Switched to D* - PQ on HD not as good as E*?

[Commex]

Hey everyone

I recently switched to directv. I have noticed that the regular locals are not as crisp as they were in Dish Network. The difference is probably minor, but I have a 106" projector so I tend to notice the smallest differences. I believe this is becasue the HR21 doesnt do OTA locals and therefore the local channels are compressed. Is this correct? I had a ViP 622 and that was great, but is there any way I can get Directv to come out and give me OTA locals instead of HR21 satellite locals so that it is completely uncompressed? I assume the OTA is the best signal quality around.

Also, the HD quality is noticeable on the non-local channels aswell. Any way to tweak the system/explain the cause?

 

[rad]

Go to the DirecTV web site, logon to your account and order the AM21 for $50 which add two ATSC/OTA tuners to your HR21.

 

[Zynergi]

What are the HDTV settings at? Native On or Off and what resolutions are set? You could turn Native off and only Check 1080i (or 720p) depending on what your projector accepts. Are you using Component or HDMI and is it the same cables you had plugged into your 622?

D* doesn't install OTA antennas any more but a trip to your local Best Buy/Circuit City can get you an easy to mount one and then getting the AM21 as described above would allow you to Get your OTA channels (or if your projector has a ATSC tuner built in you could use OTA Locals on a separate input.

 

[Commex]

As far as the AM21:

I assume the HD locals I am recieving now are compressed to the "HD Lite" 1152p format versus true 1080 uncompressed? And the AM21 will allow me to reach that completely uncompressed over the air goodness, along with the great PQ that comes with it?

 

[Commex]

What are the HDTV settings at? Native On or Off and what resolutions are set? You could turn Native off and only Check 1080i (or 720p) depending on what your projector accepts. Are you using Component or HDMI and is it the same cables you had plugged into your 622?

D* doesn't install OTA antennas any more but a trip to your local Best Buy/Circuit City can get you an easy to mount one and then getting the AM21 as described above would allow you to Get your OTA channels (or if your projector has a ATSC tuner built in you could use OTA Locals on a separate input.

I will check the native on/off settings and I checked all resolutions, the projector is a 1080P projector. I am using HDMI, the same cable setup that was plugged into my 622.

The problem is, the house is two stories and Im not very handy at that/drilling into sides of houses, so I would need DirecTV to install that AM21 on the roof. I assume the AM21 is an antenna, but I may be completely wrong, is it just a add on ASTC tuner?

Oh, and the projector doesnt have a built in ATSC tuner, so there goes that unfortunately

 

[JAG72]

It is just an add on OTA tuner. You would use the same antenna that you used when you had Dish.

 

[charper1]

Hey everyone

I recently switched to directv. I have noticed that the regular locals are not as crisp as they were in Dish Network. The difference is probably minor, but I have a 106" projector so I tend to notice the smallest differences. I believe this is becasue the HR21 doesnt do OTA locals and therefore the local channels are compressed. Is this correct? I had a ViP 622 and that was great, but is there any way I can get Directv to come out and give me OTA locals instead of HR21 satellite locals so that it is completely uncompressed? I assume the OTA is the best signal quality around.

Also, the HD quality is noticeable on the non-local channels aswell. Any way to tweak the system/explain the cause?

I have projectors at the majority of my viewing rooms as you can see in my sig below. Not all HD locals will be exactly the same IMHO, even on the same DBS provider as I bet they are not all equal to begin with. Then add in how each local get their signal to the provider and there are likely even more IFs. My locals and nearly all HD via DirecTV is stellar. I have seen comparable Dish offerings at my neighbor's and for the more part see little to no difference up to a very slight edge to DirecTV; and even he thinks so as well and is contemplating a switch to add to his offerings.

I also believe with the exception of 1080p Blu-ray; 1080p native displays are vast over-kill "may" actually lead to some viewing issues (simply my opinion). AT least if DBS and cable make it to 1080p programming in the next 3 - 5 years people with 1080p displays are already to go; but I don't see it as a viable extra cost at the moment.

