Dish - "soft" picture (1 Viewer)

[JackLonn]

I recently made the switch from a c-band to Dish and, frankly, I'm pretty disappointed in the picture quality. The picture seems soft (like it's slightly out of focus) compared to what I was getting. My signal strenght is only about 70 on clear day. Are these conditions normal? Any suggestions? I've tried a decent Monster S-video cable and while the color rendition saw an improvement, sharpness did not. I keep my RPTV calibrated (well kind of, with Video Essentials).

Thanks

 

[videobruce]

I had to laugh when I read this post. Not because of you, but your observation!
I have a standing feud with a friend that has Dave TV and he thinks the pic is great because it is "digital" and it is suppose to be better than cable! As far as noise and other cable RF defects it is, but that's it!

To sum up what you are looking at and why can be had in two words:

EXCESSIVE COMPRESSION!

To get ALL those channels in the space they have the signals have to be compressed. Problem being, more compression= less bandwidth per channel= rolled off video= smear! Just as a Phony Smearitron from the 70's looked!

From what I have seen I doubt the bandwidth per channel is over 2 MHz! That's why I have stuck with cable and haven't gone HD yet! Not ready for prime time!

 

[Bob Saylor]

On a clear day your signal strength should be a lot higher than 70. 100 or more would be realistic. This may be at least part of your trouble.

The picture I get is very good. I think when I still had cable that the very best channels were close to what I get with the dish but there were only a few of them. Mostly the dish picture blew the cable picture away. Why? Because every one of the dish channels came in very well.

There is truth to the compression stories but you should still get better than average reception when compared to cable.

All cable companies are not equal, however. Some may indeed do a much better job than others. If you don't have one of the best you are better off with a dish IMO.

 

[videobruce]

As long as the 'signal' is above the 'cliff effect' level the pic isn't going to get any better. Remember it's digital; it's either there or it isn't. 70 is a low level. Depending the part of the country you are in, here low to mid 90's is great or at least use to be.

 

[StephenL]

Dish Network and DirecTV picture quality has been degraded significantly due to excessive compression when the local channels were added. Washington DC local channels via DirecTV are terrible.

 

[JackLonn]

Thanks for your input. I am pretty diappointed. Hey, the menu system is great compared to c-band, but that's it. Not to mention 2x the price. As far as signal strength, I climbed up in the roof to check the line of sight from the dish. Wow, through the edge of the tree. Hmmm, if snow and rain can degrade the signal what about a tree. DUH...

 

[videobruce]

Ok in the winter time.............

Wet leaves would be worse. Depends on how 'full' the tree is and how much 'headway' you have.

 

[Art Morales]

I'm afraid you're gonna have to get use'd to it. I had C-band for over 5 years and now I'm going on my third year with Dish Network, I get a pretty good signal but boy do I miss the signal that came off that 10' dish. Make sure you don't have any branches, buildings, etc. blocking your line of sight double check the elevation, you want the strongest signal possible. Good Luck. Oh by the way I have 10' dish for sale:wink: