Why does my new DTV service look so washed out? So terrible?

[vegas-steven]

Just had DTV installed by Ironwood this afternoon. I have a 60 inch sony 1080p set, and have cox cable with an HDMI input before DTV install... Now they installed a standard HDTV reciever, and a 5 LFB (is that the right term?) satellite as well as a SECOND international dish.

But 2 things are clear:

HDTV looks GREAT on dtv. Love it.

Standard cable channels (not local channels in Standard Def) look absolutely washed out. Lack of colors. Lack of detail... Terrible... to me, bordering on unacceptable.

The installer actually looked at the signal coming from Cox cable standard def broadcast of foxnews as i went from one HDMI input to the next and said "cox must be broadcasting foxnews in high def"

of course, THERE IS NO HD VERSION OF FOX NEWS but he did not want to believe that.

So what gives?

Both boxes are getting standard def signals in 1080i mode, and are letterboxed (pill box on the DTV reciever is the term they use)

I am seriously let down...

actually, to give you an idea:

With cox cable, my wife watches a Philippino specialty channel that directv also offers.
The quality on cox cable of a network being broadcast nearly 8000 miles around the world via a satellite feed then sent to my house via CATV is how all the cable network standard definition channels look on Directv... So if you've ever watched these specialty channels that have terrible signal, that is how standard def looks on my DTV setup.

is this the normal thing to expect from satellite?
I love the HD, it is great, but cant watch 100% HD all the time, not at least for a few years.

So in a word


HEEEELP!

 

[joeyvice]

I just moved from Vegas and I have to agree some local channels looked better via cox. My guess is they aren't spending as much money on HD so the ycan spend it on SD signals.. No need to worry in about a week you will have 70 channels in HD which is almost all of the channels cox has and 100 by years end. So stop bitching =)
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[vegas-steven]

but it isnt just the locals... i can understand the locals having a closer link to the local CATV provider. This is national cable networks like USA/FX/CNN/Fox News looking washed out and ugly.

That is what i cannot understand. These are all digital, and should IMO look really quite good.

 

[DarkNeo]

Wat resolution are u using when u look at an SD channel? I set my receiver to "native" so the resolution will change depending on the programming. It makes a big diffrence when watching SD on an HDTV (sd would be in 480i and Hd at 1080i)

 

[vegas-steven]

well i tried both, but it takes up to 20 seconds to go from sd to hd and vice versa... let me take another look at it though.

 

[ATT]

remember u have 3 days to cancel escape to escape the contract to late for me =(

i also notice this in NJ CNN from cablevision came alot better then Directv PQ wise same TV SD in 1080i mode tv is a sony 1080p.

 

[paulman182]

I have nothing to compare it with but many of us are disappointed with SD from D*, me included.

You might try bringing a second output from the receiver and optimize your settings for SD on that input. For instance, use HDMI for HD channels and switch to component input for SD. That way you can make the most of your adjustments for each type of signal.

 

[axl]

Wat resolution are u using when u look at an SD channel? I set my receiver to "native" so the resolution will change depending on the programming. It makes a big diffrence when watching SD on an HDTV (sd would be in 480i and Hd at 1080i)

Good call...I myself was just wondering why regular channels looked so bad since I got my HD tuner. I changed the tuner to native resolution and it does look at little better now. Wish I had thought of that before.

 

[vegas-steven]

Again... when i go from the fixed to native, it takes about 10-20 seconds to switch between channels... also, my tv stretches things all wacky.

the installer for directv was useless imo. he had no clue about PQ or anything of that sort.
directv csr supervisor told me the PQ should be as good as cable though.

this blows.

 

[brucegrr1]

How could the CSR supervisor "know" it should be as good as cable? Unless he "knows" about your specific cable company office He can not make that judgment. We have Time Warner in this area and quality varies depending on the office (and I assume the equipment they use on the back end)

SD mileage on HD TV's varies greatly. Fact of life. Some looks good. Some looks so so and some borders on unwatchable. What part DirecTv plays in this, I am uncertain.

 

[axl]

My tv switches farily fast when it is in native mode. If the program is not HD then i see the black pillar boxes on each side. My tv does not stretch the image. Only time I get a full screen is in HD....i dunno...im happy with how it is.

 

[ycebar]

my tv switches fast too and pq is good on sd channels with the pillar box

 

[shmeff]

the installer for directv was useless imo. he had no clue about PQ or anything of that sort.
directv csr supervisor told me the PQ should be as good as cable though.

this blows.

As an installer I do not offer my opinion on PQ or who is better. I’m an installer not an opinion giver. I have analog cable; do you really want the opinion of a cheep-skate? Did the CSR’s opinion make the PQ better? As an installer, useful: as an opinion giver, also useless.