Dish HD vs. HD-DVD/Blu-Ray

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DryDock

Active SatelliteGuys Member
Original poster
Dec 15, 2006
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I have been smitten by the HD Bug.

The HD-DVD players are starting to get tempting, and I was wondering from those that already have them: How is the PQ on HD disks vs HD Sat?

From what I've read, the disks should be far superior due to available bandwidth - so for those that have one already, what do your eyes say?

The Phantom of the Opera in HD is: "inside... my mind".

-DD
 
You are going to get blasted with this question. I'm not an enthusiast and the PQ on Dish I know is soft. They like to call it HD Lite...not even true HD (I won't get into the numbers).

HD DVD and Blu Ray are FAR superior than what Dish gives us.
 
I have both Dish HD and an HD DVD player. The HD DVD picture is better then DishHD. OTA is better then most DishHD. Don't get me wrong the picutre is good on DishHD. It really depends on the source.
 
DryDock said:
I have been smitten by the HD Bug.

The HD-DVD players are starting to get tempting, and I was wondering from those that already have them: How is the PQ on HD disks vs HD Sat?

From what I've read, the disks should be far superior due to available bandwidth - so for those that have one already, what do your eyes say?

The Phantom of the Opera in HD is: "inside... my mind".

-DD
Click to expand...

Dish is running movies on Starz HD at at 4 Mbps in mpeg 4. Blu-ray has movies at 40 Mbps at mpeg 4. The difference is night and day on any reasonable HD setup.

BTW, the format war is a lot clearer these days, and Blu-ray is the way I'd recommend going.
 
HD-DVD would look much better than Dish. I am thinking of getting an HD-DVD player also. If you are a Netflix subscriber, they carry HD-DVD movies also.
 
dtanderson said:
HD-DVD would look much better than Dish. I am thinking of getting an HD-DVD player also. If you are a Netflix subscriber, they carry HD-DVD movies also.
Click to expand...

Netflix also carries Blu-ray, which at the moment is well ahead in the format war (more titles released and over 3x as many titles announced with dates, more studio support, and a widening 2-1 sales advantage).
 
OK guys I think a simple yes HDDVD or Bluray is better than DISH HD was what he was looking for. If you want to start another pissing match take it back to the right place.
 
Great, that's what I was looking for.

Yes, I don't mean to start a fight - which is why I didn't say which format I'm buying.

A lead-on question though: If bandwidth is an issue with DishHd, does more Satellites fix it - or is that what the new Codecs are for? What I'm getting at is: Someday (next couple years) will Dish aproach disk in PQ?

Just curious.

-DD
 
DryDock said:
Great, that's what I was looking for.

Yes, I don't mean to start a fight - which is why I didn't say which format I'm buying.

A lead-on question though: If bandwidth is an issue with DishHd, does more Satellites fix it - or is that what the new Codecs are for? What I'm getting at is: Someday (next couple years) will Dish aproach disk in PQ?

Just curious.

-DD
Click to expand...

No, a Blu-ray disc has a maximum bitrate of 54 Mbps, an HD-DVD has a maximum bitrate of 36 Mbps. To get disc like PQ, they'd have to give each HD channel it's own transponder. Even if Dish had the desire to build such a fleet of satellites, they'd have to do something like merge with DirecTV to get control of enough orbital locations to actually do it. You'd need a real monster of a satellite dish, with a ton of LNBs.
 
DryDock said:
What I'm getting at is: Someday (next couple years) will Dish aproach disk in PQ?

Just curious.

-DD
Click to expand...
I doubt they ever will. Same movies, the source material will probably always be better comming straight from the HD disc. Also, it has a lot less distance to travel to the processor.

I think you're stressing a little. The dishHD is really good. If you use an antenna (OTA) with the reciever to get locals, it's even better.
 
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I have HD-A1 so that's all I can comment on. The PQ on HD is superior to Dish. Upconversion on the HD-A1 is almost as good as Dish in HD. But personally I think the quality of HD on Dish is good too. It's a matter of degree. Depending on use the formats complement each other. For general viewing Dish is great (my opinion). If I really want to sit down and get blown away it's time to load the disc. Dish HD is a lot closer to HD-DVD than Dish SD is to standard DVD. But for reasons that other's have stated, the discs have advantages that put them in a different sphere.
 
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I have both Blu-Ray through the PS3 and HD-DVD through the XBOX360. I don't know if the XBOX offers the best possible HD-DVD quality but it is definitely better than the Dish HD content if only a little. My comparison there is Smallville which I get on HD-DVD through Netflix and compare to the Dish feed on HDNET. Blu-Ray, on the other hand, blows both of them away. The difference is especially noticeable when playing standard definition dics on the two systems, Blu-Ray wins that battle also.

My TV is a 70" Sony with 1080p. The PS3 has HDMI outputs while the XBOX offers only component.
 
DryDock said:
Great, that's what I was looking for.

Yes, I don't mean to start a fight - which is why I didn't say which format I'm buying.

A lead-on question though: If bandwidth is an issue with DishHd, does more Satellites fix it - or is that what the new Codecs are for? What I'm getting at is: Someday (next couple years) will Dish aproach disk in PQ?

Just curious.

-DD
Click to expand...

I recommend you hold off, if at all possible, for at least 3 months to see if a winning format emerges. We MIGHT see a strong indication after first quarter results are released. But, admittedly, it could take another year before a winner emerges. I doubt it. I think we'll have a good idea in 3 months, and KNOW by Xmas.

Dish HD is often quite good. But real world, it will likely never be as good as a high definition disc.
 
trust me guy the hd dvd pq is way better than than my hd dish network channels and just in case ur thinking if its better than blue ray well it is and its more cheaper trust me really good pq
 
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