HowboutthemCowboys Posted April 1, 2009 Share Posted April 1, 2009 Depends where you are, I guess. Mine has been extremely reliable and blazingly fast, FWIW. the notice scrolls across the screen on NFLNetwork here from time to time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HowboutthemCowboys Posted April 1, 2009 Share Posted April 1, 2009 I paid $30 for the entire NFL Sunday ticket last year along with all the movie channels for 5 months. Now that's an insane deal! How'd you swing that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H8tank Posted April 1, 2009 Share Posted April 1, 2009 How'd you swing that? He is lying. He paid the $200 or whatever for the ticket, then got those movie channels for 'free'. See, he makes a lie to get you to look at him, then he flexes his muscles, stares at you with those googily eyes, and smirks the look of a boy on a mission, a mission for your affection. Beware, cause if the request is granted, you are forever in debt to the weirdoshemale, but if the advances are denied... well lets just hope your PM box is full. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
irish Posted April 1, 2009 Share Posted April 1, 2009 (edited) How'd you swing that? Called the retention line and haggled with them for a bit telling them that I got a great deal the year before and how I would drop the service altogether if I didn't get another. They gave me the exact deal I stated before for everything including the movie channels. For 5 months I paid $6 extra per month. Edited April 1, 2009 by irish Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
godtomsatan Posted April 9, 2009 Author Share Posted April 9, 2009 Alright, one week into direcTV service, I'm a little bummed that I don't get all the channels listed on their "package" (OK, it's just Palladia, which is a killer HD music channel), but the quality of picture is so much better than what I got via Comcast, I'm actually quite surprised I haven't heard more about that as a benefit. Seriously, my HD in Comcast didn't look like HD compared to what I get from dTV, which makes it all worth the while to begin with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ursa Majoris Posted April 9, 2009 Share Posted April 9, 2009 Alright, one week into direcTV service, I'm a little bummed that I don't get all the channels listed on their "package" (OK, it's just Palladia, which is a killer HD music channel), but the quality of picture is so much better than what I got via Comcast, I'm actually quite surprised I haven't heard more about that as a benefit. Seriously, my HD in Comcast didn't look like HD compared to what I get from dTV, which makes it all worth the while to begin with. Are you comparing apples to apples? You have the major networks over DirectTV? I ask because Comcast is limited on HD to whatever the channel provides e.g Fox HD is 720P only while CBS is 1080i If you're talking about some random 1080p HD channel and you're watching on a full 1080p box, you likely will see an improvement. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cre8tiff Posted April 9, 2009 Share Posted April 9, 2009 Direct TV sucks. It only took one rain-fade evening of the Superbowl to sell me. I will never go back to them until they can guarantee no rain-fade. And it may very well not be that bothersome to some here. Just have it happen during something like the Superbowl, and they would change thier tunes, guaranteed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimmy Neutron Posted April 9, 2009 Share Posted April 9, 2009 Depends where you are, I guess. Mine has been extremely reliable and blazingly fast, FWIW. Same here - spendy, but love it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
godtomsatan Posted April 10, 2009 Author Share Posted April 10, 2009 Are you comparing apples to apples? You have the major networks over DirectTV? I ask because Comcast is limited on HD to whatever the channel provides e.g Fox HD is 720P only while CBS is 1080i If you're talking about some random 1080p HD channel and you're watching on a full 1080p box, you likely will see an improvement. Apple to apples, though this makes me wonder how much my Comcast connection just sucked to begin with (service problems were rarely an issue since the last line fix). I'm talking about simple across-the-board picture clarity between HD channels. Noticeable difference from the second the set came on line. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kid Cid Posted April 10, 2009 Share Posted April 10, 2009 (edited) Are you comparing apples to apples? You have the major networks over DirectTV? I ask because Comcast is limited on HD to whatever the channel provides e.g Fox HD is 720P only while CBS is 1080i If you're talking about some random 1080p HD channel and you're watching on a full 1080p box, you likely will see an improvement. There are no channels broadcasting in 1080p that I am aware of. For the most part, you will not be able to tell the difference between 720p and 1080i except in very fast action scenes where 720p is actually better. The biggest difference is in the amount of compression used to fit all the channels into the pipe. Remember that MPEG (MPEG-2 for standard def and MPEG-4 for high def) is a lossy compression algorithm. That means that the higher the