SD PQ difference between 522 and 622

[Mdvalenz]

We just got a new plasma TV and the PQ for SD is really good on the 522. Much better than the Comcast SD quality. They're PQ was really blocky and had a lot of artifacts.
I was wondering if the PQ for the SD will change on the 622 which we are getting next week. Will it get worse, better? Has anyone done this upgrade with an HDTV? I heard that the 622 can upconvert the SD signals but it doesn't do that yet.
Also, until the 622 comes, is there any way to set the 522 to widescreen output? It only uses the s-video connection so I am thinking it can't but it would be nice for those letterbox shows to have it at the correct ratio. Thanks.

 

[Jim S.]

I heard that the 622 can upconvert the SD signals but it doesn't do that yet.

I'm not sure what you mean here. The 622 will output 480, 720, or 1080 lines, depending on which you pick in the setup menu. It doesn't have an option to output the original resolution of a channel automatically, unless you use the composite or s-video outputs to view SD channels. So yes, it does upconvert SD channels. Whether it does a better job of this than your TV will depend on the TV. I doubt it does anything fancy, but I've found it usually doesn't look too bad. (The SD local channels are the worst, but they look pretty soft on an SD screen to me anyway.) When I got my 46" TV I was scared that SD channels would be unwatchable because all the TVs looked terrible in the store fed from a DirecTV receiver, but they look much better at home. I don't know whether this reflects a difference in quality between D* and E* or not, because I suspect it mostly reflects me not having my contrast and sharpness set to unreasonable levels like the stores do.

 

[haertig]

We just got a new plasma TV and the PQ for SD is really good on the 522.

Boy, that certainly wasn't MY experience. My HDTV is a 65" DLP however, maybe that makes some difference. Also, it depends on what channels you are watching. Even with my new 722 I see wide variation between SD channels. Some are OK, others terrible. Could be the SD shows I was watching on the old 522 were just those terrible channels to begin with.

Bottom line: On average, 522 SD looked better on my 10 year old 60" CRT RPTV than on my new 65" DLP. The new DLP is certainly sharper, brighter, better colors, etc. than the old RPTV, but those qualities of the DLP serve only to magnify and highlight the flaws in an SD picture. I see SD artifacts now that I didn't see before. Some of these may be due to SD in and of itself, others may be due to Dish overcompression that I couldn't distinguish before.

 

[Mdvalenz]

My big worry is that the PQ will drop to comcast SD levels. Those channels are horrible. Every moving object on the screen is surrounded by a blocky area. My SD channels now don't look as good as on my crt, but they only got a little softer, more blurry, from being on such a big screen.

 

[Jim S.]

I don't know why there would be any difference in SD quality between receivers. The local Comcast system has about as many SD channels per carrier as Dish does, and their PQ was awful while I had them, but I don't know how the available bandwidth per carrier compares because they're different modulation schemes.

 

[Jim5506]

SD picture quality is as much dependent on the display as the receiver. If you display does SD good with a 522, chances are the Sd on the 622 will be similar.

The 622 converts every input to whatever setting you have the output set for 480p, 720p or 1080i.

 

[Poke]

I seen some but in general SD is SD its not really meant for HDTV's but overall I think Dish SD PQ is just as good as any else..