SD looks better now...maybe I'm just used to the way it was.

My 35" tube in the kid's room doesn't look as good...that one uses S-video. But that TV was just repaired today, so it may still have some issues.

The 27" flat CRT in the bedroom looks really good. It's SD using component cables.

 

[Pacfanweb]

After doing all the tweaking that I can think of, and comparing all the HD channels to my DVD, I feel comfortable saying that Directv's HD channels don't look much, if any better than my DVD's.

I'm seriously considering going back to TWC, since I have a "try out" period with Direct. I knew about HD Lite, but I really didn't think there was that much difference.

 

[Amused]

DirecTV compresses their channels, both SD and HD FAR more than most cable companies.

I've been very disappointed. When I first got DirecTV their HD was compressed MUCH less, and was like looking through a window. But just a year or so later they started a new compression scheme and it has sucked ever since.

I should have known by how their SD quality declined over the years. As if people wouldn't notice.

 

[Queasy]

Which receiver are you using and which channels are you looking at? The channels in the 70s are still using mpeg2 and don't look all that great in HD. The local channels are using mpeg4 now (if I'm not mistaken) and look better on my friend's receiver. I've still got a HD Tivo so I get my locals in HD OTA.

 

[PlatinumGold]

i had dishtv a while back, i've had digital comcast for a long time, currently i have Fios TV and in my opinion, Fios gives you the best picture, SD, HDTV everything.

 

[Pacfanweb]

Originally posted by: Queasy
Which receiver are you using and which channels are you looking at? The channels in the 70s are still using mpeg2 and don't look all that great in HD. The local channels are using mpeg4 now (if I'm not mistaken) and look better on my friend's receiver. I've still got a HD Tivo so I get my locals in HD OTA.

The all look like crap....HD, SD, doesn't matter. I switched the component cables to the set I used with the cable box, no change.

 

[DBL]

Originally posted by: Pacfanweb
After doing all the tweaking that I can think of, and comparing all the HD channels to my DVD, I feel comfortable saying that Directv's HD channels don't look much, if any better than my DVD's.

I'm seriously considering going back to TWC, since I have a "try out" period with Direct. I knew about HD Lite, but I really didn't think there was that much difference.

That's pretty sad considering the HD on TWC has got very noticeable compression.

 

[Aikouka]

Originally posted by: DBL
That's pretty sad considering the HD on TWC has got very noticeable compression.

HD on TWC is quite weird on my mom's Samsung plasma (720p-based)... she showed me it yesterday and for some reason, the Samsung refuses to stretch the image at all and the image shows in "extreme letterbox format" in the center. It makes me think their transmissions aren't even close to HD (at least 720p, which the TV is close to.. but since it's plasma it's actually a tiny bit off). It may be using component, but component supports 720p anyway.

One of the reasons why I dropped DirecTV is because their HD content is so lacking. I couldn't get any of my local channels in HD, but Time Warner has them all available and the thing is... out of all the TV I watch, it's mostly network TV (Heroes, House, etc). So would I rather download a TV show in Hi-Res HDTV rip (fairly close to 720p) or watch it in some crummy compression that even the standard HDTV rips look better than?

 

[DBL]

Originally posted by: Aikouka

Originally posted by: DBL
That's pretty sad considering the HD on TWC has got very noticeable compression.

HD on TWC is quite weird on my mom's Samsung plasma (720p-based)... she showed me it yesterday and for some reason, the Samsung refuses to stretch the image at all and the image shows in "extreme letterbox format" in the center. It makes me think their transmissions aren't even close to HD (at least 720p, which the TV is close to.. but since it's plasma it's actually a tiny bit off). It may be using component, but component supports 720p anyway.

That's likely a configuration problem with either the cable box or the TV. It's got nothing to do with the HD signal put out by TWC.

 

[Aikouka]

Originally posted by: DBL
That's likely a configuration problem with either the cable box or the TV. It's got nothing to do with the HD signal put out by TWC.

Exactly what I thought originally, DBL, but I found no settings on the TV that would squish this picture down. I mean, I could zoom it in, but even though my original setting was 16:9, it still had bars on the side. I'm a bit curious if it may be something with using component instead of DVI (I noticed a DVI connector on the back). I'll have to give it a try sometime!

 

[DBL]

Originally posted by: Aikouka

Originally posted by: DBL
That's likely a configuration problem with either the cable box or the TV. It's got nothing to do with the HD signal put out by TWC.

Exactly what I thought originally, DBL, but I found no settings on the TV that would squish this picture down. I mean, I could zoom it in, but even though my original setting was 16:9, it still had bars on the side. I'm a bit curious if it may be something with using component instead of DVI (I noticed a DVI connector on the back). I'll have to give it a try sometime!

Sounds like the cable box is set to output to a 4:3 tv. You need to make sure the cable box is set to output to a 16:9 TV.

 

[Pacfanweb]

Originally posted by: DBL

Originally posted by: Aikouka

Originally posted by: DBL
That's likely a configuration problem with either the cable box or the TV. It's got nothing to do with the HD signal put out by TWC.

Exactly what I thought originally, DBL, but I found no settings on the TV that would squish this picture down. I mean, I could zoom it in, but even though my original setting was 16:9, it still had bars on the side. I'm a bit curious if it may be something with using component instead of DVI (I noticed a DVI connector on the back). I'll have to give it a try sometime!

Sounds like the cable box is set to output to a 4:3 tv. You need to make sure the cable box is set to output to a 16:9 TV.

That's got to be it. TWC's HD looks great, and I never had a problem with it filling the screen.

I changed some more settings on my TV tonight and all the channels look much better now.
Still not as good as cable, but MUCH better than it was looking to start with.

Oh, and to the guy who likes his local channels, I get mine through Direct no problem. It's not OTA, either, although if I keep Direct I will get an OTA antenna for locals.

 

[Pacfanweb]

update, switched back to TWC