Poor picture quality from DBS on new TV (1 Viewer)

[Kendall T]

Howdy, Great site, I just found it yesterday, lots of good info, I've got a lot of reading to do.
I recently bought a Panasonic CT-32HXC43. It is a 32" 4:3 HDTV ready monitor. When I play DVDs, the picture is great, but when I watch satellite, the picture doesn't look so good...
I have the video from the DBS hooked directly to my TV with a Monster Video 2 S-video cable. The picture, looks "digitized" (I don't know how else to explain it). It is most evident on darker scenes. A prime example is watching "24" on FOX via DBS, it looks terrible! Usually, if there is a dark background, with some color in the dark areas, it looks like the picture is made up of 1/8" cubes, like it is a really poor resolution.
The weird thing is, its not like this on all channels/shows. I did notice this a little bit when I first got DBS with my old TV, but this new TV makes it a lot worse. Any ideas?
Thanks in advance.

 

[nick_rh]

Welcome to the world of HDTV ownership, where everything short of DVD or hi-def looks horrendous.

Just kidding. Sort of. Because your HDTV has much higher picture resolution, you're noticing all the flaws in the picture that you never noticed on a non-HDTV. There's no way to "fix" this completely, but you'll probably get used to it after a while. However, you may also have your brightness and contrast turned up too high. Turn them down (but not so far down that the picture becomes dim) and that should help, at least a little.

I have a 47" Panasonic RPTV and DBS looks fine for the most part; the picture is soft and fuzzy compared with DVD or HD, but it's perfectly watchable. Oddly enough, I notice pixellation most often on HD shows.

 

[Jack Briggs]

What Nick said. You now might want to consider opting for HD.

 

[Kendall T]

Thanks for the replies guys. I do plan on HD within the next year or so. I guess I'm just going to have to stop dwelling on the picture for now.

 

[Jack Briggs]

No, Kendall -- "dwelling" on picture quality is one of the prime aspects of being a home-theater enthusiast. Just endure the mediocre DBS picture until you're ready for HD.

 

[Kendall T]

You're right, its a curse and my wife doesn't understand.
While we're on the subject of DBS and HD, do you guys know of any drawbacks of those "all in one" DBS HDTV tuners? And, the picture quality of the DBS in those units wouldn't be any better than a regular DBS reciever's picture would it?

 

[Jack Briggs]

Why wouldn't it be better? It's HD, and HD looks better than any other A/V source (that is, when fed a native HD signal).

 

[Kendall T]

Aren't there only a few HD satellite channels that require a special subscription? Wouldn't all of the other channels (non HD) be the same?? Or am I missing something?

 

[David Norman]

Kendall, the regular DBS channels shouldn't look any better than on a nonHDTV receiver, but obviously the HDTV channels will look far better.

There are subscription HDTV channels, but I think most/all of those receivers also function on Over the Air channels assuming you are close enough to the towers and have an antenna that can pull the signal.

If you have been a DirecTV subscriber for 2-3 years, then there is a great upgrade deal special to a HDTV receiver for $99. DISH also has a pretty cheap deal to upgrade if needed.

 

[Mike Williams]

Kendall, I was in the same boat. I bought a 55" widescreen HDTV and was absolutely horrified by my once tremendous satellite picture. I finally realized that I was seeing the result of the heavy compression satellite uses to cram so many channels on their satellite feeds. I first thought it was a problem with the TV, but my DVDs looked great. I was told by the store where I bought the TV that I would get used to the picture.

I didn't WANT to get used to it . . . but honestly, I did. And now it's something I merely tolerate on non-HD channels. I currently have HD broadcasts on DirecTV of HBO, Showtime, ESPN, Discovery, HDNet, HDNet Movies, PPV-HD and CBS-HD (New York) and CBS-HD (L.A.), with new stuff being added periodically. I can honestly tell you that it is something you just have to tolerate until you move to HD and are able to take advantage of the HD channels, which will eventually be everything.

 

[Neil White]

I'm not sure all channels will become HD. Digital standard definition (SD) yes, but not HD. But even then, SD should be better.

N

 

[Dick White]

I don't know that the poor PQ on the non-HD satellite stuff is just a matter of comparison. I was shocked when I got my new Pioneer Elite RPTV, and connected my old DirecTV receiver and DVD player. After Video Essentials tweaking, I finally got the DVD player looking pretty good with progressive scan VS my old analog widescreen interlaced. Still have a few issues with colors, but overall it looks pretty good.

But DBS is a different story. I could not get it to look anywhere near as good as what I had before. Upgrading to a new Samsung DirecTV receiver was little help, but it did give me a few HD (sort of) channels and an OTA HD tuner. I can get beautiful pictures on Discovery HD and my local PBS HD channel, as well as the Tonight Show and an occasional network HD broadcast. So I know it isn't just the TV setup. I guess I could accept the idea that the higher resolution emphasizes poor quality, but it seems rather odd that you "have to get used to" PQ that is worse than what you had with analog.

I'm just a couple of weeks into the digital world, and I AM sort of getting used to the DBS lack of quality and having to constantly fiddle with color and tint. It's not bothering me a lot yet because I am still in awe of the HD material I have been able to watch. But I'll soon get tired of Glacier National Park on Discovery and the insects on PBS and I'm wondering how I'll feel then. Most of the source material on the "HD" DBS channels is not HD quality, but at least it looks better than the regular channels (except for ESPN, which is a joke most of the time).

Fortunately, I watch mostly DVDs so my foray into digital has allowed me to use progressive scan, which was my main motivation. I'm able to get enough HD programming to satisfy my curiosity, but it confirms my feeling that there just isn't enough of it to make the jump worthwhile just for that. It is addictive, though, and I want everything HD NOW.

 

[Kendall T]

Thanks for all the input lads, I guess I'm not alone. I now must endeavor to persivere (get used to it).:frowning:

 

[Dave_Nich]

I am looking at buying a TV today ~ 48" and I don't know which brand to go with. I will be buying it from Best Buy, employee discount. This TV will be at my cabin where I currently have DirecTV. Therefore I will only be using it for DBS signals I do not want to pay for the HD package until DircTV offers my locals in HD. This TV will only be used on the weekend and right now there is nothing in HD on the weekends anyhow. Does a certain brand, Sony , Mitsu do a better job with a standard DBS signal. Or should I just buy an analog set?