HD First Impressions - Switched from Cablevision

[jahan]

I was not happy with the HD lineup that Cablevision provided and decided to switch to Direct TV. Here's a list of my first impressions:

1. Install was smooth.

2. I signed up with the AAA offer (free showtime for 1 yr, 10 credit for 24 mothns etc) but was not set up correcltly on my account. Called 10 times to resolve with no luck. This issues was elavated to a supervisor for resolution....still pending.

3. Getting the $23 credit is confusioning ($5 credit + $18 credit).

4. Channel selection is better than Cablevision.

5. Non HD PQ is better than Cablevision.

6. CABLEVISION HD IS MUCH BETTER THAN DIRECT TV. THE PQ ON DIRECT TV IS SOFT AND DOES NOT HAVE FULL RICH COLOR???? LOOKS LIKE HD LITE TO ME!!!!!

Any suggestion on how to improve the HD PQ?

Update:

Since I've had the system for about a week, I have come to the conclusion that the HD PQ from Cablevision is slightly better (richer color) than Direct TV. My initial assessment did not take into account that I was comparing 90 plus HD channels from Direct TV vs. the 20 plus from Cablevision of which a majority are Voom. Although Direct TV has so many more HD channels the broadcasts may be in HD lite which is an issue with the broadcasters not Direct TV.

 

[Bruce]

6. CABLEVISION HD IS MUCH BETTER THAN DIRECT TV. THE PQ ON DIRECT TV IS SOFT AND DOES NOT HAVE FULL RICH COLOR???? LOOKS LIKE HD LITE TO ME!!!!!

Any suggestion on how to improve the HD PQ?

Check your box, my resolution was on 480P after I was installed a few weeks ago.

 

[Cincyray]

Something is not set most if not all of Dtv is not downrezzed it is all mpeg4 no hdlite at least from directs end.

 

[jahan]

Check your box, my resolution was on 480P after I was installed a few weeks ago.

I have 3 Direct TV HD boxes and they are all set at 1080I. I re-checked all the wires including the signal strength and all is good.

Don't get me wrong, the Direct TV HD channel looks good compared to SD but I do not get the HD WOW factor. In my opinion the HD PQ from Cablevision is 10 times better than HD Direct TV. I compared the two side by side on 3 differnt HD tv's and I'm convinced that the HD PQ from Direct TV is downrezzed.

I plan on sticking with direct tv becuase of the NFL game pass.

 

[Jimbo]

I have 3 Direct TV HD boxes and they are all set at 1080I. I re-checked all the wires including the signal strength and all is good.

Don't get me wrong, the Direct TV HD channel looks good compared to SD but I do not get the HD WOW factor. In my opinion the HD PQ from Cablevision is 10 times better than HD Direct TV. I compared the two side by side on 3 differnt HD tv's and I'm convinced that the HD PQ from Direct TV is downrezzed.

I plan on sticking with direct tv becuase of the NFL game pass.

What are you using to connect the rec's to your TV ?
Are you viewing the MPEG2 or 4 channels ?

Jimbo

 

[jahan]

Jimbo,

I'm using HDMI and have the latest HD boxes from Direct TV which should be MPEG4.

Since I've had the system for about a week, I have come to the conclusion that the HD PQ from Cablevision is slightly better (richer color) than Direct TV. My initial assessment did not take into account that I was comparing 90 plus HD channels from Direct TV vs. the 20 plus from Cablevision of which a majority are Voom. Although Direct TV has so many more HD channels the broadcasts may be in HD lite which is an issue with the broadcasters not Direct TV.

 

[Hemi 6.1]

I've seen Cablevision HD on the exact same TV as mine,and I felt the opposite as you. I thought the crisp picture just wans't there on Cablevision. It was HD but looked more compressed then D* HD. If I had to compair the 2, I would say Cablevisions best HD is about Equal to D* Mpeg 2 HD. I thought Cablevisions HD was the worst HD I've seen out of Comcast, Blueridge,and Service Electric, and RSN Cable Companys.

