Low HD picture quality, high compression or what???

[Conjuror]

Got my Voom yesterday and must say I am very disappointed with HD picture quality. It does not look nearly as good as HD picture with Dish 811 receiver. If anyone watched a movie or a soccer game on HDNet (dish 811) and then a movie or game on Voom's world sport channel, will know what I'm talking about. Honestly, soccer games on Voom look to me almost the same as SD picture, just in 16:9 version.
Yes, My receiver is set to output 1080i and I'm using component cables.
Saw somewhere on this forum (don't know if true) that Voom compresses picture now but when they switch to mpeg4 it should improve. If this is true, then the compressed picture on Voom is not a true HD.
I initially wanted to drop Dish but now after just one day I'm thinking about dropping Voom. I would really like to have Voom over Dish but please someone convince me that I'm wrong about picture quality. Just compare any two soccer games on Dish and Voom (or any other show), if you can, and you'll see.

 

[rang1995]

i have voom and had Dish in the past for HDTV, funny one of the better(no difference to most of the customers eyes) channels is world sport soccer(along with HBO,discovery and some of Vooms own ultra,gallery etc) whats your signal readings??

 

[Sean Mota]

Got my Voom yesterday and must say I am very disappointed with HD picture quality. It does not look nearly as good as HD picture with Dish 811 receiver. If anyone watched a movie or a soccer game on HDNet (dish 811) and then a movie or game on Voom's world sport channel, will know what I'm talking about. Honestly, soccer games on Voom look to me almost the same as SD picture, just in 16:9 version.
Yes, My receiver is set to output 1080i and I'm using component cables.
Saw somewhere on this forum (don't know if true) that Voom compresses picture now but when they switch to mpeg4 it should improve. If this is true, then the compressed picture on Voom is not a true HD.
I initially wanted to drop Dish but now after just one day I'm thinking about dropping Voom. I would really like to have Voom over Dish but please someone convince me that I'm wrong about picture quality. Just compare any two soccer games on Dish and Voom (or any other show), if you can, and you'll see.

HDnet uses cameras angle that spans the field much better than World Sport. But on close shots what you are looking at in World Sports is True HD. Every single provider uses compression one way or another (D*, E* or V*). I can give you that HDnet PQ is unsurpassed by anyone since they seem to really know their HD but compare the HBO, SHO and Discovery HD and you will find they are equal in PQ. If you want to see something similar (but not equal to HDnet) look at HD News. Also, you may want to see the highlights of HDnets soccer games in HD News to compare as well.

 

[Sean Mota]

By the way, Welcome to the board.

 

[andrzej]

I initially wanted to drop Dish but now after just one day I'm thinking about dropping Voom.

One day experience and you are already thinking about dropping Voom? Take a deep breath, relax, and watch some more programming. You shall like it.

 

[Conjuror]

Thanks Sean. I understand that they all use compression technologies (I'm in a computer business so I know how that works) but they may have different compression rates (not sure about this though). I wouldn't say it is camera angle. You can see the difference on each camera shot. I would say that every show on HDNet (and other Dish HD channels) look better than on Voom. HD News seems to be somewhat better until they show images recorded with outside cameras. I will try to use another set of cables but I doubt it'll help. Even Voom movies do not look as clear and bright as ones on the HDNet movies channel.
I'm a big soccer fan (which is one of the main reasons why I wanted Voom) but I must say again that any soccer game on HDNet looks way, way better than on Voom.

 

[vurbano]

This guy must have his box set to 480i..LMAO. HDnet does not look much better than worldsport. I think they are the 2 best HD broadcasts ive seen.

 

[wasch_24]

A soccer game on Worldsport has never looked anything remotley like a WS SD picture to me. Are you sure all of your "settings" are right?

 

[vurbano]

MY bologna has a first name..................

is this guy for real?

