DirecTV -- utter garbage (plea for help)

[Jimbo]

Who's in Glendale in this thread? Another blame it on the I wasn't here, or on the wife. I guess it wasn't too important to you then. LOL Why have you already jump to the we are "DirecTV fanboys"? Are we being baited by a COX/cable fanboy? I think to get the help it would be best to just describe some issues rather than to lead with the all out trashing of a service, as it MIGHT WELL be your setup or a hardware issue, but in the very first post you already showed what your thread was going to be about; service trashing. IMHO.

Relax charper1,

It's not worth it ....

He's already decided that he's not here for help or advice.
We try to help here, some just won't accept it.

Jimbo

 

[swartzfeger]

First off, there are varing degrees of HD Some look great, crisp and sharp, those are usually LIVE events, Such as Sports, Football , olympics (if done correctly) I haven't watched enough of them to judge, I also would watch NBC on my OTA antenna, which would be better than D* in most cases.

Alot of HD is shot digitally and looks good to great, still more is UPconverted material, al depends on what you are watching ....

HBO/ Showtime for example, it depends on the movie, if it was not shot in the the last sevral years, it is probably be upconverted and won't look as sharp as, mentioned sporting events.

Even the much anticipated TNT will not look as good as say HD net or PBS, unless it's a live event, Nascar, NBA ect.

Jimbo

Jim,

Thanks for the reasonable/non-kneejerk response.

I know what you mean by HD quality. Much of the HD quality can be attributed to upconversion/or the HD transfer, like you mentioned. The stuff I saw today on HBO/SHO looked bad but I passed it off as upconverted (although there was a recent movie, The Whole Ten Yards (iirc) that's a recent movie that still looked 480p to me).

What bothered me was the DiscoverHD, which always looked incredible on Dish. Equator, for example, looked stellar on E*. Today on DirecTV it was notciably inferior.

HDNet/Universal looked like crap... haven't checked PBS though.

The TNT-HD on Dish was hit-or-miss... some stuff would look great, other stuff was obviously upconverted.

I didn't even bother checking ESPN-HD today -- it sucks no matter where it is.

 

[swartzfeger]

Relax charper1,

It's not worth it ....

He's already decided that he's not here for help or advice.
We try to help here, some just won't accept it.

Jimbo

Actually, I am here for help, Jimbo -- I don't know how many ways I need to say this, but I'm just looking for advice/feedback, not trash D*. I *need* this to work, because D*'s about my only hope of getting local HD because of the H20. I've gotta get up for work in 4 hours.. I've got better things to do than just take potshots at DirecTV. I'm simply looking for some answers, solutions and fedback.

For the umpteenth time, if you love your DirecTV service, great -- I hope I'm with you in a few days if this is resolved.

 

[VIPERS-PIT]

If component cables give a better picture I would say there is a problem with your H20. I have had D* for 6 mounths HD for 2 and I rate it an 7 out of 10. So far 10 out of 10 with customer service. It sounds to me like there is a major problem with your install. might be a bad multi-plexer. just a thought.

 

[kfried001]

Because I wasn't *here*, my wife was.

Because, as it stands now, the Olympics *DO* look like utter garbage.

My cox quality was pristine in N. Scottsdale. I obviously can't speak for other areas. I'll take your word it's garbage in Glendale -- I'm not here to get into a pissing match that Cox is better than anything else (which it seems you think I'm trying to do), I'm trying to get advice why *my* DirecTV looks so bad.

Honestly, I'm sorry I bothered the DirecTV fanboys here for help. If anyone is interested how/if I get my problem solved, private message me.

Again, sorry for the bother, best of luck.

I live in N. Scottsdale and COX locals always sucked. I am using an HD antenna for the olympics as I hve E*. The broadcast is of very poor quality. It may not be D*'s fault at all.

 

[swartzfeger]

If component cables give a better picture I would say there is a problem with your H20. I have had D* for 6 mounths HD for 2 and I rate it an 7 out of 10. So far 10 out of 10 with customer service. It sounds to me like there is a major problem with your install. might be a bad multi-plexer. just a thought.

Thanks Eric, I'll check the multiplexer as well.

I just did an A/B comparison of HDMI and Component. The component does seem to have a bit more saturation (which I never really believed when people said that, but now I've seen it for myself). Overall, the component didn't help and was subjectively less sharp than the HDMI.

The other issue I'm picking up on is slight audio/video synch issues, which I noticed some of with E* but not as prevalent. HBO was barely noticable, but HDNet, CD USA and UHD were apparent (watchable but annoying) and DiscoverHD was downright bad.

I'm wondering if the HD quality disparity may be HD vs. HD Lite. Not talking older/obviously upconverted material into consideration all 'new' (2004+) programming seem lower quality. I don't know if it's a HD Lite issue, difference in compression betwee E*/D*, or the fact I'm using a HDMI>DVI cable.

Also, someone else asked about signal strength -- I ran the test and they came in at 96%.

This is really a kick in the pants, because I don't like the direction Dish is going with HD, I don't want Voom, don't need TNTHD (I hate basketball, plus much of the content is upconverted anyway) and I'm *loving* the DirecTV guide and remotes (the garbage remotes Dish gave me are all busted and have to practically hammer the guide button to bring it up).

