I have just returned from a vacation in Canada. While I was there I watched their satellite TV on a 61 inch HD TV. The quality of all their stations was far better than we get from Dish. Especially the standard channels. Most of the standard channels that I watched looked almost as good as our HD channels, and their HD channels were much better than our HD channels. They also seemed to have more channels to pick from. Including all of our network channels (East and West feeds). I also noticed that on the back of their satellite dish was the "Dish" logo, and that their TV remotes and boxes said "Echostar" on their labels. I would assume that their satellite provider is nothing more than the Canadian version of Dish Network. Is there a logical reason why their picture quality is better than ours?
A question about picture quality
- Thread starter Russell Jorgensen
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Your wrong about the display
The set that I watched in Canada was a RCA DLP rear projection set. No special calibration or set up. It was using component video cables. The person who owned the set didn't even know what HDMI was. the picture was great. Better than we get from Dish. My set(s) are a 42" Toshiba flat panel LCD set connected with a HDMI cable and a 51" Toshiba rear projection CRT set connected with a component video cable. My OTA channels look great on both sets. Better on my flat panel LCD display but I would assume that would be expected. The channels that I watched in Canada on their satellite system all looked as good as my OTA channels and far better than Dish's satellite channels. While I believe that the picture quality of Dish is better than Direct TV (I have had both), the quality is not as good as the Canadian picture. Could it be that they don't use as much compression as we do?
The set that I watched in Canada was a RCA DLP rear projection set. No special calibration or set up. It was using component video cables. The person who owned the set didn't even know what HDMI was. the picture was great. Better than we get from Dish. My set(s) are a 42" Toshiba flat panel LCD set connected with a HDMI cable and a 51" Toshiba rear projection CRT set connected with a component video cable. My OTA channels look great on both sets. Better on my flat panel LCD display but I would assume that would be expected. The channels that I watched in Canada on their satellite system all looked as good as my OTA channels and far better than Dish's satellite channels. While I believe that the picture quality of Dish is better than Direct TV (I have had both), the quality is not as good as the Canadian picture. Could it be that they don't use as much compression as we do?
On more than a few sets, component looks better than HDMI from a Dish receiver so your LCD might look better if you used component instead of HDMI. Not sure how old your RP crt is but if it is older than 18 months you may need to have the tubes cleaned and recalibrated and as well the image processing circuitry may not be as good as the RCA you looked at. 3rd and last, DLP has a pop to it that you don't get from LCD and usually not from crt RP. I'm not surprised that the picture looked better on the DLP.
To 8bitbytes
I have had my LCD hooked up both ways (HDMI and Component). If component was better I would have noticed that and would be using it now. As far as having a properly calibrated set, it seems to me that if you have to go through the expense of having someone come out and calibrate it, that doesn't say much for the quality of the picture that Dish is supplying. Have you ever seen Canadian Satellite? Your answers don't seem to mean much if you haven't seen them to make the comparison. I have seen Dish network on calibrated sets and they still don't look as good as the Canadian Satellite system. I was just wondering why. Like I said before. My OTA looks great on all my sets, its Dish that doesn't look as good, so I have to belive that it is Dish not my TV's.
I have had my LCD hooked up both ways (HDMI and Component). If component was better I would have noticed that and would be using it now. As far as having a properly calibrated set, it seems to me that if you have to go through the expense of having someone come out and calibrate it, that doesn't say much for the quality of the picture that Dish is supplying. Have you ever seen Canadian Satellite? Your answers don't seem to mean much if you haven't seen them to make the comparison. I have seen Dish network on calibrated sets and they still don't look as good as the Canadian Satellite system. I was just wondering why. Like I said before. My OTA looks great on all my sets, its Dish that doesn't look as good, so I have to belive that it is Dish not my TV's.
Well, maybe the Canadian system has fewer channels, or more bandwidth available, or both. If the compression is less aggressive, the picture quality will be better.
Thank you. I thought that might be the reason but wasn't sure. Maybe a few more satellites for Dish would help relieve the problem of over compression. Especially on the SD channels.
In this country the HD war seems to be over quantity vs. quality. The same issues also impact the SD programs. The providers seem to think that the masses prefer it that way and they may be right. Which will put more subscribers in their customer list? You're talking about "HD Lite", and I hate to even bring that worn-out term up again, but it is what it is! I agree that my OTA HD channels look much better than anything I receive over E*. FWIW, it's not much better with D* (AFAIK) based on other threads here.
When I first upgraded to HD over 2 years ago, things were better. But back then we only had the 5 "nationals" and the 10 "voOm" channels. Now E* is trying to cram - what - "70 channels" through the same BW. Granted the move to MPEG-4 has allowed a lot of that and further migration to that technology coupled with more sats will "open things up" somewhat, but like many others here I think the added capacity will be allocated strictly for more channels in HD Lite, or poor upconverts, or stretch-o-vision to satisfy "JSP" (the generic JSP, not our member!) vs. allocating more BW and/or higher bitrates to higher quality on the channels we already have. We purists can hope, but I fear we will be disappointed. I share your pain...!
