I'm getting a 50" Pioneer Plasma and i'm trying to figure out what service to sign up with. I currently have Dishnetwork but was considering Direct TV. I've read a lot about the compression of signals that these companies are doing and how it affects picture quality. Is there a difference in picture quality from Cable to Dishnetwork to DirectTV? Is there a favorite on this forum?
thanks in advance.

Where are you located? The OTA and cable services available in you area will make a difference in the answer.

i live in Rochester New york
My options are Timewarner Cable, Dish Network and Direct TV.

Looks like your local forum is here (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=394083&highlight=Rochester). That will be the best place to ask.

You might want to go with TWC for a few months and see what happens with D* and their new channels. You probably won't have a long-term commitment with the cable company, so that buys you some time.

Rooki – I don’t know where you live but the kinds of services your cable company provides are important considerations. For example Cox OKC provides both my high speed Internet and telephone service. As a result, I get a “Bundle Discount” by subscribing to all three of the services Cox offers. Not only does this save money, it means that I get a single bill for all three, which is convenient. It also means that Cox makes the most sense for me.

The upside for DirecTV is that it offers the NFL Sunday Ticket package, which is why my son, who lives in a Milwaukee subscribes to D*. But D*’s dirty little secret is that there is something to the claim that it’s PQ is often, if not usually, inferior to that of the cable companies against whom it competes.

In addition to D*, my son also subscribes to Time Warner cable, so I can attest to the fact that, in Milwaukee, at least, cable’s PQ is significantly superior to D*’s. I might add that the PQ of my son’s previous cable provider, which he used when he lived in Tennessee, was also a lot better than D*’s.

What this all boils down to is that are so many variables involved in deciding whether to go with satellite or cable, there is no easy answer. Good luck!

EDIT: Typo corrected

I'd recommend D*. The 2 year agreement sucks, but I just can't recommend anything else for HD with the new sat up in space. It's only a matter of time before tons of new HD hits D* (like 30 days maybe less). Check out the Directv 2007 HD thread for details. You might also get your locals in HD via sat so look that up.