 

[swartzfeger]

I live in N. Scottsdale and COX locals always sucked. I am using an HD antenna for the olympics as I hve E*. The broadcast is of very poor quality. It may not be D*'s fault at all.

I don't recall the Cox locals, but I do recall the non-local HD being top notch... any time I ripped HD content from my SA box to my Mac I was easily getting between 15-20mb/sec [edit: using OS X and the Firewire SDK -- it was definitely an abstruse/uber-geek setup but worked like a charm, and even had it scheduled via applescript/iCal].

I'm starting to think the quality issue -- at least in terms of SD -- is not a DirecTV issue. I've spent more time with a wider range of SD channels, and they all look just as good as E*, if not a tad smoother. It's looking like the SD feed from Torino is just bad all around.

The HD quality I'm beginning to think may be due to HD Lite. IIRC, most of E* was full HD with the exception of Voom (which I didn't have) and TNT-HD (which was mostly upconverted programming anyway). [well, and ESPNHD, but let's not go there]

Here's my question -- I specifically moved to D* for the H20 and mpeg4, but it looks to me (subjectively) that all the HD is still mpeg2/HD Lite. When does D* plan on broadcasting the HD content in mpeg4/full HD?

 

[charper1]

MPEG4 retrans is only for LIL HD for now, which as you know PHX is #14 on the DMA list and not hot yet, but close; possible Q2 or Q3 of 2006. All national HD is still MPEG2 and as reported is supposed to stay that way until the vast majority of subs have been converted to MPEG4 hardware; that could be some time Q3 or Q4 2007; after DirecTV10 & 11 have been launched.

EDIT

I also meant to add that the Media Centa units are supposed to arrive by Q3 as well.

 

[swartzfeger]

MPEG4 retrans is only for LIL HD for now, which as you know PHX is #14 on the DMA list and not hot yet, but close; possible Q2 or Q3 of 2006. All national HD is still MPEG2 and as reported will be that way until the vast majority of subs have been converted to MPEG4 hardware; that could be some time Q3 or Q4 2007; after DirecTV10 & 11 have been launched.

Thanks Charper. I'm hearing May for the Phoenix HD LIL.

I guess what I'm still not understanding is will (or *can*) D* broadcast national HD in full HD (non HD Lite) before most of the subs have been moved over to mpeg 4 (which you say is Q3/4 '07).

The reason I ask is because E* is doing full HD *now* with mpeg 2 -- why the hold up with D*? (I guess I mistakenly assumed mpeg 4 meant no more HD Lite for H20 owners).

It looks like I either stay with D* and have HD LIL soon (a few months, and there's a TON of stuff I'd watch on HD LIL that I'm currently missing out on) but be stuck with HD Lite until D* deigns it fitting and proper to give us what we're paying for (16+ months from now)

or

Go back to E* and get HD LIL whenever the hell they feel like it, but at least have great looking HD (and I can't see me watching Deadwood in 6 weeks on D* the way HBO looks now).

 

[charper1]

The rumor on the street is that eventually "HD-Lite" will become the norm for all providers; know one will truly know until it happens; or doesn't.

 

[bgsmallwood]

swartzfeger, if the main problem you are having is the NBC feed of the Olympics then I can tell you that they have had MAJOR problems with dropouts, instantaneous freezes, poor sound...... It is NOT a D* issue. The problem exists with OTA reception ( like me ) or with Cox Cable here in OKC. Lots of people here have been complaining about it on our local HD forum (www.hdtvok.com)


At least it was a little bit better last night when I watched the downhill skiing and jumping. It still wasn't what I expect when a major network covers a 4 year event like the Olympics but it was a major improvement over the first night.

If you are getting 96% signal strength then that is really good. My H20 receiver rarely reports strength higher than 80% from the satellite and from what I have read that is true of other folks with that receiver as well. My OTA signal strength locks at 90%-100% on all locals. Is it possible that you have some kind of cable-interference problem AFTER the receiver?

 

[guffy1]

Question -- would 96% strength suggest that it isn't misaligned and the LNB is good? Or does signal strength not correlate directly to misalignment/bad LNBs?

My gut is telling me they're ok -- Fox Sports Arizona is SD ok, comparable to what I had with Dish. ABC and Sci Fi look as good as can be expected. The NBC is atrocious, so I'm wondering if it's a bandwidth/Torino thing.

That still doesn't explain the poor HD, but I'm still holding out that switching to component from HDMI>DVI may solve that.

Dosent sound like a signal problem, or any kid of equipment problem to me..

It sounds like Directv is what it sounds like to me, the worst HD and SD money can buy, easily..

I have had Dish and I have had Charter Cable, they both have more than their fair share of problems and are marginal HD providers at best, but they blow Directv away.. (And yes, Ive subbed to Directv too)

I would return the H20 to Directv and cancel is what I would do..If you call and they tell you thats not possilbe just keep calling back until you get someone to agree to it..I know one person that has done this, but they had to call a few times to make it happen..

