Hi All-
I've read through many threads here concerning Dish vs. D*, and all in all, haven't heard much about the PQ of Dish's HD service. Via the ViP622, how do you Dish subscribers with HD service (the voom channels, FoodHD, HGTVHD, etc...) feel? I am about to purchase a 1080p Pioneer plasma display and am (obviously) greatly concerned with the PQ of dbs hd. I've heard from people (via word of mouth) that DBS HD looks sub-par compared to cable HD, but the HD offering from my local cable provider (Cox) is extremely limited. The Dish lineup appears great (and who knows what's happening with D*), but do the channels look great? Thanks for the help!

Nothing, huh? Come on people, give me a heads up. MP4 compression? Compression artifacts? Fast-motion judder?

Dish (E*) HD quality is generally considered similar to DirecTV (D*), better on some HD channels, and not as good as most cable.

Check your local topic to see what others in your area think about cable, as it can vary widely from local area to area.

If you are looking for HD volume, E* is a good choice, for now. By the end of the year, D* plans on offering a lot more HD.


Here is another topic with more on D* vs. E*:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=863260

Thanks, mate. I know D* is adding many more channels, but so is E* at the end of the year (so they say). I'm just hoping the quality of E* is just as good - or similar - to OTA (though I know it won't be...). I'd go with cable if they had a decent HD lineup in my area...

Mongoos150:

A couple of comments detailing my experience with Dish Network. I use the ViP622 with the Sony 910 34 inch TV.

The Voom channels are usually rock solid; the only problem is that a lot of that (Voom) material is not originally in hd, but is upconverted. The HD material is excellent.

HD shows on HBO, Showtime, Cinemax, Food, HGTV , Discovery, HDNet, etc. are usually exceptional.

I don't know how Dish HD upconverted to 1080P would look. Hopefully, someone will post a comment here outlining their experience.

Regards,
Fitzie

Cheers. This is the kind of feedback I hope to be receiving in this thread, due to my probable choice of E* over D* (lack of D* programming in HD, and speculation that "100 HD channels" won't actually be 100 network channels) ;)

as a mitsu 1080p set owner & subscriber to e*, i am extremely satisfied w/ hd pq. I haven't subscribed to direct for over 6 yrs now, so I cannot comment on their pq, sorry.

see the other thread. dish just downgraded their hd hbo signal. now it's just hd lite