DISH network

2349 Views 15 Replies 8 Participants Last post by Davenlr, Aug 2, 2021

Davenlr

Discussion Starter · Aug 2, 2021

I currently have YouTubeTV. It has the channels I watch, but no Dolby Digital, and its cloud DVR is rather annoying.
I cant test drive DISH, but have been offered two years at $80/mo plus $5 more for a Hopper3. I have heard they only have 1080x1080i instead of my current 1920x1080p and am afraid it will look soft on a 77" TV.

Does anyone with DISH and a smartphone care to snap a few pictures of some commercials or promo that runs over and over, that I could find on YouTubeTV to compare the quality?

1 - 16 of 16 Posts

Don S

· #2 · Aug 2, 2021

Not sure if you're in the correct forum for this ...

But a few things:

YTTV does now have Dolby Digital 5.1
I love the cloud DVR on YTTV, you won't find any better on any streaming service IMO.
YTTV is now offering 4K HDR for an extra price for select channels. It looks pretty good for the Olympics IMO. (Dish offers 4K too, so I'm not sure what the "1080 x 1080i" you quoted was about)
A smart phone pic of someone's screen is not a good way to judge PQ.

curtlots

· #3 · Aug 2, 2021

Following this thread.

My plan is to go the other direction as soon as I get Starlink internet. Particularly now that (as Don S noted above) YTTV has 5.1 audio. I had a two week trial a couple months ago and liked just about everything about YTTV except its lack of 5.1 audio at the time. Unfortunately, I could only stream on one TV because of my slow internet connection. In anticipation of faster internet and YTTV, I have also switched out my Roku boxes with Chromecast with Google TV and Shield TV units because of the better integration with YTTV.

I currently have Dish with the Hopper 3 and two Joeys. I really do love the way the system works and its ability to record multiple shows at once, but my biggest complaint is the overall picture quality. I find the picture quality often much better when streaming from Netflix or other streaming services at even my meager 10 Mbps internet speed than what I get from Dish. Granted, this is when viewing on a 106" projector screen. NFL on Fox is particularly bad, but that may be more on Fox than Dish.

To your question Davenlr, I'm not sure static pictures are going to show you what you're looking for. To me, where Dish really suffers is in its compression. If you watch the background of a scene with leaves blowing in the wind for example, the compression is extremely noticeable and annoying. Like watching claymation. Dish has 2 channels that are capable of showing 4K, but there's rarely anything on, not even a looping 4K demo program.

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DrDon

· #4 · Aug 2, 2021

Don S said:
Not sure if you're in the correct forum for this ...

Agree. HDTV Programs is more about ...the shows, sports, and so on. Moving this to streaming.

Davenlr

Discussion Starter · #5 · Aug 2, 2021

curtlots said:
To your question Davenlr, I'm not sure static pictures are going to show you what you're looking for. To me, where Dish really suffers is in its compression. If you watch the background of a scene with leaves blowing in the wind for example, the compression is extremely noticeable and annoying. Like watching claymation. Dish has 2 channels that are capable of showing 4K, but there's rarely anything on, not even a looping 4K demo program.

OK, well, that about answers the question. If they over compress, that is worse than cutting the resolution (which Xfinity does both). So apparently, DISH picture quality is not equal or better. Since you just did the two week YTTV trial, you would be the best to judge, especially on a screen that large. BTW, YTTV does NOT have 5.1 audio on live TV yet, just promises so far. Not even the 4K channels. I tried them, but was not impressed, and canceled before my month was up. Not worth the extra $10 to me. Everything in 4K from Fox looks better on the Fox Sports app. I might miss a 4K ESPN college game, but I doubt they would have my team in 4K anyway.

Appreciate the time to compare. Ill just stick with YTTV until they get around to adding 5.1 I guess, unless someone else has a different experience. The only person I know with DISH is my MIL, but they have it hooked to a 43" Samsung TV that is about 4 yrs old, and it looks like hell, but I figured it was the TV.

Davenlr

Discussion Starter · #6 · Aug 2, 2021

Don S said:
Not sure if you're in the correct forum for this ...

But a few things:

YTTV does now have Dolby Digital 5.1

I love the cloud DVR on YTTV, you won't find any better on any streaming service IMO.

YTTV is now offering 4K HDR for an extra price for select channels. It looks pretty good for the Olympics IMO. (Dish offers 4K too, so I'm not sure what the "1080 x 1080i" you quoted was about)

A smart phone pic of someone's screen is not a good way to judge PQ.

No 5.1 at my location on any live channels.
No way to delete the watched shows and lots of clutter, shows often out of order.
Tried their 4K. HDR doesnt work on my Shield with their codec, and they blacked me out from 90% of the Olympic content, and the other channels mostly just showed a banner, so I canceled 4K before they started charging me $10 for nothing.
Not the best way, but a 4K smart phone pic of a 1080 TV screen is better than nothing at all.
I might try to see if the Dish dealer in the next town who has a store, actually has a working demo but from the previous poster, it appears resolution doesnt matter if they over compress the signal
Thanks. BTW, I posted in the satellite forum, thought the would be the correct one. My apologies.

