Bad DirecTV picture quality

[kjnorman]

Unimpressed with Cable TV price rises and lured by the prospect of twin tuner recording and Speed Channel in the basic package I dropped cable at the end of last year and got DirecTV withTivo, over my current SA Sony Tivo with basic analog cable.

Having heard so much about DirecTV picture quality being better that cable, frankly, I am unimpressed.  While the picture is certainly cleaner looking (no analog noise) I notice a lot of digital noise - jumping pixels, macroblocking etc.  Some channels are naturally better than others depending on how much bit rate is assigned to them.

My biggest surprise is just how bad the locals are, particularly PBS 10 and 36.  So I would like thoughts on other direcTV subcribers as to if this is normal, or if I may have a problem?

I did a quick signal strength last night and I was getting satelite strengths ranging from 30s to 50s out of 100 depending on which of the three satelites and which transponder I was testing at the time.  Now admittedly it was snowing last night so I know that this can knock back the signal, but this still seems low to me.  

Is this typical?  Might the low strength be increasing my "digital noise" or is it simple a case that Directv do not put much bit rate into local channels?  PBS10 did not look much better than a 1Mbs feed to my eyes.

Kerry

[Gregg Lengling]

Kerry you may have a problem...but check again when the wx is clear.  I typically have 80's and 90's on all transponders and all satellites.  I find that the picture is actually better on Directv than OTA from 10/36.  Granted with my 65" big screen some channels can be a hassle (especially the low quality of SciFi channel).  I've noticed big differences on different channels and I'm pretty sure it has to due with the content that is fed from the provider.  I've watched the same MASH rerun on 2 different channels and found that the picture quality is much better on one than the other.  I also noted that the better one had said they had remastered all the MASH shows....so the difference between a digital source and one coming off a UMAX tape is really a big difference, especially when it is being sent to me in 480p.

Just my thoughts.

[Matt Heebner]

I agree also. My lowest signal off satellite at the 119 degree direction in an 78. Everything else is above that. The only time me signal drops that low, it ususally is due to snow build-up on the dish. Wait for a nice clear day, and check your signal again.

Matt

[Talos4]

I have to concur about signal quality, Typically I have signal strength between 75-90. Even in marginal weather.

There are some channels on DTV that are notorious for noise. HGTV, SCI FI, OLN, ESPN. Overall I'm very happy.

DTV Subscriber for 7+ years.  

Regarding 10/36, When watching either channel, the audio and video together break up.  My first thought was planes flying by or birds landing on the horn.  I can see the dish from my back door (dish mounted on the garage roof). No birds!  

Typically, 2-3 times during a 1/2 hour program. OTA is fine.

Just something that has bugged me for a while.

[kjnorman]

Well I checked my signal strength last night and these are my results:

Strength = Sat 1 in/Sat 2 in on TiVo.

Satelite 101 (A)[/U]
Transponder 1:  Strength = 75/77
Transponder 2:  Strength = 86/79
Transponder 3:  Strength = 83/82
Transponder 4:  Strength = 0/0
Transponder 5:  Strength = 81/79
Transponder 6:  Strength = 89/89
Transponder 7:  Strength = 80/82
Transponder 8:  Strength = 89/85
Transponder 9:  Strength = 77/77
Transponder 10:  Strength = 87/88
Transponder 11:  Strength = 85/85
Transponder 12:  Strength = 0/0
Transponder 13:  Strength = 82/79
Transponder 14:  Strength = 87/88
Transponder 15:  Strength = 86/88
Transponder 16:  Strength = 92/88
Transponder 17:  Strength = 81/80
Transponder 18:  Strength = 100/100
Transponder 19:  Strength = 89/89
Transponder 20:  Strength = 0/0
Transponder 21:  Strength = 86/86
Transponder 22:  Strength = 89/85
Transponder 23:  Strength = 86/91
Transponder 24:  Strength = 88/81
Transponder 25:  Strength = 83/84
Transponder 26:  Strength = 100/100
Transponder 27:  Strength = 85/85
Transponder 28:  Strength = 98/98
Transponder 29:  Strength = 81/80
Transponder 30:  Strength = 73/77
Transponder 31:  Strength = 87/89
Transponder 32:  Strength = 73/67

Satelite 119 (B)[/U]
Transponder 22:  Strength = 52/51
Transponder 23:  Strength = 58/63
Transponder 24:  Strength = 45/40
Transponder 25:  Strength = 62/62
Transponder 26:  Strength = 46/46
Transponder 27:  Strength = 62/62
Transponder 28:  Strength = 52/51
Transponder 29:  Strength = 55/54
Transponder 30:  Strength = 50/55
Transponder 31:  Strength = 60/62
Transponder 32:  Strength = 50/47

Satelite 110 (C)[/U]
Transponder 8:  Strength = 60/59
Transponder 10:  Strength = 73/76
Transponder 12:  Strength = 51/49

So, 101 looks fine, but 110 and 119 look fairly weak.  It is a bright and sunny day today, so I will do another check of the strength tonight and if 110 and 119 are still low then I'll call out the installer again to get these better alligned.

I've been watching a lot of Speed channel recently (catching up on the New Year's day rally marathon) and considering the amount of fast pace action, I am getting happier about the picture, actually it is not bad.  Also, got to watch some of Stargate last night from SciFi, and considering that everyone says that SciFi is one of the poorer channels it is still much better that I obtained from cable.

I was initially disappointed with HBO, compared with cable, until I remembered that when we had HBO on cable we were watching a lot of HBO HD, so that was kind of a duh!  Otherwise I think HBO is comparable with digital cable for the standard def channels.

As for the locals, it looks like I am stuck with a substandard feed there (at least for PBS) until I get the HD DirecTiVo and pull locals OTA...
 
That is where a lot of my initial disappointment was, was the fact that the first couple of programs my wife and I watched together were some PBS travel programs that looked like crap.  Perhaps its just PBS...

Kerry

[digdugm]

You might want to check your tilt, you really shouldn't have such a difference between sat's.

[stevenq99]

I was told by the person that installed my system that visually any thing above 70 looks the same.