HD Picture Quality

[nolan 1]

Hi there im new here and had a few questions??
I have the new VIP211 with HDMI and newest software. with a Dish 500
I have Dish Network with HD. Display is a Panasonic 58 inch Plasma.
I used to have Comcast Cable.

My questions are

1. I was waching CBS Channel 2 local channel for me in Pittsburgh, waching the Steeler game and the picture looked like crap. It was really grainy and fuzzy. All my local channels look like that when in HD. And the regular SD channels are really bad. Comcast local channels looked better on HD and surprisenly SD too even though they were Analog. I thought Dish was all Digital?

2. Also some HD channels look good but there just certine ones. I have good signal strenght on all satellites average around 50-70. My locals that come of 118 are probably the lowest strength with around 45 and dish 129 in the 40-50 range. now this is the new software so signal strengths appear lower then before.
Is this something I should call dish about? Or should I just get used to the subpar HD quality on some Hd channels.?

Thanks
Bruce

 

[kstuart]

Signal strength does not affect picture quality. With the new software, the signal strength meter is different, that's all. 40+ is fine.

I'm not in Pittsburgh, so I can't comment about locals.

Generally, the picture quality on HD Locals with an inexpensive antenna is better than either cable or satellite.

PS If I am remembering correctly, the 211 is now superseded, so it seems odd that you have a brand new system with that model. I could be wrong though...

 

[grb]

Hi there im new here and had a few questions??
I have the new VIP211 with HDMI and newest software. with a Dish 500
I have Dish Network with HD. Display is a Panasonic 58 inch Plasma.
I used to have Comcast Cable.

My questions are

1. I was waching CBS Channel 2 local channel for me in Pittsburgh, waching the Steeler game and the picture looked like crap. It was really grainy and fuzzy. All my local channels look like that when in HD. And the regular SD channels are really bad. Comcast local channels looked better on HD and surprisenly SD too even though they were Analog. I thought Dish was all Digital?

2. Also some HD channels look good but there just certine ones. I have good signal strenght on all satellites average around 50-70. My locals that come of 118 are probably the lowest strength with around 45 and dish 129 in the 40-50 range. now this is the new software so signal strengths appear lower then before.
Is this something I should call dish about? Or should I just get used to the subpar HD quality on some Hd channels.?

Thanks
Bruce

I don't know about Pittsburgh, but the HD locals are surprisingly good in the L.A. area, except for some audio-visual sync problems that are probably due to the 622 receiver/recorder function. I also have a separate antenna and receiver for OTA channels and the picture is excellent. I don't know how much down-rezzing Dish does on the locals, but it is very difficult for me to see any difference in quality from the OTA reception.

Signal strength will not affect your picture quality. You either get the digital signal or you don't. The quality does not vary with higher or lower signal strength unless it falls so low that you lose the signal entirely.

I'm not familiar with the 211, but the 622 has settings for picture set-up (480, 720p, 1080i). You may want to experiment with these settings to see if you are set up properly. You may also want to try component connects rather than HDMI. There have been issues with Dish equipment HDMI connections. I use component and am very happy with the result.

There are no other reasons that I can think of for a poor HD quality picture: However, you will probably not get a good SD picture through HDMI or component connections. I use RCA connections for for SD and I think I get a better picture, especially for sports.

Hope this helps.

 

[nolan 1]

[PS If I am remembering correctly, the 211 is now superseded, so it seems odd that you have a brand new system with that model. I could be wrong though...[/quote]



What do you mean about the 211 is now superseded what model should I have in your opinion?

thanks
Bruce

 

[dennispap]

Hi there im new here and had a few questions??
I have the new VIP211 with HDMI and newest software. with a Dish 500
I have Dish Network with HD. Display is a Panasonic 58 inch Plasma.
I used to have Comcast Cable.