 

[ktk3438]

What really mattered to me with HD quality was the receiver. When TWC gave me a Pioneer HD Receiver, my HD was Excellent. When it kept locking up & they replaced it, they brought over a Scientific Atlanta, and the HD blew in comparison.

When I got D*'s HD, I thought at first the HD was a little worse, until I switched from component to HDMI/DVI. With that, my PQ was as now a little better than TWC's HD.

For some reason these HR20's have kind of sucky component outs in comparison to Pioneer, but DVI was slightly better with D*.

And, what works good for one TV is different for another. My LCD seems to look better in HD than my CRT HD set.

There are many reasons for why it might look like lite, but it's not D*'s signal that's for sure.

The MPEG4 is almost never pixilated unless there is a signal interruption (weather, etc), MPEG2 looked ok, but fast moving video pixelated all the time. D*'s new sats are top notch, and IMHO the audio/video at this for HD cannot be beat.

 

[Van]

6. CABLEVISION HD IS MUCH BETTER THAN DIRECT TV. THE PQ ON DIRECT TV IS SOFT AND DOES NOT HAVE FULL RICH COLOR???? LOOKS LIKE HD LITE TO ME!!!!!

Any suggestion on how to improve the HD PQ?

Did you take the time to go through and correct all your video settings when the new equipment was put in? Diferent equipment outputs slight to considerably diferent on brightness, contrast, and color and its always a good idea to go into your tv's video settings and make corrections.

 

[dirtydog]

No way any cable pq is better directs pq is great, you have to have something set wrong.

 

[cforrest]

I have both services, Cablevision & Directv. Cablevision HD is better when it comes to D*'s MPEG-2 HD, but when it is D*'s MPEG-4 HD it is the same as Cablevision if not better to my eyes. If color is an issue it could be the input needs to be calibrated for the service you are using on it. Regardless, enjoy the new HD selection, since it seems Cablevision does what they do best, dragging their feet on adding new channels while jacking prices up.

 

[dcowboy7]

i never trust peoples compares as they might not have the multiple settings adjusted on the tv to the new provider correctly.

 

[jahan]

Did you take the time to go through and correct all your video settings when the new equipment was put in? Diferent equipment outputs slight to considerably diferent on brightness, contrast, and color and its always a good idea to go into your tv's video settings and make corrections.

Yes, I re-adjusted the settings on 3 separate HD TV’s and also switched between HDMI and Component. Don't get me wrong I'm very happy with Direct TV but felt that the PQ from Cablevision was slightly better. I’m happy that I switched and my TV viewing is 10 times more enjoyable…….

 

[skottey]

DirecTV's HD channels look great on both my connected HDTVs. Much better than Dish looked when I subscribed to that service last year. I haven't seen Cablevision's HD but BHN's HD looked better than Dish but not as good, or the same as DirecTV. Can Cablevision really look that much better than DirecTV, Dish, and BHN cable?

 

[cforrest]

i never trust peoples compares as they might not have the multiple settings adjusted on the tv to the new provider correctly.

As an FYI, on my Pioneer I have both Input 1 and 3 via HDMI to both providers on the same exact settings. Personally, I hardly watch Cablevision anymore, just have it as a backup in case of a bad storm and I am watching a sporting event & for HowardTV on Demand since D* doesn't have it yet.

 

[texasbrit]

Jimbo,

I'm using HDMI and have the latest HD boxes from Direct TV which should be MPEG4.

Since I've had the system for about a week, I have come to the conclusion that the HD PQ from Cablevision is slightly better (richer color) than Direct TV. My initial assessment did not take into account that I was comparing 90 plus HD channels from Direct TV vs. the 20 plus from Cablevision of which a majority are Voom. Although Direct TV has so many more HD channels the broadcasts may be in HD lite which is an issue with the broadcasters not Direct TV.

