SD channels

[edtorious]

Hello, I have a comment on the SD channels I'm getting. The video doesn't look good, it looks like the sharpness of the picture is too low, even though the sharpness on my tv is in it's good setting, even if I try to change the picture settings, the picture still looks kind of blurry. HDTV channels are excellent though. My video connection is DVI TO HDMI to my HDTV. Should I also connect s-video cable to get a better picture in SD channels? It will be kind of a hassle though to change video input everytime I want to watch SD programs. Any suggestions or help will be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

 

[JEFFinINDY]

Hello, I have a comment on the SD channels I'm getting. The video doesn't look good, it looks like the sharpness of the picture is too low, even though the sharpness on my tv is in it's good setting, even if I try to change the picture settings, the picture still looks kind of blurry. HDTV channels are excellent though. My video connection is DVI TO HDMI to my HDTV. Should I also connect s-video cable to get a better picture in SD channels? It will be kind of a hassle though to change video input everytime I want to watch SD programs. Any suggestions or help will be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

SD definitely looks best when output in 480i mode from the Voom receiver.

Try setting the box to Native mode, or to 480i (use 480i only when you're watching SD). For native mode, press the red button on the receiver several times until all four bars light up. For 480i mode, press the button several times until just the bottom bar is lit up.

In native mode, the box will send a picture in whatever format it is received from the Voom satellite (or antenna). You can't use native mode for HD channels if your set doesn't receive all the picture modes. For example, some sets cannot display 720p, and these sets will not display content correctly on a 720p channel such as ESPN, ABC-HD, or FOX-HD.

 

[dougmcbride]

One thing I've noticed is the contrast between HD and SD is so stark, it makes the SD stuff look pretty soft. Although Voom - like D* and E*, compresses their SD signals, I don't believe they do it as much. I've done A/B tests between C-Band (which is where Voom receives the down-link for most of these SD channels) on SD PQ and the Voom picture is softer, but not by a lot. Also depends on the channel as Voom appears to use different levels of compression on different channels.

I've also found that if you apply any processing from either the Voom box or (at least in my case) the TV, it will exacerbate the softness. On my set to get the best SD PQ, I let the Voom box upconvert to 1080i and don't use the stretch mode. I also use component inputs.

You might experiment with different settings to see what works best on your gear (e.g. as suggested, try 480i over your digital input, experiment with S-Video or component, etc.), and turn all processing of the signal off so you can determine what the best PQ looks like. Also check multiple channels and see if you notice any difference in PQ. I've noticed that HGTV seems to have consistently the best PQ of the lot as an example.

Good luck,

Doug

 

[mrhph]

Try setting the box to Native mode, or to 480i (use 480i only when you're watching SD). For native mode, press the red button on the receiver several times until all four bars light up. For 480i mode, press the button several times until just the bottom bar is lit up.

I tried pressing the red button on mine but it just cycles through the 4 settings, i.e., no Native mode. Also, each time I press the button, all 4 bars light up, instead of just one. Am I missing something? I noticed that if I set the resolution through the on-screen Installer Menu, it also just shows the 4 settings and no Native mode.

 

[JEFFinINDY]

I tried pressing the red button on mine but it just cycles through the 4 settings, i.e., no Native mode. Also, each time I press the button, all 4 bars light up, instead of just one. Am I missing something? I noticed that if I set the resolution through the on-screen Installer Menu, it also just shows the 4 settings and no Native mode.

Native mode doesn't show up in the on-screen user interface, so that part is normal. Every time you press the red button, a different bar should light up. The top bar is 1080i, followed by 720p, 480p, and 480i on the bottom. When they all light up, it's native mode.

What version of software are you running? If you're a new subscriber, maybe you don't have the latest software yet.. (just guessing)? Maybe try unplugging the box for a few minutes and let things reset, and then plug in and try again.

Jeff

 

[mrhph]

Native mode doesn't show up in the on-screen user interface, so that part is normal. Every time you press the red button, a different bar should light up. The top bar is 1080i, followed by 720p, 480p, and 480i on the bottom. When they all light up, it's native mode.

What version of software are you running? If you're a new subscriber, maybe you don't have the latest software yet.. (just guessing)? Maybe try unplugging the box for a few minutes and let things reset, and then plug in and try again.