My questions are

1. I was waching CBS Channel 2 local channel for me in Pittsburgh, waching the Steeler game and the picture looked like crap. It was really grainy and fuzzy. All my local channels look like that when in HD. And the regular SD channels are really bad. Comcast local channels looked better on HD and surprisenly SD too even though they were Analog. I thought Dish was all Digital?

2. Also some HD channels look good but there just certine ones. I have good signal strenght on all satellites average around 50-70. My locals that come of 118 are probably the lowest strength with around 45 and dish 129 in the 40-50 range. now this is the new software so signal strengths appear lower then before.
Is this something I should call dish about? Or should I just get used to the subpar HD quality on some Hd channels.?

Thanks
Bruce

go into the menu and make sure the sat box is set to 720 or 1081 output.
It sounds like it is set to 480 by mistake.(480 is probably the default setting)

 

[Liquidforce88]

[PS If I am remembering correctly, the 211 is now superseded, so it seems odd that you have a brand new system with that model. I could be wrong though...

What do you mean about the 211 is now superseded what model should I have in your opinion?

thanks
Bruce[/QUOTE]

211 is still a new model. Nothing has replacd it that I am aware of.

 

[RandallA]

Superseded by what receiver? The 211 is still a current model.

 

[nolan 1]

I have checked the settings on the box and it is set to 1080i and 16x9 tv witch is right. Im pretty knowledgeable about tv and equipment. So I checked those setting out a long time ago. I even switched boxes from my other HD TV in my bedroom...same box as down stairs VIP211...and same picture. I wanted to make sure it wasn't the box that was bad.


Again the picture looks grainy and Pixated. Its not that bad I mean the HD looks good but just not as good as I expected. Comcast HD looked better. Believe me I hate Comcast, thats why I switched to dish and am very pleased. I just wanted to know if there was a reason for the poor HD picture. I did read around the forum and have seen people post about the Satellite 129 I think SUCKS and causes bad picture quality. I also read that Dish does something to the HD signal that makes it a lower quality.

I can really notice it during any fast motion on the tv, it looks like lines through the picture, like Pixated or Macroblocking.

Does anybody else experience this?
Should I call Dish about it?

Thanks
Bruce

 

[grb]

I have checked the settings on the box and it is set to 1080i and 16x9 tv witch is right. Im pretty knowledgeable about tv and equipment. So I checked those setting out a long time ago. I even switched boxes from my other HD TV in my bedroom...same box as down stairs VIP211...and same picture. I wanted to make sure it wasn't the box that was bad.


Again the picture looks grainy and Pixated. Its not that bad I mean the HD looks good but just not as good as I expected. Comcast HD looked better. Believe me I hate Comcast, thats why I switched to dish and am very pleased. I just wanted to know if there was a reason for the poor HD picture. I did read around the forum and have seen people post about the Satellite 129 I think SUCKS and causes bad picture quality. I also read that Dish does something to the HD signal that makes it a lower quality.

I can really notice it during any fast motion on the tv, it looks like lines through the picture, like Pixated or Macroblocking.

Does anybody else experience this?
Should I call Dish about it?

Thanks
Bruce

As I mentioned previously, the HD quality I receive is comparable to the OTA picture quality. I have a 60" Sony rear projection LCD, so any differences in picture quality should be noticeable and I can't see any.

129 will not give you any degredation of PQ as long as you maintain a signal high enough to be locked in. Dish does down-rez their HD as most providers do, but I have heard that they down-rez less than Direct (maybe 1440x1080 compared to 1220x1080?). In any event, the general opinion is that Dish HD PQ is better than Direct's.

Try component connections If you haven't already done so. Other than that, I would have to guess that Comcast HD PQ must truly be comcastic!

 

[nolan 1]

I will try component but my question is i know component is not as good as HDMI, but has there been cases where component will sometimes look better?

 

[ncted]

I will try component but my question is i know component is not as good as HDMI, but has there been cases where component will sometimes look better?

