So I'm Ready to Order DISH . . .

[Ira Lacher]

. . . I walk into the local installer I've sussed out, and I've done all the homework, ascertained a clear line of sight, know what receivers and programming I want, even have a ClubDish referral number, and I'm all set to switch from D* when I see HD Theater playing on the installer's 46-inch Samsung LED, and I notice . . .

The picture is soft, with jaggies around the edges of objects.

I ask the installer to switch to a few other channels, and I notice they're all like that. Much worse than the PQ I get on D*, even in channels broadcasting in 720.

So I ask him, is this the PQ I can expect with DISH? What about this "HD Lite" I keep hearing about?

And he says, "There's practically no difference that you can detect."

Which immediately brought to mind Groucho Marx's famous quote: "Who are you going to believe -- me, or the evidence of your own two eyes?" I did not order DISH at that time.

So, was it just this particular installer's setup, or is DISH's PQ really that inferior? And it is just a few channels or all of them?

DISH would be far more cost-effective, but not if the picture is that much worse. What are y'all's experiences?

 

[bgothard72]

My PQ is very good on 1000.4, 722k, Vizio 1080p 240hz. Maybe it was his setup. I've had no complaints of the PQ, and I use to be a D customer for several years and switched to E.

 

[DSpud]

Yeah without asking if he had a HD capable setup or not, no one here can tell you if what you saw was what you can expect. I suspect if you could notice that much of a difference immediately, that it was his setup. My HD is simply stunning, very close visually to what I get OTA with dish network.

 

[am7crew]

Ill put it to you this way, I have borth D* and E* and The PQ is different but not enough that I would let it effect where I go. If I have D*'s PQ a 10 in rating I give E* a 9. Its barely barely noticeable, it was probably his TV as I have a LED in a extra bedroom that shows super motion blur on HD channels (on both D* and E*)

 

[DishSubLA]

Most likely what you saw at the installer was an inferior display or even standard definition resolution from the box meaning that that the installer was viewing the HD channels in 480i or 480P. You would be surprised at how common that is the case.

I can tell you that Dish HD PQ on my Sharp Aquos entry level HDTV is very good, while the PQ of DISH HD on my Sony Z series is BLOW-OUT EXCELLENT. No, not quite as good as Blu-Ray Disc, but the Sony Z does a superb job of handling images, even doing a good job with Dish SD, while the Sharp SD quality on just about any source (including Blu-ray Disc from SD outputs) looks quite poor.

Sharps are known for very obvious banding, and I can see this if I get less than 7 feet away from the display, but that is Sharp's fault, not Dish's. On the other hand, I can get a few inches next to the Sony Z and see absolutely no banding and its superior contrast and color palette makes the otherwise good Sharp look like crap. Oh my, even Blu-Ray Disc looks like crap on the entry level Sharp I bought 2 years ago. Need I say the Sony Z does true justice to Blu-Ray Disc?

One friend of mine was watching Dish HD via analog, then connected HDMI and reported that it made a huge difference on his cheaper HDTV's, while on his high-end HDTV he said he could not imagine it more beautiful than how in looked in analog, but he said it was a bit more beautiful when he connected the HDMI to the high-end set.

The point is that there are many links in the chain AT HOME that greatly affect HD PQ, and quality of display and connections and adjustments are just a few. I have to say, that after I used the Spears and Munsil Benchmark Blu-ray Disc for adjusting HD displays, I was able to improve on what I thought was an already superb PQ.

Many on this board have reported (and I do believe them) that FiOS is the clear HD PQ champ as it has tons of bandwidth. However, if one has a good display and adjusts it properly, you will be impressed with Dish's HD PQ.

Good luck.

 

[Koilvr]

Directv sucks in PQ my friend has the same size and same exact tv and her directv sucks bigtime
but who cares to each his own

 

[satjay]

My PQ is very good on 1000.4, 722k, Vizio 1080p 240hz. Maybe it was his setup. I've had no complaints of the PQ, and I use to be a D customer for several years and switched to E.