 

[stucky_boss]

your box sounds like it is not set to 1080i. (on the lower right of your box, flip down the panel and hit the button. Each time you hit it changes output res to your tv 480i, 480p, 720p, 1080i)

 

[rang1995]

make sure it cycles to the point where only the TOP light is lit, which comes after the step where all 4 are lit!

 

[cameron119]

MY bologna has a first name..................

is this guy for real?

Methinks this is the new incarnation of DemonLourde...remember Sean told him to get a new username. Well, here is his new username.

 

[wasch_24]

Methinks this is the new incarnation of DemonLourde...remember Sean told him to get a new username. Well, here is his new username.

Yep kinda' seems that way.

 

[Conjuror]

No guys, it is not the “fancy” little red button, I knew about it before I got Voom. Anyway, I tried different output settings on the box as soon as the install guy left. At least I can tell the difference between 480i and 1080i, I have an HDTV set for a while. Have you guys ever seen HD channels on Dish or OTA? If not, then you cannot know what I'm talking about.

I checked configuration (again) and tried the same set of cables which I use with 811. I saw a very slight improvement but still big difference between the two. I can tell that HD News looks somewhat better than other Voom channels - don't know why. I watched the same movie on HBOHD and could clearly see that the picture on Dish 811 looks better than on Voom. On pretty much every Voom HD channel I see a small amount of pixelization (which bothers me), especially on moving images. Pixelization occurs because of high compression rate. Voom SD channels have much less compression than ones from Dish Network, for example. I can see heavy pixelization on Dish SD channels but not on Voom’s.

Every HD channel on Dish and OTA is always crystal clear. Voom HD channels are not as clear due to the pixelization which (probably) occurs because a high compression rate.

Yes, I am sure that I get 1080i output. I tried the "auto" mode too with the red button and got the same results. My TV will not take 480i through component cables anyways.

Bottom line: Voom HD channels are much better than SD (of course) but they are not as good and detailed as on Dish 811.

 

[vurbano]

ive had hd on D*, I get 7 OTA HD stations and you need to have scotty beam you back now

 

[wasch_24]

Ohhh yeah, you have that super duper, extra special, 811 box.
That box is the culprit. The industry has been in uproar over that particular model for months now. The movie industry is especially worried because of the exceptional PQ it generates. They're worried that E* customers will never go to the theaters ever again because of the secret Russian spy technology it uses to generate it's impeccable picture.

 

[cameron119]

Let me guess: Dish uses MPEG4

I specifically enjoyed the part where the guy said Voom isn't true HD because of the compression. DemonLourde said the EXACT same thing.

Next post he'll say, "Dish Network is the HD Leader!"

We weren't born yesterday.

 

[vurbano]

Ohhh yeah, you have that super duper, extra special, 811 box.
That box is the culprit. The industry has been in uproar over that particular model for months now. The movie industry is especially worried because of the exceptional PQ it generates. They're worried that E* customers will never go to the theaters ever again because of the secret Russian spy technology it uses to generate it's impeccable picture.

I heard that box is going to be the subject of the next james bond movie

 

[wasch_24]

I heard that box is going to be the subject of the next james bond movie

Actually it was used in the last one. Didn't you see it in the dashboard of his Austin Martin?

 

[cameron119]

Ohhh yeah, you have that super duper, extra special, 811 box.
That box is the culprit. The industry has been in uproar over that particular model for months now. The movie industry is especially worried because of the exceptional PQ it generates. They're worried that E* customers will never go to the theaters ever again because of the secret Russian spy technology it uses to generate it's impeccable picture.

Nicely done!

The Motorola IRD that Voom provides (although complicated in some instances to set-up and get working properly) displays the finest picture I've ever seen eminate from a component output.

Just take a look at the quality of the components within the IRD.

The 811 is garbage. Echostar can't get the thing to stop randomly rebooting...it can't map local OTA stations to the IPG...many people can't get a hold of one...if they could it would be a waste of cash.