Ok...now I am a little concerned

[MikeinNY]

Newbie here...

We have cable and are switching to cut our monthly bill. I signed up through the Verizon triple play and got a very good dvr package deal for the year

I read the articles on consumerreports (got a good review, esp picture quality), asked friends and coworkers, etc. and most people I spoke with were happy (mentioned brief signal losses once in a while) with Direct. So I ordered Directv last week and the installer is coming tomorrow (8am-12). Previous owners had Direct and the dish is still on my roof. I guess they will just attach the new dish to the existing mount.

Then I started reading people's reviews on the forums, etc.....now I am a little concerned.

So for Directv, is the picture that bad? Will be viewing SD since I don't have an HDTV.

Thanks

 

[jcrandall]

Picture depends on how picky you are. It is compressed, and sometimes you'll notice a little blurriness, but not significant. It looks fine to me on my SD tvs. If you want to see it in action before your install, go to bestbuy/circuit city, they usually have a live box you can try. It will probally be on an HDTV, but you can tune it to an SD channel. Remember that SD will look bad on an HDTV by nature, but will look better on your SD set.

I think it is very comparable to when I had Dish Network, and way back when I had cable.

What you will like about Directv - OPTIONS - they carry practically everything

 

[Van]

I had a 32 inch vizio lcd tv and a samsung 19 inch crt and both sd and hd programing. The sd on the hd set is soft but watchable through the hdmi conection, the hd is good to great depending on the channel provider ( IE tnt, tbs, discovery. ) SD on the crt looks normal to me and I cant complain about it, the connection is rg-6 coax and works fine for audio as well.

Right now Im watching ID4 on encore wam in sd on the vizio and its what I would expect on a large crt set.

 

[Indiana627]

SD channels on an SDTV are very good IMHO. SD on an HDTV is a different story.

 

[charper1]

Then I started reading people's reviews on the forums, etc.....now I am a little concerned.

So for Directv, is the picture that bad? Will be viewing SD since I don't have an HDTV.

Thanks

The bottom line answer: NO, its not that bad; people LOVE to exaggerate for effect or jealousy. Their PQ is 99% equal and in some cases better. They have better options and choices overall as mentioned above; especially with sports. So choose your service based on channels and the cost of those channels WITHOUT promo pricing to see what you are really getting.

I for one get the best TV from DirecTV WITHOUT bundling. I buy my own VoIP (telephone) and my own internet and actually BEAT those bundled prices while receiving BETTER service, better features and options.

 

[MikeinNY]

thanks for the responses..

I guess many people are/were commenting about HDTV displaying SD broadcasts, which is never that good. I'm still using a SD CRT so things should be fine.

I know there is a DVR forum, but instead of creating a new thread there, I figured I would ask here: what are the chances I will get an R16 DVR box tomorrow?

 

[MikeD-C05]

I have both services in hd and I would give Sd channels to DISH over an hd tv . I love CHiller channel on DIrectv but the picture quality really sucks. THere is a lot of facial smearing over my hdtv using DIrectv hd dvr . I really hope that they come out with Chiller hd soon . My dvr stays on this channel recording it most of the day. CHiller is what Monsters hd should of been in relation to material. I really love the old shows like Night Gallery, Kolchak, Tales of the Crypt. NOw as to the hd channels over both services that they share in common , I see no real difference. I even have the Houston locals in mpeg 4 on both services and they look the same.

 

[jcrandall]

Chances of getting the R16 box is fair, but they are still very new. If not you will receive an R15, which works just as good. The R16 is nearly identical except for color.

 

[Jhon69]

If you have a large screen rear projection TV you might want to set the display to widescreen on your R15/16.That gives me the best picture on my R15 with my 50" RPTV.Also use the S-Video connection.

 

[Aridon]

IMO, part of the issue is people buy these big HD TV sets after seeing a nice HD feed inside the store and bring it home and are a little shocked at how the TV displays SD content. Its improving but overall SD is still a huge part of most TV programming. If you stretch 480p out 60 inches its going to looks like crap compared to 1080p. If you go into this with reasonable expectations you'll be fine. The SD picture quality between carriers is nearly identical IMO. They are all in the same boat and since D* has far more HD than anyone else you'll should be very happy. I know I am.

 

[joed32]

Newbie here...

We have cable and are switching to cut our monthly bill. I signed up through the Verizon triple play and got a very good dvr package deal for the year

I read the articles on consumerreports (got a good review, esp picture quality), asked friends and coworkers, etc. and most people I spoke with were happy (mentioned brief signal losses once in a while) with Direct. So I ordered Directv last week and the installer is coming tomorrow (8am-12). Previous owners had Direct and the dish is still on my roof. I guess they will just attach the new dish to the existing mount.

Then I started reading people's reviews on the forums, etc.....now I am a little concerned.

So for Directv, is the picture that bad? Will be viewing SD since I don't have an HDTV.

Thanks

The people that are complaining are talking about SD on a large HDTV screen as compared to HD. If you are watching on an SD TV your picture will be beautiful.