DIRECTV - HD channels NOT in widescreen?

[hiimjackson@gmail.com]

Are HD channels not available in widescreen? Why are my standard channels come in such bad quality? The picture is HORRIBLE compared to my cable company. Is this my TV or is directv like this? I'm using both component AND hdmi! Theyre both the same results! What can I do to fix screen size and quality of images?

I have a Samsung LNT4066 40" and a Dynex 37" with HR-21 receivers and a 5LNB slimline dish.

WTH?

 

[darrencp22]

I dont knwo what you're asking. You're hopping around.

HD channels are widescreen. If they are not showing HD content thay'll appear 4x3. HD channels do not alwasy show HD content.

DirecTV hd blows alwasy cable HD. It is uncompressed. Something is wrong.

As far as SD, well they're SD. I have no idea why they would look better on your local cable co. Maybe they're compressed more, or maybe you have a setting off, but looks like I expect to me.

 

[jcrandall]

Try using your format button to change to widescreen. Check the Display option under Display Setup menu to make sure you have 720 or 1080 resolutions selected and in use.

As for the SD, they are a little higher compression than many providers. WGN for example often looks terrible compared to other providers. The HD channels, on the other hand, look great and hardly anyone complains about those.

 

[Jimbo]

DirecTV hd blows alwasy cable HD. It is uncompressed. Something is wrong.

Sorry Darren,
D* is also Compressed.
Mpeg 2 and 4 are both compression formats.

OTA is also compressed, but it is compressed in a different way.
Cable TV is also compressed and FIOS is too.

The OP needs to make a few adjustments as Jason has pointed out.

Jimbo

 

[hiimjackson@gmail.com]

Sorry Darren,
D* is also Compressed.
Mpeg 2 and 4 are both compression formats.

OTA is also compressed, but it is compressed in a different way.
Cable TV is also compressed and FIOS is too.

The OP needs to make a few adjustments as Jason has pointed out.

Jimbo

What adjustments do I need to make? As Darren pointed out, I'm guessing that HD shows up in widescreen, but when an HD designated channel ISNT airing HD, it shows 4:3. The standard quality is still VERY bad. I have 1 TV that isn't HD and the quality is FINE on it! The quality on both my HDTVs however, ARE CRAP!

 

[Jimbo]

What adjustments do I need to make? As Darren pointed out, I'm guessing that HD shows up in widescreen, but when an HD designated channel ISNT airing HD, it shows 4:3. The standard quality is still VERY bad. I have 1 TV that isn't HD and the quality is FINE on it! The quality on both my HDTVs however, ARE CRAP!

Check the format button on the D* remote, go thru the setting they should roll thru all that are available.

All true HD programming will fill the screen, like mentioned, not all programming on an HD channel is HD, for example ESPN HD looks great in HD, but alot of thier programming is NOT in HD format, most film that is shown in the SportCenters of any old footage is not in HD.
ESPN is still in mpeg2 format and doesn't look quite as sharp as the new mpeg4 stuff, but still pretty good.

Go into your Menu, Set Up, System Set Up, then HDTV, TV Ratio and make sure it's on Wide Screen : 16x9, move to TV Resolutions, uncheck the 480i and 480p, leave the others checked, not knowing the NAative resolution of your TV, well start from there.

Jimbo

 

[texasbrit]

What adjustments do I need to make? As Darren pointed out, I'm guessing that HD shows up in widescreen, but when an HD designated channel ISNT airing HD, it shows 4:3. The standard quality is still VERY bad. I have 1 TV that isn't HD and the quality is FINE on it! The quality on both my HDTVs however, ARE CRAP!

In general, SD channels can look very poor on digital TVs - much worse than on older analog sets. This is because you only have a 480i signal and the pixels have to be mapped onto a 720p or 1080i/p display. The DirecTV box or the TV "upconverts" the signal by taking the pixels around the missing ones and "guessing" (well, actually using mathematical expressions) at what should be in the missing pixels. The results are often very bad. A lot depends on the quality of the SD signal. Some cable companies (like my local cable network here just outside DFW) have SD locals that are better quality than DirecTV. Some (like my daughter's cable company in Berkeley CA) have SD pictures that are much worse.
You can often improve things by doing some simple calibration on your TV. You can use DVDs like Avia or Video Essentials, or just turn down the contrast, which is usually set much too high (mine was set at 75 and after calibration was at 40). Turn down the "sharpness" control also - ideally you are looking for the setting that reduces the edge enhancement to zero (this may not be the zero setting on the control).