 

[JAG72]

As far as the AM21:

I assume the HD locals I am recieving now are compressed to the "HD Lite" 1152p format versus true 1080 uncompressed? And the AM21 will allow me to reach that completely uncompressed over the air goodness, along with the great PQ that comes with it?

Why do you think they are HD Lite? There has been no evidence that Directv is doing HD Lite with their MPEG 4 channels.

 

[rad]

What city are you in and what channel #'s are you seeing this on?

You might also want to find your cities thread for local reception at United States THREAD INDEX - find your local discussion thread HERE. - AVS Forum for DBS and see what others might be saying about what you're seeing.

 

[Commex]

I found out that native was not on and I turned it on and there seems to be a noticeable difference. Does that auto switch from 1080i to 720p actually make a whole lot of difference?

I am at 33312 and will definately check out the thread you posted rad, thanks.

As far as OTA, Im just wondering if the PQ i get from that will be better than the PQ DTV is giving me over the STB? I assume they have to compress locals somewhat, as with what I am seeing in the current NBA finals, but it looks good, im just wondering If i can get it better with an OTA.

 

[charper1]

As far as OTA, Im just wondering if the PQ i get from that will be better than the PQ DTV is giving me over the STB? I assume they have to compress locals somewhat, as with what I am seeing in the current NBA finals, but it looks good, im just wondering If i can get it better with an OTA.

It all depends on you particular affiliate and what they are doing a their level.

 

[rad]

I am at 33312 and will definately check out the thread you posted rad, thanks.

As far as OTA, Im just wondering if the PQ i get from that will be better than the PQ DTV is giving me over the STB? I assume they have to compress locals somewhat, as with what I am seeing in the current NBA finals, but it looks good, im just wondering If i can get it better with an OTA.

Without seeing what you're seeing hard to tell if you will or wont. Any OTA channel that is originally in MPEG2 will not be a 1 for 1 bit match with the MPEG4 data stream, that's the point, make the data stream smaller.

You can check at AntennaWeb to see what they of OTA antenna you'd need, you might be able to get by with an indoor or attic mount.

 

[Larry]

As far as OTA, Im just wondering if the PQ i get from that will be better than the PQ DTV is giving me over the STB? I assume they have to compress locals somewhat, as with what I am seeing in the current NBA finals, but it looks good, im just wondering If i can get it better with an OTA.

I don't think there is any compression used on MPEG4 locals. In my area there is little if any difference between the DirecTV local PQ and the OTA local PQ. Occasionally we will get some macro blocking on the DirecTV feed, but I'm pretty sure it's in the uplinking.

Needless to say, during heavy rain the OTA does seem to hold up better.

 

[JAG72]

I don't think there is any compression used on MPEG4 locals.

????? MPEG4 is a compression method so there has to be compression used in the Directv channels.

 

[satjay]

I am not Tech savy by no means. But when I go to the parents house and see the HD picture on Dish network, I think DTV has the better HD picture

Just one man's thought.........

 

[Ramy]

JAG, he just means there is no extra compression added to it.

 

[harshness]

I don't think there is any compression used on MPEG4 locals.

There's at least one kind of compression going on with the MPEG4 locals and it is one of the worst: recompression from one method to another on the fly. It isn't going away as DBS finds themselves needing to do it to more efficiently use their bandwidth.

I'm not sure why many are worrying about the source material. It is unlikely that it has transitioned to worse PQ at the same time that the OP switched services.

The DISH ViP622 does not currently offer native mode resolution switching.

 

[Commex]

I think that I will just stay with the DTV locals over the STB. They cant be that bad, and Dish didnt install on OTA so that means they were doing it through their STB aswell. Im not sure what more tweaking I can do with the HR21, but since DTV wont install an OTA with the AM21, then I guess Ill keep my current setup.

Thanks for all the help, and the HD PQ difference is most noticeable on locals I believe because Dish upped their sharpness while DTV didnt.