HDTV Picture quality, Comcast cable vs. Direct TV (1 Viewer)

[Skip Hammerman]

Is there a difference and what are the pros and cons.

Thank you for your comments!

 

[David Judah]

I haven't done any controlled comparisons, but just eyeballing it with HBO, I don't see any difference. There isn't any reason I can think of why they should be different given the same bandwith unless one or the other were adding some additional compression.

DJ

 

[Brian Fitterman]

unless one or the other were adding some additional compression.

If I am not mistaken, cable does. At least that is what I thought I had read somewhere. I think that is where QAM comes into play?

DirecTV uses MPEG for their stuff, just like the HD Spec says, but that does not mean they are compressing it at even a higher rate.

 

[anthony_b]

I switched from Directv to cable....looks the same to me..my non-hd channels on cable look better than D*.

 

[David Judah]

I can't say this is true for every cable system, Brian, but when HD cable first became available in Albuquerque, I talked to alot of folks at Comcast(probably to the point of bugging some of them, but hey, I'm an HT nut )and they assured me that no additional compression is used.

I have been very satisfied with the quality of picture, although some stuff is better than others due to production and equipment differences.

As for Skip's decision, which way to go is a tough call and it depends on the needs of the individual consumer. Right now the amount of HD channels available is pretty even, but if one or the other were to offer more content, I think that would be the deciding factor.

DJ