Downgraded HD signal?

[zhrike]

Hi, I searched the forums before posting, and did not see an answer.

I am in the Philadelphia area, have a Mitsubishi 52" DLP, with a beautiful picture, and have had Dish HD for three years now.

Recently (within the past week), the HD picture has changed for the worse.

I did a google search and found an article about the FCC granting permission to dish and directv to downgrade their HD signals through 2013. I cannot post the link because I am new. Terms were "dish hd signal downgraded" and it was the first result.

It is wholly clear to me that channels that used to be true HD have been degraded. Does anyone have info about this with Dish?

I originally got DISH on the strength of VOOM, and when they dropped them I was furious, managed to get a 20/month discount, and have about three months left on an 18-month contract. If they have now degraded their signal, I am gone.

I have a VIP 211 with an HDMI connection to the tv. I have not called Dish because my experience with their customer service has been awful.

 

[StonesCat]

Hi, I searched the forums before posting, and did not see an answer.

I am in the Philadelphia area, have a Mitsubishi 52" DLP, with a beautiful picture, and have had Dish HD for three years now.

Recently (within the past week), the HD picture has changed for the worse.

I did a google search and found an article about the FCC granting permission to dish and directv to downgrade their HD signals through 2013. I cannot post the link because I am new. Terms were "dish hd signal downgraded" and it was the first result.

It is wholly clear to me that channels that used to be true HD have been degraded. Does anyone have info about this with Dish?

I originally got DISH on the strength of VOOM, and when they dropped them I was furious, managed to get a 20/month discount, and have about three months left on an 18-month contract. If they have now degraded their signal, I am gone.

I have a VIP 211 with an HDMI connection to the tv. I have not called Dish because my experience with their customer service has been awful.

For me, I'd say it's gotten better lately, but there's the usual choir who'll agree with you. I guess maybe it depends on what channels you mainly watch. I watch alot of the premiums and, to me, the quality on there is great, even on many of the older films that are in HD.

 

[KAB]

Keep in mind, production quality often varies from show to show.

 

[Voyager6]

I am in the Philadelphia area, have a Mitsubishi 52" DLP, with a beautiful picture, and have had Dish HD for three years now.

Recently (within the past week), the HD picture has changed for the worse.

I have a VIP 211 with an HDMI connection to the tv. I have not called Dish because my experience with their customer service has been awful.

I live just to the SW of you near the MD/DE line. I have had HD for 14 months now and the PQ is pretty good. I have not noticed any signal or PQ problems in the last week. Have you checked your signal strength lately? Did your 61.5 dish get knocked out of alignment by Hanna?

 

[tstolze]

I have seen others report new software causing some receivers to change the output back to a lower resolution.

Check your receivers settings, make sure the output is set correct.

 

[8bitbytes]

I have seen others report new software causing some receivers to change the output back to a lower resolution.

Check your receivers settings, make sure the output is set correct.

BINGO!

Go check in the menu and make sure the resolution didn't flip back to 480p.

 

[zhrike]

I have seen others report new software causing some receivers to change the output back to a lower resolution.

Check your receivers settings, make sure the output is set correct.

Thanks. I will check that.

To reiterate, and to add for the other respondents: I've had HD for more than three years now. I well understand the vagaries of channel to channel and program to program. What has happened recently is an across the board change, most visible with the historically crisp channels like Discovery HD theater and the like. The picture quality is noticeably degraded, and can be compared to over-the-air HD.

If it is not the receiver software/settings being reset, the signal has been degraded, perhaps due to 61.5 ... which I will also check.

Thank you all for your answers.

 

[Voyager6]

Thanks. I will check that.

To reiterate, and to add for the other respondents: I've had HD for more than three years now. I well understand the vagaries of channel to channel and program to program. What has happened recently is an across the board change, most visible with the historically crisp channels like Discovery HD theater and the like. The picture quality is noticeably degraded, and can be compared to over-the-air HD.

If it is not the receiver software/settings being reset, the signal has been degraded, perhaps due to 61.5 ... which I will also check.

Thank you all for your answers.

No problem, we are here to help. to SatelliteGuys.

 

[shorrock]

Ditto on the check the 611 software was causing our receiver to reset to 480i--it was having issues comming out of sleep mode showing the picture like is was in the little box for the on screen guide. 613 seems to have solved that issue for us.

 

[Tyralak]

I live just to the SW of you near the MD/DE line. I have had HD for 14 months now and the PQ is pretty good. I have not noticed any signal or PQ problems in the last week. Have you checked your signal strength lately? Did your 61.5 dish get knocked out of alignment by Hanna?

Lower signal strength doesn't translate to decreased picture quality. It doesn't work that way. If it was sufficiently out of alignment, it would either macroblock or not show up at all. You would just get a "searching for satellite signal" message.

 

[grb]

The picture quality is noticeably degraded, and can be compared to over-the-air HD.

If it is not the receiver software/settings being reset, the signal has been degraded, perhaps due to 61.5 ... which I will also check.

Thank you all for your answers.

Over the air HD is the best PQ you can get, so if your Dish PQ is comparable, your PQ problem must be with your tv.

Signal strength is not an issue for PQ -- you either get the signal with the broadcast PQ level or you get nothing or pixelation issues, but you will not get a lower resolution picture.

Some of the programming of the HD dvr's messed up the settings and you should check to make sure yours is set at 720 or 1080 (whichever you feel gives you the best picture). If your setting were at 480, you would have a 4x3 picture rather than a 16x9, so this would be noticeable immediately.

 

[8bitbytes]

If your setting were at 480, you would have a 4x3 picture rather than a 16x9, so this would be noticeable immediately.

Not correct

 

[zhrike]

Over the air HD is the best PQ you can get, so if your Dish PQ is comparable, your PQ problem must be with your tv.

