Is 811 worth it?

[alexintrv]

Is the only benifit of an HD receiver, the HDTV channels? Or will all the channels look better?

I got an HDTV but did not get an HD receiver yet. I use the new tv with the old receiver that I used with my old TV. I'm not really impressed with the picture quality and I thought of upgrading the receiver. But since there are so few channels, is it worth it?

Please advise,
Alex

 

[WeeJavaDude]

Tough Question. Will it make your SD look better? Depends on the configuration, but most likely not. Is HD worth it, Well that depends who you are and where you place value. For me.. Yes it is worth it mainly for seeing the OTA in HD and some events like the Olympics.

Mileage will vary.

 

[ayrton]

Yes

It doesn't improve SD, but if your TV supports 1080i it will look "Real Good".

You can review the programming offered on Dish's site and make up your mind If it's worth it.

We have OTA connected as well and get local HDTV.

I love it!

 

[mike123abc]

It is not significantly different on the SD channels. The advantages of the 811 are:

1. OTA HD antenna input, if your locals are doing HD you will love it. But, many locals are not HD and/or doing very low power. If you are in a big city you will probably have better luck (if in top 50 city very good luck). It is very hard to beat OTA HD right now.

2. HD channels on Dish. Your milage will vary here, if you want movies HBO/SHO have 1 HD channel each. If you like Discovery channel stuff you will like Discovery HD Theater. ESPN is getting more content in HD, TNT may eventually have some worthwhile HD. HDNet/Movies good for odd sports and misc programming, or old movies in HD.

I expect more channels to slowly be added. If a choice between a 301 and the 811 I would take the 811, it is far more versatile.

 

[thebradybunch]

If you are looking for OTA reception from the 811 BE AWARE. As you can see many people who have the 811(myself included) have horrible results using the 811 as an OTA receiver.

 

[scottss810]

Is the 811 worth it

Just what type of TV are you using? If it's a CRT ( the good old tube type
with HDTV) then yes it is. I have two TV's a 27 inch CRT Samsung and a 46 inch Hitachi rear projection. The picture on the 27 inch is way better on
the Samsung then when I was using the 301 reciever by dish net, and I
mostly use the 480P, Stretched 4 by 3 mode, ( just because my samsung
won't lock into a normal or no black bars, without changing the Samsungs
aspect ratio). I leave it on this because it's easier for my wife. The picture
is much better then with the analog 301 reciever. The picture on my 46 inch
is better too, but it really depends on the channel. My local channels look the worse, but I can switch to OTA, but I'm onlhy 13 miles away from the towers
that broadcast digital, and sometimes I still get a channel that won't pick up
on OTA (mainly FOX, DFW area.)
So all said, maybe give some more specific's on your set up might help everyone go give you more precise advice. By the way the 811 is a little
buggey, but, it's getting better!

 

[Rio Rebel]

The 811 MAY improve SD as well.

One thing you have to realize as a newbie on hd forums is that a lot of the discussion is theoretical. (And yes, this is my first post here, so feel free to include me as a newbie on this site at least.)

The advice you get is great, and well-informed, but it doesn't always apply to all situations. Case in point:

I got the 811 and it GREATLY improved my sd quality as well. Most people will tell you that this shouldn't happen. But it all depends on your equipment. If (like me) you have an hdtv or edtv with a very poor scaler, then your sd will look bad even if coming from a good source. If your tv has a poor scaler, it can greatly improve the quality by letting another source do the scaling (like letting the 811 convert the sd signal to 1080i or 720p and then feeding into the tv.) If you have a high quality scaler in the tv, this is probably not going to improve, and may even worsen picture quality. So sometimes the advice is very well reasoned and good advice, but you may be an outlier and have an unusual situation.

Another example of this type of exception is that my tv looks much better when I send a 1080i signal and let it downconvert to 480p rather than sending the signal in 480p directly from the receiver (it's an edtv Daewoo plasma). Theoretically, this should be poorer quality - you should almost always have better results the less you need to convert a signal. But for some reason, my setup looks markedly better when I send a high def signal and let it downconvert to 480p.

 

[AcuraCL]

If you are looking for OTA reception from the 811 BE AWARE. As you can see many people who have the 811(myself included) have horrible results using the 811 as an OTA receiver.

I would venture to say that those having trouble using the 811 for OTA, are often compromising reception. Just exactly as I do. I have an antenna in a second floor window, the antenna can't be rotated. I have several local stations (<10 miles) that I can't lock reliably. My fault, not the 811's.

I suspect the percentage of people having trouble with 811/OTA reception -- who have adequate sized, roof-mounted antennas on rotators with preamps (where needed) ... is probably very very small.

 

[long_time_DNC]

The nearest big locals doing HD is 50+ miles from me, so OTA is a moot point for me. Even with an outdoor antenna, hills to the north block the signals.

The 811 initially was a disappoint, but as E* has been putting out software fixes, the PQ has improved substantially, to where it was with my model 5000. HD channels look outstanding and the Olympics in HD were spectacular.

SD quality is comparable to my old model 5000, on some channels, it's far better than it used to be.

Overall, I'm pleased.

 

[Kevinw]

I would venture to say that those having trouble using the 811 for OTA, are often compromising reception. Just exactly as I do. I have an antenna in a second floor window, the antenna can't be rotated. I have several local stations (<10 miles) that I can't lock reliably. My fault, not the 811's.

I suspect the percentage of people having trouble with 811/OTA reception -- who have adequate sized, roof-mounted antennas on rotators with preamps (where needed) ... is probably very very small.

I agree, many 811 users had no previous experience with OTA. I am on my 3rd different HD box and the 811 is better in some ways but worse in others. The 811 is not very good with multipath, the #1 problem for OTA reception for everyone. For those who have no reception issues IE no obstructions, close enough or just the right antenna for the job the 811 is very good.

 

[rhasselbaum]

I have both an 811 and 522 (DVR) hooked up to my HDTV. I don't see a difference in picture quality on SD channels between the two receivers. And, believe me, I've looked!

As Rio and others point out, the type of TV you have plays a big part. I have a Toshiba 57HX81, which up-converts SD signals into 1080i and does a prety good job of it. If your TV doesn't do that (or do it well), maybe you will notice more of a difference. (The 811 also up-converts quite well.)

 

[SimpleSimon]

Rio: Good post and welcome aboard - I think we're gonna be happy to have you around.

 

[Rio Rebel]

Thanks, Simon. That's very kind of you.

I've been thinking about this second issue I mentioned - how the 480p feed to a 480p (edtv) television doesn't look as good as a downconverted 1080i. It almost doesn't seem possible. But then it occurred to me that maybe the 811 receiver doesn't do a good job of downconverting 1080i to 480p. Maybe that's the catch - that the 811 is pretty good at scaling sd to hd, but weak at scaling hd to ed.

Any thoughts or experiences?