DrDon

· #7 · Aug 2, 2021

Davenlr said:
No 5.1 at my location on any live channels.
No way to delete the watched shows and lots of clutter, shows often out of order.
Tried their 4K. HDR doesnt work on my Shield with their codec, and they blacked me out from 90% of the Olympic content, and the other channels mostly just showed a banner, so I canceled 4K before they started charging me $10 for nothing.
Not the best way, but a 4K smart phone pic of a 1080 TV screen is better than nothing at all.
I might try to see if the Dish dealer in the next town who has a store, actually has a working demo but from the previous poster, it appears resolution doesnt matter if they over compress the signal
Thanks. BTW, I posted in the satellite forum, thought the would be the correct one. My apologies.

We don't have a Satellite forum. You posted in a section dedicated to programs; movies, series, sports, etc. It's a content section, with only a couple of exceptions.

No worry, though. As I PM'd you, I left a redirect.

FWIW, DirecTV may be worth a look. When it comes to linear services, they do have the best PQ and don't use Dish's downrezzed scheme. For the price, you're probably better off with YTTV, but if you're interested in PQ, audio quality and real-time sports without the risk of buffering or other internet-borne issues, it's a consideration. For me, I kind of like my sports as close to live as I can get. Streaming, for me, always seems to be anywhere from one to five minutes behind live. Nothing worse than getting an alert on my phone who won the KY Derby when, on my TV, they just took off.

Davenlr

Discussion Starter · #8 · Aug 2, 2021

Yea, DirecTv wont reauthorize my 2 DVRs or 3 receivers on my old account, and I refuse to get into another two year contract at $102/mo plus $7 for each additional box which they refuse to send me access cards for. They are all just sitting here with the Satellite signal strength screen saying "Insert access card" but Directv refuses to send me access cards and wants to send me an installer with a Genie, and mini boxes, and hook me on a two year contract. No go. Why they would refuse a free $140/mo is beyond me. Ill wait and see if the new company that is taking over the operations from ATT do better. Until then, Ill just keep YTTV. Tried Sling and good lord the motion was horrible. They must be 30 frames per second or something.

Mike Lang

· #9 · Aug 2, 2021

Davenlr said:
Ill wait and see if the new company that is taking over the operations from ATT do better.

I've had Directv for like 25 years but I'm starting to think about exit strategies just in case.

Davenlr

Discussion Starter · #10 · Aug 2, 2021

Mike Lang said:
I've had Directv for like 25 years but I'm starting to think about exit strategies just in case.

Yea, I have never seen a company go out of their way to kill themselves.

badtlc

· #11 · Aug 2, 2021

You sound like a good candidate for At&t TV service. 1080p, 5.1 audio, simpler DVR interface.

Davenlr

Discussion Starter · #12 · Aug 2, 2021

badtlc said:
You sound like a good candidate for At&t TV service. 1080p, 5.1 audio, simpler DVR interface.

Yea, I had ATT TV. It was great except the server I connected to, at least three times a night, would go into a spinning circle, say we are having difficulites, please watch something else. It also does not have RedZone channel and does not allow Sunday Ticket. So I need either DIrecTV or a service that offers RedZone and NFL Channel.

golfster

· #13 · Aug 2, 2021

I have had Dish for about 20 years. The real advantage is the DVR/receiver. I like the prime time recording of all network stations. Olenty of on-demand content too. The Dish app allows you to access your receiver from anywhere and view it on any TV. With a Fire TV or Roku etc. you do not really need a Joey, although it makes it a bit easier to use. It looks sharp enough on my 70" TV with some video looking better than others. Nothing looks as good as a Blu-ray disk. I am happy enough that I just re-upped for another 2 year commitment.

Davenlr

Discussion Starter · #14 · Aug 2, 2021

Does the video quality on the Dish Anywhere app look as good as the actual DVR picture? I can access my MIL's DIsh from my house and watch anything on her DVR, but it looks pretty fuzzy. I figured it was because it was streaming over the internet and not in home.

bobby94928

· #15 · Aug 2, 2021

Davenlr said:
Does the video quality on the Dish Anywhere app look as good as the actual DVR picture? I can access my MIL's DIsh from my house and watch anything on her DVR, but it looks pretty fuzzy. I figured it was because it was streaming over the internet and not in home.

Dish Anywhere is very dependent on both download and upload speeds. Download speed on your end and upload speed on the Dish receiver end. So, if your MIL has a very slow upload speed you will not get as good of a picture even if you have 1G download on your end.

Davenlr

Discussion Starter · #16 · Aug 2, 2021

We both have ATT Fiber with 1Gb/s up and down.

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