 

[atp1313]

And to further clarify, not all HD shows on HD channels completely fill the screen. For instance, if you are watching MythBusters on DiscoveryHD, you might notice a slight black vertical bar on either side of the screen, and any pop-over graphics or crawl on the bottom of the screen is cut off, especially on older episodes. This is because they are upconverting at Discovery - not in the receiver and not in your TV - to make the show as HD as possible considering the original 4:3 source video. So the programmer can modify/stretch/crop the image on your tv to fill that 16:9 aspect ratio as best as possible to claim that the program is HD. And some channels don't even bother with the stretch/crop routine and just show 4:3 HD video. So just because it's labeled as HD does not mean that it has to be 16:9.

 

[hiimjackson@gmail.com]

Understood. Nonetheless, the non-hd channels from directv SUCK compared to my cable company. It seems like the HD-channels from directv BARELY meet the quality of the standard channels from cable. Is this normal? The quality of the non-hd channels is just way, way, way, too bad.

 

[atp1313]

Did you try changing your format options? I had an installer come out with my 2nd HR20 and he UNCHECKED the 1080i and 720p format options. What a tool! So I simply changed it so they were checked and then unchecked the 480i/p options and VOILA, all HD all the time.

As for Native mode, this comes down to personal choice...try it both ON and OFF and see which looks better to you. You're the one who will be watching it so listen to opinions, but stand by your own when it counts.

 

[atp1313]

correction of overstatement in previous post:
Well not HD all the time...but at least the signal is coming out in the best possible format to match the capabilities of my TV.

 

[charper1]

My SD channels are equal to and in some case better than the Comcast around here depending on the channel. Maybe you cable is real good and that sounds like what you need.

 

[Hemi 6.1]

SD channels on D* and E* about the same as Cable for me as well.

SD PQ

1. Blue Ridge Communications
2. Directv
3. Dishnetwork

HD PQ

1. Directv
2. Blue Ridge Communications
3. Dishnetwork

 

[scottie_h]

Since you're all over the board and no one really knows specifically what you're talking about, how about some details? Give some examples of shows you're talking about? As others have stated, maybe you're talking about shows that aren't even HD. As suggested above, have you looked in the receiver setup to verify that 16x9 and 720p/1080i are selected. What exactly is wrong with the image quality?

If your HD is anything but stellar (especially the MPEG4 channels), something is wrong.

 

[raoul5788]

What adjustments do I need to make? As Darren pointed out, I'm guessing that HD shows up in widescreen, but when an HD designated channel ISNT airing HD, it shows 4:3. The standard quality is still VERY bad. I have 1 TV that isn't HD and the quality is FINE on it! The quality on both my HDTVs however, ARE CRAP!

What type of cables are you using for your connections?

 

[Bigshot202]

Hiim...Not only do you have to set the resolutions on the receiver, but you also have to set your TELEVISION. I am one of the top DirecTV troubleshooters in the DC market and for you to say that your cable HD is better than your DTV, then i KNOW somethings not right.. one more thing that you need to do is make sure NATIVE on the receiver is set to "ON". This allows the receiver and the tv to "talk" and pick the best resolution. When you change channels between HD and STD, the blue resolution lite on the receiver should jump around from 1080 to 720 to 480....check and let me know if it does...

 

[Jimbo]

Hiim...Not only do you have to set the resolutions on the receiver, but you also have to set your TELEVISION. I am one of the top DirecTV troubleshooters in the DC market and for you to say that your cable HD is better than your DTV, then i KNOW somethings not right.. one more thing that you need to do is make sure NATIVE on the receiver is set to "ON". This allows the receiver and the tv to "talk" and pick the best resolution. When you change channels between HD and STD, the blue resolution lite on the receiver should jump around from 1080 to 720 to 480....check and let me know if it does...

Welcome to the site

Many change the Native according to their preference, some don't like the time it takes for the channels to change so they change the setting because of it.

Jimbo

 

[Jimbo]

Understood. Nonetheless, the non-hd channels from directv SUCK compared to my cable company. It seems like the HD-channels from directv BARELY meet the quality of the standard channels from cable. Is this normal? The quality of the non-hd channels is just way, way, way, too bad.

NO this is NOT normal, if it was, we would all be complaining about it.
Have you tried using one or the other connection wise, HDMI vs Component ?

Why both at the same time ?

Jimbo

 

[Jimbo]

What type of cables are you using for your connections?

He mentioned using both HDMI and Component in the 1st post I think it was...
I'm wondering if he is astually on the HD channel on the D* rec. or if he's actually on the SD side of the channels.
The MPEG 4 channels should look fabulous compared to the SD channels.
Anyone ever change back to the SD side just to see the difference ?

WOW, what a difference.

Jimbo

 

[20fan]

He mentioned using both HDMI and Component in the 1st post I think it was...
I'm wondering if he is astually on the HD channel on the D* rec. or if he's actually on the SD side of the channels.
The MPEG 4 channels should look fabulous compared to the SD channels.
Anyone ever change back to the SD side just to see the difference ?

WOW, what a difference.

Jimbo

I will never go back to the Dark side (SD) !!!!!!................LOL