OP dead wrong
AMAZING THREAD!!! Despite the fact that his poll got HAMMERED in opposition to his theory, he actually quoted the results as though they were in his favor! CLASSIC.
I don't imagine for a moment that I can convince him otherwise, but it does concern me that this type of misinformation is so vehemently defended. Granted, those who read the entire thread (like I just have) will see that there are enough seasoned professionals on these forums that gave excellent responses.
I consider myself to some extent one of those seasoned professionals, in that I've got over 2,000 installs under my belt. And here is my testimony:
75% signal strength will give the exact same picture quality as 100%
or for those weaker birds (such as 129) 50% signal strength will give the exact same picture as 70%. The Original Post and the Original Poster are simply dead wrong on this issue.
I've been to countless jobs where the customer does indeed complain about their Dishnetwork HD picture quality relative to OTA or other providers. We're talking hundreds of TV types, hundreds of receivers, and hundreds of cable types. On MANY of the jobs, there is simply nothing you can do for them. The signal strength is the EASIEST variable to check, and has almost always been fantastic. Increasing the Signal Strength did nothing for these customers.
Basically the problem with customers who complain about Dishnet HD picture quality (after unsuccessfully trying different receivers, cables, coax, TV's, channels, dishes) is the WAY DISHNETWORK CHOOSES TO COMPRESS THEIR DATA STREAMS.
Picture availability, stability, and reliability does have something to do with signal strength, but:
Picture Quality has Nothing at all to do with Signal Strength.