SD & HD on Directv

[Chinatown]

Dish sd is awful. However, when I change to HD on my Dish receiver with the second feed from the 722 on the sd set in the kitchen, it is like night and day.

Having said that, would I be better off getting an additional HD receiver from Direct, for that set, if I switch.



And yes, I know it will be an extra $99.00.

 

[ryotgz]

I would be interested to know if Direct SD is any better than Dish. But from what I understand on Dish the EA SD channels are better than WA ones because EA is Mpeg4.

 

[tvropro]

I would be interested to know if Direct SD is any better than Dish. But from what I understand on Dish the EA SD channels are better than WA ones because EA is Mpeg4.

Direct's SD is Mpeg 1.5 from what I understand. The quality depends on quite a few factors from bitrate allocated to statmuxing etc. Direct's SD is passable to a point.

 

[Mr Tony]

actually its MPEG2 just like Western Arc

The difference is Dish crams too many channels on a TP. I have no issues with D* SD. Just saw E* SD last week from WA and yeesh...not good

 

[tigerfan33]

Had both Dish and Direct. SD sux on a HDTV from both.

 

[tvropro]

actually its MPEG2 just like Western Arc

The difference is Dish crams too many channels on a TP. I have no issues with D* SD. Just saw E* SD last week from WA and yeesh...not good

Did Direct upgrade at a point Ice? It thought it still was MPEG 1.5 like it started out since very old receivers can still view it. Here's another question is there a list anywhere of what channels are on what transponder and what the ratio is? I think dish does something like 16 channels and adds music also per transponder. That's just nuts.

Directs SD is funny to me (remember I'm used to C band masters) it can look quite good on some channels at one point but when there is allot of information in the picture it can rear digitals ugly artifacts. Also some channels are better than others, some suffer from softness. While I still have my c band subs I have been comparing some W5 stuff to the direct counterpart. HITS has a bit more sharpness but also shows the artifacts more. Also whats really funny is Direct is behind a few seconds from HITS. Overall Directs SD ain't too bad, Dish looks pretty bad from what I've seen.

 

[Bob Nielsen]

When I switched from Dish to Directv 7 years ago there wasn't much difference on SD channels.

I have a HD receiver hooked to my 27" SDTV (22-year-old Sony) and the HD channels look MUCH better than the SD ones, even at 480i.

 

[Poke]

Yeah SD never looks any better on a HDTV which reality its not suppose too. SD is for older analog type TV's. HDTV's are just that their for HD and at some point in time in near future I think we will be back to one standard which is just HD. I have not notice much in SD from Dish to Direct but I do think Direct HD PQ is a little better than Dish.. I also like the fact that Direct HD Receivers and their new HD DVR are smaller as well. Overall I will have to admit I have been really impressed with Direct glad I made the switch..

 

[Mr Tony]

Did Direct upgrade at a point Ice? It thought it still was MPEG 1.5 like it started out since very old receivers can still view it. Here's another question is there a list anywhere of what channels are on what transponder and what the ratio is? I think dish does something like 16 channels and adds music also per transponder. That's just nuts.

Dish has done 13-14 video channels on a TP

Checking a chart I have D* does about 10-11 in most cases then sprinkles some audio only which is 6:1 IIRC
6 audio only takes the same space as one video

 

[ftaisawesome]

Had both Dish and Direct. SD sux on a HDTV from both.

What he said. SD on an HDTV sucks.

To the OP .. your question about should you get an HD receiver for that TV if you switch..... I'd say yes, that way if you upgrade that TV to a HD set, you'll be all ready to go. If you upgrade the receiver later, your contract will start over

 

[tvropro]

Dish has done 13-14 video channels on a TP

Checking a chart I have D* does about 10-11 in most cases then sprinkles some audio only which is 6:1 IIRC
6 audio only takes the same space as one video

All in all Direct compresses less which is good. Anyway I can get a copy of Direct's channel per transponder chart?

 

[bamaweather]

The latest one is here: DIRECTV Transponder Map: New Data 6/23/2010 - DBSTalk.Com

 

[levibluewa]

IFC

Side by side comparison of the sd channel yesterday... the DISH feed was strikingly clearer.

 

[ryotgz]

On Dish i've noticed some SD channels are better than others. I think the channels that don't have HD counterparts have higher quality.

 

[tvropro]

The latest one is here: DIRECTV Transponder Map: New Data 6/23/2010 - DBSTalk.Com

Thanks