You need to post which channels you are comparing. The handful of HD channels that DirecTV is transmitting on the older 110 and 119 satellites, using MPEG-2 encoding, may not look as good as your cable HD. This will include ESPN, ESPN2, HDnet, HBO etc Possibly those are the only ones you can use to compare since Cablevision has so few! The new HD channels being transmitted on the DirecTV10 satellite, using MPEG-4 encoding, should be just about as good as you can get from any provider.
Of course, you have to look at them when they are broadcasting HD programming. Many of the channels broadcast a lot of upconverted SD which is not anywhere near HD quality.

The MPEG-2 HD channels will all move to MPEG-4 later this year and you should see the picture quality improve.

 

[skottey]

You need to post which channels you are comparing. The handful of HD channels that DirecTV is transmitting on the older 110 and 119 satellites, using MPEG-2 encoding, may not look as good as your cable HD. This will include ESPN, ESPN2, HDnet, HBO etc Possibly those are the only ones you can use to compare since Cablevision has so few! The new HD channels being transmitted on the DirecTV10 satellite, using MPEG-4 encoding, should be just about as good as you can get from any provider.
Of course, you have to look at them when they are broadcasting HD programming. Many of the channels broadcast a lot of upconverted SD which is not anywhere near HD quality.

The MPEG-2 HD channels will all move to MPEG-4 later this year and you should see the picture quality improve.

This brings up a good question actually.... while scheduling a recording today I searched for other airings, so I could record a certain movie without interfering with another recording. In the results, it showed the channel 70 HBO HD and the 501 HBO HD as separate results. I would have thought these two versions of the HBO HD are map downs and coming from the same feed, no? Or are they really still broadcasting in both mpeg2 on 70 and now mpeg4 on 501? Wasting bandwidth are they, or is the DVR just dumb?

 

[texasbrit]

This brings up a good question actually.... while scheduling a recording today I searched for other airings, so I could record a certain movie without interfering with another recording. In the results, it showed the channel 70 HBO HD and the 501 HBO HD as separate results. I would have thought these two versions of the HBO HD are map downs and coming from the same feed, no? Or are they really still broadcasting in both mpeg2 on 70 and now mpeg4 on 501? Wasting bandwidth are they, or is the DVR just dumb?

It is actually only one channel - the two channel numbers on your DVR are mapped to the same satellite/transponder. This is in preparation for the move to MPEG-4. When HBOHD starts up on DirecTV11 (we assume) it will be on 501 and the MPEG-2 transmission will only be on 70 - then that one will go away and just leave 501.

 

[jahan]

You need to post which channels you are comparing. The handful of HD channels that DirecTV is transmitting on the older 110 and 119 satellites, using MPEG-2 encoding, may not look as good as your cable HD. This will include ESPN, ESPN2, HDnet, HBO etc Possibly those are the only ones you can use to compare since Cablevision has so few! The new HD channels being transmitted on the DirecTV10 satellite, using MPEG-4 encoding, should be just about as good as you can get from any provider.
Of course, you have to look at them when they are broadcasting HD programming. Many of the channels broadcast a lot of upconverted SD which is not anywhere near HD quality.

The MPEG-2 HD channels will all move to MPEG-4 later this year and you should see the picture quality improve.

Jimbo,

Thanks for the feedback. As you pointed out, since Cablevision has so few HD channels I was comparing the older MPEG-2 encoding (ESPN, HBO, HDNET, etc). A majority of the newer HD channels look as good as Cablevision when the broadcast is in HD. I also did not realize, that many of the new HD channels broadcast a lot of upconverted SD which effected my initial judgement (keep in mind I had Voom which broadcasted a lot of boring HD).

However, there are a few channels that such as HGTV, Food Network & Universal HD that do not look good as Cablevision but these are channels that I can live without.

 

[justlgi]

You should try > Menu > Parental, Fav's & Setup > System Setup > HDTV > Video > Native On > TV Ratio > Widescreen 16:9 > TV RES > 480p, 720p, and 1080i selected.

Just suggestions. Each setup is different. Native on is going to make the channels change slower, but this is what gives me the best picture. Best of luck.

Also, you might need to look into whether or not your tv is stretching or zooming the picture.

While we're in here you might want to pop over to the display menu and turn the scrolling effects off for the on screen menus. This makes the guide a little less slow.