Jeff

I have 733 last time I checked. Do I need 734? I'll try again when I get the chance, but it's really not a big deal for me as I have low expectation for the SD PQ anyway, so I'm not really bothered by it. I was just curious and want to see how native mode works. Right now my stb's are set to 1080i.

BTW, been a happy voomer since 1/25, so yes, a relatively new subscriber. My installation was smooth and satellite/OTA signals were great without any upgraded dish nor antenna, so I'm lucky I guess.

 

[edtorious]

SD definitely looks best when output in 480i mode from the Voom receiver.

Try setting the box to Native mode, or to 480i (use 480i only when you're watching SD). For native mode, press the red button on the receiver several times until all four bars light up. For 480i mode, press the button several times until just the bottom bar is lit up.

In native mode, the box will send a picture in whatever format it is received from the Voom satellite (or antenna). You can't use native mode for HD channels if your set doesn't receive all the picture modes. For example, some sets cannot display 720p, and these sets will not display content correctly on a 720p channel such as ESPN, ABC-HD, or FOX-HD.

Thanks Jeff, I tried the native mode and even though the SD channels resolution does not improve much, I like the fact that the picture filled up my HDTV screen instead of the stretch mode in 1080i mode only, and the picture is not even cropped. You see, I don't have a wide screen HDTV so I'm kinda worried of burn-in on my HDTV if I continue to watch programs in letter box, but I don't mind on HD programs though because there is nothing I can do anyway unless I zoom it and I don't to zoom it because pictures will cropped if I zoom. But my set was able to display all HD channels correctly even in native mode so w/c is good too. Thanks for your help.

 

[lunkie]

Re Sd Channnels

I'm also a new voomer and not to happy about the SD picture quality. I left D* after 10 years because the SD quality went down hill over the years. From the Voom web site which helped me make the switch.

"VOOM is built to harness the most advanced methods of signal transmission, bringing you the highest quality HD and SD images in the industry .Other providers overcompress their programming, squashing channels into their signal with yesterday's technology. The result? Lower quality images.

VOOM uses the newest generation of satellite technology, the Rainbow-1 DBS satellite. It provides more channels and better-looking channels than our competition. With other providers, there's a good chance you're hooked up to an old, outdated system from the Cold War era. Not exactly the future of TV transmission."

I'm sure not seeing in the SD picture they're hyping above. Some channels are worse than D*, a few are slighty better but most are about the same, which to me is poor. The HD stuff is outstanding though. I've hooked every output on the STB to my Sony's various analog inputs (rf, composite, S and even componet) running 480i ( the STB should only output 480i on it's analog outputs anyway) Even using my outside antenna into the tv antenna input gives me just about a DVD quality picture for the OTA analog signals. Sorry if I,m being a little long winded here but I guess a expected a better picture on the SD stuff after reading the web site hype, but getting only D* quality. Otherwise my install went well. I get all the Detroit and Toledo stations on the STB using my existing antenna, so the installer was happy about that. No program info from the Toledo stations though. Thanks for letting me vent a little.

 

[mrhph]

I tried pressing the red button on mine but it just cycles through the 4 settings, i.e., no Native mode. Also, each time I press the button, all 4 bars light up, instead of just one. Am I missing something? I noticed that if I set the resolution through the on-screen Installer Menu, it also just shows the 4 settings and no Native mode.

Me bad. I see it now, so there was nothing wrong with the stb, just operator's error Native mode does not seem to improve PQ much, and in fact made the Surf Bar look worse.

 

[bookwalk]

SD Channel PQ--New Voomer with Sony 42" LCD Projector

I am to get my VOOM installed in next 2 weeks. I have not had DISH or Direct, but do have 4dtv C-band, so I will have to do some "adjusting" to what appears to be a definite downgrade in the SD quality, which I am disappointed to hear.

Aside from what is published above, any other hints or ideas for my 42" LCD Rear Projection system--Sony, rated 720p, so what connections, settings should I try and what distance from the screen to minimize?

What is the best quality SD channel on VOOM that anyone has observed? Worst?

I am afraid, when they add the 200 promised SD channels the quality will get even worse! I still have 4dtv to input, but hate to duplicate channel subscriptions, just for the quality. My C-dish is going out, so I won't have 4dtv forever.