compression ratio, the more of the initial data that is unable to be retrieved when the material in decompressed by the STB (Set Top Box). Because any cable is a shared pipe, in other words, all the houses on you street share the same physical line feeding that street, there is a finite bandwidth that cable can use to bring the television signal to you house. D* also has a limit on their "pipe" but it is far greater than the limit imposed by the cable (remember that cable is also bringing internet service over that same pipe) because they essentially have five pipes, one for each satellite. Therefore, in order to bring all these channels to you, cable has to compress them in order to fit them all in. Some are compressed more that others, hence the difference in PQ (picture quality) between even standard def broadcasts. For the most part, D* doesn't compress the HD content and compresses the SD stuff much less than cable. Edited April 10, 2009 by Kid Cid Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cunning Runt Posted April 10, 2009 Share Posted April 10, 2009 Another thing to keep in mind is how many TVs you have. We have 7 so cable is really the only thing that makes sense. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ursa Majoris Posted April 10, 2009 Share Posted April 10, 2009 There are no channels broadcasting in 1080p that I am aware of. For the most part, you will not be able to tell the difference between 720p and 1080i except in very fast action scenes where 720p is actually better. The biggest difference is in the amount of compression used to fit all the channels into the pipe. Remember that MPEG (MPEG-2 for standard def and MPEG-4 for high def) is a lossy compression algorithm. That means that the higher the compression ratio, the more of the initial data that is unable to be retrieved when the material in decompressed by the STB (Set Top Box). Because any cable is a shared pipe, in other words, all the houses on you street share the same physical line feeding that street, there is a finite bandwidth that cable can use to bring the television signal to you house. D* also has a limit on their "pipe" but it is far greater than the limit imposed by the cable (remember that cable is also bringing internet service over that same pipe) because they essentially have five pipes, one for each satellite. Therefore, in order to bring all these channels to you, cable has to compress them in order to fit them all in. Some are compressed more that others, hence the difference in PQ (picture quality) between even standard def broadcasts. For the most part, D* doesn't compress the HD content and compresses the SD stuff much less than cable. Most excellent. Thanks! Worth noting that cable also brings phone service, which requires the highest traffic prioritization. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtomicCEO Posted April 10, 2009 Share Posted April 10, 2009 (edited) D* also has a limit on their "pipe" but it is far greater than the limit imposed by the cable (remember that cable is also bringing internet service over that same pipe) because they essentially have five pipes, one for each satellite. Therefore, in order to bring all these channels to you, cable has to compress them in order to fit them all in. Some are compressed more that others, hence the difference in PQ (picture quality) between even standard def broadcasts. For the most part, D* doesn't compress the HD content and compresses the SD stuff much less than cable. I would disagree with you on a lot of this. Cable has a much bigger pipe than DTV. Sattelite is a very limited pipe. Even in their old MPEG-2 Standard-def broadcasts I could see major compression artifacts. Also, DTV *heavily* recompresses the HD content, to the point where there was a class-action lawsuit against them in California in 2006 for even calling it "HDTV" because of downsampled resolutions and bitrates. Edited April 10, 2009 by AtomicCEO Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kid Cid Posted April 10, 2009 Share Posted April 10, 2009 I would disagree with you on a lot of this. Cable has a much bigger pipe than DTV. Sattelite is a very limited pipe. Even in their old MPEG-2 Standard-def broadcasts I could see major compression artifacts. Also, DTV *heavily* recompresses the HD content, to the point where there was a class-action lawsuit against them in California in 2006 for even calling it "HDTV" because of downsampled resolutions and bitrates. Interesting. So you're saying that the pipe from the pole to the house is larger than the pipe from the sky to the house. Is that the entire cable pipe or just the portion allocated for television signals? I sense an opportunity to learn something here. I've always been leery of the shared pipe on cable because of potential bandwidth issues, even though I've never experienced them with cable internet access. As they keep putting up new houses in the area I wonder if the pipe will become saturated. I also didn't know about the lawsuit against D*. That one I will look into. