Locals through D*tv compared to OTA

[chadl11]

Has anyone noticed a difference is locals through DirecTV using an HR20 vs. picking up the locals via OTA?  I know about CBS, which I can receive via OTA.

Any issues either way?  Thanks.

[Bluto]

I can't give you technical info about bitrates and resolution.  But my eyes see no difference between the local HD I receive over the air and the local HD (MPEG4) that I receive from D*.

[Talos4]

Same here, I can tell no difference between the two.

Using an H20.

[vegasvic]

I also notice no difference.  HD in MPEG-4 is sweet indeed.

[Dan the Man]

OK, I don't claim to be an expert, but our company did a project for D* at one of their uplink facilities. I was there for a few days and I asked the D* guy what the uplink facility does specifically. They basically take the feeds from the local affiliates in the region served by the uplink site and beam the feed up to the sat. He told me that in most cases they grab the digital signal from OTA and use that as the sat feed. For some stations in larger markets they use a fiber connection directly to the affiliate.

If that is truly the case, then wouldn't the bit rate and the picture quality be basically the same OTA vs. D* then?

I was suprised that this is the way it all works, but his response was "its a digital signal, so what is the difference."  I could not argue with that logic.

Like I said, my expertese is not in the TV world, but in building construction related stuff so I could be incorrect, but these guys I worked with are deep into the D* world.

[kevbeck122]

They pull in the video and compress it even further with MPEG4.. therefore the bitrate is lower.  MPEG4 allows for a lower bitrate with as good a picture as higher bitrate MPEG2 video.

[borghe]

I just wanted to chime in on this. I just had an HR20 finally replace the venerable HD Tivo in the living room (man did that Tivo serve well these past 3 years). We've had an HR20 in the bedroom for almost a year now, but with only not having 18 and 58 in HD my wife never complained and thus I was never motivated to run a new line for OTA.

Now that the Tivo's been replaced obviously I'm using OTA in the living room. Last week during football I ran a number of A/B comparisons. I recorded the packer game on both 6 WITI and 6-1 WITIDT. To my trained eyes there was NO difference. None. Zip. I also tested NBC figuring 1080i might be a little more noticeable than 720p if at all. Again, not a single difference that I could see. Same TV, same receiver, same inputs/outputs.

If there is a difference between OTA locals and MPEG4 locals I certainly can't see it. Guess I'll just go right ahead and enjoy the 40% space savings on the old DVR.

Now if Jim Hall and DirecTV could just come to an agreement on CBS. :mad I'm sure Jimboy and Sinclair would love to get on DirecTV but I'm guessing we'll have to wait until DirecTV11 is launched before that happens.

[Blitzburgh]

I also notice no difference.  HD in MPEG-4 is sweet indeed.

Yup. No difference.

[chadl11]

Thanks for the input.  I agree, no difference that I've noticed.