Same here, could not really notice the PQ from Direct to Dish

 

[skyviewmark]

Ill put it to you this way, I have borth D* and E* and The PQ is different but not enough that I would let it effect where I go. If I have D*'s PQ a 10 in rating I give E* a 9. Its barely barely noticeable, it was probably his TV as I have a LED in a extra bedroom that shows super motion blur on HD channels (on both D* and E*)

I thnk it's more like if DirecTV PQ were 1000 dish would be a 990. I have both in my home and while DirecTV picture is a little better, I still don't watch it often due to the crappy equipment DirecTV has.

 

[stonecold]

I thnk it's more like if DirecTV PQ were 1000 dish would be a 990. I have both in my home and while DirecTV picture is a little better, I still don't watch it often due to the crappy equipment DirecTV has.

I dont know about that.


I put it a different way.

I would say about 85% of the time you wont notice any difference . thought I noticed on some channels Dish lays on the HD Lite pretty heave and there is a noticeable difference.

HD Theater is one of those channels / so is Universal HD and HDNet and HDnet movies I noticed excessive artifacting, and heavy blur.

So it up to you I would find a friend who had Dish HD or another retailer even radioshack I dont know I would never judge Dish networks PQ based on one HD set that I saw. So find others and if it bad to you dont switch it theothers look good well I say hate to see you leave but if your that dead set of switching good luck.

 

[Ira Lacher]

Well, I would hate to leave too. There are many things I like about D*. But I can't justify the price based on the number of HD channels we get, the cost per HD channels we watch, and the advantage of DVR in every TV in the house. If D* would match all that, I'd gladly stay!

 

[Hemi 6.1]

I dont know about that.


I put it a different way.

I would say about 85% of the time you wont notice any difference . thought I noticed on some channels Dish lays on the HD Lite pretty heave and there is a noticeable difference.

HD Theater is one of those channels / so is Universal HD and HDNet and HDnet movies I noticed excessive artifacting, and heavy blur.

.

What do you have stone, 722,622?

 

[Ira Lacher]

HD Theater is one of those channels / so is Universal HD and HDNet and HDnet movies I noticed excessive artifacting, and heavy blur.

Yes, this us exactly what I saw.

 

[Skyhi]

I've never had a problem with PQ, but I've never had D* so I can't really compare.......

 

[ryotgz]

All of the HD channels I watch have great quality. Never watch HD theatre or universal HD. I would say it has to be his setup.

 

[JWKessler]

I switched from cable to Dish about three months ago. The PQ with cable was excellent, though the service was unreliable. I have a basement home theater with a 104" projection screen so I can be picky and I can easily see poor HD.

I find Dish to be very close to cable to the point where I would not be able to tell one from the other.

I suspect your dealer's display was set up poorly. For example you can adjust "sharpness" on most sets. Set it too low and everything looks a tad soft. Set it too high and you will see strange artifacts and the like in the picture.

In any case, the best PQ I ever had was back in the early days when I was using a big C-Band system with a Digicypher HD box. HD Theater was stunning with that set up. Sadly, that was one of perhaps four HD channels available on that system.

 

[Rangers484]

This site has a wealth of info on DISH picture quality, comparisons to Direct, OTA, FIOS, etc....

My take on D* vs E* is that those who currently have both seem to think it is too close to call or give D* a barely perceptible edge.

I have OTA HD and E* HD and in my eyes, the quality is comparable with no clear, discernible edge to OTA over E*.

 

[Ira Lacher]

Thanks for all the feedback on this!

 

[stonecold]

What do you have stone, 722,622?

2 722 now retired.

 

[stonecold]

This site has a wealth of info on DISH picture quality, comparisons to Direct, OTA, FIOS, etc....

My take on D* vs E* is that those who currently have both seem to think it is too close to call or give D* a barely perceptible edge.

I have OTA HD and E* HD and in my eyes, the quality is comparable with no clear, discernible edge to OTA over E*.

Tampa Locals Dish had way over compressed. at the time I was still recieving them . I heard form friends they got better but still cant beat the OTA setups they have.