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtomicCEO Posted April 10, 2009 Share Posted April 10, 2009 Interesting. So you're saying that the pipe from the pole to the house is larger than the pipe from the sky to the house. Is that the entire cable pipe or just the portion allocated for television signals? I sense an opportunity to learn something here. I've always been leery of the shared pipe on cable because of potential bandwidth issues, even though I've never experienced them with cable internet access. As they keep putting up new houses in the area I wonder if the pipe will become saturated. I also didn't know about the lawsuit against D*. That one I will look into. I couln't find info on exactly what the bandwidth of satellite is vs. cable, but I know that DTV is constantly at their limit and that every time they add channels they have to lose something else or use more compression. We have some customers who use Hughes satellite for internet, and they max out very very quickly. I don't think that more users being on a cable pipe affect it's video capacity. It would affect it's internet usage, but the TV is just a broadcast and everyone sees the same signal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bushwacked Posted April 10, 2009 Share Posted April 10, 2009 There are no channels broadcasting in 1080p that I am aware of. For the most part, you will not be able to tell the difference between 720p and 1080i except in very fast action scenes where 720p is actually better. The biggest difference is in the amount of compression used to fit all the channels into the pipe. Remember that MPEG (MPEG-2 for standard def and MPEG-4 for high def) is a lossy compression algorithm. That means that the higher the compression ratio, the more of the initial data that is unable to be retrieved when the material in decompressed by the STB (Set Top Box). Because any cable is a shared pipe, in other words, all the houses on you street share the same physical line feeding that street, there is a finite bandwidth that cable can use to bring the television signal to you house. D* also has a limit on their "pipe" but it is far greater than the limit imposed by the cable (remember that cable is also bringing internet service over that same pipe) because they essentially have five pipes, one for each satellite. Therefore, in order to bring all these channels to you, cable has to compress them in order to fit them all in. Some are compressed more that others, hence the difference in PQ (picture quality) between even standard def broadcasts. For the most part, D* doesn't compress the HD content and compresses the SD stuff much less than cable. 6-7 years ago in the standard def days when I switched from cable to DTV, I aslo noticed a marked improvement in picture quality. IMO, every HI-def set I've seen at someones house with cable, doesn't look as good as my TV on Hi-Def (of course there are many factors that effect this). Interesting CEO disagrees with the compression thingy.....I always thought that to be the truth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtomicCEO Posted April 11, 2009 Share Posted April 11, 2009 (edited) 6-7 years ago in the standard def days when I switched from cable to DTV, I aslo noticed a marked improvement in picture quality. IMO, every HI-def set I've seen at someones house with cable, doesn't look as good as my TV on Hi-Def (of course there are many factors that effect this). Interesting CEO disagrees with the compression thingy.....I always thought that to be the truth. The more I read about this... I think that DTV changed compression methods from MPEG2 to MPEG4 in the past few years. That may have increased their picture quality without changing the actual bitrates. I don't know though. Did everyone have to swap out their set top boxes in the last few years? Edited April 11, 2009 by AtomicCEO Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Avernus Posted April 11, 2009 Share Posted April 11, 2009 The more I read about this... I think that TV changed compression methods from MPEG2 to MPEG4 in the past few years. That may have increased their picture quality without changing the actual bitrates. I don't know though. Did everyone have to swap out their set top boxes in the last few years? MPEG-4 has definitely allowed for better picture quality while still being able to create additional HD channels... a lot of Blu-ray titles use MPEG-4 or AVC for compression methods and it has proven to be the most efficient method until proven otherwise....and while VC-1 has a strong argument in comparison, MPEG-4 shows to have a more 3D-ish quality to it and the picture tends to stand out more.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bushwacked Posted April 11, 2009 Share Posted April 11, 2009 The more I read about this... I think that DTV changed compression methods from MPEG2 to MPEG4 in the past few years. That may have increased their picture quality without changing the actual bitrates. I don't know though. Did everyone have to swap out their set top boxes in the last few years? Moved into a new house last year, so we got new hardware. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimC Posted April 12, 2009 Share Posted April 12, 2009 Did everyone have to swap out their set top boxes in the last few years? I've got three HD boxes in the house. Two of the older silver boxes and one of the newer black ones (when one of the silver ones crapped out). I can tell no difference based on the boxes at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.