When I first upgraded to HD over 2 years ago, things were better. But back then we only had the 5 "nationals" and the 10 "voOm" channels. Now E* is trying to cram - what - "70 channels" through the same BW. Granted the move to MPEG-4 has allowed a lot of that and further migration to that technology coupled with more sats will "open things up" somewhat, but like many others here I think the added capacity will be allocated strictly for more channels in HD Lite, or poor upconverts, or stretch-o-vision to satisfy "JSP" (the generic JSP, not our member!) vs. allocating more BW and/or higher bitrates to higher quality on the channels we already have. We purists can hope, but I fear we will be disappointed. I share your pain...!
I don't know about the compression issue, but I know the RP CRT will need cleaned periodically, and calibrated. Being calibrated has nothing to do with Dish's picture. With the CRT, the tubes will get misaligned after a while. I just had to realign my friends CRT (and cleaned also). He swore up and down his picture was fine, and thanked me endlessly when I cleaned the tubes and calibrated the tubes.
If you havent' done it, check your instruction manual. You can calibrate your tubes by yourself on most sets. Its in the menu setting on my friends RCA. Check it out, you may be surprised! Cleaning also makes a huge difference!
If you havent' done it, check your instruction manual. You can calibrate your tubes by yourself on most sets. Its in the menu setting on my friends RCA. Check it out, you may be surprised! Cleaning also makes a huge difference!
While the receivers may have Dish labels on them, they were probably watching Bell service which is Canada's version of Dish.
They are not under the same constraints as providers in the USA as far as which channels can be seen.
Canada has a national TV network run by the government and it is available everywhere.
Their picture is probably better because they do not compress the hell out of the signal.
They are not under the same constraints as providers in the USA as far as which channels can be seen.
Canada has a national TV network run by the government and it is available everywhere.
Their picture is probably better because they do not compress the hell out of the signal.
The differrence is "QUALITY-UNCOMPRESSED-MPEG-2" most likely, rather than the "EXTENDED-DEFINITION-MPEG-4" currently being feed by Dish & DirecTV here in the USA. As a member of Armed Forces Radio & TV, I personally admired in Europe "HI-PICTURE QUALITY OF TV-FORMATS SUCH AS P A L & S E C A M" that aloud, TV viewing standards in "analog" that's now the USA's SDTV. Since August 2007, I've paid Dish $2. per HD channel(ie ESPN,HDnet,HdMV, DiscvThr, & TNT) just to maintain MPEG-2 picture quality (PQ). Most likely I will drop all of Dish HD service because the local prinme time over-the-air program PQ is musch better and also FREE!
USA, Mexico, Canada, South Korea, and Taiwan...
all use the same standards of compression.
DVB Overview
If everything you've written is true (calibration, cables, settings, etc.) have been checked and verified (and since your OTA "looks great" and is "far better than Dish", then I would suggest a checking your signal strength, and examining the cable connections between your satellite to your receiver looking for an improper fitting with possibly a braid strand near or touching the center conductor.
Where are you located? You may be on the edge of a spot beam which would decrease the amount of signal you could get, or your dish needs to be peaked.
What dish do you have?
all use the same standards of compression.
DVB Overview
If everything you've written is true (calibration, cables, settings, etc.) have been checked and verified (and since your OTA "looks great" and is "far better than Dish", then I would suggest a checking your signal strength, and examining the cable connections between your satellite to your receiver looking for an improper fitting with possibly a braid strand near or touching the center conductor.
Where are you located? You may be on the edge of a spot beam which would decrease the amount of signal you could get, or your dish needs to be peaked.
What dish do you have?
Respectfully, I disagree that signal strength, once the receiver has enough to lock and decode, will effect the quality of the video displayed.
Best Regards, Eric
Best Regards, Eric
Lol, as do most people.
http://www.satelliteguys.us/dish-hd-discussions/103567-what-no-one-will-tell-you-about-hdtv.html
Also Jeff, just because they use the same compression standards doesnt mean one company doesnt compress more than another, so that could be it.
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I appreciate the kindness of your message.
Unfortunately, people report it, I have seen it, and the science backs it.
I just hope that Russell Jorgenson isn't robbed of his good HD by those who are hanging on to word-of-mouth, over generalizations like "All-or-nothing" statements.
It seems there are no other options mentioned for Russell. What has he got to lose if I'm wrong? His picture won't get worse. But, he could find out that he does actually have too low of signal strength, and find the "WOW" he is looking for.
Signal and HDTV - What no one will tell you!
Read about it.
Unfortunately, people report it, I have seen it, and the science backs it.
I just hope that Russell Jorgenson isn't robbed of his good HD by those who are hanging on to word-of-mouth, over generalizations like "All-or-nothing" statements.
It seems there are no other options mentioned for Russell. What has he got to lose if I'm wrong? His picture won't get worse. But, he could find out that he does actually have too low of signal strength, and find the "WOW" he is looking for.
Signal and HDTV - What no one will tell you!
Read about it.
