DirecTV quality *BLOWS* Dish out of the water

[Stargazer]

Done been told that Charleston, WV was going to come by the end of 2003 last month just for it to be delayed like everything else. DirecTv will probably have it by the time Dish gets it or not much longer after that. This can probably be said about many of the markets if it has not happened already.

 

[James]

Its still subjective though. As with others, I've had both running side by side and I can't tell much difference. Some channels look better on one or the other, but overall there is no difference. We have been over this many, many times in the past and many flame wars over at DBSForums.

 

[ScottChez]

Here is the fact on Pic Quality.


Each company uses different compression levels on different channels.

On one system your locals may look better, an other HBO may look better, or the SD standard Sports channels may look better.

Here is an other fact. The compression levels change from week to week as they move channels around and add new channels.

Comparing the two services is imposible. The best you can hope for is an average based on your personal likes and what channels you actualy watch.
Even then the levels will change .

Right now what I see on dish is the locals look real bad. The Preimeims looks the best, and the recently add channels like Bravo look real bad.

In direct TV I see something similar but with different channels.


Can anyone really verify the resolution question with proof?

 

[Kevinw]

From my experience, my neighbor with an uncalibrated Mitsubishi TV/ Panasonic Dirctv HD box does not have as good a picture as I do using a Dish 508 on a Toshiba HD TV. But then again my Dish PQ is 5 times better than Adelphia cable was.
SOOOO ( cracks me up when people do this) it all boils down to how well your equipment is set up and how discerning your eyes are.

 

[silversurfer]

Differences in equipment will make a huge difference as well. I recently replaced my Hitachi 43 inch RPTV with a 65 inch Mits. I figured with the larger TV I would notice a lot more compression artifacts. That has not been the case. The picture is actually better. The reason is that the Mits has a built in line doubler that automatically converts everything to 480P. The picture is not perfect by any means but it is alot better on my Mits. Proper calibration makes a huge difference as well. Picture quality is such a subjective topic with so many different variables it is almost silly to compare the differences.

 

[js33]

I just made the switch from DishNetwork to DirecTV this past weekend and must say the difference was completely understated on all of these satellite boards.

The picture quality, sharpness, and colors are SOOOO much better on DirecTV compared to DishNetwork, its like comparing ripe tropical fruit to sour vineger rancid grapes.


Seriously, overall the quality is 25% better I would say. The higher resolution is the most noticeable feature. My 34" 16:9 directview really shows the difference. I made the switch partly motivated due to a 2-tivo/3lnb deal for $169!! Pretty amazing. Dish network's PVR508/301 setup really can't compare. They are in different leagues.

I find it unbelievable now that so many people have much anything good to say about dishnetwork. Overpriced limited equipment, and overcompressed signal really kill Dish if you see the two side by side.

Yes I must agree with you 100%. Although unfortunately I made the opposite switch because Dish offered free equipment. Actually they were pretty generous and gave me 3 DVRs with one of them being a dual tuner DVR so they have DTV beat in that regard. Although I thought with them both being DBS services that the pictures would be about the same. But I can easily tell that the DISH picture is degraded compared to the DTV picture I did have. You can easily see the compression artifacts on DISH all the time. Also when showing peoples faces the picture is smeary looking and the colors are not as vibrant as DTV was.

I will give Dish some good points and that is they are a bit cheaper, give free equipment and offer a handful of extra channels over DTV. BUt to me picture quality is king so I will probably switch back to DTV soon.

Also SD NTSC video is 720 x 486(480) so there is no way DTV can have a higher resolution than that for SD because that is the maximum resolution of ALL SD cameras. I suppose they could upconvert and downconvert it but that would not gain anything but would infact create more overhead for no gain.

The fact is that DISH really overcompress the signal (probably about twice or more) than DTV does.

Cheers,
JS

 

[caeyathompson]

Yes I must agree with you 100%. Although unfortunately I made the opposite switch because Dish offered free equipment. Actually they were pretty generous and gave me 3 DVRs with one of them being a dual tuner DVR so they have DTV beat in that regard. Although I thought with them both being DBS services that the pictures would be about the same. But I can easily tell that the DISH picture is degraded compared to the DTV picture I did have. You can easily see the compression artifacts on DISH all the time. Also when showing peoples faces the picture is smeary looking and the colors are not as vibrant as DTV was.

I will give Dish some good points and that is they are a bit cheaper, give free equipment and offer a handful of extra channels over DTV. BUt to me picture quality is king so I will probably switch back to DTV soon.

Also SD NTSC video is 720 x 486(480) so there is no way DTV can have a higher resolution than that for SD because that is the maximum resolution of ALL SD cameras. I suppose they could upconvert and downconvert it but that would not gain anything but would infact create more overhead for no gain.

The fact is that DISH really overcompress the signal (probably about twice or more) than DTV does.

Cheers,
JS

Ok, who started reading this thread and realized it was a year old. My jaw was dropping going "what???!?" what are these people talking about? $300 for an install... are they CRAZY?

Why dredge up old threads? Let them die in peace.

 

[charper1]

This is very subjective opinion.

1000% agree! I have both and they are 99.999% the same. If a person wants to see a "major" improvement, they will.

 

[js33]

1000% agree! I have both and they are 99.999% the same. If a person wants to see a "major" improvement, they will.

No they are not. At least in my case. Maybe it has more to do with the receiver's decoder chipset than the satellite signal. When i was on DTV just a week ago my picture was far better than it is now with a Dish 522.

Cheers,
JS