 

[YankeeFan]

DirecTV? Every HD channel has been so poor I have to double and triple check that I'm watching a HD channel. DiscoveryHD, which was usually one of the better HD channels, looks extremely soft and nowhere near the quality found on Cox or Dish.

Welcome to the world of HD-Lite! Right now, your best bet for HD PQ is to put up an OTA.

 

[Proc]

...Also, someone else asked about signal strength -- I ran the test and they came in at 96%...

Are up using the H20 receiver and the AT9/5LNB dish?

Are the readings (of 96% on the transponders) showing up when you go to Menu, Setup, Sat and Ant and do a Signal Strength test?

I have heard of no one getting ovr 95% signal strength with the H20. At least not where it displays it on screen. My H20 reads upper 60s to upper 70s on most of the transponders, whereas my RCA40 Tivo receiver reads in the 90s.

Are you using a multiswitch? Could that be bad?

Is your H20 set to allow 480, 720 and 1080? I think its under the "Display" tab.

 

[vurbano]

All,

I recently switch from Dish to DirecTV. When I moved to the sticks in '04, Cox cable wasn't availble in the area (and probably never will be). Originally went with Dish, but just switched to DirecTV for the H20 and Phoenix's impending MPEG4 rollout (May) [no, I can't get OTA because I'm too far out].

Long story short -- PQ is garbage.

Cox had tack-sharp HD with virtually no apparent compression or artifacts, and SD on our SD sets looked great for non-HD. (my SA box from Cox had a DVI output)

Dish's HD was close to digital cable quality, although occasionally there was some minor compression/artifacting. Overall though the HD was generally (near) tack-sharp. SD on SD TVs was noticably compressed. My Dish receiver also sported DVI output.

DirecTV? Every HD channel has been so poor I have to double and triple check that I'm watching a HD channel. DiscoveryHD, which was usually one of the better HD channels, looks extremely soft and nowhere near the quality found on Cox or Dish.

HDNet is a joke in terms of quality.

Battlestar on UHD marginally better than the SD version I watch on Sci Fi... the only advantage is it's non-stretched on UHD. Slightly sharper than SD, but almost embarassing to label it HD.

Showtime/HBO HD -- same. Looks 480p, not HD.

The SD quality on my SD TVs is SO **BAD** it's almost funny a company would put their name on a product like this. The SD olympics are practically unwatchable -- any quick action/movement causes massive blockiness/artifacting and even freezes. Trying to watch the snowboard events in the half pipe is like watching hi def movies over a 56k modem.

Even the wife, who's completely clueless about home electronics commented how horrible the SD looked (she initially said I was crazy about my HD comments, but after a few minutes of pointing out the HD flaws she realized how poor it was compared to Dish).

Some SD is acceptable -- the Coyotes game on Fox Sports Arizona was acceptable, an the Pro Bowl on ESPN was average (noticable but acceptable compression). Then again, football and hockey players don't move as quickly as skiers/boarders.

I'm ready to tear my hair out. My only hope for the HD is that the HDMI->DVI cable is a bad idea and switching to component will get me back to where I was. Of course, that will screw me because I have 2 component inputs already used by Xbox 360 and DVD player.

The SD seems hopeless. This isn't cabling/connections. (system test says tuner was acquired at 96%, I don't know if that's good or bad).

Any thoughts? Am I under the mistaken impression that if I get any digital signal, I should have acceptable picture quality? Would having the dish adjusted make *any* difference?

To make matters worse, it took **five** scheduled installs before the company came out to install. I can't even imagine the nightmare of having them come back out and ripping this garbage out. For how piss porr the quality is I almost have no choice.

Hate to whine, but I really miss digital cable -- great quality, local HD with no antenna. I used to love to show off my set to friends that didn't have HD. This is embarassingly bad.

The few plusses: it's nice to have XM, and the guide/interface smokes the guides on Dish and Cox (lol, woohoo, she's a keeper!)

Any thoughts/advice appreciated.

I agree the HD PQ on D* is garbage. Praying it gets better.

 

[vurbano]

The rumor on the street is that eventually "HD-Lite" will become the norm for all providers;

Bologna

 

[Proc]

I agree the HD PQ on D* is garbage. Praying it gets better.

I have a cheapie, Olevia 30-inch LCD TV and the PQ for HD, at least in my case, looks fantastic. I guess I am lucky.

 

[guffy1]

I have a cheapie, Olevia 30-inch LCD TV and the PQ for HD, at least in my case, looks fantastic. I guess I am lucky.

When I had my piece of crap 34" Phillips CRT I could not really distinguish between D* and other providers..

When I purcahsed a 52" Toshiba DLP the problems with D* became extremely noticeable..

So, I would say it prob is true that smaller (and cheaper) HDTV's are not all that affected by HDLite..

 

[VIPERS-PIT]

At 65 inches, you can see the issues BIG TIME.

 

[guffy1]

At 65 inches, you can see the issues BIG TIME.

I could not even begin to imagine how hideous D* must look a 65" HDTV...Sounds like a realy bad nightmare to me..

Im sure all the high post apologists around here would claim that its AWESOME BABY!!!!!!