I guess I did not make it clear: PQ over the air looks as it always has. That image has not degraded. PQ over satellite is clearly different. There are a number of channels that have variable quality, due to differences in shows, etc. There are a number that are fairly consistent: Discovery HD theater, ESPN, to name two. The VOOM channels were always awesome, but they're gone.

I first noticed this last Sunday while watching football. I've assessed it during the past week. This is not a reactionary question based on a small sample size.
I have checked every channel ad nauseum during this week.

What I have not done is call Dish, which is the next step.

Signal strength is not an issue for PQ -- you either get the signal with the broadcast PQ level or you get nothing or pixelation issues, but you will not get a lower resolution picture.

Some of the programming of the HD dvr's messed up the settings and you should check to make sure yours is set at 720 or 1080 (whichever you feel gives you the best picture). If your setting were at 480, you would have a 4x3 picture rather than a 16x9, so this would be noticeable immediately.

Just to address a few things broached earlier: The settings had not changed. It was still 1080i. I also changed it to 720P, but again, there was no difference. The satellite receiver is connected via HDMI. Singal strength (which shouldn't matter) is fine.

Thank you all once again for your responses ... if anything changes I will update (after I speak to Dish, for example).

At this point I guess I am the only one experiencing this, so I will certainly question my perspective. My wife also noticed it, however.

Our TV possesses one of the nicest pictures out there. I was very worried when I saw the article that I mentioned in my original post. The FCC has allowed Dish and Directv to degrade their signals to save on bandwidth. My fear is that this is what happened.

 

[grb]

Not correct

My tv gives me a 4x3 picture when set to 480 in the 622 menu.

 

[cosmo_kramer]

I did a google search and found an article about the FCC granting permission to dish and directv to downgrade their HD signals through 2013. I cannot post the link because I am new. Terms were "dish hd signal downgraded" and it was the first result.

Actually this thread is now the first result returned from the Google search... :up

Aren't the next couple "articles" referring to HD LiL markets??

 

[grb]

I guess I did not make it clear: PQ over the air looks as it always has. That image has not degraded. PQ over satellite is clearly different. There are a number of channels that have variable quality, due to differences in shows, etc. There are a number that are fairly consistent: Discovery HD theater, ESPN, to name two. The VOOM channels were always awesome, but they're gone.

I first noticed this last Sunday while watching football. I've assessed it during the past week. This is not a reactionary question based on a small sample size.
I have checked every channel ad nauseum during this week.

What I have not done is call Dish, which is the next step.



Just to address a few things broached earlier: The settings had not changed. It was still 1080i. I also changed it to 720P, but again, there was no difference. The satellite receiver is connected via HDMI. Singal strength (which shouldn't matter) is fine.

Thank you all once again for your responses ... if anything changes I will update (after I speak to Dish, for example).

At this point I guess I am the only one experiencing this, so I will certainly question my perspective. My wife also noticed it, however.

Our TV possesses one of the nicest pictures out there. I was very worried when I saw the article that I mentioned in my original post. The FCC has allowed Dish and Directv to degrade their signals to save on bandwidth. My fear is that this is what happened.

I think most of us have LCD or plasma HD tv's. Just wonder if there is something about the DLP format that is more sensitive to variations in the broadcast signals.

I have experienced what I thought were variations in PQ from time to time, but it is really hard to compare without side by side comparisons. It thus becomes a subjective evaluation based on memory, and I assumed my recollections weren't very accurate.

Both Dish and Direct down-rezz their signals and it varies between channels. However, I really can't say that I have noticed an additional deterioration over the past year, and most of Dish's signals compare very favourably with OTA signals.

 

[zhrike]

I think most of us have LCD or plasma HD tv's. Just wonder if there is something about the DLP format that is more sensitive to variations in the broadcast signals.

I have experienced what I thought were variations in PQ from time to time, but it is really hard to compare without side by side comparisons. It thus becomes a subjective evaluation based on memory, and I assumed my recollections weren't very accurate.

Yeah, at this point I have to assume it's me. And my wife. Heh. I called Dish, nothing there. It is enough that I noticed and watched carefully and compared, but as you said: this is clearly subjective, and in the absence of any validation from others, I have to assume the fault is mine.

Thanks again for all of your responses.

 

[n0qcu]

I did a google search and found an article about the FCC granting permission to dish and directv to downgrade their HD signals through 2013.

What this is referring to is that E* & D* in their locals markets can pickup the locals HD signal and downres it to SD but by 2013 any HD local carried must be carried in HD.

 

[ivtech]

I myself use to have the former hd receiver 311 which had very limited HD channels and now have the VIP211 with alot more hd channels but i notice a litle diference in crispy images. compared to the 311 old receiver i thinkd the 311receiver had a crispier pic either that or the compressed signal to make more room for more hd made it degrading, or they made it on puirpous so the can sell more of this new turbo hd i think all this is all about sucking as much as they can from this new technology HD.botom line.

 

[kstuart]

I've read the whole thread and you are still somewhat vague in what you are comparing to what. Since you do not have an HD-DVR, you are only comparing from memory. (Also, you don't state whether you are getting HD channels from 61.5 or from 129.)

A few comments :

- The FCC ruling only applies to local channels (in your case Philadelphia channels). Dish can provide the National "cable" channels in whatever quality they like, at least as far as the FCC is concerned.

- No one has reported any quality change over the past week. Some people report minor improvements recently over what it was a few months ago.

- On September 17, the last MPEG2-HD channels wll be changed to MPEG4-HD: Discovery HD Theater, ESPN, TNT, HD-Net, HDnet-Movies, HBO-East-HD and SHO-East-HD. Gauging by previous channels that underwent that change, it should make for better picture quality for those handful of original HD channels.