In many cases component will look better than HDMI. HDMI is not "better" technology than component. HDMI exists to support HDCP which benefits the content producers, not you and me. It is just newer, and because it is newer, it often has issues. I have never gotten DVI or HDMI to work correctly and reliably on any of my HDTVs. Component always works though.

Ted

 

[EricBskiVT]

Try setting your output to 720p. If your TV is native 720p (most are), then your TV has to change the 1080i output back to 720p. I don't know if that will make a difference, but might be worth a try.
Component has been around a lot longer than HDMI and tends not to be buggy. Dish has had some HDMI issues and TVs have also had their share, so try component to see if it makes a difference.

 

[loves2watch]

Component IS just as good as HDMI and sometimes better. As for your problem, are you sure that Dish is carrying all of your locals in HD? I would call them to make sure. You could always use an OTA antenna and get a great HD signal from the locals.

 

[nolan 1]

yes all the locals are in HD i cant use an antenna because i live far away from the city and would need a huge antenna mounted on the roof of a house that i rent. My dish is mounted on a poll

 

[EricBskiVT]

yes all the locals are in HD i cant use an antenna because i live far away from the city and would need a huge antenna mounted on the roof of a house that i rent. My dish is mounted on a poll

So your EPG (electronic program guide) shows an HD symbol on the left side for those locals. Or, if you push the Guide button a couple of times so the Guide shows HD Only (or All HD?), the locals still show up?

 

[nolan 1]

So your EPG (electronic program guide) shows an HD symbol on the left side for those locals. Or, if you push the Guide button a couple of times so the Guide shows HD Only (or All HD?), the locals still show up?

yes they do have all of that. I guess i was maybe used to Comcast HD.
I suppose HD-Lite is true with Dish. Hope they change this in the near future. I just prefer PQ .

 

[kstuart]

Superseded by what receiver? The 211 is still a current model.

... that's why I said I wasn't sure... although I had assumed that the 222 would replace the 211... for example, they don't still sell the 311 - do they?

PS To nolan - what sort of HD TV do you have ?

 

[nolan 1]

... that's why I said I wasn't sure... although I had assumed that the 222 would replace the 211... for example, they don't still sell the 311 - do they?

PS To nolan - what sort of HD TV do you have ?

I have a Panasonic Plasma 58 Inch

 

[naccoachbob]

Hi there im new here and had a few questions??
I have the new VIP211 with HDMI and newest software. with a Dish 500
I have Dish Network with HD. Display is a Panasonic 58 inch Plasma.
I used to have Comcast Cable.

My questions are

1. I was waching CBS Channel 2 local channel for me in Pittsburgh, waching the Steeler game and the picture looked like crap. It was really grainy and fuzzy. All my local channels look like that when in HD. And the regular SD channels are really bad. Comcast local channels looked better on HD and surprisenly SD too even though they were Analog. I thought Dish was all Digital?

2. Also some HD channels look good but there just certine ones. I have good signal strenght on all satellites average around 50-70. My locals that come of 118 are probably the lowest strength with around 45 and dish 129 in the 40-50 range. now this is the new software so signal strengths appear lower then before.
Is this something I should call dish about? Or should I just get used to the subpar HD quality on some Hd channels.?

Thanks
Bruce

Does the fact that he has a Dish 500 make any difference? I thought you needed the 1000+ or 1000.2 for HD.
I have a 50" Panasonic and am very happy with the HD quality using HDMI. The SD kinda sucks on most stations, but I'm learning to live with that. May try the component connection to see if it kicks up the SD a bit.

 

[nolan 1]

Does the fact that he has a Dish 500 make any difference? I thought you needed the 1000+ or 1000.2 for HD.
I have a 50" Panasonic and am very happy with the HD quality using HDMI. The SD kinda sucks on most stations, but I'm learning to live with that. May try the component connection to see if it kicks up the SD a bit.

I have a dish 1000+ sorry for the confusion.

I thought i had a 500 because thats what it said on my menu on the point dish screen